The Principle of Winning
For all of the modern technology in the world, the principles that make the foundations of business are as accurate as they are old. While we designed the Insight Gym Management Software Suite to be a tool that will drive efficiency and profitability, it does so by the fundamentals of business management.
One of the most fundamental concepts in business is this: Nothing happens until somebody sells something. Selling is the most fundamental principle in business, and much of everything else follows from it directly. If you can transform the culture of your gym into a fitness-selling machine there’s so much more you can do with it.
Negotiate Like That Guy on TV
You know the car-guy on TV I mean, Right? It’s that guy who supposedly has a whole garage devoted to finding old cars and refurbishing them. The premise of the show mainly revolves around making deals with owners, repairing, restoring, and repainting the vehicle, then selling for a profit, while the mechanics goof around for the camera.
He’s a classic-car flipping shark (“I couldn’t possibly take less than $60,000 for it!" Settles for $58K and a case of beer, makes a $30K profit). More recent sellers and buyers who deal with him seem to have seen his show. They try to give him a taste of his own medicine, with mixed results.
Selling skills mean better results with prospective members, more upsells that increase your business’s profit margin, and negotiating from a position of strength when the big box gym buyers come knocking.
Flipping Your Fitness Club as An Exit Strategy
TV shows that fix up dying businesses have the advantage of a production budget. They can afford to pay the costs of labor and materials. They also have editorial control, so you never really know if it went exactly to script.
Of course, fitness is an entirely different business model; you can’t flip gym members for a profit, but you might eventually sell your gym business. Alternatively, you may find yourself thinking about buying a failing fitness club and attempting to save it.
Generally, the improvements that would set you up for a profitable flip are the same that would benefit you as an owner. If you hone your negotiation skills, you’ll be ready for the days when you face the sharks.
Would You Buy A Failing Gym Business?
It would be interesting to see what the real potential is for doing a fix-up. I suppose you could do it as a consultant and accept an option to purchase as your payment.
An option in business means paying to have the choice of making a buy decision within a specific timeframe. It could be a small pile of cash and the power to direct some changes. It could mean a Dollar and the authority to attempt to turn the failing business around first. It’s something for fitness entrepreneurs who have experience and talent in project management of any kind.
What Is Your Gym Business Side Hustle?
Similarly, a side hustle could be flipping fitness equipment. If you’ve spent too much of the last ten years fixing your own equipment, why not put that skill to work? If you know how to fix treadmills and elliptical machines and the like, try buying them cheaply, fixing them up, and flipping for a profit.
Do some essential metalwork, electronics, and welding you then need to buy, fix, and sell and make enough of a profit that it’s worth your time. Or stick to the simple stuff buy old weights on one platform locally (e.g., Craig’s List) and sell it in a global platform (Like eBay) where you can earn enough to profit after shipping costs.
Hustling is the essential art of selling, whether you’re the kid selling water bottles outside the convention center or the owner of a successful chain of fitness clubs, selling is the difference between loss and profit.
Side hustles in fitness are things like, renting space out for events, selling branded merchandise and supplements. Even if it’s just protein bars at the front desk, small side hustle items add up.
Selling for The Long Term
Even though flipping businesses for profit can be very rewarding, it’s not the only option, if you can find a way to apply the art of the turn-around, you may not have to flip it or want to. The improvements that make businesses attractive to buyers also make them good for owners, and a better experience for club members too. If you fix up a club, you might want to stick around. Here, at the Gym Insight Blog, we like that strategy very much too.
If you haven’t done so already, get your whole company into sales. Watch a few episodes of that car garage show and follow the owner’s example of buying low, adding massive value, and selling for a big (hopefully) profit.
Selling is something you have to be doing every day in the fitness business. Sell memberships, sell premium products and services, and sell additional merchandise too. Be imaginative and flexible, keep an ear to the ground and collaborate with the local business community. Above all always look out for opportunities to put additional cash in your gym business cash register.
How to Turn A Gym Business Into A Long Term Winner
- Do the simple things that return the largest results
- The first thing is clean, tidy, and in good repair.
- Get organized with Insight
- Retrain or replace demoralized staff members
- Impart a sales culture
- Maximize membership sales
- Find ways to improve your retention rate
- Develop premium offerings that clients want
- Add on features like convenience items, branded merchandise, and supplements
- Do sales, do more sales, keep doing sales
Bibliography
Fagan, Lawrence. Gym Membership Selling And Overcoming Objections. September 12, 2016. https://blog.gyminsight.com/3934-gym-membership-selling-and-overcoming-objections/ (accessed February 19, 2019).
-. Selling Fitness Experiences To Make Happy Gym Members. January 9, 2017. https://blog.gyminsight.com/4170-selling-fitness-experiences-to-make-happy-gym-members/ (accessed February 19, 2019).
-. The Sensitive Business Of Selling Your Gym Business. March 2, 2015. https://blog.gyminsight.com/3195-the-sensitive-business-of-selling-your-gym-business/ (accessed February 19, 2019).
Kufahi, Pamela. It’s That Time of Year Again to Commit to Moving Your Fitness Business and You into a Profitable Future. April 17, 2018. https://www.clubindustry.com/insights-resources/its-time-year-again-commit-moving-your-fitness-business-and-you-profitable-future (accessed February 19, 2019).
Winfrey, Graham. The 8 Best Industries for Flipping a Business. February 9, 2015. https://www.inc.com/graham-winfrey/the-best-industries-for-flipping-a-business.html (accessed February 19, 2019).