“If you want to go somewhere fast, go by yourself. If you want to go far, go with others.”
—African Proverb
Welcome to the Steve Show today. In this episode, Joseph Quinn talks about how he went from having his own business, a Pilates studio, to starting and growing his own tech company— Pilates Metrics.
While he was building his family, Joseph also went from having one child to having three children— an amazing feat!
In this post, I share what I think are key takeaways for anyone who wants to build and grow a business they love without sacrificing family-time.
Tip 1: Start with Impact
Starting with impact is the most important thing when it comes to building a business you love. Without finding a strong, motivating reason— a ‘why’— you won’t have the energy or focus to build your business for the long-run.
For Joseph, his ‘why’ was derived from the benefits Pilates offered his clients. He understood that Pilates was a great preventative practice. However, his impact was limited to the members at his Pilates studios. He wanted the industry to have a greater impact on everyone around the world, and eventually, he found a way to scale that impact by merging his understanding of Pilates with tech.
“I know Pilates keeps you out of the hospitals, so, I knew that there was an opportunity for us as an industry to have a larger impact on the world.”
—Joseph Quinn
Tip 2: Metrics Matter
Getting feedback on how we are doing is what helps us learn and grow.
Joseph understood that Pilates as an industry could benefit from technology by providing clients with metrics to track their progress, celebrate what is working well, and help them identify opportunities for further growth and improvement.
Doing so has not only helped his clients’ well-being, but it has helped his Pilates business too— their client retention rates increased as a result of having these metrics!
“I opened up my fantasy baseball scores, I looked at the arrangement of numbers–baseball has this beautiful elaborate system of keeping track of what’s going on with their players. We applied it to the human body to track biometrics and the anatomy of movement. A professional can see how you are moving and what exercises you are doing…”
—Joseph Quinn
Tip 3: Networking Is About How Well You Understand People
Joseph didn’t build his business alone. He had the support of his family and key networks. As you can imagine, starting a technology company involves engaging the right stakeholders; investors, brand partners, and key industry bodies. There was no way he could do it alone. But how do you engage your networks?
Contrary to reaching out and asking for favors, Joseph narrows it down to two simple-yet-effective behaviors:
- Asking questions to understand who people truly are.
- Take the time to listen to them properly.
Why? Because when you are confronted with a problem or obstacle and you can’t get around it— you can think back to the people you have met and connect to the person who can help you. Unless you ask questions and really understand people— there’s no way you will know who to reach out to for help.
“There’s your immediate core family, but then there are all the
relationships you’re building along the way…”
—Joseph Quinn
Hope you enjoyed the takeaways!
As always, until we meet again…
Choose Gratitude Create Freedom
Steve Napolitan
