What Seth Godin Told Me About Opening a 2nd Gym

I have the honor to be email buddies with one of the most famous marketers on the planet, Seth Godin.  To be honest, you do too.  He gets back to you in seconds, usually in 7 words or less.   Several years ago, I emailed Seth for some advice about opening a second gym, his advice was a little longer than usual.  Seth’s reply:  “I think you should think long and hard about opening second gym…  One gym means you run a gym…  5 gyms mean you’re in the business of running gyms…  But 2 gyms? Two gyms means you’re kind of all over the place”.  Here is what he was saying:  If you open gym number 2, do it with the mindset you’re going to open 5.   When you have 5 gyms, you are forced to do things differently.   You must have outstanding systems.  An effective pipeline for new team members.  A marketing and sales system that works in different areas.  Finally, and most important, when you have 5 gyms it all cannot come back to the owner, other people need to be in charge.   I’m not saying you should open 5 gyms.  I got this advice and stayed with one.  Not right or wrong, just what I wanted.   The purpose of this email is to know what you want.   If you don’t know what you want, no one can help you.   The best question you can ask yourself is:   What do I really want?    Then, go build the business that helps you get there.   Hope this helps.  Vince