Credit Card Crackdown What is going on with that whole credit card change out, due to be completed by October? It looks like there will be a big panic right at the last minute as retailers (including the fitness industry) will be doing all of the things that they should have done already to try to accommodate the mandatory shift over to the EMV Chip-and-PIN cards for all electronic payment transactions. In recent years credit card companies and merchant services have clamped down on the amount of information that they allow vendors or retailers to retain at the point of [...]
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As the proud owner of an independent fitness business you may be enthusiastic about keeping the decorations and equipment right up to date. That is, until you see the price tag and the amount of disruption. If you are caught unprepared the first time that you attempt an update you might even be forgiven for thinking: never again! Finding The Balance There is definitely a balance to be struck in maintaining your gym and keeping costs and disruption to an absolute minimum. That balance point is when you start to get complaints about the condition of your gym versus the [...]
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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 [...]
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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 [...]
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There is nothing more worthy of celebrating, when you own a gym, than bringing in new memberships. It gives you hope for the future as you watch your list of members grow. This so-called on boarding period is a highly critical time that you can use to secure your relationship with customers. You have the perfect opportunity to assure a high lifetime value for you, and positive experience for them. Selling Means More Than Surviving This transitional time period can determine how long new members stick around and how they present their experience to friends and on social media. It [...]
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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 [...]
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Get Gym Business Leverage From Digital Media These days we hear a lot about customer engagement and brand advocates. These are customers who vocally and enthusiastically support your brand. Combined with digital marketing channels and social media they can bring in the new business without an expensive advertising campaign in sight. Well it's not that easy of course. But then again it's not that hard either. The central feature of success in creating brand advocates is the understanding that there is a hierarchy, a series of concentric circles of influence around you, which you can do much to cultivate. I [...]
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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 [...]
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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 [...]
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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 [...]
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Finding A Buyer I recently wrote an article about how and when to sell your gym. It covered the basics about the topic but there is so much more information out there that it's likely something that I'll revisit a few times. There are many motives behind selling, from fast exit to slowly easing into retirement. Most likely, you love your independent gym business and it's prospering. But it's hard work and there are other worthy things that you intend to achieve before you settle into retirement. Or perhaps the time to retire is approaching. Even if that day is [...]
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Giving The Value Might Just Return It At A Premium Obviously I have been writing copious amounts about marketing and premium business models. However, with the potential for value and return on investment (ROI) I think that it's important to cover it as thoroughly as possible. As the saying goes: When you aim for the stars you're not likely to end up with a face full of dirt. If Gym Insight can give you some true value in words you might see that our software is also worth looking at. There are a couple of ways to increase ROI and [...]
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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 [...]
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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. [...]
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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 [...]
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