I recently put out a State of the Industry Survey regarding owners’ pay and am genuinely curious where everyone is at. If you’ve seen the survey, you know I’m actually less worried about how much you’re paying yourself, and I’m more concerned about the number of people who aren’t paying themselves consistently or not paying themselves at all. 

I will be sharing these results with the other owners of Next Gen so we can continue to provide education in the industry as to HOW we can make all star a more viable, long term option for owners. The reality is – if you’re not paying yourself, you’ve got a hobby. 

I’ve never known a hobby to have so many demands. My horses aren’t calling me at 10 p.m. asking why Suzy didn’t get to fly tonight. I never get “certified mail” (AKA never-good mail) from the IRS concerning my Jeep. The books I read for fun never leave me with a concerned feeling that a staff member is going to be a no-show one day. But cheerleading….cheerleading does all of those things. You may have opened your gym because you loved the sport, but keeping it open will require good stewardship. Part of that stewardship is taking a regular paycheck as an owner. 

So let me tell you why I asked a few of the questions I asked and what I intend to do with the results: 

  1. I asked for your name, email and gym name. I’m not sharing a bit of your personal information. At the same time, if I saw something that I think I could help you with in a single email, wouldn’t you want that? (No worries if you wouldn’t. The identity part of this survey is totally optional.) 
  2. I asked how long you’ve been in business and if you’ve ever taken a paycheck. I have friends in other industries who work for a corporate office of some kind. When I mention that it’s sort of normal to have gym owners not taking paychecks, they’re absolutely shocked. After all, If you’ve been in business any length of time, I’m sure you’ve had a gym parent do the simple math in their head and imply that you’re probably making big bucks. 
  3. Then I asked if you pay yourself consistently and how you’re paid in comparison to previous jobs. Why? Well, inconsistent pay is not normal in the non-cheer world. In fact, it’s illegal to pay employees less than every 30 days in almost every state. So, if you’re paying yourself just “when you can”, you’re doing something to yourself you could never legally do to others. The comparison question? Well, I had to take a pay cut to go full-time at my gym, and I wanted to know if you did too. 
  4. Then I asked if people believed they should be compensated as a gym owner. I knew there would be a couple that believed we should be doing this all for the greater good of humanity. I’m not sure I can change their minds, but I needed to know how common that belief was. Then, I asked what someone’s effective hourly rate was. We’ve talked about this a lot in the Academy and will soon have metrics for our Academy members where they’ll enter this weekly to determine what their “hourly rate” is and what jobs make the most sense to delegate out.
  5. Finally, I asked what your current opinion was on your pay rate. Are you making “below minimum wage” but you’re satisfied? Why? Is it because you believe that’s all your worth? You opened two months ago, and that’s all you can at the moment? 

So, I’ll be developing curriculum off of this survey over the next few months to help you learn how to increase your paycheck as a gym owner. If you feel certain you couldn’t do that right now, don’t write me off just yet. Here at Next Gen, we’re always developing new things and working hard to bring the industry the best business education out there. 

If you haven’t taken our State of the Industry Survey yet, please do so HERE. (Note: This is for owners only.)