No Viper for you, Cambridge lady.

[flexagon]

I went to McGym last night and tried to find out who there is in charge of buying equipment for the Cambridge gym, so that I could make an appointment with that person and try to talk them into buying a Viper. I was super friendly and made sure it was clear that I had an idea, not a complaint. However... it turns out that the person who would make that decision isn't in Cambridge, isn't even at the district level, but is even higher up in Corporate. The two guys I was talking to were like "geez, we only wish we could just make an order". They liked the idea of the Viper, too. I guess there are 400 McGyms and not-so-many people who decide what goes in them.

Point is, they're paralyzed! I can't believe it. McGym must not really respond to local competition -- they can't, because of the way they're set up. Oh... how crushable! How my little gym could run circles around them just by responding to local requests!

Don't worry if you can't tell how serious I am -- I can't either. I continue to look into this though. I have two lunches set up with people who used to own gyms, and one book on the way. That's the rational thing to do, yes? Look into it and see how it would actually work.

Comments

[webrat.livejournal.com]

Funny you mention this. I've been trying to prod Vic and his wife into doing this as it seems to be their 'bag' and there's definitely need for it around this area. You'll have to keep updating your progress on this.

[flexagon]

Yeah, I will keep posting. I've decided to seriously research it, though (obviously) not to doing it or deciding it's my future. It's sure to be interesting to learn about, if nothing else.

You can get Vic a copy of Small Club Start-Up, or How to Buy and Manage a Fitness Club, for Christmas if you really want to nudge him. ;)

[webrat.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the tip!

[bookofgossamer.livejournal.com]

have you considered going to the silk workouts that david goes to? you could get in a lot of climbing there even if you didn't do anything else. and there are lots of ways to ease yourself into arms-only climbing without an assistance machine (although one would certainly be great)

[flexagon]

Yeah, I'm semi-capable of getting to those, although they're really inconvenient. The Viper idea wasn't just for me though... I like climbing but there are other things to do too. It was partly for practice getting things done in the world, if that makes sense, and partly because I really thought it'd be good for other people.

[bluechromis.livejournal.com]

I'm not surprised, I've never really seen much difference between the various McGyms I've been to, so they clearly don't tailor. There's probably no way they'd get a viper just for one location. LAME.

On the other hand, that means they're ripe for the crushing. Attention Troops!

Was the book you got a general one on small businesses, or specifically about the gym industry?

[flexagon]

How to Buy and Manage a Fitness Club. :)

If that goes well I'm gonna buy the one everyone raves about, The Business of Fitness: Understanding the Financial Side of Owning a Fitness Business by Thomas Plummer. I read the first 11 pages of it online and it seemed really good. And maybe Small Club Start-Up just for fun.

Crush crush, lame gym, 400 all the same, puke.