The New Year’s “this is my year to get fit” rush has slowed down. Clients are dropping off the bandwagon. Dreams of seven-figure revenue are slowly slipping away.
It’s about this time we begin to hear the ‘experts’ trying to sell us better ways to grow our businesses:
• Get 10 new clients by mid-night.
• Gain 100 new members by the end of the week.
• Book yourself solid in 3 weeks
What if that really happens? Do you have the ability to handle the new work load? If you own a gym, do you have the right team and right systems in place?
If all these new clients come knocking, what happens if they have a bad experience? How many people do you feel they will tell? What does that do to your reputation within your community?Packard’s Law states:
No company can consistently grow (clients or revenue) faster than its ability to get the right team to implement that growth. If the company consistently grows faster than its ability to get enough of the right people to implement that growth, it will not simply stagnate; it will fail.
There’s a lot of truth to Packard’s Law and here’s why:
1. The Right People: Doesn’t mean we need the best, but the ‘right’ people for the specific task.
2. Money: An unfilled trainer position inside a growing training facility can cost anywhere from $10,000 - $20,000 in lost revenue. This leads to a big drop in your profits (take home money after taxes).
3. Leadership: To become a great training facility, leaders must lead by example. We must put the right people on the right opportunities - which means we have to be willing to have tough conversations, hold them accountable and spend time personally leading these individuals.
4. Drive & Grit: Willingness to see difficult tasks through till the end, along with infectious enthusiasm will help you spot the ‘right’ person for the role.
5. Quality: Steve Jobs said: “Make sure you’re hiring only A-players. A small team of A+ players can run circles around a giant team of B and C players." A-players are not necessarily the best - They are the ‘right’ person for that specific task.
Great leaders, like you, are constantly searching for growth in number of clients and year in revenues. The key distinguishing step the great ones take is that they don’t chase trendy short-term goals that undermine long-term brand growth.
If you build a team with the ‘right’ people who accept personal responsibility for making the facility great, you can throw out all the senseless rules and mindless bureaucracy and spend time doing what you do best: Leading the community you serve to live a fit and health rhythm of life.
