To train clients or to open a gym...

that is the question.

Why is it that most youngsters want to bypass the learning curve of this profession and head straight into gym ownership?

Good question! Let me begin with a joke:

A young man fresh from college walks into an interview with a potential employer and sits across from the man and boldly proclaims, "I'd like a starting salary of $175,000 per year."

The employer looks at him knowingly and replies, "O.K. And we'll also give you a corner office, three weeks of paid vacation per year, a matching 401k plan, medical and dental insurance and a company car. You look like a Corvette man...waddya say we make it a 'Vette?"

The young stares on in amazement and exclaims, "Are you kidding?"

To which the employer replies, "Yeah...but you started it!"

I believe that a host of young trainers coming up want to jump head long into entrepreneurial and/or business ownership. The allure of the studio sounds enticing because it gives them something tangible, something they can point to and say, "That's mine."

We live in a largely selfish society where delayed gratification is a foreign term. Fast food, fast internet service, fast whatever has bred a populace of impatient, ill-prepared individuals who want what they want when they want it.

Owning a studio sounds fine and dandy until the reality of studio ownership and the responsibilities of it begin to settle in. I had a fantasy of owning a studio when I was but a wee pup. However, maturity, the "years" and experience have taught me otherwise. I am thankful for those who do bridge the gap between dreamer and doer, for without them I may well not have a place to compete in the fitness arena.

The other thing to consider is that those just coming into this game see people in the field who are filthy rich and want to emulate them. People like me (he said with a sly grin).

However, that is the subject for another time.

God bless,
Steve