John Swanson remembers vividly how exhausting it is to be a small business owner.
In the early 2010s, he was stretched thin across three ventures: The Fast Factory, a small gym in his hometown of St. Cloud, Minn., consulting agency Fast Forged, and the Granite Games, a Minnesota-based CrossFit fitness tournament. He worked day and night to ensure his clients and employees were successful and growing, but his family and personal time suffered as a result.
“With three companies, family, health and fitness, and everything else in life, there [was] always, always unfinished business,” Swanson told CrossFit news source The Barbell Spin in 2018.
As an athlete himself, Swanson had always taken a special kind of pride in his impact on the health and fitness space, but knew he wasn’t even close to reaching the full potential of the good he could do for entrepreneurs and business owners across a variety of niches.
Being a highly-impactful business owner was about more than just selling products and services; Swanson believed it was also about changing mindsets and attitudes to focus on productivity and internal competition. And that wasn’t something he had the ability to do while working constantly across three different businesses.
In 2019, Swanson sold The Fast Factory, Factory Forged and Granite Games. It was a shocking move to many people who knew him, but he knew what his ultimate goal was: to focus on growing Wendell, a coaching business that would not only be set apart from the rest when it came to quality, but also would make an impact in the real lives of entrepreneurs and business people searching for work-life balance that would enable company growth.
Since then, Swanson has built the Wendell Wolfpack from the ground up by focusing on clients that care not only for their own missions, but also about uplifting other members of the Wendell family. While Wendell’s coaching programs are uniquely tailored for each client, he believes in the power of bringing people together to push everyone toward their goals.
The Online Coach Revolution
He knew that coaches and entrepreneurs are typically so busy with phone calls and meetings that they often don’t have time to meet one-on-one with clients, let alone be home in the evening with their families or take time to grow their business. He had felt that strain more times than he could count, and knew he didn’t want anyone else to be in his shoes if he could help it.
This knowledge inspired Swanson to design and launch Wendell’s new Online Coach Revolution program, which is designed to guide coaches and consultants through the process of building, launching and growing a high-ticket coaching business. Through flexible learning and scheduling options, the Online Coach Revolution program assists coaches and consultants in transforming their hectic schedules into more productive and profitable days.
“The OCR program offered through Wendell will help coaches to develop a highly specific coaching program that works for an ideal client,” a Wendell spokesperson said. “By building a pathway that delivers on its promise and is highly valuable to the end user, coaches and consultants will then be able to charge a premium price for their services and get paid like the true professionals that they are.”
For Swanson, the mindset behind the Online Coach Revolution program is about more than just gaining and retaining clients. It’s also about revolutionizing the way business owners approach doing business.
“We know that you want to be a highly impactful business owner,” he writes on the Wendell website. “In order to do that, you need to have control over your freedom and income. We believe you should be able to make the maximum impact while balancing a healthy life and solid income.”
And, because Swanson and his team know how important a healthy work-life balance is, the program aids attendees in creating a minimally-viable business model that will allow attendees to reach their goals by being able to work whenever and however they choose.
“At Wendell, we recognize that a healthy business owner stands head and shoulders above their peers, so we approach building your business with a holistic attitude,” a company spokesperson said. “After all, your own beliefs make a huge impact on how you approach your job.”
After securing a spot in the Online Coach Revolution program, attendees will get a free strategy session with a Wendell coach, who will evaluate the attendee’s business model and look for improvement areas. From there, coaches and attendees will work together to build sustainable practices and models that will help attendees grow personally and professionally for years to come.
For Online Coach Revolution attendee Nate Long, who earned $40,000 in less than a month since joining the program, Swanson’s approach to retaining and attracting clients has made all the difference.
“Before starting the program, I had notice after notice on my door that utilities were going to be shut off,” he said. “I was stressed, anxious, exhausted. … I was at the point where I truthfully was just looking for a new career. Fast forward, and I honestly can’t believe I’m capable of what I’m doing.”