State of the Fitness Industry: Rebirth

In a patch of snow, an orange crocus with green leaves pokes through to symbolize rebirth.

In this series, I’ve been writing about the state of the fitness Industry.
I started by recapping 2019.
Then I talked about your gym as it is now.
Next, I talked about turning threats into opportunities with new tools.
In the previous post, I shared a Two-Brain Radio podcast with economist Allison Schrager. We talked about what will happen if you don’t change.
Now let’s talk about what your gym should look like in a year.
Consider this my “what I’d do if I were starting today” guide. (You can read my actual “How to Start a Gym” guide here.)
Or if you want all our free tools, which cost me $433,000 to put together, you can get them for free here:

Free Tools

Start With the Prescriptive Model

You must focus on selling coaching, not access.
Every client should have an individual prescription.
That prescription should include:

  • The best nutrition plan for him or her.
  • The best exercise plan for him or her.
  • Anything else that will improve his or her health.

For some clients, the “best exercise plan” includes group fitness with broad, general and inclusive programming. For other clients, that’s the worst exercise plan. It’s up to you to determine the answer, coach. Then review the client’s progress every quarter, and plot a new course when necessary.

Build Diverse (and Scalable) Revenue Streams

Don’t sell people stuff they don’t want.
If you have a nutrition program and an exercise program, charge separately for them.
If you have a kids program, don’t roll it in under one monthly rate because not all of your clients have kids. Same goes for “barbell club,” your bootcamp program and personal training.
As your practice grows, lean toward more scalable services. Nutrition coaching doesn’t take much room, and no one measures its delivery by time spent (as they do with one-hour classes or 30-minute PT sessions). Also look at technology as a way to scale, as I wrote about in the “Tools” post this week.

Educate Your Audience

Publish content every single day. In the Founder Phase, write about yourself and your journey and your “why.” In the Farmer Phase, write about your clients and their journeys and their “whys.” In the Tinker Phase, write about your mission and your team and its “why.”
You’re better to block off one hour per day for producing content than to spend one more hour training clients. It’s that important.
Choose a primary publication platform: video, blog or podcast. Then choose two distribution streams: Facebook, Instagram or your email list. Build your funnel from there.
Don’t mistake posting on social media for publishing anything. That’s just graffiti.

Founder, Farmer, Tinker, Thief

Every quarter, take the FFTT Test to figure out where you are on your journey. Then do the work required to move to the next phase of entrepreneurship.
Keep your eyes on the end goal (Functional Retirement first, a wealth platform next).
Have an objective party review your progress and determine your next steps (we call this mentorship. You can’t do this yourself).
Count your Bright Spots.
Just keep going.
Save some lives.
There are thousands of ways to open a gym business. There are only a few ways to keep a gym business going. Jumping off a cliff and trying to “build your wings on the way down” is reckless. Build the gym you want to own on your terms with our help.
If you’re not doing these things now, that’s OK—most aren’t.
But you have to pivot or you’ll be left behind.
Book a call with our team here

Other Articles in This Series

State of the Fitness Industry, 2019
State of the Fitness Industry: Your Brand
State of the Fitness Industry: New Tools
State of the Fitness Industry: The Disappearing Middle

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One more thing!

Did you know gym owners can earn $100,000 a year with no more than 150 clients? We wrote a guide showing you exactly how.