by jimthomas | Oct 31, 2019 | fitness center business, gym business, gym consultant, gym marketing, Gym Sales Help, New Gym Start Up
The health and fitness industry is a $30 billion industry that showed no signs of slowing down in the last decade, growing by 3-4% per year. If you’re a gym owner and would like to enjoy the profits of a booming industry, now is probably a good time to expand your business. However, before scaling up your fitness business, it is not only important to ensure that you crunch the numbers and make sure that you have the funds for expansion, but also think carefully what investments are going to bring the profits you need.
A Business Vehicle Makes Sense
It’s often thought that buying a vehicle is an investment loss because your car depreciates in value the moment you drive away from the dealership. However, being mobile is important if you’re going to be there for your business or provide the support it needs for its daily operations or unforeseen emergencies. For example, you might need supplies urgently for the shower, bathroom or changing rooms, and if equipment breaks down, you’ll need to fix it fast.
Having a vehicle dedicated to the business can make it easy to do errands when required. You can even offer a service to gym goers who have limited mobility. Organize rides for elderly people who have no car to make a gym membership more attractive. Minimum taxi fares are from $2.50 to $8, so you can make this money while providing an important service and expanding your market. Obviously, before putting money down on a vehicle, research is vital to finding a car suitable for your needs and budget.
Vending Machines Are Low Cost Investments
Another way to scale up your business is to set up vending machines in strategic places in the gym. Vending machines make about $300 or more a month in profit depending on traffic, according to Brandongaille.com. A new vending machine costs around $3,600, but you can also get a used one for $1,000.
Contrary to popular notions that vending machines only sell junk foods, stocking up on healthy snacks and beverages can triple sales, as more people are conscious of their weight. In addition, snack or food dispensers are convenient and practical. Someone who needs to go to the office immediately after an early morning workout will require nourishment to start their day. If they have forgotten to grab a power bar or a drink from home, the vending machines at the gym are life savers.
Scaling up a business is both an exciting and scary moment, and investments should be made carefully. The trick is to find investments that can help your business grow, such as investing in vending machines and a business vehicle.
by jimthomas | Oct 9, 2019 | fitness center business, gym business, gym business plan, gym consultant, gym marketing, gym sales training, New Gym Start Up, Uncategorized
Reposted with permission from simplegym.io
Every gym needs legal documents to operate legally and protect themselves. Here are 7 essential documents your gym needs, and a free download link (PDF & Word) for each.
Most gym owners didn’t start their gym to become paper pushers. The opposite in fact. Despite that, there are a few key documents that every gym needs in order to administer their business, limit risk, manage staff, and maintain their gym space.
In this article we’ll cover the 7 essential documents every gym needs to use, explain why they’re important and how to use them in your gym, and finally, we’ll provide you with a free sample version that you can use to craft your own documents.
1. Member Liability Waiver
What Is It?
A liability waiver is typically a one or two page document in which new gym members acknowledge the risks of participating in training at your gym, the member (and their heirs) agrees to not sue you, your employees or your gym for injuries (or even death) which might occur because of those risks, and the member agrees to waive any claims they might have.
Typically a good waiver also includes a couple of other things, like making it clear that the member needs to communicate, in writing, any physical or mental limitations in their ability to fully participate before they start training. And it should have the member agree to any gym rules, that the gym isn’t responsible for lost property, etc.
What You Need To Know
A well drafted liability waiver is perhaps the most essential risk mitigation document any gym can have. So much so, we built signing and storing one for every member into the SimpleGym platform to make sure our customers get one on file for every member, every time.
Generally, waivers are very effective in preventing lawsuits against your gym for injuries. There are a few tips to make them more effective…
Make sure it’s well-drafted. Some states require very specific language to make a liability waiver effective.
Make sure it’s comprehensive. There’s a reason attorneys list ten things when it seems like just one would suffice. They are trying to prevent lawsuits from every angle.
Make it clear and voluntary. Courts don’t enforce waivers when the language is ambiguous or the person seems pressured into signing. Simply make signing a waiver a required part of joining the gym, make sure the document is titled in a clear and unambiguous way with normal font size, and you should be good to go.
Get it signed well before problems arise. You don’t want to be passing around a waiver after the injury has occurred. It looks bad, and it’s legally far less effective. Make the liability waiver part of all new member and guest signups.
Where To Get One:
PDF / Word Doc
Note on using our copy: Consider having an attorney look it over to make state or business specific tweaks to better suit your gym.
2. Operating Agreement
What Is It?
If you decide to form an entity (LLC, C-Corp, Partnership, etc.) to own your gym through, you’ll need an Operating Agreement for the entity. An operating agreement basically spells out the rules, regulations, accounting, and other details of how the gym’s entity will be run.
A good gym operating agreement should be simple enough for you to actually read and understand, while also being comprehensive enough to cover all of the essentials and how you plan to deal with unanticipated conflicts or problems, should they arise.
What You Need To Know
Most new gym owners typically go one of two ways: they dig in and dissect every detail of their operating agreement, or they literally never even glance at it. Try to be somewhere in between. When you’re starting out, your operating agreement won’t make or break your business. Make sure it’s flexible and it covers the basics, and you’re all set. On the flip side, including very rigid requirements (like that you need a unanimous vote from all partners to do anything) can hurt a business long term, so again, leaving flexibility in the agreement is key.
There are a few specific guidelines we suggest you follow, at least early on, in crafting your gym’s operating agreement,:
Prepare for management disagreements. A successful gym will be around many years, if not decades. No relationship, whether personal or professional, lasts that long without any conflicts or disagreements. A system for handling those disputes in a straightforward way within the operating agreement, such as via a ‘majority rules’ clause for day-to-day decisions, and 75% vote required for big decisions like taking on business debt, prevents things from getting heated between partners down the road.
Clearly define non-compete and fiduciary duty. If a partner in the gym decides to start a clothing line that they want to sell in the gym space, who decides what price the gym should buy the clothing at? What if a partner provides legal or accounting services to the gym, do they need to offer it at a break-even cost, retail price, or something in between? How about if a partner gets approached by a big investor to start a gym of their own down the street, can they do it? And finally, what happens if a partner who you expected to run a number of classes, gets an offer to train at another gym for 2x the rate and doesn’t want to teach at your gym? These are the sorts of issues that can cause tension and resentment between partners. So deciding on this in the abstract before there’s an actual heated conflict, and putting it in your operating agreement, will avoid a big source of intra-partner fighting.
