Private facility or box gym to build client base

[jalundah]

Hey guys, I’m at a crossroads in my career and want to look to some of the vets for advice. I started my career after grad school in collegiate S&C but got into the private market after my wife and I were tired of bouncing around. I’ve been working at a very successful private gym for the last two and a half years, and was even promoted to Operations Director.

I’ve pretty much plateaued at my current position. Even though I’m making good money, the owner has no interest in opening another facility or giving up stake in his business. The biggest downside is that this gym is about 30 miles from where my wife and I bought our house(very close to where she works) and even though I travel during non peak hours, the commute is tough and I want to start to look into building my own brand in my community and hopefully open my own facility in a few years.

I don’t mind taking 2 steps back right now if it means taking 3 steps forward later, but I’m unsure of which route to go. I obviously need to build up a client base in the area I live in, and I’ve got an offer to be Sales Manager at another private facility close to home that does some private training. I could build up a solid client base there over time, but I’m wondering if a trainer (or even management) position at a place like LA Fitness or Workout Anytime might be a better route, as there is a much larger crowd to draw from.

Thoughts?

[KyleAaron]

Decide whether you want to do primarily office stuff, or primarily train people.

[jalundah]

Decide whether you want to do primarily office stuff, or primarily train people.

Obviously with a management position at a box gym, there would be more paperwork, but I guess I'm referring to strictly building up my brand and client base.

[KyleAaron]

You can't build up your training brand by training less people.

Paperwork or training. Which do you want to do?

[jalundah]

I want to train.

[KyleAaron]

Then you know what to do.