Career Change in Progress

Deville · Dec 1, 2012

Congratulations on the move. Anyone starting a new business in this economic climate must be commended. I hope it works out for you.

There are several big chain low cost per month gyms that have been agressively pushing franchise oppurtunites the past 18 months. A gym is a high risk venture. Good luck!

highway star · Dec 1, 2012

Deville said:
Congratulations on the move. Anyone starting a new business in this economic climate must be commended. I hope it works out for you.

There are several big chain low cost per month gyms that have been agressively pushing franchise oppurtunites the past 18 months. A gym is a high risk venture. Good luck!

Ditto...

Best of luck you guys! I have no doubt you have the business sense needed.

skyraider · Dec 1, 2012

ATeam said:
Diane and I joined a fitness club a few months ago to improve our health while on the road. Delighted by the facilities and the workout experience they provide, and impressed with the company's business model, we purchased a franchise to build a fitness club of our own (after a good deal of research and business planning, of course).

This is a career change. Our first location will be up and running in the third or fourth quarter of 2013. We will come off the road a couple of months before the grand opening to work the fitness business full time. Other clubs will follow, several are planned. The truck will be sold after the first club is up and running, perhaps sooner.

Since we'll be hauling freight for a few months yet, it's a little early to post a goodbye message on the Open Forum, but we want our EO friends to know that commitments have been made and the career-change die has been cast.

We are not making this change because things went wrong in expediting. Things went quite well, actually. Our expediting profits are funding this new endeavor.

The change is being made because the bug bit. That's the same bug that bit ten years ago, prompting the unlikely career change from our white-collar professions into expediting. Its bite today is prompting us to get out of the truck and into a gym.

Now bitten, we're smitten, so into the fitness business we go.

Good for you, you are a thinker and a doer.

you all do think outside the box...............

Monty · Dec 1, 2012

I've been following your posts since you first began your expediting lives, you don't know me, but I feel I know you both soooo well.

It's a very one sided friendship.

(Said with a snicker) ..... isn't that considered stalking!

moose · Dec 1, 2012

Phil, all the best, you guys will be mist here in EO nation.
i had an gym membership twice in the past, only in winter time. in spring/summer/fall(pond intended...don't ask) there's no rezone. the east side of the metro area have 12 natural parks to hike/bike, and many other places to "explore". i used to borrow a Niebuhr dog and try to keep up with her. many schools have outdoor fitness equipments. in North America the tween city metro have the most bike/ rollers blade paved trail per person and per area. (founded by our state fuel tax!) then there's the BIG malls and sky-ways. always something new and interested to see.
in past 3 years, in my own town 2 /gym's closed it's door within a year. there is a large homedepot store that was closed back in 08(when HD closed 12 stores in the area,) that store was sold the LA fitness, started renovation, then they backed up from the deal for some rezone.
i hope your new location is NOT in the SE side of the metro.
i know nothing about gym ownership. but from the little i know of you guys, i know that you WILL make it work.
here another observation. your last small business lasted what?, 6, 7 years?. what is the lifespan of your new business ?, you said that more stores to come, that's meant that money be made will be reinvested in the business. in past 2 years you (heavily?) invested into Expressone, invested in another small business(trading- how's that's working /btw), as you well aware those 2 investments,if successful, are a % base payback , how will your investment in another business effect those other businesses you already own?
the rezone i ask, is because i do the opposite, money made is invested in the most secured/ profitable COMMODITY. not business . investing in a business mean taking high risk that our currency and economy will hold, witch(pond!) they won't, not for a lifespan of an expended network of stores.
GYM membership is a luxury, it'll be a first item off the list once an economy slowdown .
the gov. own almost all the loans in America, they own my business loan, and they will own the one you took. and future loans you will take. they own the taxes on paid for property, and a simple executives order (already signed?) can take property from your hands, which they WILL do.
a good location for your 2nd GYM will be Fort Ripley - Minnesota's larges FEMA camp.
at any case, now that you become a permanent neighbor, we are having a traditional Fri. night dinner every, well, Fri. nights. - you 2 are always welcome !
Good Luck, i know you will do well.

xmudman · Dec 1, 2012

wvcourier said:
Dont sale your truck...

Sent from my Teddy Ruxspin

Sell the truck if you don't need it, but KEEP YOUR CDLs!!

God bless you as you do this change

dabluzman1 · Dec 1, 2012

Congratulations and good luck to you and Diane.
Getting up the courage to make a change is often a larger
mountain to climb than the act of implementing a change.
Your success in you white collar careers and then expediting
is a good indication of what lies before you.

Dave n Linda

paullud · Dec 1, 2012

Good luck with the change and future expansion. You used the term franchise so it sounds like you are buying into one if the big gyms which can be a big help.

