Home Blog Five Years of Cressey Performance: Success Isn’t Just Measured in Revenue

Five Years of Cressey Performance: Success Isn’t Just Measured in Revenue

Written on July 13, 2012 at 7:58 am, by Eric Cressey

Today marks the fifth anniversary of the day my business partners and I founded Cressey Performance.  In that time, we’ve gone through two expansions, and we’re now in the process of a third one, which will effectively double the size of our space to over 15,000 square feet.

It’s been somewhat of a tradition for me to write something about Cressey Performance on EricCressey.com every July 13 in honor of the occasion.  To that end, in light of the fact that I know I have a ton of current or aspiring facility owners reader this site, I thought I’d use today’s post to outline one of the most important considerations I want our entire staff to understand.

Success isn’t just measured in revenue.

Most business owners look to at a net income total at the end of each month to determine if they’re successful.  While this certainly governs whether or not they’ll be able to keep the lights on at the facility and feed their families, it doesn’t speak to the far-reaching implications that a successful business has.

In the case of a fitness business, how many chronic diseases have thousands of exercise programs helped prevent?  How many bum shoulders have become asymptomatic so that a father can throw 400 pitches at his son’s team’s batting practice?  How many kids have gained confidence that’s gone far beyond the weight room, impacting school performance and social interaction?  How many shoulder and elbow surgeries have been avoided by proactive strength and conditioning program initiatives?  How many young athletes have spent 10-12 hours a week at Cressey Performance surrounded by professional and college athlete role models when they could have been out getting into trouble with the wrong crowd?  How many families have collectively started eating healthier because a young athlete came home from CP with some healthy food options for them to try?  How many young athletes have been inspired to pursue fitness as a career?  How many people have learned to stand up for their beliefs in vigorously defending their answers to the Tim Collins Question of the Day?

It excites me to see our former interns doing absolutely fantastic things.  Many have gone on to master’s degrees and doctorates in physical therapy, and two are in medical school.  Some have started their own training facilities, and others have gone on to college strength and conditioning positions. Kevin Neeld is working with the U.S. Women’s National Hockey team and loads of high-level hockey players.  Brian St. Pierre and Jay Bonn are having a huge impact on a number of lives through their work with Dr. John Berardi and Precision Nutrition. Brad Schnitzer can drink a bottle of water really fast, too.

I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that I’m very proud of all these interns and what they’ve accomplished.

Taking it a step further, I’m always psyched to see guys like Tim Collins (Royals), Steve Cishek (Marlins), Kevin Youkilis (White Sox), and Bryan LaHair (Cubs) doing as much stuff as possible in terms of charity work.  

And, I’m even more psyched when I see our minor league guys wanting to follow their lead, and that’s why getting involved with charity initiatives is an important part of our off-season pro baseball training crew. These little gestures of kindness mean a lot to people, and they mean even more when you’re on the biggest stage and have a rare opportunity to impact thousands of people with your words and actions. My hope is that the Cressey Performance experience has helped to not give our younger guys the the awareness to appreciate these opportunities to help others, but instill in them the humility to properly make use of them.

Additionally, in our case, Hudson, MA isn’t a tourism hub by any means (although we do have an Applebees, for what it’s worth).  Yet, CP brings anywhere from 80 to 120 clients per day to Hudson from all over Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New York, and Rhode Island. They spend money on food (including at our building’s cafeteria), gas, and any of a number of other things while they’re in town. Additionally, we have a lot of clients and interns who travel from all over the U.S. and abroad to train with us, and they support local hotels and rental properties. Finally, in Tony’s case, he single-handedly keeps a local auto body shop in business with all the repairs on his car; in fact, I think their owners would vote for him if he ran for mayor because of all the “economic stimulus” he’s provided them. At least these kids got some exercise and entertainment pushing his car to the mechanic.

All these considerations in mind, recognize that you don’t go into business solely to make money.  When you’re six feet under and looking up at the grass, nobody remembers you for your net income in August of 2010,  but rather the impact you had on the world before you left it.  And, on a related and interesting note, looking at ways to overdeliver and add value to someone’s experience is often the best way to make a business more profitable.  As my friend Pat Rigsby would say, pursue “value addition” opportunities, not “value extraction” ones.

