Ep12: Scaling to 5 Locations and 8 Trainers With Blake Randall

What's going on, everyone? My name is Matt. I'm the host of the PT Profit, Leverage and Lifestyle show. I've got an awesome guest for us today. He's been on a similar journey to myself being a PT in the industry for I don't know exactly how long, but quite a long time. He's scaled to multiple locations, multiple team members as well. So I've got Blake Randall. How are you today, my friend?

Mate, I'm really well, thank you so much for having me.

No worries, my friend. So we'll, we'll dive into your story as well because you've got quite, quite an inspiring story. We were just talking just before we started recording that you, that you won another award at Snap Fitness for your, your performance. I think it was like this year gone or 20, 23, I think.

23, yeah. Nice.

So I suppose we'll dive into your journey as well. So give us a rundown of, you know, what you do, where you're at in the industry, how long you've been in the industry for, and give us a rundown of where you're at.

Yeah, so present day, just for a bit of context. So we solely operate out of five different Snap business clubs, a couple of corporate and the rest of franchise owned and myself and my wife, we start our company in a power coaching back in 20, 20, 18 and since then we've scaled up to those five locations as well as having eight coaches as well. So that's where we're currently at present day, obviously leading into, I guess backstory wise, not always that hunky dory and it took a little bit to get here.

Yeah, for sure. I'd love to obviously dive into, you know, the challenges of scaling and, and also talk about like the lifestyle of what you've created and also the lifestyle that you've created for your team as well. But let's, let's dive back into when you were first starting. So obviously you got the five locations now, which is, which is awesome. How did you. Well, actually let's, let's talk about managing yourself first before you went scale because that's obviously a huge part of being able to scale. Obviously there'll be challenges, but let's talk about what is, what is required before you take the first steps into scale. What do you need to be doing not only in your business, but what do you need to work on yourself before you start to scale?

Well, yeah, this would be 24 will be my 9th year in the industry and when I remember when I first began, obviously when you graduate, they don't really teach you a heck of a lot when it comes to operation side of things, when it comes to anything in terms of marketing, sales. And so you're, you're kind of like, all right, like, I'm ready to train people, I'm ready to go. And, and it kind of hits you within the first kind of fortnight that nothing's going to be given to you on a silver platter. So my first ever gym, it was at a big box. And I just remember, like, feeling, okay, I'm surrounded by coaches who have been in the industry for a lot longer than I have some 20 or so years. There's, you know, 20 plus coaches at that facility as well. And so I'm like, all right, well, what do I, what do I do? You know, what's like, like I said, they don't, they don't really teach you any of this stuff. So the, the, the harsh reality is like, there's so much navigation at the very early days, when the early days mean the first one to two years. So the first thing that I really tried to do was I was like, all right, well, how do I track numbers? Because if this is a game of numbers, initially, like, and that's one of what one of my first coaches told me was it's just about numbers. More conversations you have, more people you meet, the more phones and emails you get, more contacts you get, eventually that's going to lead to something. And so initially it was just like, all right, well, how do I get those numbers? And so the first thing I'd say in terms of managing yourself is like, what's the initial focus? Because I think the. For a lot of coaches, they will see trainers who jump on Instagram and they will post so much about themselves and they might have a lot of followers, but it doesn't actually equate into any sort of traction or into any sort of, you know, a sale or something, you know, transactional there. So the, the first thing is know the numbers and then reverse engineer. Okay, well, if, if my goal is to get to, let's just call it the base level, which is, you know, $2,000 in a week revenue. What numbers do I have to hit to be able to get to that specific number? And usually overestimating that will. You'll tend to get there a little bit quicker as well. But yeah, first couple of years, it's just a lot of chasing, towel running around because you have to close this ignorance gap of, like, people know stuff that I don't so how do I close this gap? And that. And that definitely was my first couple years in industry.

Yeah, I love it. So when you. When you say just to kind of break it down. So it's super simple. When you say reverse engineer, let's. Let's just give an example. So if you want to make $2,000 per week. Yeah. Did you reverse engineer that?

What.

What numbers would you be tracking?

