3 Biggest "Systems" Myths Keeping Fitness Business Owners Stuck in The Trenches

When we hear the term "Systems," it pulls all sorts of thoughts into our heads.

-- "Systematizing your business is too hard. I don't have time to put systems in my business...."

-- "You can't clone or systematize good personal training. Systems will make our training cookie cutter or water down our service...."

-- "Even if I could systematize my business, my employees won't follow systems...."

Unfortunately, most know they need systems in their business to stop getting crushed by the daily grind and grow. Still, much of the aforementioned "head-trash" gets in the way, and they stay stuck. 

The bottom line, financial and time freedom is a pipe dream for a small business owner without systematizing your business. 

Believe me, I experienced this, unfortunately. For my first two years, I worked in my first studio from 4:30 am to 10:00 pm, Monday-Friday grinding and catching up on everything else on the weekend. This is until the stress hit my body so hard that I had health issues.

And guess what? It wasn't the lack of the latest marketing gimmick or fad. It was the people problems. 

It was the crazy turnover I had. I had to hire and retrain a new trainer. It seemed like every six months. If you are passionate about the service, you give your clients, you won't settle for ok trainig. This means being exhausted with every new hire because you are brain dumping everything you know and training new staff as quickly as possible.

It's EXHAUSTING. 

I knew the business wasn't sustainable if I didn't fix these people issues. After all, your people are your product in personal training. 

Then I discover systems. The concept of being systems dependent, not people dependent. 

So, let's separate myth from fact. This way, you don't fall victim to these myths about systematizing your business and the consequences of not doing it:

"Systematizing your business is just too hard. I don't have time to put systems in my business.."

Nope. This myth is the most common fitness entrepreneurship and business systems myth I hear. This myth is like your clients saying that working out and eating healthy is too hard. However, it just isn't true.

When the truth of the matter is a bit different:

When you know how to do it quickly and easily and follow existing best practices versus starting from scratch, then it becomes easy and fun...like working out. The truth is that today's technology is much easier than the old way of writing up a bunch of SOPs in a manual.

Plus, most don't have time because you don't have systems. You are doing too much and not doing the work of a business owner. When you intentionally add the right systems at the right time, you can walk your way out of daily operations and the work you shouldn't be doing. 

Most owners struggle getting stuff off their play because of poor delegation or not taking the time to delegate. Systems are delegation, the most effective form of delegation. 

"You can't clone or systematize good personal training. Systems will make our training cookie cutter or water down our service.."

Wrong again. This is another common myth.

People think this is true because they listen to too many struggling business owners and unprofessional trainers with a lot of "head trash." It's like taking stock advice from your dentist. 

But it's simply not the case. Here are the facts:

The truth is people use systems and orchestrated patterns every day. Just about everything around is a system of some sort. When you learn to drive a car, you learn a system for driving that you now do almost unconsciously. 

Sound systems free us to use our critical thinking and mental energy on what's essential and allow us to add your "special sauce." Good systems are frameworks that will enable personalization. Have you ordered a personalized drink from Starbucks lately? That's a system, but tweak it to your taste!

"Even if I could systematize my business, employees Won't Follow systems.."

This myth is the worst myth of all. Too many people believe this, which can wreck their success more than anything else.

If everyone had this belief, the fitness & wellness industry would take a massive hit on their pocketbooks.

Here are the facts:

Employees want clear direction and expectations. They want excellent employee training and development because they want to succeed! 

Most fitness business owners I've met don't have good leadership and management experience, so they have employee turnover due to not training their employees well. They don't delegate effectively and don't provide clear expectations. Great systems solve these problems and fill the leadership, management, and business skills gap most trainers turned business owners have.