Prepare for raising capital. Gyms typically need to raise capital once or twice in the life of the gym. That might be taking on an investment from new or existing partners, or taking a bank loan for expansion. Business partners often feel pretty differently about how much debt is appropriate to carry, or whether to admit a new partner and on what terms. A good operating agreement spells out the procedures for deciding all of that ahead of time before partners’ emotions are heated.
Define how to value the entity, and how to sell. If you have multiple partners, chances are, one of you is going to want to sell some or all of your ownership interest at some point. Selling shares in a gym isn’t like selling shares of Coca-Cola on the New York Stock Exchange. First you’ll need to decide on a valuation method (there are a few of them), then decide whether partners can sell to anyone or only someone the other partners approve of, whether the other partners get the right to buy them out first, etc. All of these decisions are better made up front, and clearly spelled out in the Operating Agreement.
Where To Get One:
PDF / Word Doc
Note on using our copy: Consider having an attorney look it over to make state or business specific tweaks to better suit your gym.
3. Instructor Contract
What Is It?
Moving from a one person operation to having a non-owner teach classes is a big step in the life of a gym. Unfortunately, when you add someone to the mix that isn’t an owner, you start to encounter a whole host of questions you’d never even considered. These questions range from pretty obvious ones, like, “How much and when does an instructor get paid?”, and “What are an instructor’s duties in maintaining the gym?” To more detailed questions, like, “Does the instructor need to maintain their own liability insurance?”, and “Can the instructor write about the gym on Facebook?”
A well written agreement for an instructor should spell out the answers to these sorts of questions in straightforward language, and serve as a quick reference for both you and the instructor to use when questions arise.
What You Need To Know
The key to good long-term relationships with your staff is setting clear expectations early. People hate when they feel like things change on them midstream. So take your time and think through details, like what clean up responsibilities an instructor has from the get-go, and make sure those responsibilities are spelled out clearly in the agreement.
There are a few specific guidelines we suggest you follow, at least early on, in crafting your gym’s Instructor Contract:
Require any injuries or dangerous conditions to be reported, in writing, immediately by all staff in an incident report. If you aren’t aware of problems you can’t fix them. And in the case of needed maintenance, if someone gets hurt by something that has been an unreported issue for months, you could be accused of negligence.
Require a criminal background check in your agreement. There are companies that will provide a background check for relatively cheap. And given that instructors will be working, largely unsupervised, in a position of power and potentially with minors, it’s better to be safe than sorry, by knowing the instructor’s criminal history.
Control your brand. If you want to enable instructors to publish things on social media about your gym, that’s fine. But make sure your agreement gives you the right to exercise veto power over anything published about the gym by staff.
Have a clear policy for substitute instructors. You don’t want a teacher calling in their semi-qualified friend at the last minute because they aren’t feeling well. Instead, have your agreement clearly define who is qualified to be called in as a substitute, who isn’t, and the procedure for doing so.
Where To Get One:
PDF / Word Doc
Note on using our copy: Most gyms hire instructors as independent contractors, as opposed to employees. There are a number of laws and tradeoffs that determine which is appropriate for your unique gym, but assuming you end up going the independent contractor path, that matches the sample agreement we’ve provided.
4. Incident Report
What Is It?
If an injury, assault, physical damage, or other incident occurs at your gym, you want a clear policy and procedure for handling such incidents, and to make your staff familiar with that procedure. That might include, for example, running through a medical exam checklist to determine whether an EMT should be called, or calling the police in the event of any sort of physical altercation or damage. Whatever your procedure, however, it should certainly involve the completion of an incident report.
An incident report is a one or two page document that provides a contemporaneous account of what happened, documents why whatever action or lack of action was done at the time of the event, and gathers contact information of witnesses.
What You Need To Know
An incident report is typically admissible in court. That fact causes many gym owners to be hesitant to use one. The reality is, however, that an attorney constructing a lawsuit against you would prefer a vacuum of information over detailed factual information contemporaneously made in an incident report. A detailed incident report prevents an unscrupulous attorney (or their client) from crafting a story about the incident that makes your gym sound much worse than reality.
In the event of a lawsuit, not only does this incident report provide for a more accurate portrayal of what actually happened than relying on people’s memories many months later, it also demonstrates that your gym takes injuries and incidents seriously and justifies why a specific action or inaction was taken. A few quick guidelines we suggest following:
An incident report is best completed after the situation has stabilized, but while the incident is still fresh in the minds of your staff and any witnesses. So make it part of your staff’s incident procedure to complete one as soon as feasible after the event.
An incident report is about conveying facts, not opinions. Instruct staff to be as detailed and accurate as possible. But if they aren’t a medical professional, they shouldn’t attempt to diagnose the injury, just report on the symptoms they’re actually witnessing. Similarly, staff shouldn’t report things that they hear second or third hand, only what they’ve personally witnessed. If someone else saw something, tell staff to ask that person to write what they actually saw down, and list them as a witness on the Incident Report.
Where To Get One:
Note on using our copy: Consider having an attorney review and tweak our sample to make gym specific tweaks for your gym.
5. Equipment Maintenance Log
What Is It?
There are a lot of things that need to be serviced, cleaned, or maintained in a gym. From simple things on a regular cleaning schedule like mats and bathrooms, to more complex semi-annual maintenance like water heaters and air filters.
You as the gym owner simply can’t keep all of these things in your head. And even if you could, you’d have no record that they were actually completed in case you needed that documentation (e.g. for a warranty, insurance claim or lawsuit). That’s why having an Equipment Maintenance Log is essential.
An Equipment Maintenance Log is just a one or two page form, that you note, contemporaneously, every time some sort of maintenance or repair happens to a particular piece of equipment.
What You Need To Know
If you want to make a warranty or insurance claim, you’ll be in a much stronger position when dealing with the insurance company if you have a completed maintenance log in place.
Unfortunately, maintaining a log is the sort of policy that is hard to implement once the gym is already up and running and staff are set in their ways. That’s why it’s so important to get these Logs in place from the get-go, and to post them in an easily accessible place that you can point any service provider to and require them to use whenever they perform service.
Consider stapling service invoices to the back of these maintenance log so that you have more detailed information about who performed the service, how much they charged, etc. without having to make the process of logging the service any more onerous.
Where To Get One:
PDF / Word Doc
6. Federal And State Tax ID
What Is It?
These two documents, your US federal tax ID (aka FEIN), and your state tax ID, are so interrelated we’ve combined them here. Your state and federal Tax IDs enable your gym to pay federal and state taxes, and are typically required for you to be able to open a bank account, create payroll, and for performing other administrative tasks.