Yeah, I mean, I think off to my head, if you have roughly $60 a session, and from that, you're looking at roughly 20 or so members who are doing twice a week, that after GST equates to around 2000. Now, how do you get to that initial 20 that you need to be on twice a week? Well, that then just comes back down to your lead flow. And then obviously, how do you get that sort of lead flow? Well, you need more contacts with different people. You need more lists. You need more ways to be able to attract people into your world or to be able to give you those details as well. So that's just kind of like a baseline example. But my first goal, like when I first started the industry was like, if I could make 1200 bucks in a week, I would be balling. You know, those were 10 years ago. But I would just be like ball and bees knees. I'm. I'm able. I remember, like, I was like, yeah, look, because I was, you know, before that, I was at a basketball academy. And I just remembered, you know, I'll train my people in the morning and then, you know, throughout the whole day, I'll be able to practice basketball and go to courts and then come back in the afternoon. I'll have the cruisest last, however. But the reality is, it's like you're running a company, and even if you're not incorporated as a company, the company is just you. And so the. The second you start treating what you're doing as a coach, as a company, and you look at how companies run, that there are systems and there are ways to do things, that's when you start to see a difference in growth.

Yeah. 100 agree. So when you. So you've got. Obviously the first year or two was kind of. Kind of doing whatever you. Whatever you could to, you know, to get by. Was there. Who did you learn off? You said There was like 20 trainers in that first gym. Was it more you were pick. Picking their brain a little bit to see what worked, what didn't work? You were like, what. What were you researching?

Yeah, I mean, look, hindsight's A funny thing, because a lot of them had been there for quite some time, but the reality was they were just kind of seeing the same people that they had started with as well.

So.

You know, you could almost make the case that they were just. Some of them were just kind of right place, right time when those kind of people walk through the door and they just managed to be able to retain them, which is great, but, you know, to be able to. Then I think the main thing was if I was to be lifted up and put into another facility, would I still be able to duplicate what I could, what I had then with the same knowledge and skill set? So the, the first thing was I was part of a couple of different Facebook groups that, that did have coaching there. And one coach, one coaching program went fantastic. The other one was really not fantastic. Now the irony of that is the one that was really not fantastic was roughly like a hundred times the investment than the one that was fantastic. Which there is a lot of irony in that because usually people say you get what you pay for and whatnot. But I think the reality is when you go to someone who is industry specific specific, when you go to someone who is like walked the same track that you want to walk, that. I mean, that, that, that is all that matters. And when I went to this other mob who was just kind of focusing just around coaching and business coaching, but they didn't actually know a day in the life of, in my shoes, that's when there was a bit of red flags and I knew pretty quickly that I made the wrong decision there. So the first couple of years of navigating was really just trying to find that right mentoring that has already done what I'm looking to do. And I eventually found someone who had done that went then just full time business coaching, but it was pretty old school in the approach and, and I took what I needed from it and it eventually, it eventually, you know, got me. Got me on the run rate, which it did as a. As a solo operator.

Yeah, it's interesting, Interesting you say that as well, because I was the same. Like, I've. I've always invested in people as well, but I always tried to find people that had already done what I wanted to do. Because how do you, how do you know that they actually know what challenges you're going to face? How do you know if they actually know how to navigate certain things that you're going to experience?

Yeah, and I think the, the one thing on that you got to look at too is, is the timeline is is this person three years ahead of you? Are they 20 years ahead of you? Because someone who's 20 years ahead of you isn't going to be relevant to you right now. You know, they're going to be talking a whole different language. You know, someone who says they're a seven figure coach is going to be a lot different to someone who says my goal is to get you to a quarter of a million or six figures. Right. There's, there's the, the principles apply, but the, the, the scale that it occurs is a different. And I think that was the issue with mine. Mine was I'm just a solopreneur. This guy's trying to sell me to get to some seven figure dream. Right. But, but it just wasn't applicable to me at the time.

Yeah, for sure. Love it. Let's. So, so obviously you're at this stage, you're a couple of years in. So when, when did you start to, when did you make the decision that you wanted to go into multiple locations or multiple team members? What, what point was that?

Yeah, so I think there was a capacity that I sort of reached which was roughly 20 plus 25 hours I think of face to face contact and I remember we're getting to Friday and I'll just be exhausted, like absolutely taxed. And there was an opportunity for the assistant manager at the club that I'm at snap finish that was at. I am at. So then she wanted to come on board as a coach. And this same coach was experienced in, you know, I think he had a team of 20 coaches or something back in the early 2000s. So utilize the same sort of scripts, same sort of contracts, everything like that, and then brought that on that person within the first two years. So obviously at that time I knew how to market and sell to an extent for myself, but then it's a whole other world to be able to then market and sell as a brand. You know, you need to be able to sell because you're not selling another person, you'll sell another coach. You're selling the brand and the vision for that particular person too. And so that was something that needed to be navigated as well. And that was another kind of step in a, in a direction of instead of it just thinking about yourself so much you need to think about, all right, this is a company and this company is going to have multiple seats, multiple seats that need to be filled. So, so how do we fill them? And just that, that kind of switch in mentality you then. Because I think the main thing Is as coaches, we just get, we can get all consumed at ourselves now, I guess, our own, you know, numbers and whatnot. But the reality is if you look at it as a company, you start to act more as the operator as opposed to just the technician within the world, within the weeds of the things.

