I’m about to do something I shouldn’t do.
In fact, I recommend you just cut this short and turn off your phone.
Shut the laptop.
Go for a walk.
You can’t say you haven’t been warned.
What I’m about to do is give you business advice.
You might be thinking, “What is the problem with that, Dan? The Fort will be in business for 10 years in 2025. Surely you’ve learned something. Certainly you have something to share.”
And I appreciate that. I honestly do. Your support and optimism is appreciated. And I have learned quite a lot.
But if there is one thing I’ve learned in the past decade of steering this fitness ship - and this you absolutely should listen to - is that you shouldn’t take business advice from anyone who is short of wildly successful.
Don’t be concerned. Nothing is wrong. We are fine. I am fine. The kid got his Hanukkah presents. I still get the occasional Starbucks. The lights are on. No one is suffering.
But am I wildly successful? No. At least not yet. At least not in the financial sense.
And the reason for this is not a mystery. When we started the gym we did it for two reasons:
1.We wanted a place to work where we could drive the culture and enjoy ourselves.
2. We were pissed at how much bullshit was out in the marketplace and wanted to provide an alternative. A place that puts thoughtful and effective training at the forefront at the expense of everything else.
These may not be optimal reasons. They are somewhat valiant. It’s not exactly Robin Hood-type stuff but I think our hearts were in the right place. And they still are. We still want those things.
Which leads me to my second piece of advice. You can start a business for many good reasons. But if you do start, realize that you are now in the business of running a business. You aren’t in the fitness business or the plumbing business or the software business or whatever. Your co-workers are in that business, sure. But you are in the business of making sure you can sustain a business.
And we didn’t realize that - or at least accept it - for a long time.
And, hence, we are not currently wildly successful. Maybe we will be. Who knows. Maybe I’ll be writing future Monday blogs from my yacht (named “Big Biceps,” natch) while eating caviar and I’ll use fancier words like erudite or agnostic.
OK, so far we have: don’t take business advice from anyone who isn’t wildly successful (or at least as successful as you want to be) and when you start a business you must realize that you are now in the business-operating business.
Continuing with our list I am going to recommend that you primarily focus on the basics. When running a business you can count the things that matter on one hand.
First, you want a product that people need and/or enjoy.
Second, you are there to make sure you deliver that product to your customers in the most excellent way possible.
Third, when the time comes, you want to surround yourself with people who are on the same mission as you.
Fourth, you need to make sure you are playing a game you can win. If you are executing your vision but can’t keep the lights on something is wrong.
Fifth, you need to stay remarkably consistent in putting your efforts towards that vision. Some people get lucky but most businesses take longer to be successful than you would like.
You will also need some pretty specific character traits.
You will need courage to make big decisions that affect a growing number of people. You need to be persistent, particularly when things suddenly might not be going your way. You need to be focused and not get distracted by the myriad of things not related to your vision.
Now, before you get worried and think you’ve subscribed to Cranes or Fortune and wonder what happened to meathead-Dans-funtime-fitness-blog, here’s the part where I bring it all back around.
If you substitute fitness for business in the above ramblings, the needs are exactly the same.
To have a successful fitness endeavor, you need to participate in a modality that works and that you enjoy.
You should shoot for a meaningful experience every time you train. No, every workout won’t be transformative but it should be another brick in a bigger building. Aim to get 2% better.
You will benefit greatly if you train with other like-minded people who are on the same mission as you.
You need to make sure you are following a program that allows you to win by keeping your goals in mind and having measurable ways to know you are reaching them.
You will need to stay consistent. Getting in the shape you want will likely take longer than you think. I’d love for it to be different but I don’t want to lie to you.
You will also need courage to do challenging things, you will need persistence when you stall or plateau or life gets complex and you will need to stay focused and not get distracted by the shiny new piece of equipment or unproven training modality that will provide a mental or physical break from the grind but not actually deliver the results you are looking for.
Business isn’t easy. Fitness isn’t easy. But that’s a good thing. You want to be a person who earns what you desire.
Because once you do that, you will be wildly successful.
We both will be.