And That's That

Last month I sold my small business, Revolution Fitness.? I started the business over 8 ? years ago.? We offered CrossFit and Spartan SGX group training.? The gym will continue and I’m excited to see the new ownership take the business to the next stage.

For most of those 8 ? years, I ran this business part-time while having a full-time job.? I was able to do this with the help of a great coaching team and members that would help out in a variety of ways.? The coaches and members truly built an awesome community of like-minded people that wanted to better themselves and live a more fit and healthy lifestyle.?

While the journey was a struggle at times, I absolutely loved it and learned a lot as a result.? A lot of what I learned has helped me in my full-time career, and there were synergies between the two.? Here are some quick observations from the experience:

1. Ready, Fire, Aim worked better than Ready, Aim, Fire.? I learned that, for me, movement is better than analyzing something over and over and not just “throwing the ball”.? With this philosophy you need to be able to pivot quickly and be comfortable screwing some things up a bit.? Plus, it’s a lot more exciting.
2. Execution is everything.? In practice, I wound up doing many things different than what I had learned in MBA school.? I also had a lot of outside advice on what I should do.? Ideas and theory can be great on paper but do not work in all situations and are useless without the ability to execute on them.
3. Employees are more important than clients. ?The importance of good employees cannot be overemphasized.? ?It is critical to treat employees with respect and care as well as set expectations, be direct, overly communicate, and be consistent.
4. Inclusiveness can build a great culture! ?We had a very diverse community of clients and coaches over the years.? This included former college athletes, current coach potatoes, those in recovery, those suffering from injuries/disease, professional polo players (true!), runners, triathletes, obstacle course racers, moms, dads, white collar, blue collar, employed, unemployed, the list goes on...? We had clients that grew up in the US as well as many first-generation immigrants from all over the world.? We had a variety of ages, too, from middle-school aged to retired.? All working out together, sweating, having fun, moving, and improving themselves.? The differences each individual brought to the community created a fun, welcoming, and inclusive culture.
5. Outsource what you can. ??I should have hired out more tasks that took me away from spending time working on, instead of in, the business.? ?Thankfully, I did outsource our accounting, tax, and web design work.
6. Adversity happens but with determination and a little stubbornness you can overcome.? We had our share of challenges and change, and there were plenty of times I thought about giving up (funny how a multi-year lease with a personal guarantee can motivate you).? Things had a way of working out, though, and working through adversity ultimately set a better course and gave me confidence.?
7. You have to relieve stress quickly.? Stress is debilitating, made worse by self-medicating, and easily pours over into other parts of life.? Early on, I used alcohol as my stress relief.? I quit that 4 ? years ago and transitioned to using exercise and dealing with adversity more directly.? I don’t think there is such a thing as “leaving stress at the office”, or anywhere for that matter.? I had to learn to deal with it in a healthy way.
8. It is difficult and not nearly as fun to go it alone.? I learned to say “yes” to those that offered to help, and the more I accepted help, the more help I received.? Things were always easier with help, and showing timely gratitude had its own incredible benefits.
9. We can do more than we think.? Sometimes people just need a push to uncover the amazing things they can accomplish.? I saw this time and time again in the gym and I am convinced most of us are capable of so much more than we think!
10. Lastly, there is never a good time to start something challenging.? I put off starting my own business for many years due to all kinds of excuses and finally built the courage to give it a try.? There is rarely going to be a “perfect” time, and if I had to do it over again, I would have tried much sooner.