The top reasons why gyms fail
- Written by Steve Grant
Steve Grant is a Business Coach and Founder of GymHub.com.au
Every month thousands of new trainers walk out of their 6-month course with the qualifications needed to train up clients, open a gym and start soliciting advice.
Some of them are passionate about the fitness industry and have innovative ideas that may see them succeed, some possibly just want get famous on Instagram while others may see it as a good fall back plan to help them get out of their current 9-5.
Whatever your reason for becoming a trainer, that fact still remains that you have 500% more competition in 2016 than you did 15 years ago. This means that if you have a grand plan to invest in and open a gym, you better be passionate and have a game plan.
Here are the top reasons why gyms fail. Keep them in mind if you are planning on opening one up of your own.
You Have No Skills or Experience
Rule number one. If you don’t have passion for fitness or experience in the industry then don’t buy a fitness business.
The days of buying a fitness business as an investor and putting on a low paid manager to take care of it are gone. These days if you want to succeed you need to get your hands dirty. You need to spend time in your business, get to know your members, create the best team of staff possible.
By spending the time setting up good systems and developing good relationships, you are likely to be rewarded with more profit, more fun and more leverage.
You Have No Business Plan
Creating a name, logo and a business card is not enough to ensure a successful business.
The gym industry is tougher than ever so if you want to succeed it is crucial that you have a well thought out business plan that identifies your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
When you are starting out, I suggest setting up a killer 12-month marketing plan to differentiate yourself in the market and to help bring a steady stream of staff and new members.
Poor Pre- Sales
Waiting until your doors open to sell memberships is a recipe for a very sad and lonely launch party therefore, it’s important that you create buzz within your community and sell hundreds of memberships before you even open the doors.
Many gyms underestimate the importance of starting strong, not to mention paying bills. Be aggressive with sales and marketing before you open and throw everything you have at it.
Cash Flow
You need cash flow in order to launch any business. You need to be able to afford a killer website so that people can find you, uniforms so the community can identify your staff and lots of signage and marketing.
Not having good cash flow is a great way to fail as soon as you start. Make sure you sit down and think through the additional expenses that may arise and have enough money on hand to action them accordingly.
About Steve Grant, Founder of Gym Hub
Steve Grant is a passionate entrepreneur with 18 years of fitness industry experience including 4 years as a Health and Wellness Lecturer at ACPE and 8 years as the owner of one of Sydney’s most profitable fitness studios.
Steve is the founder of Gym Hub and he is the first Network and Fitness Business Mentor to deliver innovative Gym Marketing Ideas and proven systems, that add $100k extra profit each year and have you working just 12 hours per week.
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