Moxie Cycling apparel was featured last January on Podcast #195 where a number of ICI/PRO members participated in a focus group, giving feedback about the new cycling jerseys from Moxie.
Fast-forward nine months and business is so good that Moxie Cycling's founder Brooke Freiborg with tells me they are ready to expand – and that means they need help… from some very special people 🙂
Who we’re looking for:
An established, motivated rep who understands the with women’s cycling. Generous commission potential.
Who we are:
Moxie Cycling is a women’s specific cycling apparel company leading the evolution to bring a woman’s unique needs to the forefront of cycling apparel. Ultra comfortable, performance oriented, and stylish women’s cycling apparel by and for women with moxie.
Quick stats:
– Fast growing company with distribution in 15 states in first year of business
– Differentiated premium product with strong sell-through
– 100% retention with 2012 dealer base
– Established distribution with mass retailers: REI, Team Estrogen, and Scheels
– Founders committed to innovation, exceptional customer service with “people before profits,” involvement in cycling community
ICI/PRO is devoted to providing a platform to elevate talented people. So if you're talented and looking or are looking for talented people, please contact us.
Pretending not to hear this won't make it go away 🙁
What would happen if someone were to get hurt in your class tomorrow?
It could be something as simple as a student slipping on a sweat soaked floor and twisting their knee, as they were climbing off at the end of class.
One moment everything is fine. It was a great class, the cool down music is playing and everyone is getting ready to stretch… then everything goes to s**t!
The next moment you have a student yelling in pain, her knee twisted at a very odd angle. Blood is running down their jersey from the gash in their head – she had struck the frame of the bike next to her, as she went down.
What's your personal liability if this happened in your class?
Or someone has an accident on the road during a group ride you are leading?
Are you covered by the club's or studio's insurance?
Does your club or studio even have insurance?
Do you know for sure?
September is back to school month and that means that Amy starts her weekly Pilates class at a local Catholic School. She's looking forward to seeing all of her student's again after the Summer break. But before she can teach her first class she needs to give the school administer a certificate of liability insurance, specifically naming Saint Huberts Community School as an additional insured. If you're curious about what this certificate looks like, you can see one here.
The school asks for a copy from Amy each year for a bunch of reasons; they want to be sure she really has coverage, it will be in force for the duration of the school year and the policy has acceptably high limits.
I'm not an insurance expert, but my understanding is that the reason for wanting to listed as an additional insured is to prevent disputes between Amy's insurance company and the school's. Being listed as an additional insured protects the school in the case where the school's insurance refuses to pay a claim, because Amy isn't an employee.
“Oh sure, we have insurance”, is right up there with “the checks in the mail”. I spent a lot of years selling and renting construction equipment and could tell you stories about contractors who insisted they have coverage, only to find out that the policy had lapsed two years ago and wasn't renewed. More often than not they thought they had insurance that covered rental equipment… when they didn't. Quite a few didn't have any insurance at all, which is why we always insisted on seeing a certificate of liability insurance that listed my company as an additional insured, before any equipment left the yard.
It's easy not to pay your insurance premiums. Companies struggling financially are famous for not keeping up their insurance. I'm aware of a studio who hasn't been paying their instructors (not any mentioned here) and it's an easy bet they aren't maintaining their insurance coverage either.
So what would happen if someone got hurt in your class, but there was no insurance policy in effect to cover the claim? It's hard to say exactly… but rest assured it could be a nightmare for you and your family.
With no insurance company to file a claim against for medical bills and lost earnings, the injured student hires a lawyer on contingency. They agree to split any settlement 70% for them and 30% for the attorney. Next the attorney starts looking for any “deep pockets”, anyone involved with assets that she can sue. That would be the studio owner and, unfortunately, you.
After a few years of depositions and court appearances (where you are accused of negligence), you may get off easy, only spending thousands of dollars in legal fees.
Or you could loose most of everything you own 🙁
Protect yourself and your family – do this ASAP:
Confirm with your club or studio that you are, or are not covered by their insurance.