To all our clients who have supported us for the past five years, thank you very much.  Our entire staff is deeply appreciative of your continued support.

Speaking of Pat, he, Mike Robertson, and I collaborated on a product called the Fitness Business Blueprint last year.  It discusses all the mistakes we made when opening our fitness businesses, as well as the common mistakes Pat sees in the businesses for which he consults.  Mike and I complement Pat’s business teachings with training-specific information like assessment and program design.  Taken all together, it’s a great product for someone looking to start their own fitness business, or improve upon the one they already have.  In honor of CP’s fifth birthday, we’ve put it on sale for $100 off for this weekend only (sale ends Sunday, July 15 at midnight).  You can pick up your copy at the special sales page HERE.

 

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17 Responses to “Five Years of Cressey Performance: Success Isn’t Just Measured in Revenue”

  1. Lance Goyke Says:

    Brad Schnitzer really can drink water fast. I’m going to make him show me that.

  2. Bill Person Says:

    very nicely done!!

  3. Tim Peirce Says:

    Congrats on 5 years. That’s impressive in what has been for most of that a down economy. Very impressive indeed. Just goes to show what a well made plan, the right team, a lot of hard work, and a little luck can do. Wishing you 5 more (at least).

  4. Greg Justice Says:

    Congratulations, Eric, it’s truly amazing what you have accomplished in 5 years! I love your blog and continue to learn and grow as a result. I can hardly wait to see what the next 5 years bring.

  5. Eric Cressey Says:

    Thanks, Greg! It means a lot coming from a guy who has been as successful as you have for so long!

  6. Chris Jones Says:

    Great post as always. Love these Birthday blog posts, last years gave me the kick in the backside I needed to finally push to open my own S&C facility. It has been open since last October and I am greatful for the inspiration you have given me.

  7. Jeff Blair Says:

    Always my favorite post of the year

    A couple of years ago you wrote about how you chose to have a facility rather than write online programs even though writing online programs might have been more financially beneficial. That hit a chord with me and contributed to me opening a facility 15 months ago.

    Keep up the great work Eric.

  8. Evelyne Says:

    Congratulations Eric!! This was a great post and that water drinking video is ridiculous.. I blinked and missed it 🙂

  9. Jordan Says:

    Fantastic post Eric.. Nice to see that there truly are people out there more concerned with their impact on others than their gym’s impact on their wallet. Here is to another 50 years of Cressey Performance.

  10. Shane Says:

    Time you spend and the information you share on top of running a first class gym make you a great role model for any personal trainer. Thank you Eric and congrats on the 5 years. Looking forward to one day seeing it all for myself. keep up the great work.

  11. Christian Says:

    I’ve been fortunate enough to be one of Eric’s online clients. I think one of the biggest attributes to his success (which is indirectly shown in this and many of his blogs) is how down to earth and genuinly caring the guy is. Even from the otherside of the globe I truely felt like this guy gave a s#%t about my personal training and injury management. He always promptly answered my queries (regardless of how ridiculous I’m sure some of them must have seemed) and makes you feel as important as his major league ball players. Working with and for this guy must be great, I think Eric this combined with the fact that you are a genius has made you so successful. Congratulations on the anniversary to the whole Cressey Performance team

  12. James Cipriani Says:

    Great post. And happy anniversary!

  13. Allen Says:

    Congrats bro.

  14. Janila Says:

    Congratz on 5 years of success! I know for a fact that reading your posts and utilizing your products has helped me become a much better athlete. You’re a role model. Keep kicking ass Eric!

  15. Sean Griffin Says:

    Eric – your blog introduced me to the fitness industry and eventually to Mike Robertson and IFAST where I’m at now. So from another guy that indirectly owes his start to you, congrats on your great success and here’s to a very bright future.

    -Seamus

  16. Ellen Stein Says:

    I had a blast spending a couple of days with Eric-not sure the cafeteria food wowed me though, LOL!

  17. Michael BISTANY Says:

    Great stuff man, thanks!


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