What Makes BFU Different From Other Coaching Groups? with Mark Fisher

[00:00:00] Welcome to the Business of Unicorns podcast, where we help gym and studio owners create a business and a life they love. I’m your host, Michael Keeler. Join me and the Business of Unicorns team each week for actionable advice, expert insights, and the inside scoop on what it really takes to level up your gym.

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I’m back again with Mr. Mark Fisher. How are you, sir? I am doing good. A life of, uh, a lot of boxes right now. And Pippin is screaming. That’s right, you’re moving. Pippin is screaming in the background, which is perfect for a podcast. Yes. And, and you have the moving happening all around you, moving apartments in New York City.

That’s- Yeah … that’s no small feat. It’s an ambitious thing that’s happening. Uh, yeah, [00:02:00] it’ll be exciting. Excited for the new space. Appreciate your, the help you’ve given me for the new office. There’ll be new, uh, something I haven’t had in several years of working next to my bed. So this will be very unusual for a New Yorker.

I think I’ve made it. That’s it. Good for you. Yeah, every New Yorker would love, like, a work at home space that’s actually, like, a dedicated space, and you’re gonna have it. It means you did win. You won at life. That’s right. I’ve won capitalism. Thank goodness. Yeah. Let’s dive in, because today is actually gonna be a quickie podcast because we wanted to answer a question that we often get.

People either ask this question when we meet them in person, or they ask this question when they DM us on Instagram, or respond to your emails, and they ask, like, in some way, shape, or form, what they wanna know is why, how is Biz Unicorns any different than any of the- Yeah … at this point, one billion other fitness coaching groups out there in the world.

And obviously, our perspective on this is gonna be biased, but I think what we hope to do in this little quick podcast is give you, like, a real honest assessment. I think we do know a decent amount about all the, quote-unquote, [00:03:00] competition out there. And I think we have tried to actually design Biz Unicorns to be something that is a little bit different than a lot of the offerings in some meaningful ways.

And so we hope to maybe just kinda give you all a little bit of a insight. And so for those of you thinking about joining, this will be really helpful. But even if you don’t think you’re a good fit for Unicorn Society at the moment, hopefully it’ll give you maybe some insight about what to look for when you are- Yeah

seeking out, like, help and support in this way. And where would you start, Fisher, in terms of what do you think is maybe the, one of the most important ways that Biz Unicorns, or specifically Unicorn Society, is different than other kind of coaching groups out there? Yeah, I don’t know, is the honest answer.

I feel like these, I’m always ill-equipped to answer this just because, I don’t know, I haven’t been to other gym business coaching groups. I, and I’m friendly- Sure … with most of the people that do what we do, so I have a general idea of what they offer. So, but yeah, it’s hard to answer specifically, and it’s a fair question.

People are often like, “How is this different?” And it’s, you’ll have to decide. Yeah. You’ll have to go, go do conversations with all those other people too, and then you can compare- Yeah … to the extent that you can believe- Yeah … any of our, you know- My, my experience- I was gonna say, even our [00:04:00] well-intentioned attempts to be unbiased, invariably we’re gonna have some inability to see ourselves completely clearly.

But I do understand why people would ask. I think it’s a very reasonable question. And I, I’m clearing my throat. Clearly I have some things I’ll offer that I think are different. Yeah, 100%. I would say my experience of knowing what other groups are like, aside from like the, the bit of market research that we do and the people we know that run them, is from when people leave those groups to come to Unicorn Society.

And I’m sure the opposite happens too, but I hear their experience, what they’re looking for in us that they didn’t like or were missing from the other groups. So I think that’s all informs my perspective about how we’re different, is what people tell us who’ve done multiple groups. And we’ve had people in Unicorn Society that have been in Unicorn Society and other groups at the same time.

Mm-hmm. Sometimes for years. Yeah. And sometimes we have people come to us or leave from us to other groups. So I think that’s also, I think, where my information comes from. But I’ll kick things off with one thing that I know is really unique, and this is something people have told us is really unique and we’ve put a lot of effort [00:05:00] into, is we know that for all of you owners out there looking for support at the kind of ownership level, we know that if we impart new information, tools, and wisdom into y- your brain, into your habits, into your workflow, that’s useful.

