In this week’s Gym Owner’s blog by Gym Insight, we interview seven-location Club Pilates owner Justin Kirkland for tips and secrets on growing into a multi-location fitness business. His experience with the successful franchise blends on-the-street advice with a marketing major’s savvy. Read on for details on what it takes to grow exponentially in the competitive field of boutique studios. Kirkland's early lessons changed everything The Kirkland family purchased three Las Vegas Club Pilates in September 2019. One of their first ventures into private business ownership, they immediately began experimenting with management and marketing styles. The results would shape future [...]
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As a gym owner, you would already know that the music you play at your gym defines the ambiance and affects the level of motivation for your members. With different personalities coming to your gym, you are probably having a hard time trying to keep everyone happy with the type of music you play. While hardcore bodybuilders are likely to prefer rock and heavy metal, others might be more comfortable listening to pop and blues. The choice of workout music can also differ a lot according to each type of exercise. When deciding which music or radio station you should [...]
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Welcome to our Gym Owner’s Blog. We’re trying something different this issue. Our Gym Insight customers requested more coverage on our software itself – new features, compelling changes — tweaks that make your job easier. Glad to help! We are always excited to talk about new exciting updates or even the crazy common stuff that needs a refresh. So let’s get started on our “Hidden Features” post. Today, we’re covering Bulk Actions. What is a bulk action? Just as its name suggests, this function permits you to modify something en masse. For example, a bulk action could remove digital keytag [...]
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Is it possible to prosper as a gym owner in a small town? After speaking with several gym owners in cities of fewer than 5,000 residents we discovered it’s a definite “heck, yes!” With the right dedication and planning, you can succeed and grow in any sized hamlet. Advice from our Gym Insight customers on how to flourish as a small-town gym. 1. Adapt to your community’s needs. As Justin Green, owner of the Source Fitness Center in St. Clairsville, Ohio, explained in our Gym Owner's Podcast, the household income for his small town gym are not high. As a result, [...]
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Interview with Dr. JoAnn Eickoff-Shemek, “Dr. JES,” professor emerita, University of South Florida, expert fitness and law witness, and national spokesperson. Podcast: “The Power of Control: Dr. JES Returns” We’ve dedicated the last two blogs to avoiding gym negligence lawsuits. How to steer clear of legal landmines, and training staff to properly guide members on their fitness journey. Now we are at the final leg – scope of practice. Here, we discuss that wafer-thin line between offering good nutritional advice and stepping outside one's field of expertise. When too much good advice lands you in hot water. In one case Dr. JES recalled, a personal trainer [...]
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October 2023 Gym Owner’s Podcast, “The Power of Control: Dr. JES Returns” Welcome back to How to Avoid Negligence Lawsuits! As we discussed in Part I, negligence settlements are in the millions of dollars now and can take years to weave through the courts. Additionally, most negligence lawsuits occur due to employee error in instruction or programming. With this in mind, one of the best ways for your gym to avoid a negligence lawsuit is to properly train and prepare your staff. Put your new trainer through a hand's on test - before assigning clients! Don’t rely on certificates – [...]
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October 2023 Gym Owner's Podcast, "The Power of Control: Dr. JES Returns." How can gym owners avoid becoming embroiled in a negligence lawsuit? Savvy business professionals recognize that all manner of legal claims have increased in frequency over the years. But how can a small business, like a fitness club, avoid becoming embroiled in a negligence lawsuit? Proactive gym owners can sidestep potential negligence lawsuits by rethinking their hiring and member management strategies. Attaining a waiver signature is not enough protection. As discussed in previous blogs and podcasts, the waiver law defense only comes into play after an injury has [...]
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Ready to own a gym but need to keep your day job? It can be done! Read on to learn how one of our clients runs a gym while working full-time. Fit Factory, Idaho – How greatness began In January 2023, Tanner Boudrero fulfilled a lifelong dream - to own a small business. A sales analysts with iFit, an international equipment and sports technology manufacturer, he loved the idea of being his own boss. That vision came true when he acquired Fit Factory in Preston, Idaho. Modestly, despite his lack of experience, he believed his background prepared him to operate a gym [...]
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Gym Insight Member’s App Replaces Text Messaging If so, you might want to cut that out. The Campaign Registry (TCR), sanctioned through the federal government, has stepped in and created a labyrinth of new rules, procedures, fees, and fines for businesses who direct-message their customers, effective August 31, 2023. Yep, you missed the TCR deadline. Although the overall intent of TCR is to reduce spam messages sent to consumers, the end result for fitness clubs, and other small businesses, is to throttle text messaging. In effect, every phone number your company uses to text customers for marketing purposes must be registered per campaign. One-time fees, [...]
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Firehall Fitness, Livingston, Montana Gyms in premier destination locations often struggle to keep and retain staff. Frequently located in the world's most beautiful — and expensive towns — it can be a challenge to staff a fitness center from early morning until evening. Now, Gym Insight's digital keytags provide a simpler, more secure way to run a 24/7-access gym with fewer employees. Since their introduction in 2022, gym owners have used digital key tags to successfully cut members’ unauthorized entries while increasing gym owners’ control over their time and businesses. Now it’s nearly impossible for members to “share” a key [...]
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David Flench, president Medical Fitness Association. Recently our Gym Owner’s Podcast welcomed David Flench, president of the Medical Fitness Association, for a conversation on how gyms benefit from offering medically integrated healthcare services. Here's the lowdown on what we learned. To listen to our podcast, click on the embedded YouTube link. What is the Medical Fitness Association? It is a nonprofit professional membership organization providing industry standards, certification opportunities, educational programs, benchmark data, professional development and networking to improve the operational success of medically integrated health and well-being centers. It strives to be the resource for new and established gyms [...]
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By a quirk of standards adapted from the Federal government's SIC codes, you will find gyms for sale on business broker sites under recreation. Whether you're in the market for a gym empire or not it helps to know what's going on in your neighborhood, state and industry in the way of gym businesses for sale. Information Is The Ultimate Resource There may come a day when you wish to put your gym on the market. The more information you have, the better you know what to aim for when the time comes. Alternatively, you might decide to buy [...]
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Brian Way, owner of Iron City Gym in Houston, TX, spoke with us this month on our Gym Owner’s Podcast. The enlightening conversation revealed just what it takes to turn a hardcore $10,000-a-month bodybuilders’ gym into a $130,000-a-month power center of fitness and energy. Persistence, Passion, Purpose: The Story of Iron City’s Success It takes a leap of faith to make change work. And the passion to believe in your decisions. When Brian Way purchased Iron City, he faced the takeover of a gym packed with bodies bigger than he’d ever been in his lifetime. Could he do it? Could he transform [...]
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It can be scary converting your fitness center’s database over to a new gym management software program. Every client phone number, account, and credit card is listed in that database and now you’re handing it to another firm for import into a new software application. What if something, maybe everything, gets lost? Tangled in a web of encrypted material, like an exploding black hole… Ok, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but converting data from one software program to another is the number-one reason gym owners put off switching gym management software companies. Owners hang on to their old software because they [...]
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The number of specialties within personal training certifications is exploding. From adaptive special needs to sleep recovery, the range of human conditions now addressed by the fitness industry is stunning. For ambitious gym owners this evolution in specialty training programs creates the perfect opportunity to build a very profitable niche business. By selectively choosing to encourage your trainers to continue their education within specific categories, gym owners can sculpt and introduce their gym to a completely new set of members. Whether you wish to pursue individuals recovering from health conditions or pivot to holistic remedies or youth athletics, the specialties are out [...]
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