In today's episode, Rick is excited to announce that Matt has bought a stake in the original Alloy Mothership gym. This gym is more than 30 years old and has never had any other owner prior to Matt acquiring a stake.Matt shares with us his long and interesting journey from stumbling upon Northpoint Personal Training as it was called back then to being a fitness director at the mothership location to being a VP of product design at Alloy Franchise.The biggest motivator for Matt to buy a stake was because right now is an excellent opportunity to invest in a fitness business. With vaccinations ongoing, the end is in sight, and once the pandemic is over, the fitness industry will roar back.Tune in to this episode to hear Matt's exciting journey and what being an owner-operator for the original Alloy gym means for him.Key TakeawaysMatt's amazing story from how he found Alloy to where he is now (01:23)How Matt became a director of fitness at the mothership location (04:01)Fast forward to being a VP of program design at Alloy Franchise (08:11)Why Matt Approached Rick for a stake in the gym (09:03)Why it's an excellent opportunity to invest in a gym right now (12:50)The role of the operating partner in a partnership (15:41)How we use our corporate locations to test new ideas before rolling them out to franchisees (17:50)Additional Resources:www.AlloyPersonalTraining.comLearn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity---------You can find the podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.If you haven’t already, please rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts!

In today's episode, Rick is joined by Jared Breen, our head Franchise Business Coach, to discuss why entrepreneurs should be ready to hear many nos without getting frustrated or quitting. It's not easy to hear so many nos and fail many times, but this just means you are working hard, and you will eventually succeed.A no is an opportunity to learn and get better. Everybody who ever encountered massive success in what they did had to hear many nos and failed a lot. But they took the nos, stacked knowledge, and experience to them and eventually got better.Hearing no builds character, skill, and passion. Rick and Jared encourage you to resolve to take no as an actual gift. You are building the skills and tolerance that will benefit you further down the road.Listen in to learn why hearing no is an actual gift and why great success is built on a lot of nos and failures.Failing is one of the greatest arts in the world. One fails toward success." ~ Charles KetteringKey TakeawaysYou have to plow through many no's to get to a yes (01:06)Planting seeds and building relationships for an eventual sale (05:29)A no is an opportunity to learn and get better (10:24)No builds resolve, skills, and passion (13:45)Taking the nos and stacking knowledge and experience into them (17:35)Resolve yourself to the fact that a no is a gift (19:14)Additional Resources:www.AlloyPersonalTraining.comLearn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity---------You can find the podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.If you haven’t already, please rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts!

As an expert or a personal training brand, not only should you really understand your craft, but you should also manage your member's health and fitness in the gym and outside of it. That's why we always talk about nutrition, supplements, and other important health advice.In this episode, we debunk the 3 most common myths that exist in the fitness industry. With these myths out of the way, we hope you will give the right advice to your clients as they righty expect.The first myth we debunk is the one thing all clients want to do when they come to the gym. We are talking about static stretching. At Alloy Fitness, we don't do much stretching because it doesn't have much impact. Even though stretching feels good to the client, as fitness experts, we should do more to increase their mobility.Tune in to hear Rick and Matt debunk this and other myths and increase your fitness knowledge and ultimately educate your customers when they come to you for help.Key TakeawaysWhy we don't do a lot of static stretching (04:19)Mobility vs. Flexibility (05:41)Is unstable surface training effective? (13:33)How to train for balance with an unstable load (16:27)Does lifting heavy weights make women bulky? (20:22)Why most people would benefit from strength training (23:24)Additional Resources:www.AlloyPersonalTraining.comLearn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity---------You can find the podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.If you haven’t already, please rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts!

