20 Things Successful Gym Owners Do Everyday Part 1 I was recently reading a post entitled: "20 Things The Rich Do Everyday" on Dave Ramsey's Website. If you're not familiar with Ramsey and his teachings his website is truly worth giving a close inspection if you're a small business owner or gym owner. He writes about finance and emphasizes getting out of debt and building wealth. When this first came out, it seemed to spark controversy because of the direct percentage comparison with the poor. Regardless, these are great healthy habits to incorporate not only into your own personal life but also carry [...]
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Who Are You? Where You Are Going & The Vision Thing This is a follow-up to the article about the key values that you need to consider in regard to your customers. There are three things which customers value most, in my experience, that I elaborated in the first article of this topic. Beyond that, you will need to decide on your own list of values, because only you know the reason that you got into the gym ownership business in the first place. Likewise, only you can decide on the vision for your organization. The vision statement of your organization sets out [...]
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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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Buying used gym equipment for your business can seem like a cop-out. Why would you invest in second-hand gear for an industry seeped in an Instagram culture? Don’t looks matter here? Uh, no, actually. What matters is keeping your health club in the black so you can stay in business. Last month, Gym Insight’s sales representative interviewed Steven Harvalias, owner of Superfitness New & Used Gym Equipment, based in Burlington, North Carolina, about starting a successful fitness business. In this podcast, Steve and Anthony Pasquale discuss how keeping start-up costs low and customer service at top-of-mind, safeguards an emerging gym’s success. Originally [...]
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As a gym owner, you're constantly balancing spending money with losing money. One of the hardest decisions is always — where to invest your marketing dollars. Although that's a complex question, it might be easier to start at a very basic idea. From how far away will someone drive to exercise at your gym? Most industry experts say about four miles. Gym goers will trek twice that distance, or between six and eight miles, if they can expect a high-end, exclusive club experience. There are exceptions, of course, but we can safely assume the best way to survive – and thrive as [...]
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Hashtags, those crazy little pound signs, are a big part of making social media work for your fitness studio. However, like every marketing tool, hashtags have their own list of do’s and don’ts. Read on to gain a better insight into the best practices of adding hashtags to your social media posts and how to make them work for your gym. What’s the purpose of hashtags? Hashtags direct your post to a community of like-minded people and magnifies your social voice. Additionally, they grow reach organically. That means individuals discover your posts without searching specifically for you or by clicking [...]
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Closing the Sale Thus far in our five-part series “How to Sell Gym Memberships,” we’ve shown how refining and polishing your customer interaction can build value in your health club and steer clients away from focusing on price alone. In Part IV, we discuss the most critical step – closing the sale. This is where your newly gained client knowledge really pays off. Closing the sale By now in the sales process with Joe New Prospect, you’ve: Established a strong rapport by using his name frequentlyExhibited product knowledge that cements your authority as a fitness expertDetermined goals and how long he’s considered joining a [...]
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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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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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With all this coronavirus negativity lurking, just how likely is it an irate member will unleash online over a small incident at your club? Right. So you need to be ready for negative social media. How can you do that? First, put a good plan in place before a problem arises. Create a clear social media policy for your employees. In the simplest terms, a social media policy is a guideline for how everyone should conduct themselves online. Here’s a good template and guide. Establish a gym photography policy. Many larger national gyms have a “no photo” and “no video” policy. And while there’s no keeping phones out of [...]
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Inclusiveness means everyone If you want to train disabled people or your fitness club could grow by catering to special populations as a market niche, there’s a certification that enables you to do just that. It’s the Certified Inclusive Fitness Trainer (CIFT) certification, which was developed by the American College of Sports Medicine, in collaboration with the National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability. It’s about helping people Disability Fitness I’m sure you’d agree that, as a fitness trainer or gym owner, it never hurts to have additional tools in your toolbox. You really will benefit if you can cater to specific segments of [...]
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Risk Management Best Practices for Fitness Facilities Developing a risk management strategy for your fitness facility, health club, or personal training studio involves three basic steps: Proactively identifying and handling problems in your gym is an important risk mitigation tactic. Identify the potential risks;Evaluate the severity of the potential risks;Develop strategies to mitigate the potential risks. Taking a cold hard look at your facility from a risk management point of view is the first step in developing a risk management plan. Take some time to tour each area of your facility and imagine what possible hazards could possibly arise in [...]
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Should you buy or lease commercial gym equipment? Should I buy or lease gym equipment for my business? The decision to buy or lease commercial gym equipment depends on the amount of capital you have and your tax situation. There are pros and cons to both approaches. Leasing allows you to change out fitness equipment every few years while incurring lower maintenance costs, and payments are generally deductible as a business expense. It is also easier to obtain leases than equipment loans. They may, however, cost your health club more money in the long-term. New gym equipment loans though, now [...]
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There are plenty of good reasons to coax your health club members outside - autumn weather is perfect, they can benefit from the shot of vitamin D, and their participation supports their favorite gym as it regains footing after the COVID-19 shutdown. Regardless of the motivations, creating this "gym without a roof" concept is an excellent option for every club at this time. These impulsive opportunities to pack in 10 pushups or swing across extra-wide monkey bars build stamina, muscle endurance, strength, and agility - all in a few moments' time. In many ways it's because exercising in the fresh [...]
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What does it take for a person to show up at the gym after they've paid their dues? What is the difference between the individual who exercises regularly and the one who drops the ball? Scientific research suggests it may all boil down to competency and support. People need to feel good at what they're doing and know others are in the game with them. Recent psychology research on motivation calls this the self-determination theory (SDT). How interested a person is in continuing something is driven by how well an activity meets one's need for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Exercisers [...]
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