But we can be even more useful if we can help impart those habits and tools and information into your team as well. Yes. And so one of the things that I think we’re really proud of in Unicorn Society is that we train your whole team. Like when you have access to our circle platform, our library, our live trainings, our retreats, most people in Unicorn Society have multiple team members all engaged in that information.

Even when you ha- you have access to an hour of one-on-one coaching every month, some people use that to have some of their team members come and talk to our team, either in one-on-one coaching or office hours. And we don’t just allow it, we encourage it, ’cause we know that every minute or hour we spend with a member of your team helping them develop, being their thought partner, challenging their thinking, means it’s an hour of your time you get back as the [00:06:00] owner that hopefully you don’t have to do that.

So really do think of ourselves as an extension of your team and your capacity, and I know a lot of other groups don’t really take that approach, and they really are exclusively working with the founder or the owner, which is not wrong. There’s a lot of value that comes from that. But I think there’s almost no one in Unicorn Society where we don’t have at least someone on their team that’s also engaged in Unicorn Society.

Anything you would add to that? No. No, I think, yeah, I think, yeah, I think that’s well said. That obviously is a… I g- I can’t s- I don’t know exactly what all the other ones do. I just know that in our world, we think more of like we’re, we’re coaching this business And obviously the owner is foremost there.

So yeah, there are some owners that prefer this to be their thing, and there is admittedly some nuance sometimes around, like, if the owner needs help with someone on their team and we’ve worked very hard to create our own systems for how this, even managing, like, the notes systems, which maybe leads to something else, which I’m sure we’ll talk about, is I do think we have a uniquely passionate, let’s say, approach to operations and systems that, again, I can’t say [00:07:00] that nobody else does, but I think is definitely a strength of ours.

But yeah, I think certainly the ability for us to say things to your team can be valuable, as you are never a prophet in your own land, and sometimes it’s just gonna land a little bit different if Pete DuPuis says the thing to your intern that you were saying. And, and that was even my own experience as a gym owner, too.

You- I never had the opportunity to feel very fancy traveling around the world and giving talks, ’cause of course I would always land back in a Mark Fisher Fitness team meeting, and it would be very clear. Not that the team didn’t like me in many ways, but yeah, you’re never a prophet in your own land is what I’ll say about that Yeah.

And I think we’ve seen over the years both so many examples of it being really helpful to have an outside third party to help- Yes … point out gaps in an organization. You know- Yep … when I can have a call with your team members and then also you, and they tell me one thing, and you tell us something else- Mm-hmm

we can reflect that back to y’all without, you know- Yes … without stirring any shit, right? Yep. Just productively sh- reflect that back and help build, build some bridges to some places where, you know, you just, you can’t see a [00:08:00] system that you’re a part of. That’s true. And so we can see multiple parts of the system for you from the outside looking in.

That’s the thing that people pay consultants big dollars to come in and do, and we’re doing it as really a part of the program on a pretty regular basis for a lot of members. So yeah, I’ll start with that one, ’cause I think that it’s, that’s one thing I know our team has really worked hard on, and it’s a lot of complexity to work with, not just the owners, but the team.

But, but I think it, it does serve a really valuable purpose. Yeah. What else? Other reflections on what makes Unicorn Society any, any different? Yeah. Again, the, your listeners can decide if this is strictly different or not, but I would say that, I think another thing we’ll talk about is I think our backgrounds are maybe a little bit different than some of the other people doing what we do.

But certainly we are very comfortable and very into the unsexy work of operations and systems, and the things that really make the business sustainable, right? ‘Cause the nature of the beast is, the joke is if you ask any gym owner what they need, what [00:09:00] do they need? They need leads, right? And by all means, you need leads and we got leads for you, right?

It’s not a secret that I spend a lot of time thinking about and talking about and writing about things that will get owners leads. Certainly part of that, which is a difference, and depending on what you’re looking for, it might mean we’re not the right fit, is we don’t do paid ads, right? So we’re not an ad agency.

