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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When Is Now A Good Time For Planning And Strategy? Finding strategy and purpose in the fitness industry is perhaps not as challenging as in some other business sectors. However, it always pays to pause and reflect occasionally, on such things as strategy and planning for the future of your small gym business. Getting The Right Answer Means Asking Good Questions If you want to find direction for your strategy, ask yourself, how can you better serve your membership? It is never a wrong time to think about this question. Is your business a fitness club or is it fitness? [...]
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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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CES 2018 Shows The Future Of Technology for Fitness The Consumer Electronics Show has come and gone for the year once again. With it, we have seen the latest round of technology that is either directly related to fitness, or which you could apply to the gym business with a little imagination. Wearables and Trackers The health and fitness exhibitors at CES for 2018 were more full of enthusiasm for technology than ever before and with good reason. There were more wearable devices on display than ever before, and it looks to me like the functionality factor is rising. Wearables [...]
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Modified Programs That Satisfy Niche Demand A special population is any category of fitness club members who need a doctor's note before they start working out. That's not an official definition but, as a small gym business owner, it might well be the difference between business model and liability. Unless you are the only gym in a one-club town, you know what it's like to face competition. Your fitness club was a substantial investment in capital or hard work. You owe it to yourself to find a niche that is underserved and hungry for high-quality service. Special populations fit the [...]
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Given monthly members, good retention, profitable premium products, and alternative revenue streams, how do you keep track of it all? The alternative revenue streams are those oddball types of income that can get lost in the mix if you don't have an adequate system for recording revenue and membership status. Combining EPOS Management And Membership Data The solution is a combination of a point of sale system and a gym management software package that integrates information in a way that works best for the gym business. Electronic Point of Sale or EPOS has been the standard for cash registers for [...]
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Experience And Community from Shared Values There is a level beyond converting prospects into members and inspiring them to keep coming back. That is where your club is the center of a community of people who love fitness and who associate your gym with connectedness. There are three authentic values at the core of your gym business. Fostering all three of these is something you have to do to succeed as a competitor in the fitness profession, and it all filters down to transforming your club into a community. Build Communities for People The guys and gals who are super-committed [...]
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Where Do Gym Owners Go From Here? You may have noticed that with the rate of innovation for computer technology is thundering along. But what does that mean for your small gym business, your members, and the way you're going to develop your operations in the near future? There are two types of equipment that are most relevant to the industry: Management software and payment processing. The needs of gym staff are reasonably consistent, but the hardware is changing faster than you can say "Zumba class." E-commerce Thrives On Mobile Devices The mobile revolution is putting processing power into smartphones [...]
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As we've discussed here on the Gym Insight Blog several times before, special populations provide a path to an alternative business model that could take you to another level of success. Have you considered working with Special Populations to differentiate your gym business? Specializing your fitness club offerings is part of finding the niche that is the best fit for your business goals. Working with one or more category of special populations is a way to achieve that objective. As a fitness center owner, you face an uphill battle if you attempt to compete with the big box fitness brands [...]
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Take These Ideas And Become A Fitness Entrepreneur Do you want to become an entrepreneur in fitness and operate a small gym business? If you build a full-service fitness club from scratch, you're looking at an investment the size of a house. If you've got the cash or enough to entice a suitable investor then maybe that's the right way to go. If so, you might be the exception. If you want to dip your toe in the industry before you commit your family fortune, a very sensible attitude, these fitness entrepreneurship ideas are for you. 1. Boutique Fitness Studio [...]
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Every once in a while I like to put out a few ideas for owners on the Gym Insight Blog. This time I have a few points about how to raise the profile and profitability of your small gym business. When you've scrambled to launch and run your business, you deserve to get the most fruit in return for your many labors. You probably started out with too few resources, ate your own dog food as they say, and slept in the back office once or twice. Why not seek out opportunities to multiply your returns with a little more [...]
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Businesses Built On Fitness Certification Paper Fitness certifications are essential in the gym industry. The qualifications you hold are the frameworks that tie this people-intensive profession together. Earning additional personal trainer certifications will help you grow the business. Helping your trainers get new qualifications is a perk that helps them be confident of a future career as well as keeping your company on track. If you already work in the fitness profession, this is probably so obvious you may not even think about it much. So, if you are just exploring how you can own a business in fitness and [...]
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Podcasting Revisited For 2017 Podcasting is a topic that I think is worth revisiting. So, this is an update to a classic Gym Insight blog post, with more good stuff for gym owners. Through podcasts, you can discover insights for gym owners, stay current with issues in fitness, business management, and any other topics that might help you keep up with ideas and opportunities. Producing a podcast is hard to do but don't ignore a fantastic opportunity for fitness professionals if you have something to say, just because of a little hard work. Listening: A List Of Noteworthy Podcasts In [...]
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To Sprout Roots Is The Essence Of Transformative Change What got you to where you are now will not necessarily get you where you need to go; this is a lesson that startups in fitness and every other business sector continuously relearn through firsthand experience. An oak tree is entirely different from an acorn; it has to make some huge transformations to become such a great tree. So, you started a gym, and you have members, you pay your bills, your home mortgage, and usually eat two or more meals a day. However, you realize that you are going to [...]
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The Digital Natives Expect You To Bring Your A-Game There is a simple logic that justifies marketing to Millennials; it is the fact that, being young people, they will be around for years and years to come. So if you can capture the mood and attitude that appeals to them, you have a shot at building relationships with a valuable demographic. Millennials are the offspring of past generations that were subject to sophisticated marketing, even if the media was less advanced. This recent generation has grown up within that context, and they are the first generation that is truly native [...]
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