And I Thought My Math Skills Were Weak.

Just when I was beginning to wonder if my perception of the CF business model was faulty, Byers posts this:

Monday, October 5, 2009
Redefining the CrossFit Affiliate

First, the 603 hasn't had a physical training space since August. The space we were "borrowing" in Tilton, NH didn't work out, and Dallas and I frankly weren't in a hurry to look for new space. We both have full-time jobs, and coaching nights and weekends wasn't going to provide us with enough income to actually rent or lease the kind of space we would want to set up. So we put the idea of a box on hold for a month or two, but we continued to program for those that followed our WODs on line. However, without any actual clients (and not offering any classes), spending tons of time and energy on programming for a gym that didn't exist wasn't very fulfilling, and didn't make a lot of sense long term.

Point is, we're still a CrossFit affiliate, but we don't actually have a gym, don't offer any classes, and don't do much actual hands-on coaching and training. What we DO offer is a service that the CrossFit community needs (clearly, based on the volume of emails I've been getting) - help finding the right balance of diet, training, active recovery, sleep, stress management and a whole host of other factors that all add up to optimal health and fitness.

Weird, right? An affiliate without a gym? We're sort of going out on a limb redefining ourselves here. However, two things make me confident that we can carve this niche out for ourselves. First, it's been done before. Jon Gilson built Again Faster around his CrossFit affiliation without owning his own gym or running his own programming. He pulls from the CrossFit community, and gives back in the form of equipment sales, motivational and educational articles and training tutorial videos. He's redefined the place an affiliate holds within the CrossFit community, and we think we can do the same.

Two... there is room for us here. There's a NEED for us here. CrossFit is growing and expanding and changing on a daily basis, and we'd like to push those boundaries and expand the definition of an "affiliate". We won't run you through "Linda", but we'll help you nail down your nutrition and recovery so you stomp that bar heavier and harder than you've ever thought possible. We won't teach you to overhead squat, but we'll give you some ways to reduce inflammation and get those overworked shoulders to open better. We won't customize your Starting Strength program, but we'll share with you why we don't love the concept of a gallon of milk a day. So my assertion is this - while we don' t have an actual gym, what we're doing IS CrossFit, and there is a place for us within the community.

At least, I hope there is.

Do you see the value in this shift in paradigm for us, or do you think without actual coaching and physical training, an affiliate isn't really an affiliate at all?


My take is that the CF affiliate system, where people are paying more for less equipment, group training sessions, and random WoDs, is doomed.

I understand the Globo Gym concept; a thousand people at $29 a month with a $100 sign up. You start with 100,000 bucks and have cash flow of 29,000/month. You have one-time on your equipment, and monthly on rental space, utilities, some small overhead, and the pittance you pay your out-of-shape know-nothing "trainers." Of course, you don't want or expect 10% of your thousand clients to show up - ever. When they do (January 2nd, anyone?) your model takes a dump. But March 2nd, you're owning.

I don't understand how the numbers work on the CF affiliate concept. If your box can handle 10 at a time, and you're running (let's be generous here) 5 cycles a day, your 50 clients who show up every day can pay what? $100 a month? You're running a box on 5k/month. You can pay rent and overhead, but you have to keep your day job.

Because Globo down the street is only asking $29, how can you get 100 bodies through the door at $290 a month to get yourself to a cash flow of 29k/month? Expand your box and get 290 peeps at $100? What would those 290 be getting for their 3x payment that they couldn't get at Globo? Gymnastic rings? Because rings only cost 75 bucks, delivered.

I'm not seeing how the business model works outside of the (a.) metrocomplex where dingleberry attorneys will be willing to pay $300+ for training, or (b.) the garage gym, where the equipment cost is your only cost.

I have an idea, and it's not to offer nutritional counseling, no box, and no classes. I'll let you think about it first though.