What You Need To Know
If your gym generates any revenue, you’ll have to pay federal and in most cases state taxes each year. Your gym will file its own tax return each year which spell out how much you owe in taxes, but the government also keeps a ledger of how much they expect in taxes from your gym. The government keeps that ledger accurate by requiring other businesses your gym deals with (including banks) to track and report transactions with your gym by its tax ID. In effect, that means that as a business owner, you’ll repeatedly be asked for your federal Tax ID by suppliers, landlords, and other businesses with whom your gym contracts. So keep these numbers handy because you’ll need them a lot in the startup phase of the business, but also every time you get a contract with a new supplier or service provider.
The government tries to make it very easy to pay them taxes, so getting a Tax ID for your gym is shockingly fast, easy to get, and free. Just go to the right website, plug in some basic information about your business entity type, address, how many employees you currently have, and one or two other pieces of information, and in most cases you’ll immediately receive a PDF with your federal and state tax IDs.
Where To Get One:
For a Federal Tax ID (for paying your federal taxes) visit the IRS application website here.
For your state Tax ID (for paying any state taxes) visit your state tax authority, a 50 state list is here.
7. Entity Registration
What Is It?
Most gym owners choose to form a business entity to operate their gym out of, (typically an LLC, a corporation, an s-corporation or a partnership). To form an entity, you’ll need to register your company with a state. When you do that, the state will provide you with a letter recognizing your company. You’ll need that Entity Registration Letter to open a bank account and obtain a Tax ID, to name just a few things.
What You Need To Know
The primary reasons for running your business out of a legal entity, are that a business entity gives the gym owners additional liability protection, it enables cleaner accounting, it’s necessary in order to take on partners or investors, and it looks professional to banks, suppliers and other businesses you’ll be contracting with.
In order to form a business entity (whether that’s an LLC, C-Corp, S-Corp, etc.) you have to register your company with a US state. You can actually choose from any of the 50 states to register your business in, but practically speaking, there are only a few choices that make any sense.
The three big considerations on which state to register your gym in are:
Registration Cost: Some states charge as little as $100 per year to maintain your business registration, others are over $1,000.
Laws: If your gym is sued, typically the laws of the state your business is registered in will apply. Some states have a reputation for having well-established business friendly laws (Delaware, Nevada, & Wyoming in particular). So if your state doesn’t have as business-friendly of a reputation, that’s a big reason to consider registration outside the state your gym is physically located.
Registered Agent: You have to maintain a physical presence in the state your business is registered in. Obviously, if you’re based in Florida but register your gym’s entity in Delaware, you’re not going to maintain a full-time office there. Instead, you’ll hire a registered agent. There are tons of registered agents who charge anywhere from $25 to a few hundred dollars per year for acting as your company’s legal representative in the state. In practice, they don’t really do anything beyond forwarding to you any legal notices your gym receives.
So, in practice, most gym business owners just end up registering in the state their gym is physically located, whereas others choose from among the more business friendly states of Delaware, Nevada or Wyoming.
Where To Get One:
Visit the Secretary of State’s website in the state you want to register with. A list of all 50 secretary of state websites here.
Once you’ve registered your gym with a state’s Secretary of State office, you’ll receive a letter from the state, with a registration number.
Disclaimer & Terms Of Use
Prior to using these forms, please consult with an attorney or other expert knowledgeable in the laws of the applicable jurisdiction and the specific intended use of those forms.
All forms available for download through SimpleGym are general in nature; are not based on the laws of any specific state or other jurisdiction but rather general principles of law applicable throughout the United States; and should only be used after first consulting with an attorney or other expert knowledgeable in the laws of the applicable jurisdiction and the specific intended use of those forms.
This article is intended for informational purposes only. Neither SimpleGym LLC, nor its author, offer, nor intend to offer, professional or legal advice. Consult with your attorney for individualized professional advice suited to your unique gym’s needs.
An Outsourced CEO, Jim Thomas is the founder and president of Fitness Management USA Inc., a management consulting, turnaround and brokerage firm specializing in the gym and sports industry. With more than 25 years of experience owning, operating and managing clubs of all sizes, Thomas lectures and delivers seminars, webinars and workshops across the globe on the practical skills required to successfully to overcome obscurity, improve sales, build teamwork and market fitness programs and products. In addition, his company will buy gym equipment from gyms liquidating or closing. Visit his Web site at:www.fmconsulting.net orwww.jimthomasondemand.com.
by jimthomas | Aug 27, 2019 | fitness center business, gym broker, gym business, gym business plan, gym consultant, gym marketing, Gym Marketing Promotion, Gym Sales Help, gym sales training, Member Retention, New Gym Start Up
Reposted from www.abcfinancial.com
Health Club and Fitness industry revenue is expected to reach $32.9 billion by 2020. Although the industry is trending towards growth, many health club owners still struggle to make a profit. Payment issues, member and employee churn, and reliance on inadequate health club management technology are just a few challenges gym owners typically face. Less than 50% of new fitness clubs expect to survive beyond the first five years in business. With that in mind, it is important for modern health clubs to understand the industry and how to operate efficiently to reduce costs and monitor sales and profitability. This Guide covers ways to improve efficiency and profitability in your health club.
Quick Jump Content Menu
What is Health Club Management
8 Keys to Profitable Health Club Operations
Health Club Industry Trends
Health Club Financial Management
Health Club Employee Management
Health Club Sales & Marketing
Health Club Payment Processing
Health Club Management Software
How ABC Can Solve Health Club Challenges
What is Health Club Management
Companies in the health club industry operate fitness and recreational sports facilities that offer exercise equipment and recreational sport activities for consumers. The industry can include health clubs, fitness centers, gyms, studios, wellness centers, athletic centers. Some health clubs cater to consumers on the basis of convenience by offering low-cost memberships with full operational hours. Comparatively, niche studios have appealed to consumers by offering classes with specific workouts or environments .
According to IHRSA (International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association) the global number of health club members increased 33.60% from 2008–2017, with the health club industry, in general, comprising $87.2 Billion in revenue in 2017. You can learn more details by purchasing the IHRSA 2018 Global Report: The State of the Health Club Industry.
While the health club business is booming there is also a lot of competition and many variables that impact clubs financial success. Having a health club does not mean you will instantly be able to make it profitable. That takes a lot of hard work and knowledge. Operating a profitable health club is about balancing what generates revenue while controlling what costs money. Check out the blog post 7 Keys to a Profitable Health Club Operations blog post for more detailed information on these key points for success.
