Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Razvan Petrea. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Razvan, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you come up with the idea for your business?
I was always entrepreneurial. As a kid, I remember the first thing I ever sold was fish. My father taught me how to fish and I was pretty good at it. We had a lake close to my hometown and I was fishing there every summer. One day, I caught a lot of fish, and one guy came over and asked me if I want to sell it. I said, “Sure!” I’m originally from Romania and during summer people like to eat fresh fish. Some people buy it directly from the local fishermen as opposed to buying it from the fresh market. That’s literally “The Fresh Catch of the day”. When, I was 13 years old someone suggested to go to the gym, because I was too skinny for my height. I think, I was around 5’7″ or 5’8″ and walking around 135 lbs. I decided to go and after a few months of training, I gained muscle mass. My friends saw that and asked me if I could train them. I said: “Sure, just come to the gym with me.” Some of them still train to this day because of me. Many years later, I moved to America. One day, I was working out on my own and saw personal trainers training clients. In that moment, I had an epiphany. I said: “Wait a minute! I can do this. This is what I used to do back home. I used to train my buddies.” So, I went ahead and got certified as personal trainer and got hired right away at the same gym I was training at. In couple of months, I was one of the busiest and most popular trainers at the gym. I loved training people. I had a passion for it, and it showed. To this day, after 15 years of training clients, I’m still excited to get up in the morning and go train them. That’s why it’s so important to find something to do that you really like and you’re passionate about. Think about it: if you have to wake up in the morning and generate and income, you might as well do something that you enjoy doing.
After two years at the gym, I got hired by this prestigious country club and same thing happened: after couple of months, I was one of the busiest trainers over there as well. That’s when I got the idea of opening an In-Home Personal Training Business. I knew that it’s going to be hard giving up the comfort of my full-time job with benefits and go into uncharted territory, but I rolled the dice and went for it. It felt like an adventure to me. Something new and exciting.
The idea behind it was to save clients time and money by going to them and training them in the comfort of their home or community gym versus them wasting time driving to the gym and back home. Also, my way of doing business was pretty straightforward: you bought some sessions from me, and we started training, as opposed to them being charged various fees by a commercial gym or being stuck in some sketchy contract. Another reason, I chose to be a mobile trainer was because I wanted to keep a low overhead. Many new businesses spend a lot of money to build a shop thinking that “if you build it, they will come” but things don’t always work out that way. As a new business it’s very important to keep a low overhead until you’re actually penetrating the market and build a steady cash flow. The biggest challenge that I had to overcome was that I had no business experience whatsoever. I knew how to train people and had one client prior to taking the leap but that was about it. I went through a steep learning curve but I’m glad that I did it because I don’t think I could have learned what I know now in any business school. 11 years later, I’m a full-time business owner with one employee working for me. I learned that a business needs cash, clients, credit, multiple streams of income at all times and a solid and loyal team. I learned never to bet all your chips on one hand and be aware that the most dangerous number in business is one as in one client or one stream of income or one employee. Also, a business owner needs to be very pragmatic. I see a lot of new entrepreneurs being overly optimistic about how their business is going to perform but the truth is there are many variables, and nobody really cares about your business. It’s your job to make people aware that you exist and make them care enough to become regular customers. Knowing what I know now, most likely I would still be an employee but that also taught me that many times information and knowledge can prevent us from doing what matters the most: Taking Action!
Taking Action is the only thing that moves the needle when it comes down to accomplishing our goals! So, if you want to do something, just go ahead and do it. Even if things don’t go your way at least you will be at peace with yourself because you can honestly say that you went for it and did it. Like they say in basketball; “The only way to score is by taking the shot.”
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
As a kid I was always involved in Sports. Started playing Soccer at a really young age and then I got involved with Track and Field, Tennis, Basketball, Karate, Kickboxing, Boxing and MMA. I started working out in the gym when I was 13 years old, and I never stopped training. Sometimes, I was training my friends and that’s how I decided to become a personal trainer and get involved in the fitness industry.
I work with clients that want to lose weight, gain muscle or learn how to box. In 2011, I started training in boxing at American Top Team in Coconut Creek, FL under coach Dyah Davis and that’s how I learned my craft.
What I discovered along the way is that the hard part is not getting your body in shape, the hard part is getting your mind in shape and once you have the proper mindset, what I call: “The Champion Mindset” you can achieve anything you set your mind to.
I 2019, I started writing a book about it.
In 2022, “The Champion Mindset” was published. Now available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble in paperback and eBook formats.
By far, the biggest accomplishment of my life.
I heard a lot of people say things like” “I don’t know what to do with my life. We don’t come into this world with a GPS.”
Many people struggle or drift through life with no sense of purpose and direction and wish they had a guide.
“The Champion Mindset: How I Went from Homeless to CEO” offers that sense of purpose and direction. It empowers you and shows you how to live your best life and make the most out of your journey.
I came to the United States from Romania with $100 that I borrowed from my dad…and that was about all I had. But by turning the fire in my belly into a strategy for success, I evolved, reached my potential, and live a happy and meaningful life. In the book you will find tips and insights, many of which can be found nowhere else-and all of which can help you do what I did: develop a Champion Mindset!
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
In boxing there’s a saying: never get tired in the boxing ring. In business we have a similar saying: never run out of cash. My first year in business, I ran out of cash and had to go back to work.
It was soul crushing. I felt like a professional fighter that gets knocked out in his professional debut.
I decided to put my ego aside, dust myself off and try again.
I went to work as a waiter full time, and I was working on my business part time. Five years later I decided to take the leap again and this time it worked. What made the difference was me coming back at it with a new set of skills and a new attitude. I also, told my manager that I want my job back if things don’t work out. He told me not to worry because I can always come back if I want to.
What I learned is that things don’t come together the first time or the second time or the third but if you’re willing to learn and use the feedback that you’re getting from the marketplace you will increase your odds of success.
I also learned that you could go further than you can possibly imagine if you simply don’t quit and you’re flexible enough to try a different strategy.
Like they say, “Fall down nine times, get back up ten times.”
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
I had savings aside from my full-time job and also some personal credit cards. Along the way as my business grew, I got small business loans from PayPal, Intuit and the Small Business Administration along with business credit cards from Truist, Capital One and Chase Bank.
Capital is one of the most important aspects of business success.
Many businesses struggle and fail because of lack of capital.
A business is like a baby and until it grows strong, stands on its feet and starts producing, it needs a lot of resources to develop.
Any business regardless of its stage needs a capital infusion from time to time and if you don’t have the ability to raise capital in favorable terms you won’t last.
One of my favorite sharks from the show: “The Shark Tank” is Daymond John. He said that any business needs to have a diet rich in Vitamin C: Cash, Clients, Credit. I couldn’t agree more.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.proactivefitness-solutions.com/
- Instagram: razforce1
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ProactiveFitnessSolutions
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/championmindset100/
- Twitter: @RazForce1
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ChampionMindset
- Other: https://amzn.to/3sbp5vA