Love it. Very good. So when you. So you obviously brought on one coach, so what was the first step to be able to do that? Were you more. Because the perception that a lot of people would have is you're going to be doing more work now. So you're already exhausted, but now you're going to be doing more work because you're going to have to, you know, do sales or marketing for this other trainer. So how do you navigate that? Was it more. Did you leverage some of your own sessions to, to fill up more time or, or how did that work?

Yeah, step, step one is you obviously want to, you know, looking back on this, this is really important, but you obviously want to ensure with whoever you bring on, you got to manage expectations with that first initial person and those expectations are going to be like, hey, look, like you just got to be honest, like, hey, you know, this is the vision we're heading. This is the first time we're doing this. But you know, you being this position is such a ground floor level of opportunity, right? And so having that initial communication of it's not, not saying it's not going to be smooth, but it's also you're in uncharted waters together. And you know, sometimes that's a, that's a hard thing to say and that can deter a person, but hopefully only to then bring the right person on who is excited for that particular outcome. So the first thing is managing expectations with that initial staff member. Obviously then you want to get your contract sorted, you want to get that in order. If you're at a franchise, I mean, that's where you need to be able to talk to the franchisee and say, hey, look, this is the vision that I have moving forward. This is the opportunity that is in front of me and this is how it's going to benefit you as a franchisee, to be able to take this off your shoulders. So none of the clubs that we're at have had to do any sort of, in the last five or so years have had to do any sort of hiring, any sort of outsource in that regard, have to worry about managing coaches or anything like that, because that's what we do. Now you talk about the thing in terms of, is it going to be more work. Not necessarily, it's just going to be different. Right. So as opposed to being on the tools as much and you know, I've got, you know, 8, 10, 15 sessions back to back, it's going to be more. So how do you make this other person more successful? Because how early start SMEs work is, if your staff are successful, then the company is going to be successful overall. And so making sure that, you know, the wages are high and making sure that the session volume is high as well and making sure they're satisfied, that's, that's really the main key. Once they hit a certain number, be it, you know, 20 to 25 clients for that particular person, that's when you can look to get another coach as well.

Yeah, it's a good point you made about setting expectations, but I also think they also need to give you the expectations on what they're looking for as well. Because I've had trainers that, and we'll talk about lifestyle in a second, but I've had some trainers that like, I've had trainers do 60, 65 sessions a week of 30 minute sessions. They just want to hustle, hustle, hustle, hustle, hustle. But I've had other people that are like, just give me like 20 sessions a week. It's like, you know, 10, 15 hours a week and I'll be sweet. So let's, let's talk about lifestyle for a little bit there of, let's take it back to the lifestyle of what you can, you can make as a solo PC and then also the lifestyle of what it looks like if you wanted to scale into, you know, multiple trainers.

Yeah, I think a lot of people ask me about hiring teams and, and whatnot and they say, oh, do I, is this necessary for me to be successful? It's not necessarily. I mean, I think there's many different avenues on pathways, you know, a coach can take once they hit us, excuse me, a certain capacity. So I guess the, the kind of three main avenues people take once they get booked up face to face is they'll either go online, which is one, and they'll try and run a bit of a hybrid, or they will go more semi private and you know, do more group focus coaching there. I think both avenues are great and to be honest, if like, you know, if there is a coach who's on the fence about do I hire? And then obviously the third is know, obviously grow on your team. So with those avenues in mind, you go hybrid, semi private and obviously scaling out A team you then got to pick like what makes more sense for you over the next few years and what it is that you actually enjoy. Now Obviously you know, in a semi private side of things you're going to have to really want to enjoy being on the tools a lot because you know your, your product then is still you. But you got to hope that because it's group that that kind of takes care of a lot of the marketing because you can, you know, push for a lot more referrals because there's that kind of intimate group side of things. For the coaching world online, that's where you kind of run into some hurdles because you're now competing with the likes of people who have marketing budgets that per month that you're going to earn more per year. You know, like you sweat and everything like that. So there is a place for that, but it is a whole nother world. And then obviously with the team, you know, you're looking at building out to be the most known, the most recognizable, the most reputable in the area. And that's, that's the role that I took because you know, I, I grew up here, I know this market really well and I know there was a big gap in the market for know, for high class onetoone training. So the, when it comes to lifestyle, all three, all three are going to require work. But the, the reality is is you just need to know when to put certain limits on your days and you need to structure your day to actually incorporate what times you are going to do marketing, what times you are going to do onboarding, what times you are going to do sales, what times you are going to rest, and when you can structure your week like that, when your calendar is full, as long as it's full, including rest period, well then your productivity is going to go through the roof a lot more. So that's, that's a big thing because the, the intensity it takes to start something is going to fiddle you out over the long term. Over the long term, what you're looking to do is be more consistent at the same things over and over again. And for me, like I don't want to be known as the guy who did it as quickly, you know, like to me, because if you do it really, really quick, like there's obviously going to be hurdles, there's going to be challenges that just come out of nowhere. You're not going to, you're still going to be on uncharted waters. But if you're going to set like a five year milestone that I'm going to stay dedicated to this for the next five years and then you zoom out of that five years and you plan accordingly to that. That takes a lot of stress off your shoulders. And then you, you're not going to make as many short term decisions as well. So planning out the entire calendar but also having a five year dedication to the particular modality that you're choosing as well just puts things in the right perspective too.