Keys to Profitable Health Club Operations
- Member Experience — Give members what they really want and they will become an important part of your sales and retention strategy. If your members have a great member experience and delight them, they will remain loyal members and tell many many others about how great you are. Read more about why Member Experience Is Key to Health Club Success
- Member Retention — Member attendance and communication are important for member retention. Use this guide to learn more about Member Retention Strategies for Health Clubs.
- Financial Management
- Health Club Team Culture
- Marketing
- Industry Trends
- Vendor Partners
- Attitude — Having the right mindset to succeed in the health club industry is key to winning in the health club industry. Check out these two in-depth articles for keys to being a successful health club operator:
Health Club Industry Trends
To take advantage of this growth, it is wise for health club owners to be aware of Health Club Industry Trends. Some of the trends we identified in a recent blog article 3 Health Club Industry Trends to Guide Your Fitness Business Strategy include:
- Consumer Spending
- Health and Fitness Lifestyle and Status
- Impact of the Health Care Crises and Consumers Taking Charge of Own Health
Health Club Industry Disruption — In addition, disruption in the Health Club Industry is causing new realities for health club operators that they need to address. Learn what the Health Club Operators should focus on to be successful in this article 5 Strategies to Guide Health Club Operators in Health Club Industry Disruption:
- Clear Business and Competitive Strategy
- New Business Model Innovation & Services
- Strategic Partner Selection
- “Frictionless” Member Experience
- Digital Technology Transformation
Health Club Technology — Health club, fitness, and wellness businesses and entrepreneurs are rushing in to take advantage of growth opportunities while juggling a lot of uncertainty in an evolving and hyper-competitive marketplace being impacted by increasing technological change. The implications of technology on the health club, fitness and wellness industries cannot be understated. Evaluating technologies for your fitness business is important as an owner or operator. Check out this guide 5 Criteria to Evaluate New Health Club Technology for more information.
Health Club Financial Management
Create a Health Club Business Plan
As a health club operator, it is important to take the time create and continually update your health club business plan to guide your operation and to communicate value to your members and staff. Defining processes to support the successful implementation of the plan is also important. Review this information to guide you in your planning process 5 Tips for a Successful Business Plan
How to Measure Health Club Success
Owning a successful health club gym requires a certain level of focus and dedication to the underlying statistics which drive revenue-focused business decisions. These metrics provide owners valuable insights to understand and identify trends, gauge satisfaction rates, and highlight problems as they emerge in order to enact swift resolution. Below are the crucial metrics and every club owner must understand:
1. Health Club Membership Retention
It costs on average 10 times more to gain a new member than to retain an existing one; this makes your current group of members the most important audience to please. You can track overall retention by measuring.
- Churn rate — the percentage of members who cancel their membership
- Average tenure of members — how long members stay members of your gym
- Estimated lifetime value of a member — how long that tenure is worth in dollar value
It can also be helpful for owners to track metrics which can help forecast retention, like a member satisfaction score. The most common way to measure member satisfaction is the “Net Promoter Score,” a metric which scores how likely your members are to refer friends to the facility. Tracking this metric over time can help you identify member churn events before they occur. For example, let’s say your facility had multiple equipment malfunctions and significant delays in getting repairs. You would likely see a significant drop in your Net Promoter Score which can indicate that members are at risk of cancelling. View more tips and strategies to increase health club member retention: Member Retention Strategies for Health Clubs
2. Health Club Sales, Prospects & Pipeline
Prospects are the people who have called, emailed, filled out a form on your website, or entered into your gym to gather more information regarding membership. In order to forecast revenue correctly, it’s critical to have a keen eye focused on how many prospects make up your gym’s sales pipeline month-over-month, the dollar value of said pipeline, and what your average close rate is. Be sure to also track Prospect Status. This metric will tell you the results of your sales efforts by tracking the conversions of those who showed interest in your facility. Are they still a prospect? Have they converted to a Member? Or, did you mark them “Dead?”
Tracking revenue per member, membership usage, member churn, and average membership length will also provide you with valuable data. If you cannot measure If you are using gym management software, it, you cannot improve it. Setting realistic financial goals you can use this tool to manage your and tracking them monthly, weekly, and even daily will pipeline and set up automated email help you achieve a level of granularity that will expose outreach to increase membership sales. leaks in your revenue generation efforts.
For More Information, check out these blog posts:
Other Health Club Revenue Sources
- Personal Training — Personal training is often the second largest source of revenue for many health clubs and, in the case of many of today’s fitness concepts, it’s their primary source of revenue. Many club owners find it difficult to make personal training a priority or just don’t know exactly how to increase personal training revenue by getting more people to pay for one on one personal training services. Review 5 Strategies of How To Increase Personal Training Revenue In Health Clubs for guidance.
Health Club Employee Management
Every two interactions a member has with fitness staff in a given month results in one extra visit from that member the following month. It is essential to understand the correlation between employee turnover and member retention. Members value engagement from staff, and the staff values happy members.
Retaining and engaging employees is as important as retaining members. Many costs are associated with hiring and training new employees, so keeping the high performers in order to minimize hiring and onboarding costs can save your facility serious money and a lot of headaches. Here are some tips to keep employees engaged while boosting your facility’s efficiency:
1. Create a thorough onboarding process.
Supply employees with all information needed to prepare for the job: introduce them to the tools and team they will work with, and orient them to the facility. This process should be standardized, making it repeatable and reliable. When new employees are trained at the discretion of whoever is working that day, significant details could be left out. Helping everyone stay on the same page builds trust among your employees while relieving you of actually training new people yourself.
2. Invest in employee education and training.
Similarly to the onboarding process, weekly staff meetings — as well as training sessions on gym equipment, software, and POS systems — keep everyone aligned in terms of club goals and how to use technology. Employees should also be familiar with new workout routines and techniques so they can help any member that might need assistance. The ability to recommend specific classes or trainers based on desired goals gives employees a greater sense of knowledge and credibility to members. This education creates more inherent value in whatever role that employee has and also instills a greater sense of trust between the member and employee. Members should feel confident that most questions they have can be answered by the staff at hand.
3. Offer employee incentives.
Reward employees when they do a great job. This incentivizes them to continue striving above and beyond and demonstrates that you recognize this behavior. How you measure the benchmarks for rewards is up to you. Consider things like the number of new members signed up or positive reviews left online or in a suggestion box. If this is clearly spelled out to employees, you offer them a clear line to rewards. These prizes should not be given out randomly, but rather enshrined in a well-defined and circulated document. You’ll be able to tell if this works by analyzing the metrics that the awards are based off. If your employees truly feel incentivized, you’ll achieve those goals much faster. Also, if this ends up costing your gym more than it produces, consider revisiting how you reward employees. Cash is always nice, but free membership packages or gift cards to local restaurants might prove more sustainable.
