Today was our 16th day and so far things our going well. A number of expenses are higher than expected but so are our memberships. I've definitely learned a few things that I would do differently but considering how fast we've been moving, I can't complain.
I've had a couple of people tell me that they googled Denali Fitness and ended up on Eugene's or David's blog.
I finally had a chance to work out in my own gym on Saturday. It was nice but I kept getting interrupted to deal with member issues. That was my first work out since I was kicked out by the previous gym 6 weeks earlier.
Free weights arrived over the last few days--it's starting to feel like a real gym.
We had to sand the aerobics floor all the way to the word. The previous gym maintained the floor on the cheap and Dave and I are now paying the price. I had to cancel an aerobics class at the last minute but ~10 women still showed up. They handled it fairly well. I have a free pass for a few weeks from customers but eventually, they'll expect results.
I just opened by T-Mobile cellphone bill to discover that I owed $635.43. I used almost 2,200 minutes during the last billing period--I get 1,000 in my plan. I called customer service but all they offered me was a $20 credit if I changed plans. I'll be canceling that contract just as soon as pick a new phone/service. It will cost me $200 to get out of my contract but it will be worth it.
T-Mobile could have been more forgiving and they would have made more from me in the long term. Instead, I'll be changing providers.
Credit card companies make you call them to go over your limit, why can't cell companies do something similar? My bill was 10 times my regular rate. A call/warning would have been nice.
Today was our first day of business. It was a good day. We did a bit better than Dave expected but near my expectations. But one day does not a business make.
It's almost opening day at Denali Fitness, and there is still way too much to do. I still need to hire some more help...
I wonder how many members will sign up tomorrow?
Photos of the facility improvements.
I'm working my butt off like it was my first year at amazon.com. I spend all day at the gym and then I get home around 10pm or so and answer emails for a few hours. I'm having fun but it's tougher to keep these hours now that I'm a little older.
A customer came in today to sign up. He mentioned that he find Denali Fitness and my blog through Dave's blog. Pretty cool.
I've taken a bunch of pictures of our progress on the gym. I'll try to post them.
We were going to open this past Monday, January 10, but that fell apart last week when our carpet got stuck on the other side of the Rockies due to the snowstorm. On the plus side, it gives us more time to fix up a few more things. On the downside, it's 5 days of membership revenue that we can never recoup.
I learned yesterday that our dumbell racks are going to arrive 2+ weeks late, that means we'll have 36 pairs of dumbbells sitting on the floor. I also discovered that none of our benches are arriving in the first shipment. Luckily, TechnoGym is going to step up and loan us a couple of benches.
Our 10,000 postcard mailing has generated a lot of interest--phone calls and emails.
The equipment arrives in 8 hours. I can't wait. 53 hours until we open.
It's 12:03am, 1 January 2005, and I'm sitting home alone typing up some policies for Denali Fitness.
2004 was quite a year. I saw a photo montage of 2004 on some news show the other day and was struck by the events that happened over the past year. International events ended with the terrible tsunami in the Indian Ocean. In US politics, you had the 2004 election and everything leading up to it. In sports, the Boston Red Sox finally ended the curse and the 2004 Olympics. And those are just the tip of the iceberg.
Personally, I laid myself off in January. By the end of March, I had a job in the wireless space--an industry I wanted to get into the past few years. Like a lot of things in life, reality is nothing what you expected. So I came to realize that climbing the corporate ladder was not for me. Hanging out with my softball team at the Rocksport after a game, I mentioned that I hated my job and asked if anyone was interested in opening a gym with me. Dave said yes and that's where it all began about six months ago. Without Dave, this would have never have happened.
I have no regrets regarding my decision. Denali Fitness and 2005, here I come.