Yeah, just on that as well. It's a really good point having that five year plan because I was talking to another mate of mine, Lewis, he was actually on the podcast last week and he was saying the reason why he's being so productive now is because he's got a really clear vision and a really clear purpose which aligns with his values and he fills up his calendar to reflect his highest value. So he's always fulfilled with what he's doing every day, which makes him super productive, which means he can get more done, but then also have the lifestyle and you know, the freedom to do what he wants with, with his highest values, which is, you know, like coaching, spending time with his, with his partner in relationships. But I think you're right as well, forces you to think more long term and long term decisions rather than making short term decisions as well.

So and on that, yeah, very seldom do you hear like, okay, like this company is a, is a, is a fast start. You know, then AFR there's something called the Fast Start 100 and talks about growth, you know, year on year. Very seldom do those companies actually stay growing at the same pace or, or actually on any of those lists in five, eight years time. Right. Because they sell off or they, or anything like that could happen. You know, obviously in our industry we experience that just recently with F45, you know, we saw in 10 years all this growth, the shareholders sold off and then all of a sudden it's, it's, it's not a company anymore. You know, there's little franchisees here and there, but from my understanding, like they're no longer on the, on the nasdaq. Right. So my main thing is like having that long term approach takes a lot of the stress off of you to be able to push and push because all we see like in a, in a day and age of meme coins and you know, stuff like that pump and dumps. When it comes to this guy earned, you know, in 12 days, he earn 100k just by doing a meme coin. It sends the wrong message to actual legitimate business owners. And then they think, well, if I just go up to this shiny, shiny object, then I'm going to be more successful. But it couldn't be further from the truth. Like slow predictive growth, year on year is always going to outpace and outlast the guys who go 0 to 150% the first three years and eventually fizzle out 100%.

Just going back to, you know, obviously those three revenue streams with, you know, online, semi private and obviously scaling to a team like I, I actually did it a bit the wrong way around. I actually started as an online trainer which was, which is good back before everyone kind of jumped on board. But I feel like just if we can cover this because I think a lot of people, a lot of personal trainers get so fascinated with how online PT works. It's more so that they do. I'd almost say they're more so doing it for themselves to have the, you know, the, the lifestyle. But they don't really think about how much work is actually involved because it is literally a completely different ball game compared to doing face to face. What are your thoughts on, on that?

Yeah, very, very rarely have I seen online do well. Now obviously there are many who do very well, but if I can, you know, if you compare accounts, you know, sure, you've got six pack abs and you've got great glutes and you're able to show that off. But what is the actual message you're trying to convey that's going to separate you from the, the, the people in Denmark and the people in the Netherlands and the people in, you know, all these other European countries who are starting as well. Right. And who also have a great landing page and also spend hundreds of thousands every year marketing too. So it's just, it, it's not something that I've, I've done myself or put a lot of time, effort or energy into because the initial thing in terms of, yeah, you're going to be on a computer a lot and the scalability of it is going to be tricky. If you have the right mentor, anything's possible. But in terms of lifestyle, I mean, you're going from inside the gym to behind a computer and I think you and I both agree on that. So yeah, it's not something that I've navigated myself. I'm sure there's success stories out there. I'm sure one day you'll interview someone who is a success story in that. But for every one person who attempts to. So for every 100 people who attempt to go online. I think in three years time, only one to five of them will probably still be there online successfully.

Yeah, for sure. Yeah. I think, you know, a lot of people have the, like their social media says a different story to what's actually happening. You know, I know a lot of people that have a, you know, have a job part time or full time and then do some online stuff to get some extra income. But I think a lot of people just do it as a bit of a side hustle.

