Customer Profile
John Anderson, co-owner of 180 FITNESS’ started his first gym to solve a problem. There were no health clubs in his small town of Mt. Pleasant, Utah. So, in 2015 he and his brother-in-law Lloyd Gleave rented a location, filled it with equipment and a business was born. It’s purpose then? To serve an underserved, rural community.
180’s FITNESS’ purpose today? To continue to serve rural communities throughout Utah, where there is no access to gyms or studios.
Today, Anderson and Gleave own seven gyms ranging in size from 10,000 square-feet to 4,000 square-feet, and serving upwards of 7,000 members. They run them lean – doing their own maintenance for the first 10 years and employing about 20 people between the seven locations.
How has 180 FITNESS grown?
After starting the first location on their own, Anderson and Gleave purchased the other six locations, including Fit Factory in Idaho, a Gym Insight customer.
How did the owners discover Gym Insight?
Fit Factory and one other location used Gym Insight’s gym management software, Anderson explains. Immediately impressed with the user interface, he knew they were going to migrate from their current gym software firm. “It was just incredible how much better it was. We knew right away.” Tasks were simpler, the interface clean, and the ease-of-use obvious.
Now they just needed to jump in and switch software. But, despite its advantages, it took another two years before 180 FITNESS fully transferred systems to Gym Insight. Knowing the process was going to be “brutal” slowed them down, he admits.
How did the switch to Gym Insight go?
At first, the data transfer went smoothly, he reports. Gym Insight sales and customer service reached out to their current software company, which cooperated with the transition.
Then came the payment processing firm. He and Gym Insight’s sales team had hoped to receive credit card data one location at a time. Such a plan would give them times to work out the kinks on a smaller scale.
No such luck. Instead, the processing company stalled and then offered one choice — a full data dump of all 7,000 customers at the same time. Take it or leave it.
“At that point, it was all hands on-deck,” he says. The ensuing data arrived in its own disorder. An estimated 75% of the credit card info was clean. The rest was either jumbled or nonexistent.
Anderson had expected it to be painful – any transition of this magnitude in business comes with its own cost. But missing credit card numbers required many uncomfortable phone calls to complacent members, as well as untangling mixed-up credit card information.
In addition, some member’s data had not transferred for the past four months, leaving a large, unpaid balances. Never an easy conversation.
What’s been the most surprising thing about Gym Insight?
The willingness of the company to solve problems.
The final step in fully transitioning to Gym Insight involved installing the door systems. However, each location used a different key fob and our current controller could not accommodate them.
What beliefs drive 180 FITNESS’ decision making?
- Keep it simple. Only two of the seven gyms offer group classes. The others are straight fitness equipment and cardio. All are open 24/7. In late 2024, they opened a field house in Mt. Pleasant to provide practice space for local sports teams.
- Own your property. They own four out of their seven locations and intend to purchase property for the other three.
- Hire the right people. Finding good reliable staff whose attitude reflects that of an owner is a tough ask. Once you do though, the road becomes much easier. Relentlessly search for the right people, Anderson urges.
- Know your purpose: The co-owners respect and enjoy small, rural community folk. It’s never been about making a profit if beyond providing for their families and not losing money. Their marketing strategy is simple: make health and fitness accessible to those who want it.
For obvious reasons, Anderson did not want to issue new key fobs for seven gyms. Instead, he mentioned his challenge to a Gym Insight employee who brought it to the technical team. The internal group set to work, ordering appropriate parts and constructed a controller amenable to the existing key fobs. “It was a blessing,” he says, “– for us and for our members.”
What is your advice for future gym owners?
Enjoy the journey as you are in it. It’s great to have goals but a lot of people think the work stops when you hit the goal, but it never does. So, enjoy the journey and keep stretching.
Gym Insight
Thank you, John Anderson for sharing time with us in this customer profile. It’s a dream for many to own a club dedicated to health, fitness, and wellness. Your advice is well appreciated. Our fully integrated, seamless and affordable software makes both customer management and gym management a breeze. Check it out today. Visit our website or social media, and tune in to our Gym Owner’s Podcast to hear customer testimonials and explore essential topics of interest to gym owners.