The explosion in popularity of digital fitness streaming services poses a significant challenge to the brick and mortar fitness business model. Aided by AI, digital fitness is becoming more and more intuitive and appealing to a broader spectrum of people.Notwithstanding this meteoric rise of digital streaming fitness services, Rick and Matt believe that the brick and mortar fitness model is not dead. The secret lies in appreciating that in fitness, there exist two distinct markets; the younger customer avatar and the active aging population.Coming out of Covid, the success of the brick and mortar studio will largely depend on your customer avatar and how well you manage to convince them to come back to the gym. One strength that brick and mortar studios have is the human accountability and the community factors, which we believe will work in our favor.Tune in to this episode and learn how the brick and mortar fitness model can adapt to change and market around our competitive advantages to survive.Key TakeawaysThe interesting numbers and age spectrum of people consuming digital fitness (01:28)Understanding the fitness market and the different customer avatars (03:35)How digital streaming is disrupting the fitness industry (04:36)Why human accountability will be a significant factor in bringing people back to the gym (09:15)How we can adapt to tech change and move forward with it (16:10)Creating a nice community experience for your gym members (19:58)Additional Resources:www.AlloyPersonalTraining.comLearn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity---------You can find the podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.If you haven’t already, please rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts!

Did you know that 70% of business partnerships fail? That's right, most partnerships fail due to some mistakes that the partners make early on. In this episode, Rick and Suzanne talk about their business partnership and why it has worked for a long time.The first thing to consider is choosing the right partner. Business partners should have trust and respect for each other and have complementary skills. It's super important to have clearly defined roles for each partner, ensuring that each person knows their duties and responsibilities to the business and what happens if they don’t perform them. All these arrangements and expectations are then brought together in a formal partnership operating agreement that clearly defines the nature of the partnership, including the exit plans and other scenarios that may crop up.Listen in to this episode to learn more about business partnerships and how to do them right from the beginning.Key TakeawaysWhy 70% of business partnerships fail (01:14)How to choose the right business partner (02:29)Why it's very important to have clearly defined roles in a partnership (07:09)Why you need a partnership agreement (09:45)Business partners should have complementary skills sets (12:10)Why it's a smart thing to have a formal operating agreement (13:59)Planning a partnership exit plan (19:00)Additional Resources:www.AlloyPersonalTraining.comLearn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity---------You can find the podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.If you haven’t already, please rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts!

As many gym owners will be quick to point out, the fitness industry has taken a beating and has been unfairly targeted in the past year. However, there's a great opportunity right now in the industry as there's plenty of real estate available and some great markets to venture into.In this episode, Rick and Jared talk about the where and the how of finding and building out real estate for your fitness business. As you'll be hearing from them, where you put your gym and who you put in charge are the two most important determinants of success.Before settling on one location over another, there are some metrics that we use at Alloy Personal Training Franchise to decide if we are giving the business the best chance for success. Some of these metrics include population density, average household income, drive time, and many more.Finding the best location for your fitness business is just one step in the process. There are numerous other details you should be on the lookout for before you sign that lease. Tune in to this episode to learn more about this process and how to do it right!Key TakeawaysThe demographics for a personal training studio (03:14)How drive-time and traffic patterns influence the location of a fitness business (05:59)How easy is it to get in and out of your shopping center (08:01)Low-level retail space vs. high-end malls (09:11)How to estimate buildout costs before signing the lease (10:58)The sweet spot between a nice build out and getting a return on investment (12:41)Additional Resources:www.AlloyPersonalTraining.comLearn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity---------You can find the podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.If you haven’t already, please rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts!

There is no one in the world who doesn't benefit from sales training or a scripted sales process. Even the most talented salespeople are 80% more effective when they sell with a system rather than just shooting from the hip.However, the context of today's episode is related to marketing hooks and unqualified leads. One marketing hook that many people in the fitness space have been doing that rarely works in the long term is offering a free trial or challenge. Any person attracted by a free challenge is not an ideal customer, as historical data reveals. And certainly not in the personal training model. Digital bait and switch hooks will not bring in the right customer to your business.Are you too good at sales? Tune in to this episode to learn why your marketing strategy may not be working for your brand.Key TakeawaysWhy you should sell from a scripted sales process and system (00:58)The one marketing hook that drives people crazy (02:18)Being too good at sales can lead to attracting the wrong customers (05:14)Finding the ideal client for your business (06:40)How marketing hooks can make the relationship transactional rather than relational (10:57)Bait and switch hooks will not bring in the right client (11:34)Additional Resources:www.AlloyPersonalTraining.comLearn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity---------You can find the podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.If you haven’t already, please rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts!