4. Test employees’ knowledge.
Quiz employees regularly to ensure they understand all processes and procedures thoroughly. This can be done through multiple choice quizzes or in-person roundtable discussions. Give them the opportunity to ask questions in weekly meetings and provide their feedback for overall facility improvement. Sometimes a shy employee might not bring up what he does not know for fear of losing his job or your trust. Encouraging a welcoming environment of learning without stigma will eventually create an educated workforce unafraid to ask a question or speak up when something is not clearly explained. You can also reward employees for their knowledge of your gym, as mentioned before. Be sure to keep tabs on the people trying to learn the most. The more your staff knows, the more helpful they can be to members.
5. Adopt a Member Focus Approach
Adopting a member focused approach, offering different experiences, products, and services to different customers based on their individual needs, is a key ingredient and philosophy for success in the health club industry today. This approach puts customers at the center of business strategy, places an emphasis on customer service training, and aims to maximize the lifetime value of health club members. The lifetime value of members being one of THE most important key performance indicators in the health club industry today. Do you want to get your staff to adopt a more member-centric approach in your health club business? Learn how to implement a member focus approach in this article 6 Member Focus Strategies For Health Club Staff.
6. Create a Personalized Member Experience
Consumers in general along with gym and health club members expect personalized communications and services tailored to their individual preferences. Personalization in the health club, gym and fitness industry c needs to go beyond basic tactics like addressing customers by their first name in emails or providing one size fits all workout or exercise programming. Creating new fitness solutions and messaging using technology helps to Hyper-Personalize Health Club marketing and services. Explore some of the factors and technology influencing health club personalization and how it improves sales and retention with great member experiences in Why Member Experience and Health Club Personalization Matter.
- Genomics to Personalize
- 3D Body Scanning
- Artificial Intelligence and Predictive Analytics
Health Club Sales and Marketing
Health club management software allows you to create effective sales and marketing strategies with the data provided through detailed reports. Surveying members and guests is a great way to collect useful data to use in your sales and marketing plan. Use data from these surveys for advertising, branding and giveaways. Email marketing is another great tool to use to keep your members engaged, as higher member engagement can lead to extra up-selling opportunities.
Increased revenue is the ultimate goal for any owner, and using management software as a sales and marketing tool will lead to this. As members have the ability to sign up for automated payments, you’ll see a more consistent revenue flow while creating a more enjoyable user experience. Positive member experiences keep them coming back, giving your gym the powerful marketing tool of word-of-mouth. Encouraging your current members to share their great experiences via social media is a great way to increase member growth. Health club management software allows you to send marketing emails to your current members encouraging them to share these positive experiences.
Increasing Membership Sales
Every health club club manager knows the dilemma: gym membership sales surge in January with the ambitious New Year’s Resolution, but most of these new gym members fail to remain dedicated throughout the year and many will even cancel their memberships. For many health clubs and fitness centers, increasing sales consistently throughout the year can be a challenge, but with some strategic planning, the right tools, and ongoing member engagement, this revenue inconsistency can be mitigated. Review these articles for guidance on increasing sales:
Marketing Data
Today the most competitive health club business models and brands understand that they are operating in a digitally driven world made up of consumers who now have more choices and options regarding how they achieve their fitness, health, and well-being. They also know those customers are spending more and more time on digital channels making it more important to use the right data to help you market your health club effectively. Learn more about how to use health club data in this in-depth review: 5 Ways to Use Data For More Effective Health Club Marketing.
Learn how to use data to differentiate from competitors in How To Create Health Club Differentiation Strategies With Data. Many health club operators in the fitness industry are drowning in data and unsure about how to use it. This is understandable since much of that data is unstructured; it takes many forms from documents, content, check-ins, payment methods, workouts, member demographics, along with a lot of other information that usually doesn’t reside in conventional databases and can’t be parsed by algorithms or machine analysis. The intelligent use of data is going to significantly impact every business and industry in the years ahead. Learning how to use data to differentiate from competitors will provide an advantage.
Regional Marketing
Developing a marketing strategy for your health club is a daunting task, but it is necessary for acquiring new customers. However, this challenge can be significantly reduced by utilizing a regional marketing strategy and leveraging the capabilities of your gym software to attract new customers. Regional marketing is targeting your marketing efforts towards a specific geographic region that makes sense for your business, which can save you time and money. These gains in efficiency are amplified when regional marketing is combined with the power of health club management software and data. Check out the 5 Regional Marketing Methods Leveraging Health Club Software.
Marketing and Sales Technology: Marketing Automation, CRM, and AI
How can automation and artificial intelligence (AI) help businesses in the health club and fitness industry? The integration of CRM software, automation, and AI with human interaction creates better member experiences.
“Now we’re in a place where just getting [information] into a database really is not a big deal anymore. Now, it’s what are you going to do with that information.” — Adam Stokar
Learn more about how Health clubs and fitness businesses can better leverage technology in these resources:
Social Media Strategy
If there were a proven way to increase online membership sign-ups for your health club, wouldn’t you incorporate that into your recruitment campaigns? A social media strategy is a tool providing valuable results. Take advantage of these new social media trends:
- Instagram and Instagram Video Marketing Strategy- Half of over 1 billion Instagram users are scrolling through their feeds every day. 80% of those users follow businesses. Here are some even more interesting stats which should help you strongly consider sharing content and advertising on the Instagram platform. The latest updates and what to expect in the near future from Instagram are outlined here as well. One of the biggest shifts for Instagram last year was IGTV (Instagram TV) which really changed the Instagram platform. This addition to the Instagram app transformed Instagram from just sharing photos to a more advanced video platform. For an in depth guide on how to use IGTV read Create A Health Club Instagram Video Marketing (IGTV) Strategy.
Marketing Website1. Create a Member Friendly Website
A gym’s website is a virtual front door. Just as a potential member would walk in to observe a clean facility and be greeted with friendly smiles, you want to ensure your website has the same ambiance. In today’s market, a well-designed website attracts new members and increases your profit margins. When someone considers joining a gym, they research it beforehand and make their own assumptions, regardless of what your gym actually is like. Therefore, every website must include the Who, What, Where, When, and — most importantly — the WHY of your business. The website should clearly explain the following in detail:
- Who you are: This includes background information on the gym and how it all began. The amount you decide to divulge varies based on the organization, but putting a story behind your gym and creating a communal environment will draw people in — we are social beings after all. It’s also important to provide photos and descriptions of employees so prospects can put a name to a face if they search your website for information.
