It’s 2014 — which means that 20 years ago we started ATLANTIC GYMNASTICS TRAINING CENTER in Portsmouth, NH. I’m always nostalgic on April 15 (Tax day here in the USA), thinking about how far we’ve come as company and how far I’ve come as an owner. On a day like today, I wish I could reach back into the past and talk to Tony Retrosi, 1994.
If I could talk to Tony 1994, here are eight things I would tell him:
1. Your team is everything: You won’t get very far with this gym without a fantastic group of people with you along the journey. Hire slowly, and fire fast. Pay close attention to what makes each person tick. Some of the people around you will become life-long friends. Cori has been with me since the day I opened. I need to remember to tell her how much I appreciate her.
2. It’s going to take longer than you think: Everything is going to take a lot longer, including developing the lesson plans, raising money, hiring a team and growing the business. Starting a gym isn’t a short-term affair. Be prepared for a very long ride.
3. Starting a gymnastics club can be full of heartache: The road you’re about to embark on will be a very tough journey, and you’re going to feel deep sadness and heartache along the way. You’ll be betrayed, tricked and ridiculed. But just know that around the bend is another day, and it does get better.
4. Don’t compare yourself to other gyms: Oh, this is so hard. But it’s critical to your sanity. You’re going to see other gymnastics clubs get more funding, have a bigger space, better equipment and other gym club owners start numerous gyms while you’re still working on this one. You’ll see club owners with more Twitter followers and gyms with more clients. Remember, you can only control your small sphere and you’ll drive yourself crazy trying to keep up with others. Figure out what is going to set you apart from the rest. Find your own identity. (CAUTION- Do not unnecessarily reinvent the wheel.)
5. Don’t worry about the competitions: You can spend lots of time worried about what your competition is doing, or you can focus on what you can control. Hire a great team, build a great product, and focus on revenue and costs of your own business. The competition will come and go, but you control your own destiny.
6. Raising money is very, very hard: It’s difficult to put into words just how hard it is to convince people to part with their money and invest it in your gym. Until you get the check in the bank, anything can happen. The key to success is presenting the company as an investment opportunity. Remember, people have lots of places they can invest their money. Find ways to get people truly excited to invest in your company.
7. Survive and advance: Like the NCAA basketball tournament (“March Madness”) it doesn’t matter how you win — just find a way to survive and advance. When you look back, the details will be fuzzy, but what you will always remember is that you found a way to survive. And that’s more than most entrepreneurs can say.
8. Form your own opinion: You’re going to be surrounded by lots of so-called experts along the way (ME INCLUDED!). Listen to what they have to say, but make sure you form your own opinion. It’s their 15 minutes of advice, but it’s your company. And you have to live with the decisions.
TONY SAYS: They say Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither are successful gymnastics clubs. In fact 99 percent of successful gyms grind it out every day and wake up many years later just hoping to have seen some success. Today, I’m going to pause for a moment to celebrate just how far we’ve come. What a ride it’s been!
Hi Tony,
I would like to start a gym and would like to know if you have any words of advice or an article on this topic that could help me out.
There are many good resources out there. USAG has some great articles. Frank at 3rd level consulting is also a great resource. Gym Con and any Regional or National Congress are awesome.
Remember- it is a business first!
Tony
Hi Tony, we currently own fitness facilities and are looking at expanding in to opening a gymnastics training facility ( the few that are located in And around Nashville are not the training centers that support gymnasts moving up.. some gymnastics places only go up to level 4 . Having opened up gyms we have learned quite a lot . I wanted to get an idea of what total cost would be to start …. understanding there are additional costs that will arise as time goes. Generally speaking what should we have on hand and expect to pay??
Hi, I’m 13 years old and I have done gymnastics for 4 years I’ve reached level 7- I want to start my own gymnastic club when I’m 16… I’m starting from complete scratch and have no idea how to begin… if you have advise please share with me*… I live in SA- the questions I have are: where do I get the equipment? Where do I get the papers of all the different kinds of stunts? Who do I contact if I want my students to enter a competition? Etc. Please help out
Kindly regard
Nadine
Every country would be a little different. I would contact the gymnastics federation in SA. See what materials they have.
Hi Tony! We live an hour and a half away from your portsmouth atlantic gymnastics center. There is a a high demand in our area for indoor sports and gymnasiums! I would love to open one in our town, so many of us moms travel so far just to go to you, would you consider a franchise up by us?
I could consider it. e-mail me more information tony at gymmomentum dot com
Dear Mr Tony,
I am very interesting to open a gymnastics facilities in country. There are only a very few gym facilities here . In my opinion, it will be an interesting business opportunity. Because many people are willing to exercise but there is no facilities.I would like if you could advice me on how to start it.
Hi there,
I have this big dream of opening a gym, and as you say “all start with a dream”.
I’m not sure yet of the location of the gym (France or USA as i’m a french recently working in the USA) but i would like to know if you were aware of franchises existing in this field? i’ve read that it’s more simple to open a franchise than to start a new “brand”.
thank you in advance for your answer
I also got the impression that for opening a gym, you have to have been a trainer or an elite gymnast and since i haven’t done any of it, i’m just a passionate girl, i would like to know if that could be a handicap in any way.
Sorry for the double post.
It is NOT rocket science. It does take a great deal of time and dedication. You need to have a working knowledge of gymnastics, childhood education and a good business plan.
HI, I WOULD LIKE TO OPEN A GYMNASTIC COMPANY,,WHAT IS THE FIRST THING I SHOULD DO,, MR TONY COULD YOU BE MY MENTOR
I will help anyway I can!
HI! I am planning to open my own gym once I graduate college and was wondering your opinion on what the best degree would be to do so! Thank YOU!
I have a degree in History and Psychology so I am a little biased towards liberal arts. I have always felt that if you know HOW to learn, how to look things up, how to ASK questions and how to listen you will be fine. No matter what your diploma is.
If I were to do it all over again with the knowledge that I would NOT be a history teacher, I would get a degree in economics and psychology. Psychology because it helps you understand the motivation of those around you. Whether it is a gymnast you are working with, a parent or even a vender.
Economics because in the end- you will have to take some chances and to understand the world of economics and how it effects your community and your business.
Best advice- get to know some REALLY smart people. Ask them a TON of questions.
Hire people that share your overall philosophy but have different ideas of HOW to get there.
Good Luck
Tony