If you’ve consumed any business related content in the 2020s, then you’re probably sick of the word ‘pivot’. It basically refers to changing the direction of your business without completing scrapping where you are currently. And that’s what I’d like to introduce to you today, some of my ideas for how you can pivot your fitness business to chase more or different clients, services, income streams, profit margins, and ultimately ways that your business can make your life better. To really understand what I mean by ‘pivot’, let’s look at basketball. A pivot in basketball is when you plant one f ..read more

We interviewed Rita Franchina, a digital marketing consultant from Franky Digital, on The Business of Fitness Podcast. To explore the effectiveness of marketing strategies across various budget levels, we set Rita a challenge: devise seven distinct marketing strategies for gyms based on monthly budgets of $50, $200, $500, $1,000, $2,500, $5,000, and $10,000. Here’s how Rita recommends navigating these budgets to maximise marketing impact. $50/month: Laying the Groundwork With a minimal budget of $50, the focus should be on enhancing your gym’s online presence without spending much. Rita sugge ..read more

Summary: Raising prices is necessary to avoid undervaluing your service and risking your business. Align your pricing with increased business and living costs over the years. Base your rates on the life you want, not competitors’ prices. Implement annual price increases and simplify service offerings. Communicate price changes confidently and professionally, without over-apologising. Action step from this article: raise your prices! Raising the prices of PT sessions, classes, or gym memberships is one of the scariest things a fitness professional can do. But you know what’s even scarier? Re ..read more

At the time of writing this article, I’ve conducted 3,612 one-on-one business mentoring consultations with fitness business owners, over six years. And after a while, you start to see patterns. As part of planning the 2024 Perth Fitness Business Summit, I wanted to seek out the common themes of the most successful fitness business owners. I identified 12 areas that operate the ordinary from the extraordinary. And these because the 12 key modules for the Fitness Business Summit. In this episode, I want to describe these 12 areas, and describe the actions of the top performers for each. This al ..read more

This article contains some of the key ideas from a webinar presented by Ash Williams, and published on The Business of Fitness Podcast. Always seek independent legal advice as this information is general in nature and may not apply to your specific situation. For gym owners and personal trainers, addressing performance issues and navigating the termination process are amongst the most challenging aspects of business management. Ensuring that these processes adhere to procedural fairness is not only a legal necessity but also crucial for maintaining a respectful and equitable work environment ..read more

This article contains some of the key ideas from a webinar presented by Ash Williams, and published on The Business of Fitness Podcast. Always seek independent legal advice as this information is general in nature and may not apply to your specific situation. Deciding whether to engage workers as employees or contractors is a common question in the fitness industry, influenced by complex laws. This choice affects how businesses operate and their obligations. Employee Engagement Hiring someone as an employee means entering into a formal employment contract that outlines work conditions, hours ..read more

This article contains some of the key ideas from a webinar presented by Ash Williams, and published on The Business of Fitness Podcast. Always seek independent legal advice as this information is general in nature and may not apply to your specific situation. For gym owners and personal trainers, the importance of clear, written contracts cannot be overstated. These documents play a crucial role in defining the relationship between businesses and their employees or contractors, providing a solid foundation in case of disputes. Importance of Written Contracts Although verbal agreements are lega ..read more

TL;DR Combining fitness models creates unique, competitive advantages. Hybrid models offer maximal upside with minimal downside. Eight novel fitness business combinations identified. Divergent thinking can spark unique, successful business ideas.   What if we could combine fitness business models to get all the upside, with none of the downside. Let’s talk about what that would look like. There’s one approach to business that works every time. Be the best at something. Be so good they can’t ignore you. But it’s very hard to be the best in the world at something. There’s only one room fo ..read more

Summary: I rated five fitness business models across 12 categories. Personal Training excels in client progression and retention, but struggles with scaleability. Gym Memberships offer high scaleability and time freedom, but face challenges in client retention and start-up costs. Semi-Private Training balances personalisation with community, achieving solid scores in client progression and retention. Group Fitness classes are popular for their community aspect, yet they have lower personalisation and profit margin. Online Training leads in financial efficiency and time freedom but lacks in c ..read more

Summary: Musk solves humanity’s big problems; gym owners should solve clients’ big problems. Musk embraces failure for learning; gyms should innovate through failures. Musk innovates systems for efficiency; gyms should streamline and optimise operations. Musk thinks long term; gyms should plan for future impacts and potential. Actionable Take-Away: As you’re thinking about your gym’s future, experiment (and fail) with multiple ideas that solve big, long term problems, then systemise the solutions. Love him or hate him, there’s no denying Elon Musk is a rock star in business. A real life T ..read more