Make gains just like your clients
Work hard and you’ll see results.
It’s likely a motto your patrons believe.
But sometimes, working smarter can have just as big an impact.
And when it comes to running your business, working smarter can be a game changer.
After all, there are only so many hours in the day.
Many fitness business owners and managers don’t have much capacity to work harder.
With that in mind, these tips can help you grow your fitness business or gym without tons of extra time and effort.
Be prepared for growth
First and foremost, whether you are looking to make substantial changes to your business model or not, you should be ready for additional customers in 2025.
Almost 9 in 10 operators expected membership growth this year, and that trend looks set to continue as the industry recovers from the pandemic.
Start with a clear plan
Whatever of these tips you choose to implement, put them into a plan you can refer to during the process. This will help you to keep your goals in mind, secure additional funding if you need it, and track how successful your efforts are.
Your plan could include an outline of the ideal future state of your business and the steps you’ll take to get there, as well as the projections from these actions in terms of costs and returns.
Identify your target market
Every gym is different—with the possible exception of the giant corporate chains—and so it’s essential that you have a razor-sharp focus on exactly who your ideal customers are.
Obviously, your fitness centre is likely to count a variety of people among its patrons, but there will still be broad demographics.
Working out what your most common, loyal, and high-paying customers look like is an important exercise that sets a foundation for all your other decisions.
Build as many customer profiles as you feel you need to accurately capture the most important segments within your customer base.
From here, you’ll be able to work out what they’re looking for from their experience with your business. The fitness goals of sedentary pensioners and young athletes are wildly different, and everyone in between will have their own aims and aspirations as well.
Build a USP with tailored appeal
Now that you have an idea of what your target clients are like, and what they’re looking for, think about how you can customise your offering to suit them.
As a simple example, if the majority of your customers are older and looking for ways to maintain a low base level of fitness, then low-impact machines and classes are likely to be a hit.
Compare this to a gym where most people are young athletes competing in explosive sports, and you are far more likely to focus on heavy weights and dynamic exercises like plyometrics.
But your unique selling point (USP) goes far beyond just the exercises, classes, and equipment you offer. It is also about the atmosphere you create, how you interact with your customers as a brand, and the fitness goals you are explicitly setup to help people towards.
Offer unique extras
With that in mind, having less common or ‘above and beyond’ features and offerings in your gym or fitness centre can give you an edge on the competition. Again, this will largely be determined by your clientele and the experience you are looking to offer them.
Whether it’s a wide range of healthy and ethical energy drinks and juices, a sauna on-site, or mindfulness classes run alongside your regular programme, there are plenty of ways to help your business stand out.
Check in with customers
A quick and simple way to gather ideas and see how their implementation is being received is to talk to the people that count: your customers.
It doesn’t take long at all to strike up a conversation, see how they are finding their experience with you, and ask if there’s anything they can think of that would make things better for them. You might discover some ideas that you’d never considered!
Reward referrals
It may feel like social media is the most important aspect of any marketing plan, but many businesses still have massive success by relying on a good old-fashioned technique. Word of mouth marketing continues to be successful because of the high rate of trust customers and leads place in referrals from people they know.
As such, you should be encouraging your customers to spread the word to their friends, and rewarding them when they do so! Whether it’s a free class, a discount on their next month’s payment, or a gift basket, there are plenty of ways to incentivise them to do your marketing work for you.
Follow these tips and your gym or fitness centre will be all set to make big gains in 2025 and beyond. And of course, if you are looking for a smart scheduling solution for your business, Findmyshift have got you covered!