Q & A with Crossfit MPLS Founder Tyler Quinn
“Do what you love and money will follow” –Greg Glassman, Crossfit Founder
Tyler Quinn is a 23 year old St. Olaf graduate who decided to open his own gym. For the first few months, he could only afford to live in the gym, where he had no refrigerator or shower. He ate a lot of non-perishable foods and used two 5-gallon buckets to bath next to the railroad tracks outside the gym at night.
What made you start this gym? Did the poor economy have anything to do with it?
I was looking at what Crossfit meant to me. I knew that Crossfit, for me, wasn’t a luxury. It was an absolute necessity in my life like grocery shopping and putting gas in my vehicle. That’s how I felt about it, and I knew in my experience out there that I was not alone and there were other people out there who don’t see this as their membership to Bally’s, this is much, much more. It’s an absolute, it’s a necessity and they weren’t going to give it up. I was a broke college student too but if there had been a Crossfit in Northfield, I would have found enough money to pay each month. I would have swept their floors, or washed their pull-up bars or whatever just to make sure I got a membership. The only hard part was finding other people like that. So when I went to the bank and I told them I wanted to start a gym, that was the hardest thing for me to do was convincing them that this is unorthodox, it is unique, it is not like the rest of them. This program is not just a personal training thing where if you’ve got the money, come on in. There are people out there doing this with cinder blocks in their garages, backyards, and parks and it’s just been a matter of finding them.
So your desire to start your own gym wasn’t motivated by the economy? You graduated from college and coincidentally it was the worst job market since the 1980’s?
If I wasn’t here doing this right now, I would be trying to become a part of special forces. I got into Crossfit because I wanted to be a Green Beret. And this fell into my lap basically when I went out to California and all of a sudden it just changed. So no, It wasn’t like I couldn’t find a job. I was a political science major. Unless I was going to law school, I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do with that. If nothing else, at least I have gained some credibility and I could probably get into an MBA program with this foundation, having started my own business which I think is valid to a lot of admissions people. If this is the time to fuck up and fail, now is the time. I’ve got nothing to lose. My car is the most expensive thing I own. [During our first meeting, Tyler told me about living in the gym when he first opened it and bathing out back and eating lots of nuts and vegetables]
How did you convince the bank to grant you a loan? The first time you walked into the bank did they just say no to you? Especially in this economy, with established companies finding it difficult to obtain credit, you had no experience, you’re 23.
Yeah, [laughs] I went to eleven banks. They all said no. Most of them were in the Twin Cities, and the last one I contacted was First National, in Northfield. And I just said I want to set up an appointment. I’ve always thought getting face-to-face with someone is so much better because people can see you and sense your enthusiasm, and that just doesn’t come out over the phone. So I thought if I could just sit down, I could convince them. Actually, I originally told the lender that I just had some questions about commercial banking and lending. I said I was a student at St. Olaf. Its in Northfield, they were a local bank, I wanted to use the community connection to my advantage. So I met with this guy Earl and I sat down with him and eventually I got to the point where I asked If I wanted to get a loan, what would you need from me? And I just shot it out straight and told him, I don’t know how this works. I don’t understand the language of these papers, I don’t know what you want to see or what you will ask of me so tell me and let me go do my best to collect it. Do you need a business plan? No, I’m not a business major or have an economics background but I’ll figure out how to write a business plan for you. And that’s what I did. I met with one of the professors in the entrepreneurial department at St. Olaf, Sian Muir. She wasn’t my teacher, I didn’t even know her, I just contacted her and she helped me put it together in our free time. We crunched numbers, my dad is in real estate and he helped me put together some spread sheets and six months later I walked back into the bank with this forty-five page, laminated, business plan and slapped it down on his desk and told him to call me in a week. And he did, he called and said he looked through it and why don’t I come back in. And the nice thing about this guy Earl, and local banks in general, is that they are much more willing to get to know you, as opposed to just getting to know your numbers. Earl and I spent so many hours just talking and getting to know each other and by the end, I felt like he could trust me. After that, I was golfing and I got the phone call that my loan was approved and it felt great.
So starting your own business wasn’t a spur of the moment thing, or a reaction to graduating and panicking when you didn’t know what to do next . You started this at the beginning of your senior year?
