Let’s talk switching gym management software as a goal for January. If your fitness center is using a management system that takes a percentage of every sale, now is the time to switch to Gym Insight. The process is simple and the results are worth the effort. We know it’s the holiday season. We understand you’re busy with family, friends, and the slow drizzle of diehard gym members. Changing software is the last task you want to add to your to-do list. But listen to us. Why would you not want to switch software right now? After all, January and February are [...]
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December 2022 Profile. Superior Fitness of Granbury LLC., Granbury, Texas It takes courage to follow your ethics. Samuel Frederick, owner of Superior Fitness of Granbury, Texas, framed his life around that very concept: Right is right. Wrong is wrong. In July 2021, he accepted the challenge of taking over a 2,600 square-foot personal training studio and gym courting a small, but dedicated customer base. Together with Donald Mathis, a long-time friend, they set out to create a fitness center reflecting their values: exercise as a gateway for progress, movement and long-term change. “I want(ed) people to learn to work out effectively,” by [...]
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November 2022 Profile – The Gym at 214 Main, Fort Mill, South Carolina The Gym at 214 Main is located on a busy main street in a small town in South Carolina In 2020, current owner Jovon Times, along with his wife Keisha Unger-Times, decided to make a bid for the twice-sold gym after training clients there for 12 years under the moniker of “Exercise Times.” He and Unger-Times soon owned the 24/7, 5,500-square-foot gym — a turnkey operation with a roster of clients, excellent equipment, and a contract with the Jazzercise brand. Now, everything else, as he says, is gravy. Times went from [...]
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This blog was authored and originally published by CARR, a national healthcare commercial real estate firm. It is re-published with permission. Commercial Real Estate As you evaluate different types of commercial real estate leases when considering various properties for your practice, it’s important to understand the details of a “full-service” lease agreement. Full-service leases are one of the simpler commercial real estate lease structures, as well as one of the most predictable, making them a solid choice for many tenants whose circumstances require relatively constant monthly payments without too many surprises (e.g., unforeseen operating or building maintenance costs being charged [...]
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Welcome to our newest gym owner business profile. Offered up once a month, these profiles are created to share ideas and challenges between gym owners. Each privately owned gym fuels from a unique set of circumstances. Hopefully, you will find inspiration in their experiences. Gym owner profile: MorGainz Fitness, Pennsylvania It started as a retirement plan. After careers in nursing and police work, Kelly and David Morgan were ready to switch tracks. Always total gym people, they dusted off a business plan written for a college nursing course, and decided to fix a problem. Their small Richland, PA, community did [...]
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If you’re ready to own a gym, it’s time to think about the best location. You'll be wise to research this one carefully as it can have a big impact on your long-term success. Here are some key ideas to help in landing the perfect spot to launch your new business. 1. Start the search for commercial space on the Internet LoopNet.com is a commercial real estate marketplace that allows you to identify available space easily and effectively. Whether you’re interested in leasing or buying space, this national aggregate for available commercial space allows you to narrow your search by neighborhood, [...]
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Customer Stories Gym Insight's digital keytags fixes a big problem in the gym business — access theft. This innovative door access system reduces theft by making it nearly impossible for members to share gym keys. Read on to discover how this simple change made a big difference for gym owners just like you. Photo credit: Tangible Wellness ProFitness Greenville Mark Edwards, owner of ProFitness Greenville in Greenville, South Carolina, runs a gym and personal training studio. He is, as he likes to say, a “one-man show.” Despite having bought the fitness center at the end of 2020, business is thriving. Gym membership has tripled [...]
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Gym Management Netflix recently made headlines when it came clean on its subscription sharing problem. Too many users are slipping passwords to friends and family. To rectify this bottom-line problem, they are pivoting to new policies and trying to stem the leak. However, if sharing passwords can make a company the size of Netflix quake, imagine its impact on small, privately held gyms. For gym owners, the answer to account sharing lies in digital keytags, a QR-embedded phone app nimble enough to save money and build customer loyalty. Gym Insight’s digital keytags eliminate unauthorized users by providing a dynamic QR code [...]
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Many smaller fitness centers offer specialized services that justify a higher monthly rate. Yet, selling that price requires a more refined approach to customer managment than it would at a cut-rate gym. To figure out the details, we’ve interviewed a Muay Thai studio owner on what it takes to sell and manage high-dollar gym memberships. Read on to learn his four critical steps to managing high-dollar memberships. Step 1 — Sell value, not price Tampa Muay Thai membership is $145 per month. The 17-year-old fight gym sits in the heart of a growing medium-sized city and competes with other martial art studios. To [...]
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Gym Insight's management team has always been laser-focused on the success of its gym owners. That's why we started The Gym Owner’s Podcast on YouTube five years ago. We created the original podcast to provide our customers with easy access to software training videos. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GHsKOL5wZk&t=27s Yet, at the start of the pandemic in 2020, we decided to ramp up our content. Turns out, our amazing sales guy Anthony Pasquale enjoys chatting with customers – he loves talking shop with you guys. What can one business owner teach another? As a former gym owner himself, Anthony wondered: What’s going on in the fitness world today? [...]
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Powerlifter at Celli's Fitness Center is ready for next move Ryan Celli founded Celli’s Fitness Center in 2007 catering to strength athletes and power lifters. Since then, his privately owned gym has relocated, expanded, and added automated membership sign-up. Like many small gyms, he relies on technology to keep costs down. As he grew, he added cameras, a door controller, programable music, and a self-serve drink station along with a better gym management system. The investments allowed him to scale back hours and employ a staff of only his wife and son. However, he soon found well-placed technology returned more than [...]
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Opening a new gym can be really stressful. You’ve put a ton of money into this new business and now it’s time to switch on the lights and hope members sign up fast enough to cover mounting bills. But it does not have to be that way. Established gyms know the best way to promote a new location is Pre-sales. This simple idea takes the pressure off opening day and provides much-needed cash for final construction snafus. What are gym membership pre-sales? These are sold prior to your fitness center’s opening. Marketed through social media or an advertising campaign, this [...]
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Ensuring your fitness center appears in an internet search engine's local business listing feed is one of the most important marketing steps you can take as a new gym owner. Your health club needs to be on the list when a potential member types in “gyms near me.” Here’s how to make sure you’ve got a shot at the top spot. Which are the top business citation sites? There are literally hundreds national directories, but you need to make sure your gym is listed in the top business citation sites. As well, your gym should be listed on top industry niches. Niches [...]
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After students leave for college and the costly fall shopping season starts, many health clubs experience a surge in gym membership freezes. But these short-term fixes can be costly to a gym owner. With a little planning, though, your fitness center can avoid this seasonal ritual and come out ahead — with happier customers and, maybe, even more personal training clients. Why do members freeze their gym membership? Customers are on the defensive when they're ready to cancel or freeze memberships. Often, freezing a membership is just a polite way of saying “cancel my membership.” The customer wants out but is looking [...]
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Why sell branded products at your gym Have you ever considered selling a branded product in your gym or online? They could be water bottles, hoodies, equipment or towels. Whatever. The point is your health club’s name would be on that item, wherever it travels. All the while, reflecting your gym's unique identity and generating a bit more cash for your company. What is the difference between a product and a brand? Products are what you sell but a brand is who you are. Brands are created through advertising, intent, and creativity. Your carefully crafted flagship image is your brand. The [...]
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