Prepare for the NO bullsh*t truth about running a warehouse gym. It’s gonna be harsh and in your face…and you probably won’t like the majority of what I’m going to reveal to you.
Starting a warehouse gym ain’t easy. Period. You won’t be able to rent a garage, throw in a power rack – or two, some sleds, tires, free weights and a loud stereo - and just expect every hardcore lifter to camp in front of your gym awaiting for your presence.
Sorry – it ain’t happenin’.
“Do what you love and the money will follow.” Have you heard that before? I’m callin’ bullsh*t right now.
Here’s an example: I love to read books at Barnes and Noble. I go there often and no one ever offered me money to read books. What the f*&%? I LOVE reading books, where’s my money?
Running a business is a whole new world compared to training clients under the roof of someone else’s gym. You have tons to think about, juggle, organize, constantly reinvent and improve upon. You need to take care of rent, pay the utilities, organize the scheduling of clients and coaches, handle memberships/payments, beready for Murphy’s Law and plenty more.
Every time you walk into your gym’s bathroom you’ll be wiping the piss off the toilet and cleaning the sink – every time. Why? Because you care, that’s why.
Sure, you might have someone who cleans for you, but the game changes when you’re the owner. You need to be the type of person who always does the extra, even when noone told you to do so.
You need to become a people person and have multiple personalities for each of your clients…and for their parents as well. Sometimes you need to lay the law down with the parents and tell them something no one ever told them. Sometimes you’ll kick out and get rid of clients because they bring down the energy of your gym, or their parents interfere with everything you do. And, you’ll have to do this even when you need the money.
Money that puts food on the table and a roof over your family’s head.
Dave Tate reinforced this to me years before I had the Underground Warehouse up and running. It’s called integrity and dignity. If someone is an asshole, it doesn’t matter how much money they throw your way, get them the f%&# out. Period.
Someone e-mailed me recently saying the main difference between him and I was Joe DeFranco. Other than that, all things were equal, including the fact that he had a high school diploma. He wanted my honest answer if he could be a success without marketing. He equated “marketing” with dishonesty, which says a lot about his future success, or lack thereof. Your marketing should be the straight-up truth.
What most don’t know, including the fact that they are morons themselves, is:
1. Those of us who run highly successful warehouse gyms, or any business for that matter, never give up.
2. We will walk through the jungle with a machete and kill or be killed. We won’t lie down and wait for others to take control. Instead, we’ll charge onward and upward to create our own destiny. There are no excuses and we claim full responsibility and accountability for our success or failure.
3. Successful business owners constantly invest in their eduction. I’m always investing in my education through a variety of resources: books, DVDs, CDs, mentorship courses, mastermind groups, etc. Tens and tens of thousands are invested. Notice I didn’t say “spent.” Education is an investment which, when properly implemented, brings about a powerful return on investment.
You need to be willing to fix problems that stop you from becoming successful.
If your warehouse gym isn’t pumping, then fix it. The problem is likely with your attitude and lack of action.
If you don’t give your athletes amazing results, fix it and learn better training methods.
If you wait for people to find out about your or spread the word, fix it and learn 100 ways to spread the word. Then you can market yourself to highly qualified prospects that are serious about becoming ultra successful in their sport.
If you don’t take care of your athletes like your own family, fix it. Treat them like your own family.
Always have a vision.
I had a clear vision of what I wanted to do with my business and it all began in a backyard and garage. I would stay up late – very late – reading EliteFTS articles and Joe DeFranco’s Q&A section to learn as much as possible. It took six months to schedule a consultation with Joe DeFranco, and this was when he was one-percent as busy as he is today.
From the very first e-mail I sent him, I stated I would pay for his time. I let him know I valued his time, something I see very, very few aspiring coaches showing today. I payed for my consultation two weeks before my wedding, a time where money was certainly not something I had much of at that time. But, I didn’t care how much it was, I knew it would help me fast-forward my success. You should be paying for knowledge as well. I’ve invested so much on my training and business knowledge. I understand that people do not give out their information for free. I also understood that my investment would come back ten fold, at minimum. One year before I left my teaching job behind, I invested $ 3,000 to have lunch with someone. It changed my life forever. That’s pretty cheap for one hour that changed my entire life and allowed me to spend more time with my family.
There will be haters.
Trust me, even if you live next to Joe DeFranco, you won’t suddenly become a successful business owner. Sorry, that’s just the truth. You need to work your ass off, study the business, learn the business and constantly improve. At the same time you must deal with people ripping you off, copying from your Web site, word for word, and crying and complaining to you.
