By Billy Hofacker, Special FBA Contributor
Most people don’t go into the fitness industry to become millionaires.
Most go into the field because of their own experience with health and fitness and/or the desire to make a difference in people’s lives. Those are noble reasons but most of us aren’t running non-profits. We need to make a profit to:
- Stay in business
- Grow our business
- Take care of ourselves and/or our families
- Help more people
- Reach our potential
…the list goes on. Profit IS important.
Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, here are 3 musts for 2023 to be a massively profitable year. Notice none of these points include selling a “high ticket” program (nothing wrong with them) or any “bait and switch” tactics.
Be Financially Organized
The most successful fitness professionals I’ve seen are the most organized with their money. What does this mean? It may entail:
- Separating Biz From personal - If you are “commingling” your funds, it will be difficult to gain true traction.
- Organizing expenses - A shoebox full of receipts won’t cut it. A system as simple as keeping receipts (hard copy or digital) in a folder by month or quarter can do wonders.
- A Budget - I know the dreaded “B” word. We don’t have to call it a budget. We can call it a “Spending Plan” if that helps. Many fitness pros associate a budget with a boring, restrictive plan but trust me that is not what I’m talking about here.
- A Bill paying method - We all have a system or way of paying bills. Whether it’s efficient or not is a different story.
Recently, two clients shared powerful results from getting organized with their finances. A gym owner in Alabama told me she was amazed to find more money in her bank account than ever after doing some of the above actions.
A gym owner on Long Island, NY shared that after years of struggling to break even, he now has 3 thousand dollars in his profit account!
Pay Yourself First
There are a few different approaches people take to handling money. For the purpose of this illustration, let’s say an individual receives 10 pennies.
- Scenario 1 - Spend all 10 pennies and borrow more from someone else.
- Scenario 2 - Spend what’s “needed” and hope there will be some left.
- Scenario 3 - Save 2 (or even better 3) and use the other 7-8 for spending, taxes, etc.
Hopefully, it's clear that the person applying the third scenario will end up ahead by far.
One of my uber-successful (many millions in net worth) clients often says, “There will always be money for the devil.” What he means is that money will have a way of leaving your hands if you don’t plan and pay yourself first.
Many business owners deceive themselves into thinking more sales or a bigger facility will solve all of their problems.
While sales certainly are important, the behavior component of paying yourself first trumps sales. If not, there will always be something else to spend it on.
Be Jealous of Your Time
We don’t always like it but there are lots of things we can’t control. Things like:
- The economy
- What happens with the government
- The decisions our clients make
...and much more.
The thing that is most valuable is also the one thing we have control over (mostly) - Time. How you prioritize your time in 2023 will be one of the biggest factors in determining your financial results.
Tending to the urgent and/or unimportant tasks will lead to massively different results than what is important and not always urgent.
So what do these tasks look like?
Here are some examples of urgent and/or unimportant tasks:
- Checking email constantly
- Surfing social channels
- Googling things for “research”
- Comparing yourself to other fit pros
- Feeling shameful or less than for a lack of perceived results
- Doing tasks that someone else can do (e.g. making a flier)
To contrast the above list, here are some examples of important and/or not always urgent tasks:
- Creating assets that will serve you well into the future (e.g. books, emails, podcasts, etc.)
- Meeting with a client to review their goals
- Creating a sales page
- Calling prospects
- Meeting with prospects
- Creating a marketing calendar
- Sending hand-written cards to clients or team members
- Being “in” your financials
Hopefully, the difference between these lists is clear. The first doesn’t move the needle and even moves you backward. The second propels you forward, especially over time.
By being financially organized, paying yourself first, even if it’s a small amount, and being jealous of your time, you’ll be on your way to a massively profitable year and beyond!
If you’re looking to unlock your financial potential with a free 10-day self-paced master class, you’ll learn the step-by-step process of how to get from stuck (and possibly scared) to confident and successful!
—> Join Unlock Your Financial Potential now
Billy Hofacker has been a personal trainer for over 20 years and is owner and CEO of Total Body Boot Camp and Performance Center located in the hyper competitive market of Long Island, NY. After several years of being a full time professional martial artist and BJJ black belt, Billy is now passionate about helping Fitness Professionals win with money.
He is the author of Fitness Profits as well as the creator of the Financial Freedom for Health and Fitness Professionals course. Billy is also the host of the leading financial podcast for Fit Pros, Your Fitness Money Coach Podcast.
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