5 more years……
I realized it’s been a while since I posted in this blog. Time has flown by and that is true on many levels.
I wanted to check in and give you all a small business update as we approach our 5th anniversary for Miramar, and 1st anniversary for Mission Gorge this coming August. Don’t worry, we’ll be celebrating for sure and I’ll have more thoughts on that coming later.
This week, I finalized lease negotiations for the Miramar location and I’m very pleased to say we will be there for 5 more years. This is the longest lease I have signed and it carries great significance for me.
In 2011, you all know my story of leaving corporate America so I won’t bore you with that again. However, at the time every decision I made needed to be calculated. Therefore, I signed a 2 year lease. Long enough for the landlord, short enough to damage control any unforeseen circumstances if I needed to as I started off on the new venture. Two years later and after some solid growth, I took a bigger step and signed a 3 year lease.
Today, we are saying with confidence and a proven track record that we are here to stay. I wanted a 5 year lease and got it.
Leading up to this lease renewal I explored moving our location to other sites in Miramar. I looked at other sites with more square footage, signage, and better visibility. The real estate market has changed and zoning restrictions have kept us from taking the leap. There are other places available, but just not zoned for our use. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about that, it’s important to play by the rules. Also, after looking at other locations, we really do have a great spot! We have wonderful neighbors and can carry on our business undisturbed. Therefore, we are staying put.
Now, as we head into this milestone I am taking a moment for reflection. Not included in this reflection is taking a moment to rest or take the foot off the pedal. It is not in my nature to do so.
As I stated, August will mean 5 years of business for us. This has been a major milestone that I’ve looked forward to, as I know survival rates of small businesses to make it that far are low. According to many sources, such as this article from linkedin, only about 50% of businesses make it this far. In the same article, only 66% of businesses make it out of their first two years.
In the 5 years of business we have trained countless numbers of athletes. We have seen strong bonds forged in our gym that will last a lifetime. We have seen the addition of not one, but now two locations for a total of 3 boxes under the CrossFit 858 banner.
We saw the CrossFit market start as garage gyms with people who just like to get together and throw down. We have seen this CrossFit market evolve into a bona fide service based business market, where customer service and innovation must match the quality of your programming and coaching. The pursuit of excellence must be placed first and touch everything you do or the business will fail. Speaking of which, in the past 5 years we have seen many other gyms in the area come and go, with more to follow.
In the most recent year since the addition of the Mission Gorge and North Park gyms, I have actually passed on the acquisition of 4 more gyms in the San Diego area. Those gyms are either now closed or on the auction block as we speak. I passed on the gyms because they either were not wise investments or didn’t fit perfectly into our business model.
Most importantly, I passed on the purchase of those gyms because it wasn’t the right time.
In the belief of chasing excellence, I’d rather own 3 excellent gyms than 4,5 or 6 gyms that are mediocre. With our 3rd location still growing and getting up to speed, I wanted to focus my efforts on what we have already. Will we grow and add more locations? 100% absolutely. Just not for now.
I feel in the years since we established our Miramar flag ship, we have developed our own brand of community, coaching, and operations. We humbly always have room to improve and will strive to do so, but I am confident enough to say that we are here to stay. We have proven this.
Again this is not a celebration, not yet. That comes in August.
Looking forward to 5 more years and beyond……
Mark