Picture this: A client comes to you. They are struggling to make gains in their health and fitness.

You assess them and see a big problem right away. They are not properly leveraging their body’s existing strength. They need to improve their technique, then program for gains. 

The business of running a studio/gym is the same. You need to assess your business so you can find out if you are getting the most out of your strengths, see where you need to improve, and then get busy implementing what you’ve learned.

In the past year, we’ve seen 5 areas that each studio/gym owner needs to examine to grow their business throughout the next 12 months. Look at these areas to see where you need to “improve your form.” 

1.   How optimized is your business for profitability?

Most fitness businesses struggle to break even every month – even though they could be achieving 30% profitability or more. To maximize your fitness business success, look at six “profit keys’ to determine how well your business is performing:

• Revenues–what (and who) drives your revenue growth?
• Cost of revenue–how much do you spend fulfilling your services (usually paying a coach)?
• Gross profit–Revenue minus cost of revenue is gross profit. You should be above 65%.
• Expenses–You need a good lease, but ensure your other expenses are working hard for you.
• Operating Profit–Revenue-Cost of Revenue-Expenses – Operating profit. Should be 20-30%. If it’s not, you need to re-engineer the money math so it is.
• Net profit–Hire a good accountant and tax advisor.

2. How strong is your team?

Your team will either drive powerful growth throughout the next year or be a source of ongoing pain.

The key to success is to have a strategy for dialing in your team design, your team avatar, and your hiring and development processes. You need to know who you want to attract, how to attract them, and once you hire them, develop them and have a career path so they stay.

3. How effective is your sales process?

You do not want to waste time with unqualified prospects. And you do not want to lose good leads because your sales process isn’t dialed in.

We teach a 7-step sales process that is customized for the fitness industry and will help you close 80% or more of your consults. Some keys:

• Only meet with people who can afford your prices, can decide, and will decide — use a prequalification call before you set up an in-depth consultation.
• Build rapport and uncover needs … identify the problem and what it’s costing the prospect — as well as why they can’t solve the problem on their own.
• Offer the solution through a visual presentation and offer a choice of packages when you ask for the sale (i.e., would you like to sign up for the 3-month or the 6-month program?)

4. How well do you generate low-cost leads through social media?

You want to create a social media lead generation pipeline. You need to be a star on social media. You can use effective strategies to find YOUR ideal clients and attract them. What you’ll need is:

• A professional, organized and useful social media profile. This means you have a picture on Instagram and Facebook where you are welcoming and professional. You need to clearly state your value proposition, You need an offer. And your contact information.
• Content that is focused on solving your ideal client’s problems and building your credibility as the person who can solve it.
• Strong offers that will encourage your ideal client to keep engaging with your content (so you can start a dialogue with them with the goal of leading them to solve their problems by becoming a client).

5. Can prospects who are ready to buy find you? 

Right now there are hundreds (if not thousands) of people in your local market searching for studios and gyms just like yours every single day. These people are actively searching for a solution. And they’re ready to buy. 85% will contact the business within 24 hours of the search.

But 90% of these “hottest leads” go to the top 3 search results: the Google “Map Pack.”

What are your results now? Is the information you offer online accurate? There’s a lot to improving your results and success has to do with the consistency and credibility of your information across the entire Internet.

To get started, focus on a strong Google My Business page and make sure your online reviews in Google, Yelp, and Nextdoor are 4 stars or above. (Ask clients to give you reviews if you need to improve, and answer every negative review.)

We have a complete product on this called NPE Local Search.

Summary

Once you’ve assessed where you are, you’re ready to address your key issues.

Get the money math right, get a plan for your team, and dial in your sales, lead and local search processes. With all those in place, you’re ready to grow throughout the next year.