Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Jake Brechlin, CEO of Put In Work Fitness & Triple Platinum Detailing, located in Las Vegas, NV, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

My first path to owning a small business was in 2018 when I started Put In Work Fitness. Being a health coach & nutritionist, I help men and women over 30 create a sustainable healthy lifestyle while looking and feeling their best. I help clients in-person in Las Vegas, Nevada, and also through my online coaching, which I help clients worldwide.

In 2021, I decided to start Triple Platinum Detailing to help fill in my spare time or whenever fitness coaching got slow. This is a premium mobile car detailing company that serves all customers in Las Vegas, Nevada, whose vehicles could use some extra love and are fully detailed inside & out to restore their appearance back to new.

Tell us about yourself

I first got started in pursuing my own business when I was working at a big box gym. I worked as a personal trainer and knew I wanted to help people, but the gym made me feel more like a salesperson rather than a personal trainer. That was not something I enjoyed because the gym only cared about you selling as much as possible and not really if you helped a client's life in any way. Over time it wore me down, and I started losing my passion for fitness since it wasn't a great environment to help as many people as I could, rather sell as much as I could.

I knew I didn't want to lose my passion for fitness and knew that I truly wanted to help people, not take advantage of them or charge them insane prices for one session, so after six months, I decided to go independent and start my own small business for helping people change their lives through fitness.

What motivates me each day doing what I do, is that it is that fitness is a true passion, and that itself motivates me. As I have changed my own life through fitness, it also motivates me to see how I can help an individual change theirs or help them accomplish their goals. Whenever I am able to see a dramatic transformation in a client, it is such an amazing thing to witness, and it makes me feel so good!

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

My biggest accomplishment is the number of people I have been able to work with in changing their lives. I strive to give each client their own plan of action to help them reach their individual goals, and I also strive to deliver a 5-star service to each client.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

The hardest thing about being a business owner, in my opinion, is that if you own a small business and the business is just you, you wear many hats and play many roles all at once. I am not just a coach or nutritionist. I am also a marketer, bookkeeper, social media creator, and much more. Sure it can be overwhelming to do so many things, and you can delegate those things to others and hire individuals who specialize in each.

I feel most things you can do yourself, and then you're also not spending extra money when your business may need that cash flow elsewhere. Also, the big thing to me is that if you do choose to play other roles such as above, you learn new skills for yourself and are then growing even more not just as a business person or entrepreneur but for your life as a whole.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

My top 3 tips to start, run and grow a business are in no specific order, but a big one to me which I learned from many business classes in school, is to:

  1. Create a business plan.Creating a business plan can help you so much in getting it started and also growing it. Ultimately I feel it sets you up for success or at least gets you on the right track.
  2. Another tip I would give is it is always tough starting out and maybe tough even many years in, but do not give up on it! I feel frustration affects many people, and that leads them to give up their dreams. I started in a frustrating position, but rather than letting it get to me, I thought of why exactly I chose this route, and to me being my own boss was the best, and I committed to never being an employee to anyone ever again because I knew my own skills, work ethic and most importantly, my own worth.
  3. Last but not the least, in terms of growing a business, marketing is key. Get your name out there in all ways possible, not just a website! Get yourself on as many social media applications as possible and also business listings on the internet, not just google and yelp. There are tons more. In terms of paying for advertising or marketing, social media and google ads can be great, but if you don't have the budget, it may be too risky as you don't have full control of a budget. One thing I recommend outside of business cards is creating flyers or some other sort of marketing material that you can physically put in place or hand to people. This is a very inexpensive way of spreading the word.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website:
https://www.tripleplatinumdetailing.com/
https://putinworkfitness.com/

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/tripleplatinumdetailing
https://www.facebook.com/putinworkfitness

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/tripleplatinumdetailing/
https://www.instagram.com/putinwork__fitness/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakebrechlin/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

Turn your craft into recurring revenue with Subkit. Start your subscription offering in minutes and supercharge it with growth levers. Get early access here.