As 2023 enters midyear, recession chatter is building. The stock markets are tilting sideways. OPEC just announced a hold on production. Inflation is still high and, for the first time in years, job openings are declining. What does this mean for your gym? How can you take advantage of an economic downturn? Well, let’s remember three years ago, the world shut down. And despite the 2020 pandemic eliminating thousands of mom-and-pop gyms, your company made it. Many gyms, indeed, thrived once doors reopened. How did the best gyms survive the COVID shutdown? The owners kept spying opportunities instead of barriers. Lawrence, Gym Insight Here [...]
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There's no time like the present to prepare for storms on the horizon. I'm reminded about this because one of the big boys has just arrived in town in a big way. The launch of Life Time Athletic into the local Las Vegas market has been a wake-up call, announced with all of the glitz and fanfare people expect of this town. I would like to use it as an example of how established local gyms can respond effectively to big-box corporate competition. The Las Vegas Athletic Club Value Proposition When the big national or multi-national brands move in, you [...]
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The Five Forces of Competition The fitness business offers plenty of opportunities for entrepreneurs and trainers to found startup gym businesses. Your gym can compete against established studios and big box fitness corporations; you just have to be savvy about it. The same factors that define competition within the industry will also show where you can make your entrance and your strategy that will grow the business. Any business situation has potential competitive threats. The gym business is no exception. Michael Porter of Harvard University first laid out a catalog of the Five Forces, which every company faces in one [...]
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They say that price setting is an art form, but in my experience, so is juggling flaming torches. They both can be impressive done well, but there is serious potential of getting burned as you go up the learning curve. Changing prices, after your members have had time to get used to a previous price, is a unique challenge where you can get burned if you are not careful. Price Changing Factors For Gyms Any kind of decision-making about prices in business has to be based in the real world of business success. Sales, marketing and finance are the main [...]
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A while back I wrote an article about the ten reasons new gyms fail. It was well received by the readers of Gym Insight and the discussion was very gratifying for me. But as a believer in fitness and getting results in a positive way I feel compelled to balance it out with an article about the positive side of gym startups and success. I admit that there is likely plenty of overlap between this and the previous article. These things are worth saying over and over again and doing more reps never hurt anybody. Arm Yourself With The Most [...]
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I recently posted a blog about statistics in the fitness business. I really only just scratched the surface with that one. In this blog post I want to address a few things that I had to leave out, and tie up loose ends. It's always good to know where the next generation of competition could come from. I tend to think the source of competition to watch is self-employed trainers building followings through social media and then establishing studios once they have enough of a revenue flow. Also there were some statistics that relate the demographics of the industry to [...]
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Group training involves a fitness trainer from your gym leading a group of participants in their path of fitness. Participants, apart from group camaraderie, also benefit from access to a knowledgeable fitness professional at shared costs. These basic benefits of group training are making more and more fitness enthusiasts go for it in today's world. It is therefore essential that gyms look at this trend and provide an avenue for such people in order to stay competitive in the fitness market. The effectiveness of group training is mainly because of the following factors: Social interaction: For most people, workouts are [...]
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