I think that you would agree me when I say: "Marketing is one of the biggest problems gyms owners will ever face" What if there was a marketing system that automatically just prints cash for you... Wouldn't that be great? There is a way to have a marketing machine that works for you. It's not a secret. In fact, most successful gym owners do the same things. They build the right systems and develop a magnetic message that attracts clients automatically. This is the system and "secret" that I'm about to share with you within this article. A Sea of [...]
Read more...
Building On Previous Discussions Some time ago, Gym Insight was fortunate to have a guest post from Mike Hedlesky. It was an in-depth piece that has been a real asset to the Insight Blog and, judging by the traffic, a useful source of information and validation for the readers. So first, thanks Mike! Second, I thought it might be good to go back, review and build on it with some further insights into running your own small gym business. Training is always easier to impart to your staff when you are clear about the basics of the company vision and [...]
Read more...
Sounding The Data Breach Alarm Again Once again I'm writing about the issue of liability in financial data. Data breaches can affect more than credit cards, although the driving force is the card companies' clamp down on fraud and identity theft. As the merchant, that is the account that is taking the payment will soon be responsible for the loss of information and fraudulent payments, as well as the theft and fraud that can be had with stolen identifying information. As the owner of a small gym business this means you are going to need to be extra vigilant. Having [...]
Read more...
Stages Of Building Your Empire The readers of Gym Insight are a pretty diverse group of people; some have aspirations to gym ownership and others are already there. So let's look at one of the sexiest ways to get business funding. This is how the tech startups go about bootstrapping up from nothing and how the process can be applied to your situation. The levels of investment and startup success that have come from the tech industry works in stages as follows: Seed Money from your own pocket Friends and Family investment from those who truly believe in you Early [...]
Read more...
The Fitness Experience Companies like SoulCycle and Spartan Race are focused on the experience you have during training or as goals to meet for preparatory training. Other systems like CrossFit demand much of your body and even with proper supervision by certified staff you can easily strain muscles and joints in practice. SoulCycle is a great example of a fitness business carving out a niche because it defies the trend away from spinning classes, which are apparently in decline. By matching charismatic instructors and style with what might otherwise be a limited format the company has created an enthusiastic base [...]
Read more...
There are so many things that have to work together to make any business successful. But if the employees can work together as a self-supporting team you are winning the most difficult part of the battle. Any business that works with memberships and requires selling and customer service needs a tightly knit team that's stronger than the sum of its individual parts. In gym management for the independent gym owner there are a specific set of concerns because of issues like staff turnover and the need for sales by staff to current members. In this post I'd like to talk [...]
Read more...
Disruption is that thing that happens when an established way of doing this or that, or your network suddenly discovers that it has new competition, from out of nowhere, overnight. Technology is disruptive because it is evolving and emerging so quickly. Customer service is disruptive because most companies do it so poorly and, when done well, it generates such a powerful connection with the customer. Ideas are disruptive because they are the source of all innovation and change. As the pace of change continues to accelerate it become harder to anticipate changes and at the same time more desperately important [...]
Read more...
Working in the fitness business is a really rewarding way to make a living, as many of the readers of Gym Insight Blog know from personal experience. There are some great lessons from training and working out that apply well to the practice of small business ownership. What follows here are some lessons from fitness, applied to the business of fitness, which I have picked up along the way that I want to pass on as thoughts to share, food for thought if you will. Step Outside Your Comfort Zone As trite as it sounds, no pain no gain. It [...]
Read more...
By now it's no secret that America is aging. In 2014 there were 113 million adults over 50 and by 2030 there will be 160. At least 50% of discretionary income belongs to the 50 and older market. There's a huge opportunity within this group of individuals who want to "age in place" and knows they'll live a better quality of life if they're healthy. Eight out of ten adults over 50 don't think marketing targets them. Brands and businesses don't "get them." That means there's an even bigger opportunity for you if you get it right. Assess Your Current [...]
Read more...
Parallels In Gym Ownership And Software Services Companies I am fortunate to have had the privilege to see the inner workings of two different industries. My background and education is in computer science but my passions and enterprises have always been in fitness. That led me to having both a career in computer sciences through gyminsight.com and in gym management by owning a small but successful local gym business. Since the readers of the Gym Insight Blog tend to be fitness professionals I thought it would be useful, as a contrast, to talk about the computer industry and the differences [...]
Read more...
Jumpstarting Your Gym Business With The JOBS Act For those of us who are not in finance it might come as a surprise that there has recently been a watershed moment in the history of business investment. This was the 2012 Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act, which changed the rules for private equity and start up finance. This of course has happened right at the time when digital marketing has changed the way that markets are created and innovation is driving the economy in new directions. Opportunities and funding options are opening up that would have never been dreamed [...]
Read more...
This Quirk Might Give Your Business Away When you are responsible for everything that happens in your business you are juggling so many hats it can be extremely stressful when you have to make choices and decisions in marketing. Decisions range from selecting the color scheme of your brand and the look of your logo to managing your website and social media. Some choices in this realm can be forgiving and others not so much. Names, domain names and toll-free numbers have a few quirks that can make them work against you if you don't take adequate care and foresight [...]
Read more...
What Is Lean Body Mass Of Your Gym? Marketing is a funny business, funny as in strange but not so much hilarious. You pursue what you think is the best market solution and then it turns out something works better. What do you do? Go after the new opportunity? Ignore it and stick to what you know? How does anyone know what the right answer is? Marketing strategies are changing rapidly for the modern small business. The entrepreneurial concept of the lean startup has taken hold and there are some awesome principles and lessons that can be learned from it. [...]
Read more...
Breaking Down Boundaries 2014 saw changes and much activity in the fitness industry and new some trends. The hope of new things brought us the excitement of things like getting down in the mud with Spartan Fitness. CrossFit stepped up to be the exemplar of the aggressive type of training that only truly fanatical fitness enthusiasts understand. New gyms popped up, studios rode the trends and some big names ebbed and flowed in their fortunes. The combinations of fitness and digital will continue to throw up unexpected and tantalizing opportunities. The importance of the digital component of any business is [...]
Read more...
Because The Bigger They Are... As the big guys get bigger, and keep pouring cash into their fitness center locations, you might think that they would be impossible to beat. It's just a fact that large corporations have all the money and other financial resources at their disposal that anyone could wish for. That does not mean they have a monopoly on innovation or competitiveness. The independent gym owner can still do much to fight back effectively because having capital resources is only part of the equation. You have to have a human side that doesn't crush customers in the [...]
Read more...