Yeah. And I think there is a case to be made where as a face to face coach, you obviously need to create reputation and that's where you can create, you know, your testimonials and your before and afters. But I think I personally I would go insane like if I didn't have the face to face, if I didn't have some component of technician. Right. I'm going to be disconnected. And so there's a case to be made where you hit a certain threshold and then you, you know, you tap that threshold out. Let's, let's say that threshold is, you know, 15, 20 hours of face to face tops a week. Then everyone else then goes on to the lower barrier to entry offer, which could be the online thing. You know, it depends as well on pricing. You know, there are people who are pricing online training for $7 a month like you, Chris Hensworth and then there are others who are doing $10,000 for a booty program. And so then you got to think about, okay, well what area of the market are you going to really fit into? But, but both require work and so you got to have, you can't just dabble in a little bit here and a little bit there. Like both require a big, big amount of attention. So yeah, going back to that five year vision of, of what it is you want it to grow into, that's really key.

Yeah, love it. Let's, let's dive into, I suppose what, what it's like to be able to scout to multiple team members but also multiple locations. You know, that's obviously the route that I went down. I do some semi private stuff as well. But the main part that I did was multiple teams, multiple locations. So how do you. I'd love to dive into and we spoke before we started here on lifestyle of your team. Do you want to, do you want to dive into, you know, a little bit about what we were talking about beforehand and I suppose the importance of the lifestyle in your team and I suppose managing a team as well?

Yeah, I feel like there's Unless you know, you're on that grind 247365 up at 5am every day and you know, finishing at 3pm on a Saturday, like you know that for whatever reason and train his minds. I don't know where it stems from because I was definitely that way too. Like that's what's seen as successful. You know, you see that person's Instagram story that it's, it's, you know, 3:59 and they're rocking up for the first session, that type of thing. One of the things we're talking about beforehand, before we went live, was fact that none of my staff work on a Monday morning, none of them work on a Friday afternoon, and by no means will any of them ever work on a Saturday or a Sunday. That is a complete, complete no, no. And so the first thing is like that is already, technically speaking, a four day week if you take the first portion of Monday and the second portion of the Friday. But reality is, a lot of people began to be a coach because they saw such benefit in themselves training, having progression and seeing success in this particular area of their life. The last thing I want them to do is to lose that passion for training for themselves as well, because that is also what fuels their motivation to their clients as well, to our clients as well. So the main thing you got to look at is, all right, well, we've taken someone's initial passion that they've had since they might have been a teenager, we put them in this, it's now changed into a box that they live in for six days a week. There's only so many people who can sustain that for a period of time before you start to resent going to work. Right. And we're blessed to be in an industry where we're not dictated by weather. Most people, when they at least get into the workout itself, get the endorphin release and they're happy, you know what I mean? Like, like we are so blessed to be in that environment. The last thing I want to do as, as a director of a company is have my staff no longer enjoy what their initial passion was. And being on the floor is one of those passions. So in terms of lifestyle, like, that's one of the main things I want to preach. I don't want to be this, this director who's up in some ivory tower either and just being like, all right guys, you know, you guys work 40 hours a week each and then I just, you know, go to go to Hawaii for three months of the year, like that would be disingenuous as well. So, you know, when you do start to hire coaches, they want to see that you're on the floor 5 to 20% of the time as well as a technician. So it's not just you barking orders, but they actually see that you're also, you know, have that, that, that direct to consumer touch I think as well.

Like obviously, you know, being a leader with that many people I think could also like, they obviously want to learn off you as well. So if they can, you know, gather tips or, or strategies to build better relationships with clients, that's obviously going to help with their retention of clients as well, which obviously therefore helps you as well. But I think that's one thing that perhaps I could have done a bit more of because I, I got off the tools pretty fast. For me, when I was scaling like I was probably only on the floor for one and a half years, maybe two years tops. I've been a PT for four years. So I, I got pretty hooked on the sales and marketing side of things. But do you think you'll ever get off the tools or do you think you, you have to always set that example, being on the tools a little bit?

