Video Killed the Radio Star
Many decades ago, I rode shotgun with one of my mentors to pick up some fitness equipment at a giant warehouse days after he had to shutter his business. His son, who was my high school friend, could not make it, so I went along instead. Honestly, I was glad to. Any time I could spend with his father was something I jumped at. I was away at University and being around him made me feel like I was home. Just to be clear, this was not a feel good field trip. This was an emotional day for him. His life’s work, his livelihood and his identity were sitting in a pile on a warehouse floor 40 miles away from his former place of business. He had negotiated for some equipment from the creditors, and this was why we were together that day. It was a mostly quiet ride, and although we were not contemporaries, I felt I was at least able to lend some moral support. As for me, pretend for a moment you saw Superman wiping a tear from his eye as he left the fortress of solitude for one last time. Mr. H was larger than life to me. And here I was starting my journey as a Chiropractic student, providing comfort to a man that I idolized. That image still stays with me to this day and has helped inform my approach to business many decades later.
Mr. H was a Marine, once crowned Mr. Delaware in 1964, who had worked his way up in the fitness world until he owned his own health club. His gym, New Life Fitness Center, was located in the town where I went to high school and later several towns over from the University I attended. Back then, it was the gym. A family spot, long before names like LA Fitness, Planet Fitness, or YouFit came around. New Life had everything, the latest equipment, certified trainers, good hours, and the respect of the community.
But the town was changing. Marietta, Georgia, was exploding with growth, and when demographics shift, the big chains move in. Sure enough, LA Fitness opened a huge location practically next door. At first glance, it should not have mattered. New Life had the gear, the staff, the hours, the reputation and was locally owned by a veteran as well. But it did matter.
What brought New Life down was not poor service or bad management. It was something harder to see. Mr. H could not anticipate what was coming next. He could not see around the corner, and in business, that blind spot can cost you everything.
Adapt, improvise, overcome. That is the unofficial Marine credo. It is also a philosophy that has served me well in business and in life. And it is why I am drawn to helping others “see” around corners in my coaching practice. Too often, we get so caught up working in the business that we never get the chance to work on the business. Even more so, we never work on ourselves. Yet that is the very thing that creates the space for better performance in both.
So what does working on the business really mean? For every organization, the methods will look different. Growth can come from strategy, systems, marketing, or operations. I will leave those mechanics to the business consultants I work with. What I want to highlight is this, growth ultimately comes from the entrepreneur. Innovation, creativity, desire, strategy, and foresight do not come to you. They come from you.
And where do those intangibles emerge from? They come from many places, but most importantly, they come from asking the right questions. Pointed questions that are drawn out by a skilled coach trained in the art of collaborative self-discovery.
Think about it this way. In a court of law, it is both difficult and frowned upon to be your own defense attorney. Even a trained lawyer struggles to outline the right questions and anticipate the responses needed to build a solid case on their own behalf. In business, it is no different. Growth becomes difficult when you are too close to the issues. One of my brother’s bosses famously would say, “Sometimes you are so deep in the jar that you can’t see the label.”
That is where coaching comes in. Coaching bridges the gap between being on the field and being in the box, where the offensive coordinator sits, able to see the whole game from above.
So, what was the crucial misstep for New Life Fitness Center? Technology.
In the late 90s, most gym memberships were financed through third-party agreements. The member signed with a finance company, the finance company collected the payments from the member, and the gym got paid for the year up front. That system worked, until it didn’t.
Automatic bank drafts changed everything. They were a breakthrough for the fitness industry and spelled the downfall of membership-driven finance arrangements. When LA Fitness landed in Marietta, they not only had the capital to float their overhead while memberships ramped up, they also had the foresight to use the latest technology. Every new member went straight onto monthly drafts. This provided a stable monthly revenue model and allowed for a predictable monthly overhead management.
New Life, on the other hand, had to play catch-up. To make the switch, they asked existing members to increase their dues by five dollars a month for the year to cover the cost of upgrading. The members declined. And the 20 years of community goodwill was traded for the price of a movie ticket. Remember, it was the late 90’s.
The lesson here is not just about gyms or billing systems. It is about the potential corners that business owners are unable to see. For New Life, the corner was technology. The one misstep was not from a lack of effort, less care for the business, or from failing to deliver quality service. The mistake came from being buried in the jar unable to see the label.
The difference between thriving and struggling is often the ability to anticipate change before it arrives. Those unforeseen changes are more likely to be uncovered, or at the very least inspired, during sessions with a business performance coach. A good coach helps you identify the corners you cannot see, ask the questions you might not ask yourself, and prepare for what comes next.
In the end, the story of New Life Fitness is not just a cautionary tale about one gym. It is a reminder that every business, no matter how strong, has blind spots. Markets shift, technology evolves, and circumstances change faster than we expect. The leaders who thrive are the ones who create space to step back, gain perspective, and challenge their own assumptions. That is the role of coaching. At Align Coaching Co., our mission is to help business owners and professionals see around corners, uncover blind spots, and sharpen the strategies that drive growth. If you are ready to align your vision with your performance, now is the time to start looking at the label attached to your business.
