Fitness clubs should always have new projects in development and owners should be continuously searching for the next big thing in gym business niches. Special populations represent many different niche specializations that have been boiling up for some time. Reaching out to special populations will benefit everybody involved. Your club can grow in a new direction, a part of the community that might otherwise be underserved gets a new resource, and your trainers can justify adding a new certification that will be a positive step in their careers. Special Populations Within The Community The need to support special populations is [...]
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Going green is a great idea, and it also happens to appeal to many consumers, including many of the people who're likely to join your gym. You may be hearing the term Sustainability; it's basically the technical term that means going green. Sustainability For Gym Facility Endurance As a buzzword, sustainability is popular in commercial real estate (CRE) circles. As you probably know painfully well, when you establish a gym facility, a substantial slice of the cost of being in the gym business will go to real estate, along with the associated costs of occupying a commercial building. Sustainability is [...]
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Background for Success Starting a gym business is probably a dream for a significant fraction of the population. Whether you're in this country or around the world you may yearn to open a fitness club someday. If you think you have knowledge and finances, that dream may even turn into a plan. For those that do attempt it, the journey can be long, hard, and possibly heartbreaking. If you want to succeed in the fitness industry, there are a few things that are certain about your journey to get there. Can You Sacrifice And Struggle for The Cause? Even in [...]
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If you take the self-help advice of the gurus, who write books and give seminars about how to get ahead in life, and boil it down to its essential ingredient, it would be three words: Get things done. In business, executive action is what makes the winning difference. Executive Action in The Fitness Industry The need to take action is the same whether you're in the technology or the fitness industry, healthcare or wellness if you operate retail sales or sell nutrition products online. Execution is everything. It is why the top boss at the multi-national big-box fitness giants is [...]
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If you started a business where the point was to chill out and relax, it might seem like the opposite of fitness. However, it would have to utilize many of the client programming aspects of a fitness club. Stress Good And Bad I want to cover the full spectrum of activities on the Gym Insight Blog. So, I think it's worth touching on some counter-trends, such as offering relaxation space as a membership. The modern world is full of the causes of stress, some negative and others, such as working out, are positive. The good stress is called eustress, which [...]
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The Short Answer Is Still "No!" That guy who wrote a book about having a business in only X hours per week now has a book out about fitness. OK, that's nice. So, completely separate from that, what I'm wondering, is whether there can be a gym business that you can run on half a workday per week? I've gotta say, I'm skeptical about the whole short-time easy-money approach to anything. If you're already the owner of a small fitness club, just the title probably made you roll your eyes, right? I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that anyone who follows [...]
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To Change Or Not To Change Are you thinking about starting a new gym business or changing the direction of the one you operate now? If you're not, I'm not suggesting you should, but if things haven't worked quite the way you planned or, if the market has peaked and begun to tail off, you might be wondering about making a change. The choice between staying the course in a mediocre business model and finding a new one that's better is the conundrum of the ages. There's even a name for the syndrome that business owners and entrepreneurs face, it's [...]
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If you're a fitness entrepreneur at any stage of the gym business, you're likely to have a need for a space in a building. If you want to open your doors somewhere, you will have to face the commercial real estate (CRE) industry. For you, negotiating a tenancy might be a daunting task or just a matter of phoning a friend. I'm not looking at the search or leasing process here, but I think it's worth taking a quick look at some of the changes going on in CRE and how gym business owners like you can work it to [...]
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Swinging The Lead in Your Sphere of Influence In entrepreneurship, business ownership, and in fitness management, leadership is what you bring to the gym as a founder or manager. It is the one factor over which you have the most control and which makes it possible for small startup gym business owners to fight their way into crowded fitness club markets. As I haven't written much about leadership lately, I think it's time to share my thoughts on the subject once again. Leadership is the interpersonal skill that you exert to influence other people to work with you and do [...]
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Just because you have happy fitness club members, it doesn't mean that you're going to be completely free of issues. Even the most smooth-running gym business is going to have occasional payment disputes. When it comes to questions about customer credit cards and payments, you have to get it right. In this case, satisfactory resolutions can mean the difference between customer retention and cancellations. Payments and the records that report them are some of the most problematic parts of consumer businesses, particularly in fitness. Misunderstandings in these areas can quickly turn happy customers into annoyed ones. Situational Responses And Maximum [...]
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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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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 [...]
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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 [...]
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