We’re not an ad vendor. You’re not… We’re not running your ads for you. We have resources for you, and many of our members do choose to use them to run their own ads. We also have partnerships with places that are able to help you run your own ads. So we’re happy to facilitate that. And we will, of course, give you a lot of support on the non-paid strategies to grow your leads, things like referrals, local business partnerships.

We have a done-for-you marketing calendar, which means that once the lead comes in, you’re going to be making offers to them forever and ever. We just did a whole weekend on marketing and sales, and of course, the sales and the follow-up and all that stuff matters. At the end of the day, I always say it always starts with leads and it always ends with leadership, right?

Which is like a [00:10:00] pat way of saying at the beginning it’s all about make more money and get more clients. But then to keep the clients and to not be crazy and have freedom, you need to have effective management relationships. You need to know how to make the trains run on time. And it’s an art, right?

‘Cause these businesses are not very big, and I think something I- I… It’s really struck me the past few years is the reality is, like, when we were coming up, you’re reading books like Traction and Good to Great, and you’re trying to unpack from business books how we apply some of these operating systems.

Yeah, E-Myth. Yeah. Yeah, and listen, that stuff’s all great, right? Mm-hmm. A lot of the stuff really can map, but we try very hard to take a systems first approach, which starts with when people come into our program, the very first thing we’re gonna do is we’re gonna audit and assess the model, right? We’re gonna kick the tires.

Obviously, the metaphor here is we’re gonna take all your vital signs and make sure does this model actually work? Is it going to actually scale up and grow without the wheels falling off? And then what are the things that need to happen every week to make sure we’re running the business by the numbers?

[00:11:00] How are we ensuring that the customer service product is up to standard on not just the training piece, but also the elements of the client journey? And then of course, everything from hiring, onboarding, managing, developing people over time. And listen, all that stuff, to be honest, it’s not as sexy for a lot of people.

I get it. Retention is long tail, and the reality is to improve your business for a lot of that particular functionality, because it’s a longer tail, it’s not, like, the easy win we can get, right? If you sign up for us, we can give you a couple email campaigns, and we can make you money right away. And again, we wanna do that by all means.

Whereas things like improving the culture of your business, right? Improving the morale of your team. Creating the kinds of relationships, results, and experience in your product that your clients are more likely to stay for a long time, refer their friends. That kind of stuff just takes longer. And again, it’s…

I, I’ll keep clearing my throat here and say it’s hard for me to say nobody else does that. I’m not s- trying to imply that. I would say that’s something we’ve done very well, and a lot of the success we’ve had [00:12:00] with Mark Fisher Fitness. And quite frankly, I think you see modeled in Business of Unicorns, which first admit, not a perfect business.

We’re not perfect business people. We don’t get it right 100% of the time. But man, we really try to make a system that has the right amount of support and oversight to s- with love, move you along the tracks towards the direction of a business and a life that you love. Yeah. Yeah. Said my friend, and I think that we do, we do really do love the systems.

And so not only do we help you im- impart those systems into your business, but we like to think that we run Unicorn Society itself in a way that teaches you about how to run systems. Yes. I hear all the time people- Yes … go through our onboarding process, and they’re like, “You know what? I learned as much as a business owner in this process, but I also learned from your process how I might need to onboard my clients differently.”

Yes. And so I think the fact that we apply it to how we actually treat you as a customer is actually a lesson in and of itself sometimes- Yes … for our members. Yeah. I’ll share something else which– Certainly we can talk about our background, which is an awkward thing to [00:13:00] talk about, but I think the fact that we, we ran Mark Fisher Fitness for 13 years, and it had the success it has, I think is unique and certainly informs our perspective, right?

While we only had at most two locations, I think we had the scale of multiple locations in, in terms- Yes … of number of members, number of team members, number, amount of revenue, and certainly expenses. And so I think that’s hard to find other people in the industry who have that kind of track record of scaling systems.

