I decided a long time ago, no one was going to dictate the future of my program but me (well…I have a business partner who will too…but you will see what I mean.)
Every year we receive changes to the scoresheet, the rules and the age grid. While it’s super inconvenient for those of us who are about to release our packets to slow down our momentum, there is nothing a governing body or scoresheet official can put out that will break my program.
About five years ago, I had just 28 all star kids. I would have told you the same thing then. Nothing was going to break my program. Bottom age going up? Fine. Handsprings at level one? Ouch, but fine. (For those new to cheer, that didn’t happen, but it was proposed…don’t panic 🙂) Level 4 now really sort of requires whips, but I don’t teach those until long after a full (and would prefer to not teach them at all)? OK. We’ll figure it out.
Even when my program was smaller, I recognized the ever-shifting and changing sport we’ve all signed up for. I saw programs blaming the USASF for their ultimate demise claiming age grids and rules were to blame for their programs failure. I didn’t buy it for a second. No megagym, celebrity coach, governing body or monopoly is to blame for a gym who didn’t make it. Only one person is to blame.
The owner.
As the owner, it’s your job to look at the threats to your business. If your program is all-star heavy, you probably need to have a thriving funnel into the all star program. (If you don’t have our growth guide, join the group and comment growth in the pinned post)
If your program is about half-and-half rec and all star, then you probably need to have a strong funnel into your rec program (we teach about the trial program in the Academy and at all of our conferences!)
If you’re all-rec, you’re not immune from industry challenges. You just have different challenges. They’re called “summer” and “winter break”. You need data to help you anticipate the slow times and a trial program to build up your program before the natural dips in enrollment occur.
In the last five years, my program has gone from 28 all star kids to about 160. I have a lot of novice kids, whom I do include in those numbers. I understand not all governing bodies recognize those, but again, I’m not someone who uses the industry standard to determine the make up of my gym. I count them in my numbers, because they’re still signing back up for cheer every year, buying uniforms and attending competitions. In fact, our funnel has developed so greatly with introductory kids, that I have two full-year novice teams and one half-year team almost every year now.
Here’s where I’m going with this…Make your gym “industry-proof”. Here’s how:
- Create a safety program that goes far above and beyond what the governing bodies recommend or require. Don’t allow coaches alone with kids ever. Open your lobby. Allow your gym parents to work alongside you to keep kids safe. Build a culture where your coaches and the gym parents are a team who is “all in” for the kids.
- Diversify your revenue. Build a fantastic camp program, birthday program, semi-private lesson program and preschool program. It’s not about how many kids you have in your gym, but rather – do you have the revenue to cover the labor and expenses in your gym and still profit (because you have to if you want to weather the hard days as an owner).
- Systemize your gym and learn how to effectively delegate. Hire great people who are there for the right reasons (not because they aged out of cheer and can’t stand the thought of missing out on competitions, but because they love kids and want to share the love of their favorite sport with others). Burnout will 100% ensue if you don’t do this thing.
- Budget for your season and build in profit. Here’s a scenario for you (and it’s indicative of how a lot of gyms run their programs). They pretty much break even on all star, because they love it and it’s their passion. So, they keep costs low for parents, spend every dollar that comes in as it goes to vendors for uniforms, choreography, music and competitions, and they never let the gym keep a single dollar of it. They go over budget to keep up with the mega gym down the street. They take their profit off rec classes, but they’re never really focused on growing those rec classes, because they’re not passionate about them the way they are about all star. So, what happens when travel fees skyrocket like they did in 2022? What about when we put out our packets in February, and competitions announce their prices in May, and they’ve doubled their costs? Without profit, you’ll rob Peter to pay Paul all season, but it’s unlikely Peter has more than a few dollars himself.
- Get someone to look at your business from the outside and identify the threats. You can’t see them. I promise. You’re in this day in and day out. When I was the mayor of our city, I worked with the city manager to hire someone to come in and facilitate strategic planning to set up a 10-year plan for the city. Do you know that cities deal with threats as well? If their sidewalks aren’t ADA compliant, they can face huge fines? If their storm sewers collapse because the infrastructure is old and weak, they can literally kill people driving through deteriorating roads? Here’s the thing. Our own city manager, despite his background in engineering, couldn’t identify those things as threats until someone else started asking the questions. Much like that, you can’t always identify the threats in your business, because you see it as normal. Others absolutely can. If you’ve ever done a coaching call with me, you see me typing (and highlighting) furiously. I listen for key words you say that I need to follow up on. Sometimes I dwell while an owner is wanting to move on, but it’s my job to be that detailed and pick up on the things they’re saying that they may not recognize they need to focus on.
As more and more is released in the next month, please remember. Age grids, rules and scoring guidelines should never take out your program. They may create challenges for you, but you should have an industry-proof program despite the number of athletes you have.
One of our Academy members who recently won an award in the NG Academy started our program when she had just nine athletes. If you think you can’t afford it, imagine what sacrifices she had to make! In August, she had around 35. Today, she has more than 100 athletes, and every week, I get an update on a new program she started or a new idea she had that is building revenue in her gym. But it’s not just “revenue”. She’s building resilience. She’s diversifying and developing a rock-solid foundation that can’t be shaken by a new age grid.
At NG, we want that for you too. I don’t want you to ever fear that someone else’s decision is going to wreck what you’ve spent years building. So, owners – as these changes come out – take a deep breath and focus on building an industry-proof program. Reach out to me if I can help with that in any way!
