It’s been about three months now since the doors have opened at Accelerated Fitness. In those three months I’ve already learned a lot whether it comes to opening your first business, whether it’s related to the business aspect or in this case the fitness aspect. No one said it would be easy and I never expected it to be. Long hours working in the business and on the business. Figuring out what type of programming or training is going to work. Turning away 95% of the door to door salesman you that has a product to sell you even though you probably have no use for it. Trying to look for good help. All of these instances has taught me a lesson along the way. If you’re a trainer or aspiring trainer looking to open your own place there are a couple things you might want to think about.
One, being a good trainer does not mean you’re going to have a thriving business. Don’t get me wrong. First and foremost I think you should strive to be the best at what you do. Be a great technician first. But even though you may be the best trainer in town, it doesn’t mean people are going to come running through your doors when they open. You have to understand the demographics. You to have understand what people want. You have convince people your services are worth it. There’s always going to be another business that offers services that cost less or claim to be the best. Understand the business of fitness as much as you understand fitness.
Two, you can spend as little as you want or as much as you want on equipment. Looking through a Perform Better catalog is like looking through the Sears Christmas catalog. “I want this, this and that..”. What are you trying to get done in your studio? How much functionality does each piece of equipment have? I think you need your obvious stuff: dumbbells, power rack, and adjustable benches. It’s nice to have some sort of functional trainer, but may be not necessary. In our case I felt it was since we were going to be focusing on group training, which also meant we should go with the dual stack version as opposed to the single stack. Do not break the bank on cardio equipment. A new elliptical can cost upwards of $8000. But how useful is it really? Some people may be able to outfit an entire studio for that much.
Three, meet with and talk with everyone that you can. Talk with the Chamber of Commerce. Talk to the local golf pros. Talk to chiropractors. Talk to other strength coaches or trainers you may know in the area. Talk to the dog groomer. Just talk to anyone. Let people know who you are and where you are. You never know what situation is going to pop up that may benefit your business. Who knows what connections the dog groomer may have? And never think of this time as a waste of your time. A real waste of your time is sitting behind the desk hunting down ex-girlfriends on Facebook.
Last, spend your advertising dollars wisely. A small ad in the local newspaper can run you anywhere from $200-$400/week. And then everyone that publishes some sort of local magazine is hunting you down looking for you to purchase space in their “renowned” publication. Your best is to use other avenues for advertising. Create a Facebook fan page. Get a blog started. Hold free open gyms or bootcamps. Offer free trial sessions. In my opinion you have a much better chance of getting people through the doors those ways.