Ask to see a copy of the current policy.
I wouldn't be afraid to ask to be listed as an additional insured, especially if you teach at a small studio or are leading group rides outside the studio.
Call your homeowner's insurance agent to understand what liability coverage you have and get their advice if you have enough. Be sure to tell them exactly what activities you are involved in and if you are paid.
Act on the information – raise your limits, purchase an Instructor policy or consider adding an umbrella policy on top of your homeowners.
The policy we bought from trainerinsurance.com for Amy was only $175 for $1,000,000 of coverage. If you are an IDEA member they also offer discounted insurance – but I think it's the same $175.
“So Joel, how do you know who to listen to and who to shut out?”
“I try to only listen to those whom I’m confident are on my crew…”
My question came during a conversation I was having during coffee with Joel Johnson, the pastor of my church. Joel had recently officiated the wedding between Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries- the Humphries family are long time members of the church and his parents were at one time frequent participants in my Indoor Cycling Classes, until switching locations.
If you follow the tabloid’s you know that the marriage was dissolved, almost before Kim’s bouquet of flowers had wilted, with Kim profiting to the tune of $17.9 million. As you can imagine, the drama surrounding the whole event within our church was immense and the criticisms of Joel were brutal. Lots of “I told you so”, “you should have never done the wedding” plus no shortage of destructive gossip going on between church members.
“We were getting so many calls and emails that I had to seclude myself and only engage with the people who continued to demonstrate that they were on my crew.”
“I’m not sure exactly what you mean by; on my crew?” I told him.
“Let me show you…”
Joel grabbed a napkin and drew this simple diagram.
And then he explained to me that you can assign the people in your life/church/business/community/etc… into one of the four quadrants, each being similar to the roles of the people you would find on a seagoing ship.
Your Crew
Your Passengers
Pirates
Stow Aways
Joel then described his drawing (which he told me he learned from someone else, but I can’t remember who) and how it identifies:
Involvement — is the person directly involved in your enterprise, Yes or No?
Vision — does the person believe in your vision for the enterprise, Yes or No?
Placed in the context of your Fitness Business:
Your Crew – Involved and believe in your Vision. The loyal Instructors, employees and vendors who work for you. Ever faithful, the people on your Crew are actively (and selflessly) involved in helping you create and maintain a successful business. As the term “Crew” conveys, these people are Team Players, the “life blood” of your business, embracing your Vision and demonstrating it toward your customers and the other members of your Crew. They are the people you can count on. The person who jumps in when something needs to be done or when an emergency sub is needed. Crew members put the needs of the team ahead of their own, working continuously to promote the studio and other Instructor's classes.
Your Passengers — Not Involved, but believe in your Vision. Satisfied, regular customers who believe in your Vision and participate in fair exchange with your business*. They bring their friends and speak positively about you to others — while communicating concerns directly to you. Passengers add value to your business both financially and through the positive energy they bring to class. *Fair Exchange is a concept I learned from Dr Shannon years ago, where two people exchange value for something. As long as each feels the exchange is “Fair” then it's all good 🙂
Pirates — Involved, but don't believe in your Vision. Trouble makers who use the word “ME”, instead of “WE”, demonstrating a belief that it’s “all about them”, instead of your Team. Pirates can be Involved in your business as Instructors or employees. They contribute to your business, while promoting their own agendas, instead of (or at the expense of) your Vision. They may try to encourage your customer's to attend classes they teach at other locations and may be heard cutting down another Instructor's class. They may be so bold as to sell merchandise out of the trunk of their car. Pirates think nothing of showing up late, being unprepared or calling in sick on short notice. Pirates are very selective of which classes they would consider subbing and will use the opportunity to promote themselves.
Stow Aways — Not Involved nor believe in your Vision. The customers who take advantage of your good will. They insist on free/discounted classes and complain frequently. Stow Aways are the participants who show up late, do their own thing (complete with iPod/earbuds), disrupt class or may even be disrespectful to your Instructors.
“Joel, what do you do with the Pirates and Stow Aways once you identify them?”
