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 your core business.
Getting Competitive In The Fitness Business
You may find that in the early stages of operation you’re working harder than ever. The revenue is coming in fast, but the bills are coming in quicker. You have problems to troubleshoot and clients who need extra attention. Fortunately, there are additional alternate revenue streams that take much less time and effort than starting a gym business all over.
Fitness is such an incredibly competitive industry and profession that you can’t afford to sit still at any point. A missed opportunity for revenue is like a lost turn on the Monopoly board or having a player in the penalty box. Alternate revenue streams can get you beyond the treadmill of always scrambling to cover the rent and payroll for next month.
The Principle Of Premium Income
First, premium income is the added extras that round out your fitness offerings. If you have been casting a wide net for customers, you will pick up some who are less price-sensitive than others and more interested in getting the best service. Brands that serve luxury product and service niches earn higher margins on each sale.
Everything that you add as a product or service above and beyond the monthly subscription should earn a higher margin. Let’s be clear, adding premium revenue to your business is not a luxury for you; it’s fundamental to your survival. Premium services are the offerings that deliver additional perceived value along the same channels as your essential membership services.
Alternate Revenue
Stretching out and away
from your core business, there are many easy-add complimentary income-generating products and services. The second type is where you find the bolt-on alternative revenue streams.
Personal training – you are offering training services right? If you can form a relationship with at least one certified local freelance trainer, both of you can increase your membership incomes.
Retail merchandising area – Add a section for items at your front desk that offers branded merchandise, nutritional products, and convenience items your members can purchase on impulse. Take payments and earn extra profit from high-margin products.
Rent space in your studio – Rent out rooms in your space to freelance instructors who teach classes that you don’t. If your group-exercise space or studio sits empty eighteen hours a day, a few hours of rental income can make a real impact on your cash flow.
Tanning beds – This is an income generator that you can do lying down. Installing tanning beds will take some initial capital investment, but once they’re set, you have another way to attract and earn from clients. They can go to work for you without much additional labor and supervision. Tanning is an excellent example of an alternate revenue stream that complements your core offerings.
Open your Internet channels – Take your services into the virtual world by adding e-commerce to your gym’s website. Online coaching with video chat apps such as FaceTime and Skype could be a way to reach members beyond your local community.
Gym Business Passive Income Streams
Online sales get interesting when you can set them on automatic. Passive income streams are the earnings that come to you, perhaps with a considerable initial effort, but which draw a continuous stream of income without limits.
While a given passive income stream may not be significant it keeps adding up. Repeat the process with multiple streams, and it will build over time. Perhaps you can create information products based on your knowledge and experiences. Sell these on your website or through affiliate marketing platforms like Commission Junction.
Alternatively, you can leverage your successful client programming system through conventional franchising and licensing arrangements. Getting paid by other gym owners to copy your business model is the ultimate path to fame and respect in the fitness industry.
Optimize What You Have For Best Results
The Insight Gym Management Software System will help you find the optimum operating configuration for your market. Get positive, be creative and bring in the membership more often to earn more and keep a larger share as profit.
Veteran gym owners know that you have to do more than collect monthly memberships to succeed in this industry. These three classes of alternate revenue streams are fundamental to making your fitness business a thriving enterprise that will be competitive for the long run.
Bibliography
DeLosier, Henry. 27 Ways to Increase Your Revenues. https://www.cmaa.org/uploadedfiles/for_members/economy/27waystoincreaseyourrevenues.pdf (accessed May 14, 2018).
Fagan, Lawrence. 9 Alternative Revenue Streams To Boost Your Gym Business Returns. November 15, 2017. https://blog.gyminsight.com/4732-9-alternative-revenue-streams-to-boost-your-gym-business-returns/ (accessed February 14, 2018).
-. How Client Programming Consolidates New Member Retention. April 28, 2018. https://blog.gyminsight.com/5000-how-client-programming-consolidates-new-member-retention/ (accessed May 14, 2018).
Jeal, Daniel. 4 Steps to Creating a Passive Income as an Online Personal Trainer. September 14, 2016. https://www.trainerize.com/blog/4-steps-to-create-passive-income-as-an-online-personal-trainer/ (accessed May 14, 2018).