I guess at some point during 2023 it was inevitable that times were going to get tough in business, and until the August I thought I was riding out the toughest of years really quite well.
I’d managed to pick up few new clients and lost a few others on the way through the first half of the year. There’s nothing unusual in that. In fact I was feeling really quite happy given the doom and gloom on the news and with prices rocketing everywhere. People were still happy to come to bootcamp. I was doing OK.
Then a long termer, one of my rock solid founder members, left, followed by another, and another, and another. Then the leavers came in pairs, and I was looking at a position where Queens Park Fitness’s (QPF) existence was on a knife edge. I’d just brought in a new instructor to liven and mix things up a bit, and I’d brought in a new Direct Debit payments system, just as I’d been asked to by my members. Oh, they also got a much better booking system. But still they left. What was I doing wrong?
I was feeling really low, and ready to throw in the towel, so … I went out to buy some new trainers!
Retail therapy?
No. I needed a new pair of running shoes as my old ones had lost all cushioning and spring from the amount of training I was doing in preparation for my upcoming Ultra in Nepal. I therefore went off to my local sports shop (I want to support local, and do when I can), tried on a load of shoes and came out with two pairs, as well as being well over £250 lighter in my wallet!
That trip to the sports shop was punctuated by a series of WhatsApp messages to a great and supportive boot camper and successful local entrepreneur, Ann. What was key in that conversation was the question she asked at the end:
“If I was running QPF and you were coaching me, what would you advise?”
To which I sat back and thought “Well that’s a bloody good question and the answer is so damned obvious”, so I responded:
“Advise? Well, the answer is already in you. What was your WHY? Is it still there? If so … there is your answer”
I got a thumbs up emoji back!!
And this linked boot camp and my training together perfectly. I was totally committed to training for my run in November. I was going do the training come what may, and I was sticking to the plan I had created for myself. I even wanted to do more but knew that would hurt me! Nothing was going to get in the way of my training and I was very fortunate to have an understanding wife and family to allow me to be so selfish (11 or more hours running in some weeks, on top of work, bootcamp, walks and time together), and have some great friends to run with – I have no idea how I would have do it without them (I don’t think I could)
I was hellish busy, and I was never doing nothing, just being laid back and taking it easy.
So if I could be so determined about my training for this run, then I should have been able to harness that same determination and apply it to Queens Park Fitness. It’s the same fuel, and I knew it worked.
My brief “I’m within a hair’s breadth of closing down. It’s that bad” WhatsApp message had in fact provided me with a wonderful lesson that day, and I thank you for that Ann.
My WHY for Queens Park Fitness was the same as ever. I also had more determination than I ever thought I had. I was living through it right then, and that’s all I needed. In fact, it was pretty much the only thing anyone needs in order to get stuff done, whatever that might be.
Determination is at the heart of everything, every success. It was time to focus some of that determination towards QPF, stick with it and come out even stronger in the long run. And just maybe I could big up my own achievements to be the Fitness Coach who really does walk the walk (or run the run as it happened to be), as well as get loads of shit done.
Proving you too can do it, whatever you do in life.