- What you offer: Are you a pilates studio, or a crossfit gym? Guests need to know what types of fitness you cater to before they even consider signing up for a membership. Clearly articulate in what area of focus your gym specializes and you’ll attract the right type of clientele. Photos or videos of equipment, member testimonials, and online class schedules can help present this information clearly to web visitors.
- Health Club Facility Location: Google Maps is an easy tool to add to your website with your address and directions to your facility. That, as well as Yelp, are two absolute necessities in today’s smartphone era. Long gone are the days of the yellow pages.
- Google Maps Many prospective members may search, “gyms near me.” To accommodate for these searchers, Google Maps offers new features to help them make informed purchasing decisions and, if completed correctly, can make your gym stand out. Make sure your Google results showcase:
- Positive ratings
- Positive testimonials
- Contact information (including site link)
- Hours of operation
- Photos The more you can use Google as a sales and marketing tool, the less work you will have to do to attract new members. People out there want to find your gym. Google just needs to know where to point them.
- Why they should join your facility Include why your particular location is the best one for the potential member. If there are many competitors in your area, why should they choose you? Maybe you cater to a certain age demographic that seeks special classes, or your fitness center has a daycare. Whatever it is, your website needs to convey key differentiators to attract a devoted membership base.
2. Three Addtional Website Features to Consider
- SEO A user-friendly website filled with information about the facility builds online credibility. If a prospect performs a Google search for a gym in your area, your goal should be to show up first in the search results or at least on the first page of results. Consider researching and implementing Search Engine Optimized (SEO) content and tags. This means researching and adding keywords to specific locations on your website. For example, someone looking for a yoga studio in Dallas might search “best yoga studio in Dallas.” You could then add that phrase strategically throughout your website to attract more web traffic. Be careful, however, to not “keyword stuff” your content. Search engines will pick up on content that just seeks to attract web traffic without providing valuable content.
- Member Portal Additionally, your website should allow members to manage their memberships. By utilizing an online portal, you can upsell existing members by encouraging them to sign up for classes and schedule personal training sessions. The more opportunities to upsell, the better. After all, retaining a member is way easier than gaining a new one. A member portal also helps position you as a tech-savvy gym that cares about the member experience. The more up-to-date you can stay on membership technology, the more likely you are to retain and acquire members.
- Website Content Pages Including a blog on your website is an ideal way to provide fitness tips page views, traffic channels, bounce rate, and time onsite can tell you a lot and tricks for your members and prospects. Educating members and about where your prospects come from sharing information about the health and fitness industry through a and what they look for on your site. Blogs keep members informed and engaged. Apply SEO practices as mentioned above to gain as much organic traffic as possible. Also, be sure to include forms with a clear call-to-action for prospects to obtain more information about certain content, like videos or workout tips. These call-to-action buttons should stand out from the rest of the website content and include decisive, actionable language to encourage some sort of interaction.
Health Club Payment Processing
When looking to keep overhead costs low and achieve profitability, automate everything. As membership numbers increase, so does the number of membership dues that need to be collected. Tracking down members for payment becomes a time consuming, difficult, and repetitious task, slowing down efficiency and hurting your profits if employees do not follow up correctly. Review more about health club payment processing and security in the Guide To Health Club Payment Processing & Security. Avoid these problems, by implementing a payment processing service to automate those monthly payments. Here are a few revenue-related benefits of implementing a payment processing solution:
- Boosts revenue — Automated recurring payments have been hailed as “the holy grail of SaaS revenue” by MarketingLand.com. It helps both the gym and member by providing a predictable way to budget.
- Saves time — No more manually processing payments or tracking down delinquent members to collect dues. These solutions generate reminders and automate monthly payments straight from bank accounts or debit cards.
- Enhanced security — Ensure members that their account information is secure.Recently, a number of large-scale data breaches have compromised millions of Americans’ personal information, like credit card numbers, social security numbers,and medical records. To avoid breaches, fitness clubs around the world are implementing end-to-end encryption (E2EE) to ensure their data is protected. Invest in this technology to keep your members as safe as possible.
- Happier members — Members no longer have to worry about making a monthly payment as the process is automatic. Reminders and receipts are available in member’s online account portal.
How Payment Processing Works
Once a member has signed up for a membership through gym management software, they have the option to connect their bank account or credit card for automatic recurring payments. The agreement they signed determines the frequency of the payment, which is typically monthly, but could be quarterly or annually.
On the days the member’s payment is due, the billing system automatically sends the payment information to processing companies. For payment made by debit cards and direct debits, the member’s bank account will be charged. For payment made with credit cards, the member’s credit card account will be will used. Money will move from the member’s debit, credit, or bank accounts and deposited to the club’s bank account, net of processing fees.
Health Club Management Software
Owning a gym can be time consuming if you don’t have automation in place to help increase the efficiency of daily administrative tasks. By implementing gym management software and payment processing services, gym owners eliminate time consuming administrative tasks like member check-in and communication, personal training scheduling, and booking group exercise classes. It also empowers members to stay on top of any account needs.
See this blog post to learn more details about What is Health Club Management Software
Key features of health club management software should include:
- Online membership sign-up — online portal offering prospect sign-up via mobile device or app
- Member check-in — Sub one-second check-in with fingerprint, key tag, key fob, pin code or name search. Stop writing names on paper or scanning every member’s card yourself.
- Member account management — Members can schedule payments online and book classes, freeing up your front desk staff for more important tasks, like assisting an injured patron, cleaning up a mess, or answering any facility-related questions.
- Employee management — View and manage employee schedules, department responsibilities, and figure commissions by percent or flat rate with gym management software. You can even integrate a time clock, making sure everyone’s time is fairly and accurately recorded.
- Point of sale — Track petty cash, ring up items, and email receipts in one sleek, digital location
- Electronic agreements — Capture digital signatures and save money with a paperless process. This also decreases the likelihood that important documents relating to membership agreements go missing.
- Report management — Create unlimited custom reports for multiple clubs, or schedule reports to run automatically via email in Excel, PDF or CSV formats. This is crucial in understanding metrics as described in Understanding the Numbers section.
However you decide to maintain or achieve profitability, keep in mind our five methods. The technology exists to help you understand every single aspect of how your gym creates and loses money, from employee management to automated due collections. Now it’s up to you to implement that technology and use it smartly.
