Gage Bowra opened 24/7 Fitness in Coolidge, Arizona, after running a steady pre-sale campaign that resulted in signing up hundreds of early members. Yet, the cash he pulled in just barely covered new paint and carpets. So why did he bother with it? Because there’s no price on hope. And Bowra needed a lot of it. When he closed on the 5,500-square-foot gym in the tiny town of barely 20,000, he had one choice: success. Failure ... was not an option. Why gym pre-sales were the only answer Bowra is a construction guy and a father. More than five years ago, he [...]
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Part 1: Waiver Law and Assumption of Risk We know protecting your gym and personal training business from lawsuits is a top concern. That’s why our podcast team recently interviewed Dr. JoAnn M. Eickhoff-Shemek, Founder and President of the Fitness Law Academy, LLC and Professor Emeritus, Exercise Science, at the University of South Florida. AKA "Dr. JES" is the author of “Law for Fitness Managers and Exercise Professionals,” and is internationally known in the areas of legal liability, risk management and fitness safety. This blog is the first in a series summarizing our incredibly interesting conversation. We hope our series enlightens you on what your fitness business [...]
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As 2023 enters midyear, recession chatter is building. The stock markets are tilting sideways. OPEC just announced a hold on production. Inflation is still high and, for the first time in years, job openings are declining. What does this mean for your gym? How can you take advantage of an economic downturn? Well, let’s remember three years ago, the world shut down. And despite the 2020 pandemic eliminating thousands of mom-and-pop gyms, your company made it. Many gyms, indeed, thrived once doors reopened. How did the best gyms survive the COVID shutdown? The owners kept spying opportunities instead of barriers. Lawrence, Gym Insight Here [...]
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Why Gym Insight is the right gym management software for your fitness center Choosing the right gym management software for your fitness club is probably one of the hardest decisions you’ll make as an owner. Not only is it the track on which your gym runs, but if you need to switch software companies, transferring data can be brain-numbingly difficult. So you want to get it right, if not the first time, at least the second go-around. As a holiday gift to you and to us, we’d like to express why we believe Gym Insight is just the best possible [...]
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You’ve probably thought about opening your gym to youth athletes. After all, it’s big business in the United States. About 60 million children play in organized sports every year. And, for better or worse, many parents see their kids' talent as a ticket to college scholarships. With that in mind, creating a program targeted at tween and teen athletes may be a great way to build a base of new customers and make up for billing lost to the pandemic. Selling sports specific training to parents First, make sure new members know about your services. When going through a price presentation, [...]
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The gym today is different than it was 12 months ago. It’s changed. Maybe we have, too. There have always been rule keepers and rule breakers, but now, it’s like they live on either side of your fitness club, and they’re driving each other crazy. The culprit? Masks, social distancing, germ wars … the list goes on and on. Meanwhile, you and your staff are stuck in the middle. As a gym owner, you need to manage all these senarios to minimize any potential harm Clearly communicate your gym’s policy. First, educate your staff. Define your gym’s coronavirus policy, and what national [...]
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More Business Hacks for Ambitious New Gym Owners There was a recent report in Club Industry that Kohls, the retailers are partnering with big box chain Planet Fitness. It seems that the shrinking need for bricks-and-mortar store space led to a creative opportunity. That's definitely a "get lemons, make lemonade" solution to the changing retail market. In the fitness industry, creative thinking can be the difference between getting kicked to the curb and pivoting to a new business model. Obviously, in this case, hacking means finding low-cost gym marketing solutions by applying creative thinking. So, why not use some creativity [...]
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Gym Management Software And An Inquisitive Mindset I think there is only one way to survive in the fitness industry in the next few years. As a gym business owner, be ready to make changes quickly and often. Be curious about what's around the corner. The changes that are going on around us right now are world-shattering, and you have to keep up to survive. There will be many companies that get lost along the way. Insight gives you the gym management software tools to respond proactively to changes. Of course, other things demand your attention too. But First, The [...]
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Policies Policies Policies Have you ever heard about black swans? If not it's because these birds are alien to the Northern Hemisphere. When you think of the graceful birds that inhabit lakes and rivers, you probably think of a magnificent white waterfowl with a long and graceful neck. These dark, red-beaked swans are native to parts of Australia. If you see one in North America, Europe, or other parts of the world, it's likely to have escaped or wandered off after being introduced by humans. Most people don't know that black swans exist until they see one, and not many [...]
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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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Games Put The Fun in Serious Fitness Did you know that there are techniques that help you lead and guide people without them realizing that you're doing it? You may already be using this method without even realizing it. It's called gamification, and it helps to nudge humans in the direction you want them to go. You can use gamification to inspire your members and staff to get better results, complete actions where they tend to drop out, and even help reduce the cost of healthcare for companies. What Is Gamification? Turning your goals and objectives into games motivate people [...]
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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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Gym equipment is evolving rapidly, and we see some highly innovative designs coming down the line. New machines and systems match physical activity and data science to improve the workout experience. I think we can expect to see some amazing new gym equipment products emerging in the next few years. The company I'm writing about here, Tonal, might be one of them if it can be successful with its recently launched fitness system. As Described by This Week In Startups A recent posting by Jason Calacanis on his podcast, This Week in Startups is an interview with the founder of [...]
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