I flew out to California in January and got my affiliation while I was there. So I came back and spent the entire second semester working on this. Every weekend I drove up to the cities looking for lease signs on buildings, calling landlords, talking to the bank and putting it together. It was about six weeks before graduation when I found out my loan was approved. Then I knew it was real. All things are possible with time and money. I had plenty of time because I didn’t have anything else going on, I just didn’t have any money. So when I got that loan approved, all of a sudden I could have serious conversations with landlords and ask how much is this per month? When will it be available? It wasn’t just bullshitting. I started actually ordering equipment, and using the loan money and if felt phenomenal.
When you were looking at space to rent, did you get the impression that some of the landlords didn’t take you seriously? You would speak with someone on the phone and then they meet you. Were they surprised to see a young guy?
I think so. I still deal with that. When a forty-year old guy comes in to the gym and sees that I’m the owner and asks “you’re the guy I emailed?” They look at me and just see a kid. But money talks. When I went to some of these landlords in the worst recession since the Great Depression and said you have space and I have money; they’re going to listen. Some people were surprised, but once you develop the language, the better you get at speaking to them in terms they understand, the easier it gets and you just need experience. It might have been my eleven failures that facilitated my success at the twelfth bank in getting a loan. At the first half dozen banks I didn’t even know what a lot of terms meant but when I would ask, red flags would go up. Overall though, in this economy, landlords are anxious to rent out their space.
Did your college experience help you in terms of how you approached starting your own business?
No. I think my family influenced me more. I was the third child and by that point, everyone around me was just expecting me to figure things out. In college, there was always a helping hand. The message always seemed to be if you fail it’s alright but unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that. In reality, if I fail, I still have a loan to pay off. I’d like to say someday that my college experience had some profound impact on my life, but I just haven’t gotten there yet.
As a business owner, what stresses you out? You don’t have a boss telling you what to do. You are responsible for everything. Do you think it has been worth it or do wish you had a regular 9-to-5 with a boss?
Initially, my main stress was just getting people in the door. But now that the business is self-sustaining and I have enough to pay my loan, rent, and food. The next stress now, is how do I personally survive? Because I don’t pay myself anything. All the money goes back into the business and paying my bills. I’d like to start paying myself regularly at some point. My other stress is going to be expansion. Once I know the doors will stay open month after month and I’m able to give myself a paycheck, then I need to get more equipment, more space, and be able to manage more people. My fear is with every new piece of equipment I buy, I am committing myself into this more and more. I think about grad school and other things I might want to do in the next few years but each thing I do for my business closes the doors to other options somewhat.
When you see friends and family now, do they ask you why you would do this? Does anyone think you’re making a mistake and you would be better off doing something else?
No, my parents are great. They are supportive and they get it. Some people get it and others don’t. Some friends are really proud of me and see all the hard work that has gone into this gym. Yes, it’s small and scrappy but I love it. Some friends just think it was really easy to go to a bank and get a loan and then start my own gym. It’s very easy to say I’ll go get a loan and buy equipment but to actually do it is much more difficult.
What motivated you to keep going? You were turned down by eleven banks first.
Yeah I was miserable during that point.
So what was the motivation? Because you were still in school while coming up with this idea and there were no bills to pay.
I was confident. I had a good idea and I just thought to myself this is what I am going to do so I’ll do it. If I had to go to thirty banks, I would have. That would have been my job at that point. Its no different than having a boss tell you what you need to do that day and going and doing it.
Do you already look back and see what you would do differently? Do you see glaring mistakes you have made so far?
Overall I am really proud of how this is evolving. I’ve made little mistakes in choosing certain things to buy but overall I am happy with how things have turned out. I’m happy to look around and see new equipment I’ve bought and recognize that that symbolizes progress.
What is your favorite part of being your own boss?
I get to do what I love. It’s the most underrated thing about career choices. I love Crossfit. I know there are people who love their jobs, but working for a company, you don’t get to do the thing you love all day everyday. There are lots of extra things like paperwork and meetings that have to be done as well. A doctor doesn’t perform surgery all day and a lawyer doesn’t argue in a courtroom all day. There is so much preparation, but for me, it’s as romantic as I thought it would be. I get to do Crossfit all day. And I’m learning accounting, scheduling and negotiation too. I tell my friends who were economic majors I probably have a better understanding of economics than they do since hands on experience always trumps theory and classroom training.