How ABC Financial Can Solve Health Club Challenges
ABC Financial is the nation’s leading club management software and payment processing provider. The club management software tool, DataTrak, and payment processing services can help run an efficient and profitable fitness club by offering the following features:
- Automatic payments — EFT/ACH monthly auto drafts and automatic credit card updates
- Dashboard — get snapshot views at daily, weekly and monthly goals to view progress against goals
- Scheduling — manage departmental calendars, track services, classes and sales opportunities and send event reminders via email or text messaging
- Security — ABC is a Level 1 PCI DSS Compliant Service Provider and all software is password protected
Want to take a look at what health club management software and payment processing can help you run an efficient and profitable health club, fitness center or gym? Sign up for a demo today!
An Outsourced CEO, Jim Thomas is the founder and president of Fitness Management USA Inc., a management consulting, turnaround and brokerage firm specializing in the gym and sports industry. With more than 25 years of experience owning, operating and managing clubs of all sizes, Thomas lectures and delivers seminars, webinars and workshops across the globe on the practical skills required to successfully to overcome obscurity, improve sales, build teamwork and market fitness programs and products. In addition, his company will buy gym equipment from gyms liquidating or closing. Visit his Web site at:www.fmconsulting.net orwww.jimthomasondemand.com.
by jimthomas | Apr 9, 2019 | fitness center business, gym branding, gym business, gym consultant, gym marketing, Gym Sales Help, Member Retention
Reposted from www.abcfinancial.com
Sometimes the best lessons I’ve learned about business come from seeing how others face growth, opportunities, failures, and challenges. Enter the mega consumer coffee brand Starbucks. Last year Starbucks surpassed McDonald’s in terms of U.S. location count, at more than 14,000. Since 2013, according to Technomic data, the chain grew locations by an aggressive 22%. Consider the sheer volume of customer interactions: In the U.S. alone Starbucks serves 38 million consumers every 30 days and on average those customers visit stores 6 times each month. The brand handles 3 trillion customer transactions per year globally.
Despite their great success, Starbucks is facing a lot of challenges, but it is still one of the greatest successful global consumer brand stories of our time. What can health clubs, gyms, and fitness facilities learn from this behemoth? Well first let’s reflect on a prior article I shared recognizing that the age of the consumer controlled fitness industry is here. Here’s a quote from that post:
“Customer centricity is a mindset that companies must adopt throughout the entire organization to thrive in the digital world.”
Starbucks has certainly attempted to be a consumer-centric business and one mindful of the implications of a digital world. What Starbucks is doing to win the customer and overcome its challenges can serve as a good road map for what fitness brands should be thinking about when it comes to winning over the modern fitness customer. While there are unique ills and challenges for large scale global brands that might seem irrelevant to a single, regional, or national health club, gym or fitness brand, truthfully when it comes to the customer they don’t care what your business problems or size is. In the age of the customer, customers just want what they want and businesses will either figure that out and win or fail to do so and die. While this is true for Starbucks and other global brands like Apple or Samsung, it is also true for fitness brands no matter their size, shape, or business model.
Four Lessons For Fitness Customer Success From Starbucks
As successful as Starbucks is, the business has experienced a lot of trouble during various phases of its life cycle. Many experts think Howard Schultz, the face of the brand and its primary archetype for nearly four decades, has saved the company three times during its history. So there is a lot to learn from the business. Here are the four lessons I think we can learn in the fitness industry from the Starbucks story.
1. Differentiate To Compete
In a highly competitive market, it is imperative brands remain differentiated from the market as a whole. Few competitors succeed in developing a business model that beats Starbucks in all four advantages: beverage, store setting, service, and culture. They also continue to innovate and stay on top of differentiation with their creating an experiential “roastery” concept, watch the video here. Michael Porter was correct, “A company can outperform rivals only if it can establish a difference that it can preserve.” In the fitness industry competition has soared in the past decade so this is more important than ever.
Growth in fitness has come mainly in two distinct arenas: fitness and boutique studios and low-cost budget models. Programming, convenience, unique services, and experiences are separating competitors. Having a clear differentiation strategy to be competitive, like Starbucks has, is key to winning the customer. Watch this video about 1Rebel in London to get an idea of how some fitness concepts are differentiating.
2. Customer Experience Really Matters
Experience is created through an obsession with ‘Attention To Details’. The Starbucks team carefully designs every store to enhance the quality of everything the customers sees, touches, hears, smells and tastes. Particular attention is paid to ‘Aroma’ as it plays a vital role in cafe experience. The smell of brewing is designed to linger around to welcome consumers. Associates are not allowed to use perfumes as the beans would absorb the order. Baristas are trained about the art of having happy conversations with the customers so they can build personal relationships with them.
Executing unique experiences in fitness businesses, like with Starbucks and its new “Roastery” locations, is absolutely a must to win the customer. Ambiance, great employees, outstanding programming, omnichannel services, and more than anything “Attention To Detail” is essential to winning the fitness consumer today.
3. Culture Is A Key To Execution
Starbucks has a clear vision, mission, and values which it works hard on communicating and embedding in how it conducts its business around customer happiness. Check this out to see what I mean. This focus has a direct impact on customer experience and loyalty of consumers. When it comes to Net Promoter Score “NPS”, for example, Starbucks applies tactics to deliver customer satisfaction and loyalty at a high level, contributing to Starbucks’ NPS of 77 in 2017. It’s culture has a lot to do with this high score. The organizational culture is based on belonging, inclusion, and diversity. The internal cultural situation is reflected through the company’s human resource development programs and baristas’ interactions with customers.
Great fitness brands, like Starbucks, focus on creating wonderful cultures to attract fantastic people who are a central part of delivering experiences that customers love.
4. Using Technology Wisely Is Smart
Delivering great experiences requires great people, a great business model strategy, and the smart use of technology with the right technology partner. Starbucks was an innovator in the adoption of mobile apps for ordering and payment for example. Starbucks drives their technology to “power moments of connection.” In other words, they understand applying technology contextually around the customer experience, aka “moments of connection”. They continue to innovate and are, for example, experimenting with home delivery. Starbucks’ approach confirms the findings and thoughts addressed in Kelly Card’s recent article Why Data Is Going To Become A Big Differentiator For Health Club, Gym, and Fitness Studio Businesses; they use analytics in their business to gain consumer insights, enable hyper-personalization, and automate key processes. These are all very wise moves and fitness business operators should learn from this and do the same to win the customer today.
The best fitness, gym, and health club operators are focusing on this approach as well. The smart use of technology in the context of thoughtful customer experience is an underpinning of great operators and competitors in the fitness space today.