Yeah. I mean all growth is, is this sales, marketing, led. And I think the perfect kind of split would be, you know, 80% of your time is in sales and marketing, depending upon what phase you're particularly in, what season, you know, and then, and then 20% is going to be technician. I would put in that sales and marketing though, I would put that under acquisition. And then you obviously have the operations and operations is the side of things where you are leading and managing the team as well. So that, I think that 5 to 20% is the same reason why Tony Robbins still does seminars, Jack Telosa still does seminars. All these people are still on stage after 30 to 40 years of, of being, of doing it. It's not just their name that they're using and then other coaches following that. You know, like the most successful people even, you know, like Richard Branson is known as the one guy who delegates and so much, which is great. And for all of his 40 virgin operations, he just has his assistant who then gives him the main stuff to fix and then he just fixes that in most other circumstances or in all other circumstances with his companies. He has CEOs that basically, or COOs that basically run the day to day operations. And so, you know, I think having that in place as well is going to be critical moving forward too for myself, where you Know, you have someone who's more of a visionary and then someone else is more of the integrator. And so usually as sometimes, you know, as the, the entrepreneur, you're more of the visionary because you, you are leading people to get to a certain destination or get to a certain ideal vision. And then you hire people better than you to integrate some of the things or to keep you grounded enough to know, well, this is where we're at and this is the next sort of project. That's the next sort of project. That's next sort of project. So they bring you back down to earth and then those two things can work together. Right. So I know that was a long winded answer to all that, but I, I don't think it's, it's the same for everyone, but all you need to do is look at the people who are most successful in their field. You know, you know, everyone that people, you know, people who listen to all the personal development stuff on the planet. Those guys are still delivering to some extent and, and that is the showcase of who they are, but also showing to the team that they're just not going to sit in some ivory tower as well.

Yeah, I think, I think they also, because they also still obviously see that as one of their highest values. So I think it also gives them a level of, you know, fulfillment. I don't, it's not like they don't enjoy doing it. I don't think. I don't think.

I still, Yeah, I still, you know, ch. So my main, I mean, that's the thing, like with myself now, my main coaching day is a Tuesday and Thursday. You can't, you can't book me on any other day really. And so, you know, one of the main things I've done in the last two years that, that Dan Henderson told me to do was per theme, particular days. And so you have days which focus on acquisition, days which are focused more on management, days which are focused more on, on, on coaching as well. And, and then once again, that's going back to the very first thing we discussed. That's how you really prioritize your time as well.

Yeah, let's, let's dive into a few systems that, because there's a lot of personal trainers that listen to this podcast that are currently just solo, I have the vision of eventually, you know, perhaps even, you know, getting into hiring a team. What type, what type of systems do you think they need to get set up first before they start to look at other team members to bring on board?

Yeah, well, I think the first thing is open and clear communication as we said to the particular, you know, if you are a rental based trainer to, to the particular franchisee and obviously framing it in how it's going to benefit them the most. If you are, you know, I'm very fortunate to be, you know, I know I've been a coach for eight, nine years now, but I've been part of the Snap Fitness network for, since 2012 as a member as well. So there's a lot of relationships that I had pre existing there and there's already that kind of rebuilt foundation of trust. So you need to be able to have that initial trust with whoever you're. You might see yourself as a rental trainer but reality is it's still a partnership because you're looking after their members and technically they also become your members of your company as well. So that's a partnership. So the first thing is always be on the same page with the franchisee and always put it in writing obviously how it's going to be in their best interest. But obviously get those contracts mapped out. You know, you want to get some of the stuff in con in writing such as like, you know, if one trainer leaves then they have to leave the entire facility at once. You know, that's never really happened to myself, thank God. But I have heard some horror stories of, you know, trainer leaves a particular organization but stays at the same facility. That is as toxic of environment as you can ever get. So getting that and writing and obviously, you know, potentially rent negotiations as well. You know, if you're doing all the hiring and managing, that is time and that time would be spent to a manager of the club and that manager, you know, would take away that, that time that the manager's using is taken away from them actually growing the club as well. So you know, looking at negotiations around that too. And then obviously the contracts you need to have with between yourself and the employee and your coach, you know, so you want to get that looked over by a lawyer. You don't, you just don't want to have that written up by chat gbt. You actually want to get a proper lawyer to, you know, give them a two grand to actually write the contract and make sure it's clear. I'm sure there's templates obviously that different coaches have as well. And then you're, and then that's the, that's the initial stuff. Now when you talk about, okay, you've got that and that coach, it's the day one. All right, what systems then do you have for acquisition? What systems do you have for a CRM? What systems do you have for booking? What systems? You know, all those things come into play as well. And so hopefully by the time you get to that stage, you've already navigated that sort of stuff yourself. If you're still running things off of spreadsheets when you're going to have a hard time because it doesn't have the same functionality as it's as. Because you know how that spreadsheet functions. But most softwares are pretty user friendly and so that's, that's kind of where I point people. Yeah.

So where, where are you going now? Like what's, what's your vision? Like what's your next five years look like for you?

