The Business of Fitness: NapTown Edition

sign in to their Front Desk accounts and accept the Terms and Conditions if you have not already done so. The terms and conditions now include the following section: “OVERAGE CLAUSE: Myriad CrossFit reserves the right to charge a client the local drop in fee of ($20 for CrossFit/$13 for SWIFT/$13 for Practice Indie) or more based off of the standard drop in fee of services being used. If a client has not pre-determined/ discussed a membership option prior to taking a class, the local drop in fee will be automatically applied to their account. It is the sole responsibility of the client to have a membership or pass to pay for the class attended, otherwise they forfeit to the local drop in cost of that class. This includes but is not limited to: going over a monthly class limit, attending more than 2 (two) free introductory classes (applicable for SWIFT and Practice Indie ONLY), attending a class without purchasing a pass or membership beforehand. If any other circumstances cause a member to come up as unpaid, Myriad CrossFit dba (CrossFit NapTown, Practice Indie, SWIFT, NapTown Barbell Club, and NapTown Endurance Club) reserves the right to charge the cost of the class to the account.” Your Front Desk account will be your go-to-portal for all questions associated with your membership.  Please make sure your email and all relevant information are up to date.  We are working on a consistent email newsletter to keep all members within all programs informed on a monthly basis (have the right email but still not getting our newsletters? Check your spam folder).   In addition, your Front Desk account will also allow you to navigate your membership level safely.  With the new check-in kiosks on site at each location, we will have accurate attendance for each and every class.  Our coaching staff will be responsible for making sure that each athlete checked him or herself in, and that the overall number in the class matches the number checked in. It’s 2016 and we are starting to use this thing called technology!     We’ve received some questions over the last few weeks in regard to this new direction, mostly consisting of why? My response is not always well-received.  Well, because we are a business. Five years ago (our official five year anniversary was Saturday, Oct. 8th of this year), it was much easier for Peter and me to check in 30 people, keep track of their accounts, know each member’s PRs, memorize their middle names, and even know their favorite color. We’ve been fortunate to surround ourselves with an amazing team of coaches and employees, each of whom brings special talents to the table and has ultimately helped NapTown grow. NapTown’s reach is much larger these days.  We have employees teaching sessions at Salesforce, Community Health, The Athletic Club, Lessonly, and many other offsite locations.  We have three staple programs spanning across three locations in our city, reaching 500+ members.  Sometimes thinking back to the old days of having two clients and running classes on the canal puts things into perspective.  Twenty-eight employees later (can you name them all?), we’ve realized that systems and processes must be put in place.  On an average week, we have 165 classes on the schedule.  To translate that into business terms:  that is 165 times a week we have to make sure that a coach/teacher is where he/she needs to be. I share these things because we sometimes get push-back from members about policies (aka ‘Terms of Services’) that we need to put in place. This includes the ‘overage policy’ we are instituting immediately as of October 17th.   If you check-in to your Front Desk system and find your account in yellow or red, the chances are: 1) you have not signed off on the electric waiver 2) you have not agreed to the Terms of Service 3) your credit card on file is not valid 4) you have gone over your allotted classes for the month per your membership   *Reminder: Your membership starts from the day you sign up.  It does not start on the first of the month.  So if you sign up on the 17th then your membership runs until the following month on the 17th day.   To break this down for the number oriented people. We have found on average 5 Unpaid Visits a day in our nightly reports.  Unpaid visits are members who have credit cards that are declined or invalid, members who are late on their dues, and members who are over their allotted membership passes.   Our local price per visit for a SWIFT or Practice Indie Yoga class is $13. Our local price per visit for a CrossFit class is $20.     Now comes the fun part… MATH! 5 Unpaid Visits x $13-$20 Local Price Per Visit  = $65 – $100 per day $65 – $100 per day x’s 5 Days per Week = $325 – $500 per month LOSS! $325 – $500 x 4 weeks = $1300 – $2000 per month LOSS! $1300 – $2000 per month x 12 months = $15,600 – $24,000 per year LOSS!   It’s taken five years to understand how to run a successful business.  We are nowhere close to being experts but we do know that losing $15K-$24K is not a good place to be.   For those who like to play devil’s advocate, we get it.  You didn’t use every class this month so you want a refund.   Let me ask you this.  Have you called your cable company and asked for a refund because you didn’t get a chance to watch as much TV as you hoped?  Or did you all your internet provider and ask for a refund because you didn’t use the internet as much as you thought you would? I would estimate that 95% of us have had a membership at a Bally’s, LA Fitness, Gold’s Gym, Planet Fitness, and the list goes on.   I would also guess that you never asked for a refund during a month you didn’t go that often.   The price of CrossFit, SWIFT, Yoga, is high for a reason.  You are receiving a top-notch product with real people and real coaching.  You are paying for real results.  We are always happy to extend pauses on your membership if you plan to be gone for more than 10+ days.   At the end of the day, we are a local and small business.  We are not driven by money.  If you don’t believe me, ask any one of our employees how much they make at NapTown and you will be received with a smile and probably a chuckle… that includes Peter and me. However, we do get something more important than money; the satisfaction of knowing that we have changed hundreds of lives in the last five years.  We have created friendships that will last a lifetime.   Most importantly, we don’t have to go to work… in the traditional sense… because what we do is our passion.    ~ Jared Byczko ~ Co-Owner | Myriad CrossFit | CrossFit NapTown | Resident Thor Look-Alike]]>