Every trainer I have ever spoken with wants to have his own facility one day. Usually there are two types of these people.

1. The guy who is 6 months into the business and thinks if he had his own place he'd make 1 million dollars/year.

2. The guy who has been in it a long time and is sick of someone else taking  a piece of HIS training revenue.

Now the first guy probably isn't going to be in the industry long, so I won't waste time on him. But the second guy very much exists.

What this no. 2 guy doesn't realize is that whether you are the owner or the employee, everyone takes a piece of what you make.

Every trainer has done the math. If I make $5,000/month (like they are now) in training and have my own place, I'll make $60,000 per year.  Well lets really look at that number. So first let's knock 3% off for CC fees. Then lets pop another 15% off for self employment taxes, BWC and other related payroll expenses.  So now before you see any you are down to 49,200. Then you have rent and utilities. Say you operate out of a small place for $2000/month, then utilities are going to average another $500/month. So that's $30,000/year. But let's be generous and say it's a really small place, and half that to $15,000/year. Now no. 2 guy is down to $34,200.

Then there is going to be marketing, branding, cleaning, misc expenses you will never imagine and god forbid something breaks. This is another 15% right there. So now he or she is only making $25,200, and that's being generous, in a tiny facility that is some how only charging $1000/month rent.

Wait, you need to buy equipment and pay back the equipment that you purchased to start your facility. So you need to take money out of the $25,000 you make to pay that back. So if you pay back $10,000/year over 3 years then you are now down to banking $15,000/year or 25% of your $60,000/year you thought you were gonna make.

All those people out there who are thinking owning a facility is so easy, let me tell you, it is not.  The reason that second person never opens a place or does and fails is that they soon learn that the $30,000 or $40,000/year they making working for someone else was a steal compared to what he will make if he starts his own place. Not to mention the value of less stress, the impact on your family and everything else you want to do in life. This is obviously an oversimplified version of what happens but the bottom line is that making money in this business is very difficult. Anyone who tells you otherwise is trying to sell you something, and I sure as fuck wouldn't buy it.

A very smart investment person I know has told me they would never invest in two businesses, bars and gyms. These two businesses have the highest failure rate of any business.  I see all these "marketing gurus" online talking about how easy it is. Well 1. Have you ever ran a facility? 2. Is it a fufu, bullshit bootcamp facility praying on the ignorance of the general public or was it a real training facility?

I only know a few people who have been successful with a real training facility.  All of them will tell you how hard it is. So before you go thinking you are going to start your own place and be a millionaire over night, ask yourself a few questions.

1. Why do you want to open a facility?

Is it ego - you just want your name on the sign so you can prove you are worth something. John Meadows has no physical location and is one of the best coaches for bodybuilders in the country. So if you are good, you don't need a brick and mortar storefront to prove to people you are good.

2. Do you know how to run a business?

If not then get a partner who does or start reading and don't open until you have a firm grasp of accounting, marketing, branding, and creating operating systems.

Lastly, I want to say that I love having The Spot Athletics. I started my place because the people I worked for were total assholes who had no idea what they were doing in the fitness industry. They ran hotels and took over where I was working. I wanted a place that could be a beacon of light for training in our dark shithole of misinformation industry. I wanted world class coaches, a family environment and a place I was excited to wake up and go to every day. I have created it but I also still haven't made more money than I did when I left my corporate job.

So if you are in this for the love then you will make it work, but if you think you are doing this for the money, then go sell copiers or something.