This week we’ve been talking about success. We gave you a few key attributes successful people have as well as the biggest pitfall we’ve seen from gym owners. 

Next Gen began in 2018 after recognizing a few major problems in our industry: 

  • Gyms were popping up only to struggle for a few years and close. There was no sale of the business as many of their businesses alone had no value. The owners worked for years to make just a few thousand off mats and equipment. The few thousand they made didn’t reimburse them for the taxes they paid or the personal investment over the years. So ultimately, they opened a gym and lost money. 
  • Owners were burnt out. They were running in circles trying to replicate what was working for others and reinvent a wheel that was already in motion at other gyms. They didn’t have a playbook or mentor they could ask who was reliable and focused on their business. They certainly couldn’t ask the gym down the street how they were finding success, so they made their best guesses and crossed their fingers.
  • Staff were leaving gyms at alarming rates. Small gyms couldn’t afford to pay them a livable wage, and large gyms were setting the precedent for what “coaches should be paid.” Culture in gyms was sub-par and parents were often setting the tone rather than the gym owner. Ultimately the customer was dictating the work environment and owners couldn’t get control. 
  • Gyms were accepting competition fees, and then finding themselves unable to cover the fees for the last few competitions because they had used those funds for electric bills and rent just to get by. We saw gym owners take out payday loans, personal loans and use their personal credit cards to pay for competitions. 
  • Owners were focused on one type of success – the one on the mat. Instead of training staff to make that a priority and shifting their own focus to the business, they tried to do both. They sought out trophies and banners, rings and jackets all in an attempt to retain athletes and bring in new ones the next season. Often, we heard gym owners say, “I don’t get it. We went to finals at Summit, but this is the worst retention I’ve ever had.” They missed the point. Winning wasn’t the key to retention. It helped, but it was a small player in the overall decision of most athletes and parents. 

We, at Next Gen, sat around watching this play out in Facebook groups. We watched gyms around us go out of business (not because of a competitor taking them out, but because of their own financial mistakes.) We watched kids lose their gyms after a few years and have to go in search of a new one. In a small town where there was only one option, kids either made the hour-drive elsewhere or they quit cheerleading to pursue another sport. 

In 2018, I walked into my living room and Justin looked upset. I didn’t even get to ask why before he poured his heart out. If you know him, it’s a big heart. He told me how it made him upset that gyms were closing. Kids were being displaced and owners were asking for help only to be met with silence. They needed access to systems. They needed accountability. They needed people with experience who could guide them through the hard decisions and help them grow their gyms and take home a paycheck. They needed someone who would tell them how to delegate and train their staff so they could be at their kids’ soccer games and school parties. 

So, I told him to call a few people and see who he could get on board. Riana was his first call, and she was immediately in. She’s got a pretty big heart for our sport and the people who run it, so it was a no-brainer. Shelley was next. If you know her, she was full of passion for all star and also immediately said yes. We knew Dan had a full-time job, and the timing wasn’t right, so we kept his knowledge close by. 

We started the NG group where I’m posting this right now and began pouring our knowledge out to gyms for free. No charge to ask questions and get answers. Our consulting was a paid program, but we were always going to show you value in any capacity you could afford. By June of that year, we hosted our first conference, and Next Gen officially became a pivotal part of our industry.

We have a few core missions here at NG: 

    1. We help you take a paycheck that reflects your position. You should be paid for your work as an owner. No questions about it. You should get raises just like your staff gets raises. Paying yourself is not bad. We’re here to educate you on how to do that and build wealth for your own family while providing an incredible service to your gym family.
    2. We help gym owners set their own schedules. Being tied to your gym 24/7 isn’t sustainable. Whether you are married, have kids or are single – you need time to be you and recharge in whatever non-business, non-cheerleading way you prefer. 
    3. We help you serve the families in the gym better. You’ll never hear us say to raise prices without also raising the value of the service you’re providing. Even if you’re severely underpriced, we believe in being an important asset to the community and your gym families, and we help you be better – for them. 
    4. We help you get your business in order so you can do what you love. Every one of us at Next Gen started our gyms because we loved coaching cheerleading. We understand what drove most of you to start a gym, but we also understand you may not love the business as much as the service. We help you put on your owner hat and either do the things you love or automate and outsource the things you don’t so you can continue passionately owning a gym for years to come.
    5. We help you with competitive success both on and off the mat. We are in this business in our own gyms, and we understand what it feels like to meet your goals on the mat. We also understand how competitive success feels. We have some of the best contacts for skills training in the industry, and we’re not stingy to share those and make the introductions you need to be successful on the mat. Need recommendations on choreography, music, staff skills training, or events? We can help. 

You may have found tremendous success with the free resources in the Next Generation Gym Owners Facebook group. In fact, I hope you have. But this isn’t all we have to offer. The group is just a small fraction of what we can do to help your gym. Our one-on-one coaching program offers education, accountability, tools and resources to help you grow and do all the things above. 

We will help you find the success you’re looking for. Start your journey today by booking a call with someone on our team so we can learn more about your gym: https://nextgenowners.com/book-a-call.