Enterprise, Utah, is a rural farming community in the southwest corner of the state, about 45 minutes north of St. George. With less than 2,500 residents, the town has three restaurants, one gas station, and one grocery store. And until early 2023, there wasn’t a gym in Enterprise.
That changed when veteran Russ Peacock moved back to the community where he was raised. Peacock, who served in the Air Force and Army for 14 years, wanted his son to experience the same lifestyle he had enjoyed growing up in Enterprise, which offers both space to roam and the safety of a close-knit community.
But there was one thing missing for Peacock. Since he left home and enlisted in the military as an 18-year-old out of high school, exercise had become a constant in his life.
“Every morning you wake up and physical training is the first thing at 6:30 a.m.,” Peacock recalls.
Whether he was stationed in Georgia, Kansas, Montana or Texas — and when he was deployed overseas in Kuwait and Iraq — each day began with a workout. Returning to Utah to pursue a master’s degree, he became a regular at a CrossFit gym in St. George.
When Peacock decided to settle down in Enterprise, he wanted a place to keep up his fitness routine, which included high-intensity interval training and weightlifting. He built a 1,200-square-foot personal gym behind his new house, which quickly attracted attention. Local friends wanted to join his workouts, offering to pay to use the facility. Within six months, 60 people were coming to his gym to work out.
“I was making enough to put some money away, but I didn’t want to run a gym in the back of my house long-term,” he says. “I knew I was going to have to find a place to put a real gym.”
Peacock reached out to Coby Drake, manager of Zions Bank’s Enterprise branch, whom he has known his whole life, to ask about funding. Drake referred him to Zions Bank Community Banking Relationship Manager Jeremy Dellos to apply for a business loan for his new business.
“The loan wasn’t approved. I’d been open just over a year and I wasn’t making enough,” he says. “Jeremy told me to come back in six months to a year. He said, ‘if you can bring cash, I can push this through.’”
Peacock did just that. He purchased a parcel of land on Main Street in Enterprise, and brought more cash to the table. Using the land as collateral, he was able to secure a loan for a new building for his gym.
E-Town Barbell opened in February 2023, becoming the first gym in Enterprise, Utah. The 6,000-square-foot space includes CrossFit-style equipment, cable machines, free weights, elliptical machines, stationary bikes, rowing machines and treadmills, along with a children’s room with a TV and toys. The gym also offers services including personal training and meal planning.
After one year in business, E-Town Barbell continues to grow along with the city that inspired its name. Though Peacock never pictured himself owning a business, many aspects of entrepreneurship have come naturally.
“In the military you’re forced to develop these traits and characteristics —like critical thinking, organization and problem solving — because of the hard stuff you deal with,” he says. “You get out of the military and other things seem easy. I think that’s why a lot of veterans start their own business.”
He’s also learned some useful lessons for financial success along the way:
1) Automate what you can. Peacock installed a bar code system allowing members to access the gym on their own during regular business hours so he doesn’t have to be there all the time. “Automating saves both time and money because you don’t have to hire extra people.” He also appreciates not having to be at the gym when it opens at 5 a.m. every day.
2) Know your customer. Growing up with many of his clients, Peacock knows his customer base extremely well. And he knows how much they are willing to pay – or not pay – for a gym membership. That means charging less than he would expect to get in a larger market. “What that looks like to me is that I’m willing to not make as much money as I would in St. George or a bigger city,” he says. For Peacock, it’s worth the trade-off.
3) Don’t give up. While Peacock wasn’t immediately approved for financing for his gym, he was determined to see his vision through and start a business. That required putting up more of his own money and adjusting his timeline. “I was talking to Jeremy for over a year before I got the loan,” he recalls. “Zions Bank looked at the person and the opportunity rather than just looking at numbers.”
Looking for a bank that’s invested in your future? Zions Bank’s team of relationship managers can provide small business success strategies as well as funding options, including SBA Loans. Visit a local Zions Bank branch to learn more about how Zions Bank can help.
1. SBA loans subject to credit approval and SBA approval. Terms and conditions apply. See a banker for details.