There are a few other Crossfit gyms in the Twin Cities. Did you ever go and look at them before you started or speak with their owners?
I got my certification in California and worked in a few gyms there, came back here and called a few. I was actually the second affiliate in Minnesota even though I was the fifth to get started. So some of the other gym owners actually contacted me first asking where I was going to be located, not realizing at the time I was still a student. I had to stall when they would ask me questions because I had no gym. So I have spoken with a lot of them but I don’t know if there is any animosity or not since we are all in competition. But I believe spreading the awareness about Crossfit will benefit all of our gyms. If some people join in another city and tell their friends who live near me, they are going to come here. I’ve had phone calls from people from other cities asking to come see the place and I always say, go to the Crossfit that is closest to you first. If you don’t like it for some reason, then you can come here, but don’t drive here for me. I did some research and I called about 100 Crossfit gyms all over the country asking them questions like what equipment they bought first, how they deal with snow, how many members they have, and those were all things I had to include in the business plan so I could prove I had an idea of what I was doing.
What are you going to do for marketing at this point? You have a website, what else are you going to do to increase exposure?
I took an ad out in the City Pages which hasn’t been the best idea so far, at least for me, because it is expensive so I have small ads, and Crossfit isn’t for just anyone. It is very different from big box gyms. So for now, I’m not really marketing. I am doing word of mouth advertising. I have some incentives like decreasing the membership for members who bring in more people. I just got T-shirts made and I’ve had a few people ask about Crossfit because of the shirts. I use Facebook and Twitter to advertise for this as well. I do want to know more about how people are finding out about this.
Do you have any success stories already? Are there members who have made impressive transformations that you are proud to have helped?
Absolutely, a few people have made tremendous progress and one guy in particular, had lost fifteen pounds and was working hard, and then he just stopped coming. I called him about twelve times over the course of a week and sent him a few emails but he never got back to me.
That is different from big box gyms as well. I don’t know of any that would call and try to find out where members went.
Right, and I have members that demand to know where other members are. If someone doesn’t show up for a week, other members tell me to find out what is going on. People are holding each other more accountable here and the commitment shows in terms of members progress and increased fitness.
Do you feel like you should be spending all your time working? If you go to a coffe shop and relax for a while, do you feel the pressure to get back to work? Do you feel guilty when you don’t have a productive day?
Yeah, especially when I first started. I thought I should be out handing out fliers and constantly doing everything in my power to grow as much as possible. And I should be still, but things are getting busier. I get tons of email. So I usually spend the first two hours of my day responding to emails. Then it’s the noon class and after that from about one to five is my time to either do consultations, or buy groceries. Then it’s class at five and six again. I sometimes worry that I could be more productive in those afternoon hours but as long as things keep progressing and growing I guess I am only wondering how I could be progressing and growing even faster. Actually, I think it might be best to go slow. My first large class I realized I had a lot to learn as a coach and how to manage a class. It was almost good to spend the first month with four members and the next month with twelve and by the third month have twenty members. Now, almost six months in, we have four classes a day and at least seven people per class.
Would you advise another young person, maybe just graduating, to start their own business? With the uncertain economy and so few jobs, would you recommend entrepreneurship to someone?
Of course it would depend on the type of person. Some people are not cut out to work for themselves, they need more structure. So I would have to know a little about the person because obviously you can’t just tell anyone to start a company and watch them fail a month later. This is the time to do it, even in a strong economy. The Small Business Administration is giving out more and bigger loans to small businesses and distributing funds to small local banks. Small business represtents the backbone of the economy. Be real with yourself. If you have a good idea, then run with it. A lot of people told me, don’t you know 99% of small businesses fail and I said yeah but most businesses are based off poor ideas or mismanagement. People pay themselves way too much, they want instant gratifications. Starting a business is very hard and it’s a lot of work but if you’ve got a good idea and you love it, my advice is to go out and do it right now.
Thank you very much Tyler.
No problem, thank you.
To learn more about Crossfit Minneapolis check out the website: www.crossfitminneapolis.com
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