People will hate you and try to break you down. With success, comes critics. Many will despise you for your success. F&*% ‘em, who cares? Remember who is important to you. It’s your athletes and your family. Friends? I doubt you can count your real friends on both hands, in fact, as you become more successful, make it one hand.
Once you have studied your ass off, trained your ass off, made countless sacrifices, invested tens of thousands of dollars, you will get daily e mails of people asking to stop by and “see what you do”.
Sure, come by, I’ll tell you everything I do, for FREE, and these freeloaders will be the people who complain the most and cry because an e book is more than $ 19. Boo Hoo.
If it makes you feel better, I’ll wash your car and mow your lawn. And if my wife and kids ask me why I’m gone for so long, I’ll tell them I’m doing it just to make YOU happy.
Remember who counts most: YOUR Family. Your family is also the members of your gym. The athletes I train are my family. I want them to succeed as I want my own children to succeed. I won’t make excuses for them or B.S. them either. If they are slackin’, disrespecting the gym in any way shape or form, they will be reprimanded. Some will be removed from the gym.
Running a gym requires business knowledge. Period. Call it marketing if you like, I don’t give a sh*t. If you lie and tell stories you’re
only marketing your own Bull Sh*t.
If you make excuses I don’t wanna hear them.
So, in a nut shell, you better be damn GREAT at what you do. Many will tell you to quit and do things differently. The Haters will come in droves, including those who you thought you were your “friends”.
You can cave in and let people push you around, or you can be a Gladiator and follow your gut instincts, keep your integrity and your dignity. Don’t let the a**holes bring you down.
If you an handle all this and more, then running your own warehouse gym is gonna be the best damn “job” you ever had.
PDF 
Zach Even–Esh is a performance coach for athletes and the owner of the Underground Strength Gym in Edison, New Jersey. You can learn more about his methods at http://ZachEven-Esh.com or http://UndergroundStrengthCoach.com. 
Big Z spreading THE TRUTH!
Always great to see articles like this. No BS, straight to the point hard work. I would like some day to run a business like this and these are the kinds of things I feel I need to be reading.
Seems written a bit over the top, but all in all, I totally agree with everything said.
Running a gym is the same as running any other type of business….because it IS a business. If you don’t have business acumen or ENJOY what it takes to be a “slimey business owner”, you’re better off continuing your job as a trainer for someone else.
Rock on…
“Over the top” here can easily be translated as passion. Sometimes it’s necessary in order to reach people. If this had been written any other way, I would have taken it as a bitching session. Instead, I feel excited and optimistic. Great article, man.
An eye opener, thanks Zach!
excellent article, it takes a lot of work, luck, passion, dedication, time and money to run a successful business. It doesn’t happen when you open the doors.
thanks for crashing the notion that a warehouse is just the same as a personal garage gym – ie, throw a bunch of equipment in some space and train. Nope, doesn’t work that way because a garage gym is private and a warehouse gym is a business. I think a lot of people need to learn this and see this article.
Wow!
You must be the most amazing person ever! An entire article dedicated to how awesome you must be to run a warehouse gym…. wow!
I didn’t realize how many awesome people there are in the world starting up their own warehouse gyms…??
Thanks for the wake-up call, Brotha.
Damn dude! You ruined my dreams!
I thought all I had to do was rent a warehouse and get some equipment! Do you mean I actually have to work at it? I honestly thought that by renting a warehouse, getting equipment and putting up a sign, that I’d be rich!
Thanks a lot Mr. Fun Crusher.
Hey, Zach.
“One year before I left my teaching job behind, I invested $ 3,000 to have lunch with someone. It changed my life forever.”
Who did you have lunch with?
U R THE MAN and I have dreams and aspirations of having my own gym one day. Thank you for the honesty
Good stuff as always Big Z!
I love it. Hardcore like a gym is ment to be. Straight up, no bullshit, in your face truth. I love it.
Excellent! My ultimate ambition is to run an underground gym too, and I know the sacrifices that are in store. So, I’m gonna take baby steps for now, and get a ikff teaching certification first.
Zach,
You are an inspiration
Regards,
Deep
Thanks for the inspiration I was looking for. I am in the process of opening a gym. I too realize it won’t be easy and there surely won’t be anyone around to do it for me. I just hope that i can be as successful as you Z.
Thanks Again,
John
Yes, Zach – who is the $3,000 lunch life-changer?
Good SHIT bro…. Very inspirational….
Roc
Zach,
Good article, but kind of self-glorifying, don’t you think?