As a gym owner, you have to make the decision whether to offer annual or monthly memberships or even both. It is not a straightforward decision since your membership structure affects other functions in the business as well.Over the years, the fitness industry has changed its approach to memberships largely because how we purchase other services has changed as well. Almost everybody in the world of subscriptions is doing month to month, that consumers have come to expect.Selling an annual membership doesn't have any tangible benefits over a month to month. Even the retention rates between these two structures are comparable. Additionally, it's much easier to sell monthly memberships over annual memberships, thus simplifying your sales processes.Tune in to this episode and hear Rick and Matt discuss the differences between annual and monthly memberships for your gym and what we do here at Alloy!Key TakeawaysAnnual membership agreements vs. month to month agreements (01:28)Why consumers have come to expect the month to month memberships (05:41)How the retention rates compare between annual and monthly memberships (09:04)Why it's much easier to sell month to month memberships (10:01)How the monthly memberships remove the extra barriers in the buying cycle (12:06)How your membership structure affects your marketing and sales processes (13:55)Additional Resources:www.AlloyPersonalTraining.comLearn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity---------You can find the podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.If you haven’t already, please rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts!

Occam's razor is a theory advanced by medieval times philosopher known as William Ockham, which states that the simpler explanation of any two is usually the right one. It gives preference for simplicity when looking for solutions or causes of problems.The razor part relates to shaving things down to the simplest solution. Entrepreneurs are always solving problems, but sometimes we make things more complex than they need to be. All things being equal, the simplest solution tends to be the best one.In the fitness space, Occam's Razor Theory can be used when dealing with your team and also with your clients. For your team, the processes and steps need to be the easiest and most efficient for achieving the desired outcome.Whether you are an entrepreneur or a coach, you need to understand this theory. Tune in to this episode and hear Rick explain how it relates to fitness and how you can apply it for greater results.Key TakeawaysWhat is Occam's Razor theory? (01:08)How we overcomplicate it in the fitness space (03:52)How to apply the Occam’s Razor with your team (06:29)At the end of the day, it's a lot easier if you go with the simplest solution (09:44)How the Occam's Razor could help clients move better (17:58)Occam's Razor vs. Hickman's Dictum (21:39)Additional Resources:www.AlloyPersonalTraining.comLearn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity---------You can find the podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.If you haven’t already, please rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts!

Does it make sense to convert your existing facility into an alloy franchise? Ever since we announced the new smaller pod model, which is simpler and less expensive, we have had multiple inquiries from gym owners on whether they can rebrand and convert their existing facilities to an Alloy Franchise.In this episode, Rick and Matt take us through why you would convert an existing facility to an Alloy Franchise and how to go about it. We also talk of the criteria we go through to determine if one is a good fit for the brand.Among the many whys of converting to an Alloy Franchise is that it's lonely as an entrepreneur. Having a franchise behind you for support can make all the difference. Franchising is a partnership that helps the franchisee grow quicker.  Another important why is the scalability factor. You are more likely to scale to multiple locations with an Alloy Franchise than when you are on your own.Tune in to this exciting episode to learn more about why converting an existing fitness facility to an Alloy franchise makes a lot of sense and how to go about it!Key TakeawaysDoes it make sense to rebrand an existing fitness facility to an alloy franchise (01:02)Why a franchise is a partnership that helps us grow quicker (02:24)How scaling and selling a business is much simpler with a franchise (04:49)Your chances of success are fivefold higher with a franchise than on your own (10:02)How to qualify financially for an Alloy franchise (12:37)Our systematic criteria for selecting an Alloy location (14:07)Retooling an existing facility to fit the Alloy brand specs and design (19:24)Additional Resources:www.AlloyPersonalTraining.comLearn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity---------You can find the podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.If you haven’t already, please rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts!