Fitness Business Management – What You Need to Know

“Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.”

Peter Drucker

Any gym owner who wants to run a successful fitness studio needs business management. 

Fitness business management involves making future goals that’ll positively affect the gym and all the people within it in many different ways. 

Skip ahead to:

• The Importance of Business Management for Gym Owners
• The 4 Most Important Factors for Every Successful Fitness Business
• The 9 Best Practices For Managing Your Fitness Business

The Importance of Business Management for Fitness Operators

If you’re a fitness professional, then by now, you must have met several other fitness center owners. Moreover, this probably means that you have had the chance to hear something more about their business development and entrepreneurship plans.  If not, then you should know that the difference between a successful fitness business and a gym that’s always struggling to stay afloat lies in business management.

Fitness business management is crucial for the future of your gym. It also secures your business growth in terms of more clients and a better work environment. Here are some reasons why management should be of paramount importance to all business owners. 

Management Is Helpful for Achieving Goals

Everyone who enters your gym has a specific goal. Your instructors  have the goal to become better at what they do. Your clients are there to achieve a certain goal, like get in better shape or lose weight. And you have your own goals of leading a successful business.  With a management plan in place, you can achieve all of these goals. Any business organization consists of individual members who work as one team. Management directs all individual efforts towards achieving the team goals. 

For example, a personal trainer who works at your fitness studio has a goal to start earning more. On the other hand, your goal is to increase the overall revenue of your gym business. 

By providing exclusive workout sessions, the personal trainer can attract more customers, thus increasing your revenue and making it possible for you to allow that raise. So, together you work towards the same goal. 

Proper Management Increases Efficiency

Efficiency is crucial for every business plan. Your gym business efficiency increases when you use fewer resources and start achieving greater benefits. As the leader and manager, your job within your gym is to make a business plan that will increase the profit and minimize the resources used (i.e., workout space and gym equipment). 

Efficiency increase is achieved through strategic planning, organization, staffing, and regular controls. This is exactly what fitness business management is all about.

It Creates a Dynamic Environment

If your gym business is growing, it means that your work environment will be prone to much change, which is a good thing. However, employees that work within that environment often refuse to accept the change because everyone’s afraid to leave the comfort zone and step into something new. And this is where a management plan works like a charm.

Fitness business management includes adding new goals after achieving the previous ones. You can’t just stick to the same old goals for as long as your gym exists, can’t you? Every business has to move forward, and this means making plans on time. You can implement

new strategies into your gym without causing much stress to your employees and your gym members only with proper management in place.

The 4 Most Important Factors for Every Successful Fitness Business

In order to incorporate a management plan into your gym business, you must first understand what are the success factors for any fitness center.  As the leader of your wellness center, you have many different roles but also plenty of things to think about. Especially if you want your business to be headed in the right direction. 

Here we’ll take a look at some of the most important things you need to pay attention to if you want to run a successful gym. 

1. Member Experience

The impression that each future and present gym member has about your gym is crucial for your business. From the first moment that they hear about your gym or see the pictures on the gym’s website, to the moment they decide to join – every step matters. Successful gym businesses focus on member experience. 

And one possible way to keep your clients happy is through member engagement.  You need to learn that having new clients is as important as focusing on the existing ones. In other words, don’t think that your job’s done after they join your gym. Focus on their goals and their aspirations for as long as they’re your member. Or else, you’ll soon face a poor reputation that’s hard to get rid of. 

2. Financial Management

Even though member experience is important, you still need to generate revenue. In order to be able to maintain a certain level of quality, especially when it comes to the latest equipment and the best personal trainers, you have to make sure that your revenue is on the rise. 

If you’re too busy doing everything else as the gym business owner, the best solution would be to hire someone that will deal with all fiscal concerns. This person or a team of people would be in charge of paychecks, rent, paying utility bills, and delivering you a monthly report of all costs and revenue made by the gym. 

3. Company Culture

A positive working environment results in happy employees who don’t want to go and work for another gym. Additionally, this results in a feeling of security with the members who are always seeing familiar faces whenever they come to work out. 

It’s very important that your workers remain motivated and engaged. A gym owner should always listen to what his employees have to say, and they must know that you appreciate and value their hard work and commitment. A positive and motivating team culture in your gym will also greatly reflect on the overall member experience. People will always prefer a gym where everyone respects and values one another. 

4. Growth

Leading a successful business means doing everything in your power so that it grows. The best way to grow your business is through a marketing strategy.  Your future marketing strategy greatly depends on the preferences of your ideal member. And the best place to start advertising your services is social media. 

Whether you prefer Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok, the best practice is to use a combination of paid ads and organic content. Having regular posts is a must, both for future members and engaging the regulars. 

The 9 Best Practices For Managing Your Fitness Business

Creating the best management plan for your gym business involves many things, from using suitable software to being a strong leader. And here are some of the must-know management tips for your gym:

1. Using Gym Management Software

Gym management software is a must-have in any modern gym. Tracking gym memberships, the individual progress of every member, and everything else that includes running a gym would be impossible without a suitable platform.  You can even achieve a better member experience by having high-quality gym management software. The members can use it to pay bills or even to sign up for a different workout course. 

2. Strong Marketing Strategy

A strong marketing strategy includes setting a standard when advertising your services and sticking to it. Make sure to advertise in a way that speaks to your audience. Make it personal and unique. Simply offering workout sessions with a skilled professional isn’t enough. You’d be offering pretty much the same as any other gym in the area. 

Think about how you can let your target audience know that you’re there to provide them with the gym experience that they actually need. For example, offer special courses for those who are soon to be married or even for those who got a divorce and now need a positive change. 

3. Create An Adaptable Business Model

Having an adaptable business model proved to be more important than anyone else thought it was. Unexpected things can happen, and you must always have a plan B. And C. Sometimes even D. In 2020, many gyms had to move their business to the online world. A lack of immediate reaction caused many gyms to shut down, and that’s because they weren’t able to adapt their business model to the new situation. 

4. Get Your Members Results

Getting your members results is the ultimate goal of every gym. Your gym members will praise you, and you’ll get the best possible marketing there is – word-of-mouth.  According to Alex Hormozi, if you want to see your gym grow and generate more revenue, you need to understand what your customers want of you. And that is to pay attention.

You gym members already know that proper diet and exercise will make them feel and look better. And they can get it for free online. The reason why they choose you is because of these results, and your job is to deliver them. 

5. Hire Professional Personal Trainers

The greatest mistake for you to make as a gym owner is to hire someone who’ll be in charge of hiring others. Although this method can work in other businesses, for a gym, it’s necessary to talk eye to eye and see if this new person has what it takes to join your team. The prerequisites for anyone who wants to work at your gym should be a thorough knowledge about nutrition, workouts, and human anatomy, but also to be a motivated and driven individual. 

6. Become a Trusted Member of the Community

As soon as you get your first member, your road towards a certain status in your community begins. Whether or not you will be seen as a trusted business within the community depends solely on you. The best way to achieve a certain status is by constantly getting online reviews and through word-of-mouth recommendations.

There’ll always be members that will be somehow unsatisfied with your services. But if you show understanding and willingness to correct any mistakes made on your part, all other existing and future members will know about this, and you will maintain the status of a trustworthy business. 

7. Show Strong Leadership

A good leader knows about everything that goes on inside the gym, whether it’s personal problems of the employees or a new member that has joined the gym.A good leader works harder than anyone else. You must be there before anyone else arrives, but also be the last one to leave. A good leader knows how to give good advice to any employee or gym member. But the best leader does everything mentioned above. 

8. Keep Track of the Latest Trends from the Fitness Industry

The fitness world is constantly changing as we learn more and more about how the human body works. Make sure you stay informed about any new trend that comes from the fitness industry world. From new and interesting personal training sessions to pro nutrition tips, everything matters. Incorporating trending workout sessions in your offer can be especially attractive to younger generations.

In Summary

Working on your fitness business management plan can be beneficial to your gym business in many ways. With proper management, you can grow your business, maintain a positive work environment, and welcome many new customers. 

Now, it all depends on you. Your own efforts as a gym leader are the defining factor of the future of your gym business. Having a business management plan is a must, but your will to execute it will push your gym in the right direction.