We all hope and pray it doesn’t happen at all, let alone to us, but the reality is – bad stuff can happen. It did last year to a Midlothian, VA fitness center, where a 9-year-old girl fell into a swimming pool and drowned.
According to the guidelines on the fitness center’s website, there is no lifeguard on duty at the gym. The guidelines also say "Children 13-and- under require adult supervision; adult must be in wet area at all times."
Technology and fitness are joined at the hip - the best gyms are known for having the best gear. After a while, however, there is only so much gear that a gym can buy! There is another way that you can use technology to differentiate yourself from competition in the fitness world, and it is actually much less expensive than investing in new machines every quarter.
Savvy gym and studio owners are now investing in mobile apps that are geared towards fitness - a high ROI activity that provides a great deal of value to patrons who do not have the money for a personal trainer or the organizational skills to keep up with their own stats.
How do people typically find your fitness studio? Through word-of-mouth? Driving by? What about your website?
If you don’t have a website (no, a Facebook page won’t cut it) or if your site isn’t bringing visitors into your studio, there’s work to be done. There are over 1.17 billion monthly searches on Google. Here are the seven things your site must have to ensure you’re showing up for these searches.
Whether you have a tiny usable training area or more space than you know what to do with, our team can help you design and lay out a functional training space. We work diligently to plan a space that is not just operational but optimally designed for your specific goals.
Here are the steps we’ll take when designing your training space.
I've been lucky enough at AFS to meet and speak with some of the best studio owners in the country (and some outside the U.S.). During these encounters I always come away learning more about our ever-changing, diverse, yet incredibly rewarding industry.
This couldn't be more true than my recent meeting with Brent Gallagher at the IDEA Show back in June. Brent's professionalism and drive have been evident in the success of his business venture Avenu Fitness & Lifestyle in Houston, Texas.
In their ground-breaking 2016 study, Marketing Best Practices Research Report, the Association of Fitness Studios (AFS) asked respondents which cycling certification(s) they held. As you can see from the chart below, Schwinn is #1 by a nice margin, Spinning is #2 and then there’s a big drop off to several others.
While this is great news for Schwinn and its certified instructors, it begs the question, “How can I leverage my Schwinn certification – and its #1-in-the-industry positioning - to enhance my career?” As a famous author once said, “Let me count the ways.”
Throughout my many years managing big-box health clubs and consulting with other fitness studios, the issue of how to effectively handle cancellations was always top of mind with my training teams.
How many times has this happen to you... You get up at 5am, throw on some clothes, and get to the studio or health club just in time for your 6am client. You might arrive a few minutes early and get the chance to check your email when, low and behold, at 5:40am there's an email from your 6am client stating they had to cancel. Great way to start of the day, huh?
When I was the Fitness Director of a small health and fitness facility, I dreaded the inevitable times we had to send out the “price increase” letters *insert head thumping on desk here*. It’s never pleasant to tell members you’re going to take more of their hard earned money.
Working in a neighborhood club allowed me many advantages a large scale fitness center simply could not; I was on a first name basis with most of the members, I knew what was going on their lives, heck, I even helped a member name her first child! I was IN with these people!
The healthcare crisis is a complicated issue with many layers. The big takeaways? Today, fewer than 50% of companies offer medical insurance for their employees.
Many insurance premiums have escalated to difficult-to-afford levels. And to top it all off, insurance coverage sometimes barely functions and acts more like a subsidy than a comprehensive plan. So what the heck does this have to do with you as a studio owner in fitness?
Do you ever feel like there’s a competitor around every corner? Budding entrepreneurs often hesitate to follow their business dreams because they believe their target market is already so saturated that there simply is no more room to absorb any new entrants.
However, savvy small business owners can make it in a crowded field, even one filled with a couple of big players. The key to your business' success doesn’t hinge on finding a completely empty field, but how you define your company and its place in the market.
• Trainer, Manager or Owner • Beginner or Veteran • 500-10,000 sq.ft.