There is no competition.
This post might not be the most popular with other CrossFit affiliate owners, but I’m not exactly in this industry to win a popularity contest. I’m here to help people. I’m here to treat every single person who walks through the door professionally and with respect. I’m here to be empathetic to people’s situations, while also pushing them outside of their comfort zones. I’m here to help people change their lives for the better via the vehicle of CrossFit. I’m here to give people the best experience possible with CrossFit.
I am NOT here to compete with other gyms. When Rach and I started Yellow Rose, the goal wasn’t to crush the “competition” or to try and snake members from other gyms. The goal was and still is pretty simple: help everyone who needs it, and make a living doing it. That’s all we’re here to do.
While other industries might have competitors in business or rivals, I don’t think that’s the case in CrossFit.
There is no competition. Period.
What’s the best part about being an affiliate through CrossFit HQ? You get to run your gym however you please. If you want a giant 20,000 square foot warehouse with 600 members, go for it. If you want to run an 800sq foot facility with 50 members, go for it. You get to run whatever you think is going to be best for you and your business. Charge as much or as little as you want. Keep the place as clean or as dirty as you want. Create content or don’t. It’s literally all up to you.
The only competition you have to worry about is yourself and the product(s) you are willing to provide. NOT other gyms.
The coolest part about having a gym in a major metropolitan area (whaddup H-Town!) is the ridiculously high population we have. In 2015, there was an estimated 2,296,224 people living here. That’s 2,296,224 people that are in need of fitness. The average CrossFit affiliate will cap out around 125-150 members. If every gym had 150 members, we could have 15,000 affiliate in Houston, and STILL have people left over needing fitness. You can have the gym you want regardless of where the next gym is located. It could be next door or across town. Both of you can still have a full capacity gym. It’s all up to you and the product you create.
There is no competition.
There’s also this really cool aspect of CrossFit that we all preach to our members: community. We love it! We’ve got an awesome group of people that are all working hard to better themselves! The gym down the street has an awesome community just like your gym does.
So why the hell is it necessary to view them as competition? If you’re really here to help people…. shouldn’t you be ecstatic that there’s a building full of people crushing it everyday to be more fit individuals? Shouldn’t we support them? Shouldn’t we be ridiculously excited that there are other people out there living their dream as business owners? Why is there no community among gyms?
We should for damn sure support each other.
This community is something truly special. We don’t have big corporate ties, franchise rules, or extensive regulations. We have an amazing opportunity to work with incredible people from all walks of life. I truly think we should strive to be helping each other thrive, rather than tell our members that “we are the best gym around” and that “oh those guys? They don’t do crossfit right. WE are the only way.”
We should encourage our members to drop in to other gyms. We should invite other owners to our off hours to train together. We should get coffee and discuss what works and what doesn’t for each of us (looking at you, Tim and George!).
We should be a community.
There’s a whole lot of people out there who could use our help. Let’s not waste our energy by being insecure and petty. Provide your own unique product to the people, support your fellow affiliate owners, and work hard to make our city, country, and world a more fit place.
-Clark Hibbs
17 down, 14 to go.
#YouCanDoThis