“You need to decide if they are worth keeping around. And if not, I bless them, thank them and say good bye.”
He is after all a Pastor.
____________________________________
What prompted me to write this post was an episode of Kitchen Nightmares , a show I love and feel teaches some valuable lessons that you can apply to your Indoor Cycling Class and/or Fitness Business. The story line had the head chef (a Pirate) ruining the restaurant's reputation and yet the owners felt powerless to fire him, because they didn't think they could survive without him. I've seen (and heard of) similar situations at studios with a prima donna Instructor. Very popular with clients, the Pirate's destructive behavior may have you questioning whether or not you should keep them on your Instructor team.
Have you experienced Pirates or Stow Aways at your studio?
I have received quite an education about improving the acoustics of a room from Ryan Gibbons, an Applications Specialist with Auralex® Acoustics, Inc. In the interview posted below Ryan describes the typical problems that may exist in your studio and offers some suggestions on solving them. If after listening to this interview you would like more information they have a very comprehensive online resource available at http://www.acoustics101.com/
If you would like a free acoustical analyses of your studio, that includes their detailed recommendations for making improvements, you can contact Ryan directly:
Ryan Gibbons
Applications Specialist
Auralex® Acoustics, Inc.
6853 Hillsdale Court
Indianapolis IN USA 46250
317-842-2600 | 1-800-959-3343 rgibbons@auralex.com | www.auralex.com
Auralex doesn't sell direct, instead they use distributors like GuitarCenter.com
An ICI/PRO member just sent me a request for a copy of her ICI/PRO annual membership for her taxes. If you can't locate your receipt email my assistant rob@indoorcycleinstructor.com and he will resend it to you.
That triggered me to write this post as a reminder to everyone that your ICI/PRO subscription maybe a deductible education expense. I'm not a tax expert so you will need to check with some Tax Professional that understands what is and isn't allowable where you live and teach.
If you are an employee and can itemize your deductions, you may be able to claim a deduction for the expenses you pay for your work-related education. Your deduction will be the amount by which your qualifying work-related education expenses plus other job and certain miscellaneous expenses is greater than 2% of your adjusted gross income. An itemized deduction may reduce the amount of your income subject to tax. Note: If you were to incorporate your fitness business you maybe able to deduct all of this amount in the USA – John
If you are self-employed, you deduct your expenses for qualifying work-related education directly from your self-employment income. This may reduce the amount of your income subject to both income tax and self-employment tax.
Your work-related education expenses may also qualify you for other tax benefits, such as the tuition and fees deduction and the Hope and lifetime learning credits. You may qualify for these other benefits even if you do not meet the requirements listed above.
To claim a business deduction for work-related education, you must:
Be working.
Itemize your deductions on Schedule A (Form 1040 or 1040NR) if you are an employee.
File Schedule C (Form 1040), Schedule C-EZ (Form 1040), or Schedule F (Form 1040) if you are self-employed.
Have expenses for education that meet the requirements discussed under
Qualifying Work-Related Education
You can deduct the costs of qualifying work-related education as business expenses. This is education that meets at least one of the following two tests:
The education is required by your employer or the law to keep your present salary, status or job. The required education must serve a bona fide business purpose of your employer.
The education maintains or improves skills needed in your present work.
However, even if the education meets one or both of the above tests, it is not qualifying work-related education if it:
Is needed to meet the minimum educational requirements of your present trade or business or
Is part of a program of study that will qualify you for a new trade or business.
That raises another question; would it make sense to find an expert who can help us decide if incorporating your fitness business would help you save money on future taxes? I know for me and Amy, once we formed Deep Breath In, LLC we were able to deduct many more of our expenses as they were no longer subject to the 2% threshold of our adjusted gross income.
While I was in Boston last week meeting with Tom Scotto, Bill Pryor and Kenji Freedman, Gene Nacey was at this years IHRSA in California. It's the largest fitness equipment show in the USA and Gene was there checking out all the new Indoor Cycling bikes (or should I say cycles) that offer Power. Take a look at his video report.
