Some of you may have noticed that, for whatever reason, I have become the “business” guy on the Q&A. So by default, Dave and Jim asked me to review Bill Parisi’s The Business $$$ of Sports Performance DVD. Jim also sent me a pair of camouflage baggies to test run but that’s another story.
Anyway, as Bill Parisi has forgotten more about the business of running a profitable sports training facility than I or most of us will ever hope to learn, I was pretty psyched to get into the information.
First off, some of you know me and some of you don’t. I won’t say a product is good just because I was sent a free copy. I honestly call things as I see them. And this DVD is the real deal. I’ve repeatedly said to trainers, if you doubled your training knowledge, how much more money would you make? Maybe 10 percent. But if I increased your business knowledge by only 10 percent, you could double your income.
My first criticism is the title. This could easily have been called “The Business of Opening a Small Fitness Center” or “The Business of Personal Training Studios.” You get the picture. Despite being number one in their field (youth speed training and sports performance), there isn’t anything here that wouldn’t apply to a personal trainer opening a studio, a kettlebell enthusiast opening a center, or hell, even someone opening a Curves! This is just solid Business 101.
I’m not going to get into a deep review of this. If you are interested in opening a facility or already own one, you need to get this DVD. If that describes you then buy the DVD. It’s $60.00. That’s less than you probably pay your lead trainer for a session. And trust me—it’s worth a whole lot more. I’m not about to tell you all the details of the presentation—just a few highlights.
Let me get through the BS that all the small-minded people need to know. The Business $$$ of Sports Performance is a two-disc set. It is over two hours long and professionally done. Like every DVD they have made, it is a high-class professional production. But if you’re anything like me, you could get a handful of loose-leaf pieces of paper handwritten and you’d be happy as long as the content was good.
The DVD covers various factors necessary to “get started.”
· Finding the best location: The 12 minute rule will make or break you. How to find the “sweet spot” between great location and outrageous rent, and shitty location and cheap rent.
· Raising capital: How to do it, what to look for in an investor, and what exactly an investor is looking for.
· Operating expenses: This is the stuff that you had no idea was going to cost you when you opened up.
· Developing an organizational structure and your core competencies
· Developing staff, training, and compensation strategies: Why do employees quit? How do you recognize talent? How do you coach different staff to maximize their performance?
Now I’ll tell you, I’ve been training clients for close to 17 years and have been running a full-time facility for close to seven years. I honestly just expected to review this DVD and give you my thoughts. Five minutes into it, I was scribbling down notes like a madman. This is GOLD. I’ve since watched it three additional times, and my wife and business partner have also watched it.
Bill goes on to discuss how if health clubs only have a 15 percent penetration rate nationally anyways, how can small studios and training facilities even begin to compete with the big box 100,000 square foot facilities? How can your little studio even begin to compete for such a small market share?
The Parisi answer is to establish your niche.
My favorite part of the DVD (from my experience) was when Bill covered compensation strategies for staff, broken down by coaches, back room office, and front desk staff. In every seminar I’ve been to in the gym business, this is the number one question—how much should we pay our trainers/manager/etc? It’s all here.
The last part I want to cover is Parisi’s three pillars: the core values of your business, core culture, and core competencies (your competitive advantage). This part really hit home with me. When money is involved, it’s easy to lose sight of the initial values that actually drove your behaviors. But when you do, you’ll never be successful. It was great to see that being stressed.
Overall this joins my list of “no brainer” purchases for the start-up commercial gym or studio owner. Other DVDs by the Parisi Speed School include:
Alwyn Cosgrove is a Tae kwon do international champion. He has utilized his personal experience as an athlete and combined it with the advanced theories of European sports science and the principles of modern strength and conditioning systems. Alwyn has worked with a wide range of clientele including several Olympic and national level athletes and five world champions. He has also worked with professionals in a multitude of sports such as boxing, martial arts, soccer, ice skating, football, fencing, triathlon, rugby, bodybuilding, dance, and fitness competition. Visit his website at www.AlwynCosgrove.com.
Elite Fitness Systems strives to be a recognized leader in the strength training industry by providing the highest quality strength training products and services while providing the highest level of customer service in the industry. For the best training equipment, information, and accessories, visit us at www.EliteFTS.com.
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