Yeah. So the vision of Ipsy has always been to inspire and change 100,000 lives through physical and psychological transformation. That's, that's been the vision since, since day one. The next sort of five years is really doubling down on, on where we're already at and then placing the right coaches in those facilities as well. We're sitting at around 150 at the moment. In terms of members we want to, or in terms of clients and tribe we want to get that to around 250 in the next two years. But as well like we, you know, my wife and I come up with the night with the name in a power coaching for, for other reasons too. And so there might be different sub brands we look at as well in terms of, you know, looking at more coaching and personal development side of things too. But that would be probably around, you know, 20, 26 thereabouts there. So. Yeah, it's, it's all good. Yeah. Awesome.

It's been very inspiring to see your, your journey. Obviously we've, we've only really caught up I think once a couple years back but you know, it's, it's awesome to see you're still obviously kicking goals with, you know, multiple locations. Probably the last thing I wanted to, to finish on with you is what would you, what would your recommendation be for people that people that want to maximize income but also maximize lifestyle? What, what is the balance or how.

Do you figure it out?

Yeah, how do you maximize your income and also have the lifestyle?

Tough question, but yeah, I think the first thing is have like going back to what we spoke about earlier is have that initial capacity. Okay. So I'm and legitimately mean this. Don't just do this as a sales, as a, as a, as a. If you are wanting to stay as a solopreneur the simplest thing would be to. Would be to say, look, I've only got so many hours in a day. I've only got so many key time slots. So my capacity is, let's just say, 20, 20 clients tops. Now, once you hit that capacity, you then have two options, which is either you raise your initial price of that, or then you look to instill that sort of hybrid model, all that sbt, as we spoke about, as well, and then it's just a battle. It's just like that. Because, like, it is just your time. And. And, you know, Tony Robbins charges a hundred grand for one hour of his time. And I feel like, you know, as you upskill yourself in. If you are wanting to be the best technician as possible, as you upskill yourself as you do more short courses, if you have a university degree like the. Like that, that took time. Like, you know, I think most people look around and they. They just look at market rate and, like, I'm just going to charge that or charge a little bit more, but you got to hit that ceiling. Once you hit that ceiling of, say, 20, whatever it is, then you increase by 5% that initial charge up. And if someone, you know, someone drops out from that, then you just fill that spot, and then you stay consistent there for another couple months and you charge, charge up again. I think that would be. If I was in most your audience's shoes, who are the solar technicians? That would probably be the main thing to look at initially.

Awesome.

Great answer because, yeah, that way you're still increasing profitability without increasing more time and attention that has to come there. But the other thing that goes without saying is, obviously you need to isolate your niche. You know, you need to isolate who it is that you're really wanting to work with the most. The fact is, most coaches will just take on anything with a. With a pulse, and that's probably not ideal. You know, my uncle's been in business for 22 years now, and he doesn't take on a pleasing software. He doesn't take on a client who does anywhere less than a billion dollars of revenue. And when he told me that, like three years ago, I was like, okay, that. That would sing some perspective, you know, and we've all had, you know, you've had clients who will pay you $300 a week, and. And they are more than happy to pay that net. And if you slip up, then it's totally water on the bridge and it's all good. You have other people who pay you only 70 a week. And it's the end of the world if something goes wrong. Right. So reality is choose the right people you want to work with. And I, it doesn't. It all that shift happens within you. Like it's not so much, you know, you need to create more or anything like that. You obviously need to be more valuable. We always need to remember how valuable your service is as well. I mean we are, we are preventing people from being in hospital beds. Like that is really the mindset you got to go into. And so yeah, choosing that particular person, you know, crafting your, like, take your favorite client list out, everything you love about them and try and find more of them. And that's going to make your life a whole lot easier as well. And obviously you're going to enjoy it more, you're going to spend more time in it, you're going to be more profitable as well.

Yeah, yeah, I was gonna say you're obviously going to be way more fulfilled looking after those type of clients on a long term basis and you'll probably find they'll, they'll enjoy it more as well.

Look, if you, if you can't, if you can't have a beer with, with, with or a drink with someone that you're coaching, it's, it's probably not a good fit. Like sometimes there are people with specific issues that need your specific help. Like a lot of stuff I do nowadays is rehab and so I'm putting that aside. But when it comes to general population, like there's certain attributes of a client that you're wanting to find and if, if you don't tell them up front, this is what I stand for, this is what I stand against and be really clear on that. Well then you're going to attract these people into a world and it's just going to cause more drama. And so I can safely say if I go down the list of the 150 people that we coach, nine times out of 10, I would have a beer with most of them, probably all of them, because we are so cautious with who we let in at the front end and we're so viciously honest with what we expect and how we operate and, and everything like that that I'd much rather say, I'd much rather get an email from someone saying, oh, sorry, I know I had this consult book, but I don't think it's going to be right for me. I know I've done my job because I've been viciously honest with the expectations that we have, who we are, what we Represent, and this is exactly what we're doing during a consult is exactly how we help you over the next, you know, 10 to, to 20 weeks as well.

