uncomfortable isn't only for the group fitness room

Wednesday April 10, 2024

If you caught last week's email, I am all ok for another year with my never-not-nervewracking cancer screenings! Know that if you're putting-off scheduling a necessary medical check, I am always happy to give you a pep-talk/quick-kick in the butt; you know how to find me.

What I had planned on sharing this week flew out the window (but I’ll come back to it another time!) after I heard from one of my favorite people in our boutique fitness space who is truly “going through it” at present.

Starkly-said: if you are reading this, we know one another by virtue of the fact that the very first indoor cycling studio consulting project I took on 10 years ago in Singapore…had a poor shareholders’ agreement. While this had nothing to do with the 2 cycling formats I built for the studio, I was affected, of course, as was everyone else….& frankly, it was gut-wrenching.

For me, while I mourned the loss of this studio as with any other big disappointment…this poor shareholders' agreement meant that I would be free to build my global consulting business; working closely with cycling studios to both create new programs & train talent AND provide continuing education opportunities for existing studios.

Instead of expanding & growing the studio’s footprint robustly in Southeast Asia as licensing & strategic partnerships across markets was always the overarching goal with this studio…I, instead, became free to work anywhere & to meet YOU.

[So in the end…I came out OK, though it took time & a lot of mental energy!]

For everyone else involved in this initial Singapore studio, the poor shareholders' agreement meant a few hundred thousand dollars down the drain & chalked up to a heavy-lesson, emotional pain, bewilderment, severed friendships, a decision to stop teaching, a later decision to start one's own studios (especially since they saw a few examples of what NOT to do), rolling with the sale of a business & teaching for the new owner, not rolling with the sale of a business because they thought the new owner was garbage, among others.

In the end, the above 192 words can be boiled down to 10:

Your passion is not enough. You need a shareholders' agreement.

Your drive to create a fantastic third place for your community & provide clients with the best classes & hospitality possible & a place to feel seen….is 👏🏻not 👏🏻enough 👏🏻.

I hope you will protect your passion, sanity, money, time, energy with an updated shareholders' agreement. I firmly believe this is no different than updating your will & financial trust, your payable-upon-death bank accounts & your wishes for your end of life.

Do you have an agreement? And have you re-worked the terms as your business has grown and/or changed?

If you have 1 business partner or many, 1 angel investor or a fund backing your studio…truly when was the last time you had your attorney scrutinize the terms & have dialogue with your fellow shareholders?

I care about our industry & I care about you enough to ask the hard questions…& dare to make you uncomfortable so that we can all grow & thrive.

If you need an ear and/or a recommendation for someone qualified to help you with this crucial task, I'm always here & likely have a referral. 😊

On a happier note!…Eid Mubarak to our friends observing & celebrating.

Til next Wednesday,

xx Noël