Continuing Trends in 2018 One thing is sure about the summer of 2018; fitness businesses aren’t going to disappear anytime soon. While it’s technically possible to do all of your workouts from home, that is not the choice that people are making this year. What’s hot in mid-2018 is the human connection. The word of the season appears to be “continuation” as wearables continue to lurk in the background, HIIT continues to grow in popularity, and group classes continue to fill the need for social engagement in the lives of many. Meanwhile, the spread of IoT connected equipment may influence [...]
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Securing Your Membership’s Personally Identifiable Data Now might be a good time to look at Data Security and what gym businesses need to keep in mind. For example, if you take electronic payments, you have to follow the rules of the Card Payment Industry. Your business needs data about your membership, and that comes with risks. These days, gym business owners and operators need to be acutely aware of the threats that can materialize out of left field. Now that you can keep track of so much data about your membership, you have to protect it. Your business depends on information, so [...]
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Fitness is a people-business; it’s about networking to make connections, whether it’s between mind and muscles, you and the best vendors, or members using your club to connect in their careers. It’s a business model that’s about helping others find success and good health. As a gym business owner, networking is crucial to your success; it’s also one of the greatest benefits that you offer to your membership. The value of expanding members’ circles of influence cannot be overestimated. The History of Networking and Public Houses In centuries past, the coffee houses of London were famous as places of big [...]
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Getting Beyond The Gym Business Basics Developing alternate revenue streams for your new fitness club is the next stage for any ambitious gym business venture. If you hope to grow your business beyond the basics of club memberships, it is vital to have additional sources of income to achieve long-term success. Once you have a steady stream of income from membership subscriptions to your club, you have a solid start to gym ownership success. That doesn’t mean you can sit back and relax though. It is time to expand all of the additional channels of income that compliment and enhance [...]
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In fitness, client programming is the key to operational success. There are several reasons for that. Let’s explore them and look at why it is that gym business operators can’t ignore this organizing principle. The best way to consolidate new gym membership sales is to draw your new members into a series of instructions to get them moving ahead and focused on fitness, not buyer’s remorse. Of course, client programming is much more than that, it is the professional basis for any organized fitness activities. Gym Members Need Structure It’s the people who need a structure the most who can [...]
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Planning For Client Acquisition Success After my last post about starting your own business, the logical follow-up is a blog about client acquisition. Yes, that post did go into details about how important it is to understand your customers. Also, there is no doubt that finding your niche is the key to success too. You need a practical, step-by-step plan to acquire new members. What that means is a plan to get them in the front door, signed up, and working out. While you should build a funnel for membership sales, you don’t want to get caught in a formula [...]
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The Niche Gym Business That Works For You If you’re starting your own business, there are lots of fitness niches that you can pursue. CrossFit is but one of many. However, the CrossFit concept is the perfect example of a gym model that finds the strongest motivation for a specific type of gym membership prospect. It has been about four years, maybe more, since I first noticed CrossFit boxes. I was suddenly aware they were popping up in storefronts, industrial spaces, and old service stations around here. I have to say that I am impressed by the resilience of this trend. [...]
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When Is Now A Good Time For Planning And Strategy? Finding strategy and purpose in the fitness industry is perhaps not as challenging as in some other business sectors. However, it always pays to pause and reflect occasionally, on such things as strategy and planning for the future of your small gym business. Getting The Right Answer Means Asking Good Questions If you want to find direction for your strategy, ask yourself, how can you better serve your membership? It is never a wrong time to think about this question. Is your business a fitness club or is it fitness? [...]
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If your career is in fitness, you know that continuing education is a never-ending process. Promoting dietary habits and nutrition that improve health and deliver higher performance levels has to be one of the most important things you can offer your clients. If you don’t have it already, getting certified in sports nutrition is an add-on skill that will make the most difference in the performance and lives of your membership. Make Sure Your Offering Is An Information-Based Service One of the purposes of continuing education in fitness is to help you stay ahead of the competition. It's a knowledge-based investment in the capabilities [...]
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I have spent a lot of time talking about marketing on the Gym Insight Blog. As part of that effort, I’d like to mention a metric that can give you the big picture. It can be a real insight into the potential scope for expanding your gym or small fitness studio. The metric in question is the Total Addressable Market (TAM), which is the number of people who qualify as customers within reach of your business. This number indicates how much your fitness enterprise could earn if it did earn everything there is to earn, as it were. Finding Your Total [...]
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CES 2018 Shows The Future Of Technology for Fitness The Consumer Electronics Show has come and gone for the year once again. With it, we have seen the latest round of technology that is either directly related to fitness, or which you could apply to the gym business with a little imagination. Wearables and Trackers The health and fitness exhibitors at CES for 2018 were more full of enthusiasm for technology than ever before and with good reason. There were more wearable devices on display than ever before, and it looks to me like the functionality factor is rising. Wearables [...]
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Modified Programs That Satisfy Niche Demand A special population is any category of fitness club members who need a doctor’s note before they start working out. That’s not an official definition but, as a small gym business owner, it might well be the difference between business model and liability. Unless you are the only gym in a one-club town, you know what it’s like to face competition. Your fitness club was a substantial investment in capital or hard work. You owe it to yourself to find a niche that is underserved and hungry for high-quality service. Special populations fit the [...]
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Given monthly members, good retention, profitable premium products, and alternative revenue streams, how do you keep track of it all? The alternative revenue streams are those oddball types of income that can get lost in the mix if you don’t have an adequate system for recording revenue and membership status. Combining EPOS Management And Membership Data The solution is a combination of a point of sale system and a gym management software package that integrates information in a way that works best for the gym business. Electronic Point of Sale or EPOS has been the standard for cash registers for [...]
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Experience And Community from Shared Values There is a level beyond converting prospects into members and inspiring them to keep coming back. That is where your club is the center of a community of people who love fitness and who associate your gym with connectedness. There are three authentic values at the core of your gym business. Fostering all three of these is something you have to do to succeed as a competitor in the fitness profession, and it all filters down to transforming your club into a community. Build Communities for People The guys and gals who are super-committed [...]
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Client programming is all about personalizing the experience and service you provide. Members want guidance for fitness and an enjoyable, rewarding experience that gets them there. You can adopt a client programming system or invent one of your own. Either way, this is a vital dimension that will help to establish your position as a force in the fitness industry. Everyone Wins With High-Quality Client Programming Personalizing the experience that you provide to individual members gets right to the very heart of what consumers value about fitness club memberships. Your members place their hope and trust in you and your [...]
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