Always great stuff Zach! Articles like this never get old for people who want to do this for a living; you can never hear it too much. Keep doing what you do!
Zach,
I especially appreciate the comments concerning “firing” the clients who bleed your atmosphere of it’s highest potential. It’s never easy, but it has to happen.
I, too, would be interested to hear how or why your meeting changed the course of your life.
Best regards,
Carson Boddicker
Excellent.
Guys like “toot” are the idiots who miss the point and suck.
And…firing problem clients is very hard at first, especially if you’re new and struggling….but, once you do, you’ll never look back. Have confidence that if you keep poundin away, you’ll replace the pain in the ass with someone better.
Zach,
Thanks for the info. Keeping your integrity and being true to yourself and your principles is tough when people throw money at you but aren’t willing to follow the “rules” of the gym, especially when you are starting out…but it has to be done. The same thing goes for kicking out a problem client.
Thanks again!
Shyam
Zach,
Again…thank you for being E5 Underground’s Mentor. Yes, I wipe the piss off the seats. Yes Rommel have to provide for our families. But having an Underground LIcense and sitting on our asses doesn’t make shit happen….gotta make it happen. Speed kills…and it sure does…Kills the competition.
Great trainer and a great guy. Super motivational even through a casual email. Here’s to your success!
Thanks! I needed that.
Wow! What a kick in the as*s! I sure needed that too!
Love your raw aggressive mentality! No B*S! No lie! Awesome!
No wonder why you’re a success now Z!
All the best! Gotta go back to work now…
Great article Zach! It shows you’re a real world guy and have “been there, done that, AND STILL DOING IT!”
The verbal “Smackdown” has been laid. Good stuff, Z. Open ears will listen and understand. Closed minds will continue to be lost & blind.
All great advice here, tnx for the inspiration. This was not harsh this is just how the sh!t rolls and how f*cked up some haters are. Basically I don’t think you should fight with the haters, just keep your focus on yourself, your business and your gym family.
One of the most inspiring pieces I have ever read.
call me crazy but every time I read this I get more amped up to open up shop!!!
Great resources. I want to share with you some of my experince about warehouse.
If you can help it- do not rent any space in South Florida from Gold Coast Beverage!
We rented a warehouse from Gold Coast Beverage in 2010 for some extra space. It was about 80,000 square feet- we got a good rate- or so we thought. The warehouse was located at 7007 NW 33rd Street in Miami.
We extended the lease in November of 2010 on a month to month basis. What we did not know, was that when it was time for us to give written notice to vacate, they would be very dirty with false claims of hold-over and other non-sense in a clear and calculated measure to steal our security deposit, which is close to $25,000.
We have since filed suit and will pursue our security deposit and all other remedies allowed by law.
There is a lot of commercial space to rent in Miami. If at all possible, stay away from the liars and losers of Gold Coast Beverage- and if you must rent space from them, negotiate for no security deposit- or find a good lawyer in advance so you will be prepared for their plans at the end of your lease.
Zach,
Thank you for your gym business Insights! As an independent gym owner who also created my gym from scratch, I can relate. Your point on investing in educating yourself is absolute! Also, you do need to consistently measure your goals and remain accountable to them. I am a software engineer at heart, and when I started my gym I realized that there was not the type of software out there to do just that. I then created some, and it has made my gym a success even though I have a bigger chain gym that moved in across the street 2 years after I opened my doors!
Awesome article. I am starting a franchise Anytime Fitness. I’m 50 years old and been an exec for multi million dollar company for years and now moving into ope info my own business.
What the article states is direct and honest and obviously first hand. I agree with the “attitude” and will re read it again. Any other advice would be appreciated. I ran a 20 million dollar division and understand how to run a business BUT, it’s not my business and I know I’m missing key points of knowledge to have a gym. I have been a personal trainer for years but that brings what, 20% of what is needed to own a gym? Lol.
Thanks for any other info.
Thank you for all the info. Very helpful as I want to start my own warehouse gym as well!
thanks for the article, I own a MMA gym and had it for 5 yrs now. IT SUCKS ASSS! I started training myself and had followers that got me to open a gym. The politics and bullshit with other gyms and events sucks balls. Even though this article is about a warehouse gym its the same bullshit in almost any other gym with memnbers wanting extra discounts and starting drama.
And dealing with billing companies that takes 20% of your members fee plus tax in Canada sucks ass, I’m left with nothing. I’ve seen in a course of 5 yrs 7 MMA gyms shut down within the first 3 yrs and the rest are fighting for crumbs. Fuck it I’m working at McD’s and just train myself and friends.