And also just our personal interests and expertise, I think, have been a real value to a lot of our members. In the feedback we get from retreats and things, the fact that we cover the topics we do, which are pretty varied, right? In terms of things you’re passionate about, things I’m passionate about, things the rest of our team is passionate about, and also sharing.

That also is a kind of a unique combination. And it’s hard to see that ’cause I’m part of it, but I think, you know- Yeah … we hear that in the feedback all the time. Yeah, I think that’s true. It’s not a secret. I think you’re probably the only gym business coach with a doctorate in leadership- Mm-hmm … as well as a [00:14:00] master’s in organizational psychology.

Which is it MA, MS? MA. MA in organizational psychology from Columbia. No small thing. And, and I think even outside you and I, it’s also true that having Pete Dupuis, who has run Crest Sports Performance- Mm-hmm … certainly the leading baseball facility in the world, or Ben Pickard, who has had many years now of running a gym that’s been making six figures in profit, a lot of that time with him doing, I don’t wanna say minimum amount of work, because I don’t wanna dismiss and say he’s over there cashing checks while people work for him.

Investing minimal amount of time, we can say. Yeah. We’ve had Lisha on the podcast. She’s epic, and he’s done well in hiring. And then of course, the, as the team has expanded, particularly the past couple of years, that’s also been, I think, a huge boon to our clients, right? If you look at people like John Farkas, who we brought on as our franchise partner, who works with fitness franchises, among them Alloy.

If you look at people like Chris Travis, who scaled to five locations on the way to I’m sure will be 10 to 20. I think the [00:15:00] coaches that we have, to my mind, I think have become one of the secret sauces of the business- Mm-hmm … because they’ve allowed my… And again, this is so biased. It’s awkward talking about it.

But my sense is- Yeah … they have allowed you to codify your systems and skill as a coach, both on the business consultant piece, which we talked about before, right? Understanding what is actually the thing that they probably should be doing to solve this bottleneck to move forward, but also the coaching piece, the ability to have a client-centered approach where you’re asking open-ended questions.

You’re not trying to lead the witness. You’re trying to help them. You’re acknowledging the fact that they have an ocean of context about their business that we don’t have, so we’re not sitting in the guru seat. We’re sitting alongside them, asking them questions, helping them to unearth what matters most to them, and then supporting them in creating a plan, and then- Mm-hmm

holding them accountable to take action, right? Also worth knowing, the weekly accountability checks I think is part of the heart of what we do, so that every month you’re drilling in on the most important next action, the number one thing you need to focus in that call, as well as all the other things you [00:16:00] probably need to just ignore for a minute, not get distracted by, and then making sure on a weekly action Are we moving forward on that, right?

Yeah. But I do think, again, my understand- I know maybe some other groups are doing that as well, but I think that real rigor and attempt to have Chet Holmes had called pig-headed stubborn discipline, both to give the client the space to decide what’s important to them and decide what the action is, and then just give them the full throated support of our entire team, our playbooks, a dedicated- Yeah

accountability coach that is essentially the caseworker for you and your business, strikes me as a very, I think, useful approach, let’s say. Yeah. I think that’s a great overview, and I think for me, what that all adds up to when I hear p- folks after they’ve been in the group for a few months, is they really appreciate that we don’t have a one-size-fits-all approach to everyone.

That’s right. ‘Cause because so many gym owners, when they come from other groups, the feedback I hear, and this is all respect to all the groups who we know and love. What I hear is that sometimes they do have kind of a one-size-fits-all [00:17:00] approach. Yeah. And it’s one thing that entrepreneurs, men, most entrepreneurs, one of the things they hate the most is being forced to be like everyone else sometimes.

That’s right. Right? That’s right. We all think of ourselves as being little unique snowflakes, and our business is so different, our business is so unique, and at the end of the day, we can both agree we’re all not that different. But I think people still like working with a team that wants to actually celebrate the fact that you do things a little differently than your competition.

Yep. And we’re not trying to flatten that or squish that. We wanna make sure you have some great fundamentals in terms of your finances- Yeah … and things, right? And we have some clear guardrails what we think those fundamentals are, but we also are here to help you flourish as a creative entrepreneur. And I think not every group is set up to allow that kind of diversity.

