TRX stands for Total-body Resistance eXercise and it is now in 60 countries with over $60 Million in annual turnover.
Today’ blog looks at 6 business lessons that we can learn, by studying the suspension trainers’ history.
I hope you enjoy it..
After TRX founder and inventor Randy Hetrick graduated from college at USC, he spent the next 14 years serving as a Navy SEAL commando. His operational career culminated as a Squadron Commander of the SEAL’s elite special missions unit where circumstances inspired him to experiment with what would become TRX.
- THE EVENT – 1997 – In need to maintain peak physical condition while on deployment, Hetrick, used a jujitsu belt, parachute webbing, and ingenuity to develop the first version of the TRX® Suspension Trainer
- THE LESSON – Spend time practising your tradecraft to get good at it, identify problems or gaps in the market place and innovate.
- THE OUTCOME – Hetrick created a low cost, functional training tool that, within 20 years, is a world leader in functional fitness training
- THE EVENT – 2001 – Hetrick completes an MBA at Stanford University and creates plans to bring TRX® to the market.
- THE LESSON – Its not enough to have a great idea. Educate yourself in business and surround yourself with the right people. Hetrick rejiggered his design at least 50 times. His SEAL buddies and some elite athletes pitched in. “No matter how smart you think you are, you need river guides to help you navigate the rapids,”
- THE OUTCOME – His unique training device begins to capture the attention of athletes, coaches and trainers.
- THE EVENT – 2004 – Hetrick officially launches Travelfit, Inc. and begins selling the precursor to the TRX Suspension Trainer, out of the trunk of his car in San Francisco.
- THE LESSON –Start lean and be prepared to hustle in the early years any way you can to generate awareness and generate momentum. No one shares your passion for the product and service you do and no one has more to win or lose than you – so you need to lead the charge.
- THE OUTCOME – Being involved at the grass roots enables him to get feedback and continually improve the design, materials and market positioning before seeing investors.
- THE EVENT – Hetrick marketed it as “a gym in your backpack,” as handy for workouts as the iPod is for music
- THE LESSON – Fine tune Your Message
- THE OUTCOME – Portability and convenience in exercise is booming, and TRX satisfied the customers’ needs.
- THE EVENT – 2008 – The flagship TRX Training Center® opens at company HQ in San Francisco as an experiential testing and development lab that leads to advances in TRX group training, programming and education.
- THE LESSON – Understand the supply chain.
- THE OUTCOME – 200k people get accredited Annually
- THE EVENT – Get athletes using the product and the public will follow. Now used in four branches of the US military, Major League Baseball, NFL teams, UFC fighters, Olympic-level cyclists, swimmers & runners
- THE LESSON – don’t create a product or a service. Create a movement.
- THE OUTCOME – 550k Facebook followers and 84k subscribers on YouTube