Just on, on that. When you say you kind of set expectations for the client. So are you setting expectations during the consultation of what's expected of the client or in their first session at the consultation?

Because, because I'm like, all right, well look, if you've already sat down with me and I'll give, I'll give a pro tip. Right. So we use calendly in terms of our bookings. Before someone comes in, obviously they have a booking call. But we, our calendar system does a lot of the heavy lifting for us in terms of obviously putting ourselves at the forefront of their mind in terms of reputation. So a lot of credibility, a lot of before and afters, a lot of testimonials, that type of thing. That's the first thing. The second thing is looking at like important frequently asked questions. And in those frequently asked questions, think about the things that really piss you off the most. Like for me, when I first got started, it was like, you know, oh, I just want to be toured around the gym. That would annoy me so much because I'd be like, I have studied my ass off to get to where I am today. I know for a fact that you just doing some pin loaded stuff is not going to help you long term. Right. And so I'll be very, I'll be richly honest. It's like frequently asked if am I going to be toured around the gym? No, like this is not going to change your life long term. This will be a complete waste of your time and my time and our time together is precious. Therefore this is exactly what we're going to do when we sit down in consultation, you know, sending them those videos up front. Like, you know, there's three parts of the consultation. The first part is our initial sit down, get our milestones straight. So make sure you come in with the milestones. You have to do your pre exercise questionnaire before you come in as well do the consultation to make a consultation form to make sure that they've done their homework. If they don't do that form, you don't see them. Because if they can't be trusted to do a form before they see you, how on earth are they going to be adherent and compliant as a client as well? Right. And then so, so calmly does so much of the heavy lifting for us. It sends them roughly three to four text messages and reminders and three or Four emails for that of just going through, like I said, reputation before and afters, frequently asked questions and just really just saying, like, this is what we do and this is who we are. And if you're not cool with that, if that's not okay in your eyes, then we're not a good fit. And nine times out of 10, that deters the wrong people, which is a good thing. And then only the people that you sit down with. Because the last thing I hate, I hate wasting my time with people. And I learned that in the first couple years. I'm like, why are we sitting here? Why did you drive all the way to the gym to meet with me if you're just here to dick around, you know, excuse my French, but, like, I want to sit down with people who are ready and willing and see the value and investing in their strength and their fitness long term. That's the only people I want to sit down with usually. That is people with 1.5 injuries, 45 to 65. They've been through a couple of vicious cycles at the gym before they've had a couple failed attempts. You know, that's what I mean by, like, describing the certain person that you see. And ironically, those are the people we tend to attract the most. So, yeah, pro tip, put something together like that.

Yeah, some little golden nuggets in there, mate. Well done. That was good because I used.

We don't. We work too hard to be frustrated in our own job, you know, 100.

Yeah, because I use calendly as well. But you're obviously taking it to a whole new level. You know, like we do reminders and stuff, but like, obviously setting those expectations on what's expected in the consultation is going to, you know, as you said, weed out those people that are complete time wasters.

I would much rather have less consultations but a higher conversion rate than more consultations than a lower conversion rate. Yeah, and so when you think of it like that, then, you know, yeah, you might only be seeing three people a week, but if you're signing up three out of three, then happy days, you know. So, yeah, that front end and someone, someone called Peter Lakovich used to work at the Entourage. He talks about this all the time. The sale is made all in the front end. Because, like, for example, if we sat down with Tony Robbins right now, it's going to be, yeah, whatever you want, I'll, I'll buy it. Because he's built up such credibility over such a long period of time. Right. Same thing with us, like, obviously on a smaller scale, but all that front end goodwill is already there. They have all these resources, they have all the credibility in the world that they need and that all that matters is now should just be a conversation of okay, these are the only times that I've got. Does this work for you? Yep. Good. Here's a contract. Let's get started. Love it.

Very good, mate. If people want to follow your journey or get in touch to even be a trainer for you, where do they find you?

Instagram's best place. So Blake Randall, IPC and do love getting some good dms. And yeah, realize I went on a bit of a rift there, but I think hopefully that will inspire some guys to take some good action from what we spoke about today.

No, that was awesome, mate. I appreciate your time as always.

Excellent. Thank you so much.