Yeah, I think that’s right. ‘Cause it is one of those arts. I think of this a lot too, and obviously we’re striking the balance that we think is the right balance. Yeah. But I would say one thing that strikes me as very wrongheaded is to try to copy/paste anything, even from a Mark Fisher fitness, maybe especially from [00:18:00] Mark Fisher Fitness.

Yeah. Because sometimes those things just don’t map right. So I think if you just try to- Mm-hmm … whole cart take an SOP from someone else, that may or may not be a great idea. Yeah. But equally wrongheaded is trying to make it up. Equally wrongheaded is like- Yeah … making it take longer by unnecessarily creating some unforced errors that will certainly cost you time, and energy, and money, and stress, and- Mm-hmm

hurt feelings, and damaged relationships, and less time at home. That’s right. And just, it’s just unnecessary to do that- Yeah … when you can work off proven systems, right? So one of the hearts of the Unicorn side, of course, are our library of done for you playbooks, and the thing I would note about them is they’re, again, they’re done for you in that they are a start, but then you have to do usually some modification, right?

That’s the advantage of doing it with a coach. We say that they’re- We’re trying to neither sh- … they’re a really great first draft, right? That’s right. A really great first draft. That’s right. Yeah. Yeah. We’re trying neither to shoehorn you into something that doesn’t quite fit your business, but we also wanna give you some system and some kind of [00:19:00] structure, right?

And I think, to my mind, reasonable people could disagree about how you strike that balance, but I, I would die on the hill of saying the far extremes are both bad, right? Yeah. To try to complete just copy the thing is not gonna go good, I promise, but also to completely make it up of your own accord also just, it’s just not a good use of time.

Yeah, that’s exactly right. I say during our onboarding course to all our new members, “Welcome to Unicorn Society. You never have to start with a blank page again.” Yeah. For any project you’re working on- Yep … any campaign you’re running, any SOP you need to develop, we have the first draft for you. Yep. And then you’ll work with our team to help make that the right size for you, and that in of itself saves people so much stress and anxiety.

Mm-hmm. And we talked in a podcast recently about activation energy, right? We just make that so much easier because we gave you the first few steps. Yeah. We just hand it to you, and you just get farther faster with less anxiety- Yep … is, is the goal. Yeah. All right. I know we wanted to make this a quick one, so maybe we’ll just pull up there ’cause we could keep talking all day about things we love about this thing we’ve built.

But hopefully for you listeners out there who’ve either been [00:20:00] thinking about working with us or already work with us, hopefully just pulls back the curtain into what we think the real- Yeah … value is to the way we’ve designed at least Unicorn Society for now. We didn’t even talk about Leadership Society today, but- That’s all right

you know, a lot of the same things apply in terms of our overall philosophy of how we help people. But hopefully this has been valuable. Any closing thoughts- Yeah … from you, Fisher? Yeah, I’ll just say that this is unbearably awkward, so we won’t do this again for a while, but hopefully this is useful. And if this has you titillated, the first step always is an intro call, right?

And you’ll find a link- Yeah … right around this podcast, certainly in the show notes, or you can go to go.bizofunicorns.com/brainstorm. It’s an absolutely no pressure call. I always say if it’s something that you’re interested in and you think it might be fit but you’re not sure, there’s really no harm in just hopping on a quick call.

It’s, I think you’re gonna find it’s not a very pre- Yeah. We’re n- we’re not really high pressure people, in case you haven’t noticed. So I would say that if something here sparks you and it’s happening, you think, “Okay, this is something I’m interested in,” even if it’s not now, again, we’re playing long-term games for long-term people.

Yeah. We expect to be doing this for a long time. So I would say if [00:21:00] this is something you’ve been considering, let this be your nudge, and thank you for listening to this podcast. We try to do only value forward ones, but periodically we just wanna make sure we’re clear on what it is we offer and how we can help you, as that’s also part of our job.

Yeah. Said friend. Awesome. Thanks for a great conversation, Fisher, and dear listeners. I’ll see you on the next one. Have a kick-ass week. Bye. Bye.