Sent from my ADR6400L using EO Forums

wahoofan · Dec 1, 2012

good luck phil and diane. Please let us know the locations of the first few gyms you get up and running.

jelliott · Dec 1, 2012

Congratulations on the new venture. Best of luck to both of you!

Ragman · Dec 1, 2012

Ahhhh - soiled smelly gym towels!

<ragman humming> Memories la la la la ....

davekc · Dec 1, 2012

Ragman said:
Ahhhh - soiled smelly gym towels!

<ragman humming> Memories la la la la ....

Is that the remnants of "Sweatin to the oldies"?

Lawrence · Dec 2, 2012

I'm sure it will be a success. Let us know if there is an a special "Expediter Package" - we'd be happy to share that with our community

iceroadtrucker · Dec 2, 2012

ATeam said:
Diane and I joined a fitness club a few months ago to improve our health while on the road. Delighted by the facilities and the workout experience they provide, and impressed with the company's business model, we purchased a franchise to build a fitness club of our own (after a good deal of research and business planning, of course).

This is a career change. Our first location will be up and running in the third or fourth quarter of 2013. We will come off the road a couple of months before the grand opening to work the fitness business full time. Other clubs will follow, several are planned. The truck will be sold after the first club is up and running, perhaps sooner.

Since we'll be hauling freight for a few months yet, it's a little early to post a goodbye message on the Open Forum, but we want our EO friends to know that commitments have been made and the career-change die has been cast.

We are not making this change because things went wrong in expediting. Things went quite well, actually. Our expediting profits are funding this new endeavor.

The change is being made because the bug bit. That's the same bug that bit ten years ago, prompting the unlikely career change from our white-collar professions into expediting. Its bite today is prompting us to get out of the truck and into a gym.

Now bitten, we're smitten, so into the fitness business we go.

Congradulations!!!! Well Done !!!!!!!!!

moose · Dec 2, 2012

Now, Phil, we know you have a need to be successful , but please don't go overboard

ATeam · Dec 4, 2012

One reply to the various posts above:

1. Diane and I both thank you for your encouragement and well wishes. While it is exciting to move on to a new business venture, it is difficult to exit an industry in which we have connected with many people and shared the same experiences.

We are already networking with other gym owners and talking shop, but it's not the same as it is with truck drivers gathered at the table or in the parking lot at a truck stop. Because truckers live and work away from home and deal with life-threatening and career-threatening challenges every day, they share a bond and camaraderie with each other that people who work under the same roof every day cannot begin to understand.

Truckers have something very special in that. Don't take it for granted. The ability to meet a perfect stranger and talk to him or her like he or she was your brother or sister and be understood is a blessing; one that Diane and I are already beginning to miss.

We are receiving a lot of "welcome to the family" calls from people at our new company. As those greetings are offered, I am beginning to see that our expediting family was more of a family than I knew. "Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got until it's gone."

Few people at our new company know what it is like to chain up a truck in a winter storm or feel the pride of completing an on-time, cross-country delivery in difficult circumstances. They are great people but they're not expediters. There is no replacing the family we enjoyed in the expediting and EO community, and as this career change becomes more and more real, that part of the change makes me sad (tears welling up as I write this).

2. We are going with a large franchisor. The company name is Anytime Fitness.

3. We will announce the location of our first gym after the lease for the space is signed.

4. More needs to be learned and done before we start offering memberships to anyone. It is too early to talk about EO discounts.

5. The plan is to sell our truck sometime after our first club is up and running. That is some months off. We will not have a definite time line until the lease for space is signed. We have no idea how the truck will be sold or where or for what price. That bridge will be crossed when we come to it.

MissKat · Dec 4, 2012

I am SURE there will be clean showers at your facility.....just sayin

ATeam · Dec 5, 2012

MissKat said:
I am SURE there will be clean showers at your facility.....just sayin

It's already in the plan and the budget to upgrade the showers to be oh so fine. On the road, we have experienced almost every kind of shower floor plan and fixture known to man. We'll be using the showers ourselves as we take a break to work out and return to our desk. You can count on them being clean and pleasant to use.

jimby82 · Dec 5, 2012

Phil & Diane,

Judy and I would like to say thank you and wish you every success in your new adventure.

I first became aware of the expediting segment of the trucking industry through your blog, and by extension, your posts here on EO.

Your willingness to share your experiences and expertise has been greatly appreciated by us, as well as, I am certain, a great many others.

Our own personal decision to become expediters (and to go with FedEx Custom Critical) was indeed influenced to a degree by meeting and talking with you and Diane.

The EO and expediting communities are losing a valuable resource and I know that you will be missed. But, onward and upward!

Again, congratulations with the new career change, and please let us all know how things are progressing.

Judy and Jim