I think we can learn a lot about successful brands and competitors in other industries when considering how to compete for the modern fitness consumer. If you want to learn more about Starbucks’ secrets pertaining to how it operates and what its strategies are check these out.
So what do you think about the four lessons we can learn from Starbucks for the fitness industry and how they apply to gym, health club, and fitness businesses in general? I’d love to hear your thoughts and the team at ABC would be delighted to help you with your plans and strategies around your fitness business.
An Outsourced CEO, Jim Thomas is the founder and president of Fitness Management USA Inc., a management consulting, turnaround and brokerage firm specializing in the gym and sports industry. With more than 25 years of experience owning, operating and managing clubs of all sizes, Thomas lectures and delivers seminars, webinars and workshops across the globe on the practical skills required to successfully to overcome obscurity, improve sales, build teamwork and market fitness programs and products. In addition, his company will buy gym equipment from gyms liquidating or closing. Visit his Web site at:www.fmconsulting.net orwww.jimthomasondemand.com.
by jimthomas | Apr 1, 2019 | fitness center business, gym business, gym business plan, gym consultant, gym marketing, gym sales training, Member Retention, New Gym Start Up
Managing a gym or a fitness center requires a certain level of dedication, expertise, and knowledge of the fitness industry. As always, having a good team to help you out is important. Here are five useful tips for managing a gym club.
Choose the Right People
It is important to choose the right people, both those you partner with as co-owners and those who are on your team. Partnering with the wrong people or having a team that is not aligned with your goals and values will lead your gym in the wrong direction. Make sure you interview your employees carefully and make sure that they are fully qualified for the position. One of the secrets here is to always be recruiting — this will help you create options and you don’t find yourself simply filling a slot.
Choose the Right Tools
It is just as important to choose the right tools and software for your gym. Make sure that you put your customer first in all of your choices. In addition, make sure to maintain a consistent brand image.
Set Realistic Goals
When setting goals for growth, revenue and profit, always set goals that are realistic. You can break up larger goals into smaller milestones and focus on achieving them one at a time. The things to always remember about goal setting is that you never lower your goal, but rather, you raise your action level to reach that goal.
Outsource and Delegate
It’s futile to attempt to fulfill all of your gym’s responsibilities by yourself. As the manager, you need to have time to focus on the most important things that will directly affect the trajectory of your fitness center and the amount of profit you make. As such, you should outsource and delegate the smaller tasks to qualified people or companies.
Increase Your Circle of Influence
Networking is extremely important when it comes to managing any kind of business. Network with other people in the fitness industry; Network with other local business owners who you can create partnerships with. A great resource for local networking events is meetup.com.
For expert consulting on how to manage your gym more effectively, contact ustoday.
An Outsourced CEO, Jim Thomas is the founder and president of Fitness Management USA Inc., a management consulting, turnaround and brokerage firm specializing in the gym and sports industry. With more than 25 years of experience owning, operating and managing clubs of all sizes, Thomas lectures and delivers seminars, webinars and workshops across the globe on the practical skills required to successfully to overcome obscurity, improve sales, build teamwork and market fitness programs and products. In addition, his company will buy gym equipment from gyms liquidating or closing. Visit his Web site at:www.fmconsulting.net orwww.jimthomasondemand.com.
by jimthomas | Feb 28, 2019 | fitness center business, gym branding, gym business, gym consultant, gym marketing, Gym Marketing Promotion, Gym Sales Help, New Gym Start Up
I have been involved with networking groups for quite sometime. The results are always eye-opening. I participate not only for my business but also to bring value to my client base. Here is a sampling of what has come my way: new clients, a website copywriter, experts at search engine optimization, business brokers, joint venture vendor agreements with enough added value to make me wonder why everyone doesn’t do this. All of that with a user-friendly price tag. And this is just a sampling of the results.
I was speaking with a gym owner recently who had just joined the chamber of commerce. I asked them how it was going. After some stuttering and stammering, they said they “have the book” and they are sending e-mails. Oh.
Many gym salespeople claim to be good at networking or say they are very involved in local functions that bring others together to network. But are they really? Most are seeking the low-hanging fruit. Done right, being part of a networking group will provide you with an abundance of leads and new resources to grow your gym business.
Take the time to seek out networking groups in your area. Here are some of the reasons you should get involved with a local networking group (or even two or three of them).
- Meet people in your trade area. By participating in a networking group, you walk away with new contacts after each and every meeting. What better way to meet people than to attend a networking event with people who are seeking the same thing you seek? You have an opportunity to give your 30-second commercial, share with your audience what you do and share what kind of leads or anything else you seek. The key to successful networking is the “one on one,” which is where you meet with others in the group to learn about each others’ business and how you can help. Just imagine having 30 to 50 local business people telling your story to others and even doing business with your gym.
- Establish local business relationships. Many fitness facility operators struggle with establishing these relationships, and many are ineffective at networking for business referrals, instead creating a social relationship. That’s not necessarily bad. Establishing a social relationship can be just as valuable to you as an immediate business relationship because it creates trust and establishes integrity, which are two of the most crucial business traits you can have. Don’t rush into a networking group and expect immediate referrals. If you do it right, the business aspect (referrals) will come. Follow the advice of Zig Ziglar, who says, “Help enough people in the world get what they want, and you’ll get what you want.”
- Support your local community. Many local networking groups put on community events and support nonprofit chapters by leveraging the ability to bring other people together. If you are looking for ways for your gym to be active in the community at many levels, networking groups can often lead you to some unique opportunities.
- Become a leader. Many networking groups exist, which means you can get several of your staffers involved. Some will do better than others, but working with networking groups provides great experience in areas such as public speaking. Many opportunities exist within established networking groups that allow for your gym staff to take more of an active role in the group and assume a leadership position. Taking on more tasks and responsibilities in the networking group can enhance how you lead others when you get back to your gym.
- Have fun. Networking groups have a “can-do” attitude and a friendly approach. The purpose of networking groups is to meet others with the same goals, enhance business relationships and establish your gym on the business scene while having a good time. If you have fun with a mindset to serve, you will excel in these groups.
An Outsourced CEO, Jim Thomas is the founder and president of Fitness Management USA Inc., a management consulting, turnaround and brokerage firm specializing in the gym and sports industry. With more than 25 years of experience owning, operating and managing clubs of all sizes, Thomas lectures and delivers seminars, webinars and workshops across the globe on the practical skills required to successfully to overcome obscurity, improve sales, build teamwork and market fitness programs and products. In addition, his company will buy gym equipment from gyms liquidating or closing. Visit his Web site at:www.fmconsulting.net orwww.jimthomasondemand.com.