The Eight Biggest Mistakes Gym Owners Make – Part 1
The Eight Biggest Mistakes Gym Owners Make – Part 1
The fitness business can be one of the most demanding of all small businesses. We have the long hours of the restaurant business, the constant intense customer service of a large retail store, and perhaps the most unique staffing issues of any small business. Every gym has to develop the right mix of sales people, trainers, business managers, weight management people and the random support people we need, but who really make us crazy, such as child care, group exercise instructors and massage therapists.
In the middle of all these issues we have to cover shifts, sell a few memberships, keep from getting divorced because of the hours, or find a life if we are single, and still manage to make enough money to keep the thing going one more month. As owners and managers we put so much time working in the business that we rarely get a chance to work ON the business because we are spending every waking moment working IN the business.
An interesting trend that we have found is that the owners who aren’t making the kind of money they should be are regularly breaking one or more of the eight essential rules for making money continuously for the life of their business. These are my eight biggest mistakes gym owners typically make in the day-to-day operations of their businesses.
1. Positioning
You must position the club to beat the competition and attract more clients. In today’s market you can’t be everything to everybody. Most people build a gym and then try to sell as many memberships as possible to anyone that will take them. A 45-yr-old businessman will not feel comfortable beside a 20-yr old kid with saggy pants and a backwards hat. You have to fine-tune your target market and look at your demographics, average income level, population and competition to help you create a niche in your market and position your gym to capitalize on it.
2. Pricing
You can’t overcome a bad pricing strategy. Pricing dictates two things; 1. Your long-term bottom line and 2. The type of member you attract. Most gyms base their pricing on the competition or some fictitious number that looked good when they planned their project and thought this is how much they thought the people they know would pay. You must price your memberships based on your demographics, your niche and your budget. Maybe the club you built or the expenses you have don’t fit in the building or location you chose. We have to find out.
