Finding Synergy Between Group Offerings And Individual Training
Small gym businesses usually face crowded markets and stiff competition to add new members. To succeed in the fitness industry, you have to leverage all of your resources to the maximum extent possible. To that end, gyms do better if they can cover broader ranges of organized activities.
Group activities and boutique fitness studios provide some useful strategies to increase your success in the fitness business. Gym memberships are essential to the day-to-day operation of your business; they will keep your payroll covered and pay the mortgage on your house, which gives you employees and means you don’t have to sleep under your desk in the gym back office. If you want to take the formula further, you have to use every tool at your disposal to generate revenue.
Groups Deliver Greatest Gym Utility
Owning a profitable fitness business is a lifetime aspiration; fitness is a great industry to be in and the best business to own. The greatest success is when you can delegate all of the work and sit back, keep an eye on the reports, and drop in for a workout when you feel like it.
One of the most consistent and profitable strategies to move beyond the basics is to organize paid group events in your studio or gym. In fact the boutique model is about focusing on and actively promoting the group sessions. Members who sign up and pay for premium value group activities get a less expensive service than one-on-one training and more benefit than just working out at their natural pace.
Groups Increasing Your ROI
The rule should be: When there are two or more ways that you can use a resource, use as many ways as you can. Seriously, investments are expensive, and on average they are risky. If you consider that you might make twenty investments in new equipment, services, and employees in a year, increase the average return by increasing the capacity where you can.
The above means that you can operate on at least three levels: self-service, group training, and intensive individual training. If your membership is self-service, allowing 24/7 access, the additional classes are what are going to give you the profit margin and the lifestyle that you dreamed of when you started your fitness center. Look into the possibility of dual certifications for your trainers who don’t yet possess qualifications in both areas.
What Brings In The Group Activity Members?
Group activities can be a driving force for your marketing. The customers who join for the group activities and agree to the monthly membership can be extremely valuable to your business. Group activities are social by definition. I have long said that the social connection, the community of your gym is one of the reasons that motivate members, first as a motivator to get fit and keep up the effort and then for the connection with a community of people.
The modern age is very isolating; membership in a busy fitness club is one way to join a community. When you acknowledge this as part of your business model you are plugging into a mighty force. Of course, it depends on your local demographics and the competition in your neighborhood, but if you can craft your services to meet the needs of fitness and for a connection, you are likely going to be in the sweet spot for success.
Groups Bring Synergy To Your Business
You sign members up for classes and other group activities; they enjoy the benefit of social motivation and the energy of the group. You should be using an email marketing list to keep members informed and as the chance to sell services to them. This list will give you the leverage to add services. When members take group services, you then have the opportunity to sell additional services such as focused individual training sessions.
An integrated approach will help you to get the most out of your membership to serve them best and to serve yourself the life you deserve. The only way to get the full synergistic benefit of these parts is to ensure that you have the discipline within your organization and to do them all consistently. There may be a period of experimentation and adaptation, but work hard, learn the lessons and apply them, and your system will get better, and positive results will follow.
Bibliography
Brones, Paul. Personal Training: Bridging the Gap Between Group Fitness and Personal Training. January 28, 2015. https://clubsolutionsmagazine.com/2015/01/personal-training-bridging-gap-group-fitness-personal-training/ (accessed November 12, 2016).
Fagan, Lawrence. Email Marketing Essentials For Gyms. August 27, 2013. https://blog.gyminsight.com/1615-email-marketing-essentials-for-gyms/ (accessed November 12, 2016).
Life Fitness. Boutique Gyms Part I: What They Are And Why They Are Gaining Steam. February 17, 2016. https://www.lifefitness.com/blog/posts/boutique-gyms-part-I-what-they-are-and-why-they-are-gaining-steam (accessed November 12, 2016).
Taylor, Kate. Thanks to Boutique Fitness, Working Out Is the New Going Out. March 26, 2015. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/244359 (accessed Nvember 12, 2016).