Health Clubs/Fitness Facilities Articles

What are your short- and long-term goals for the business? How will you differentiate yourself from the competition? What will your carrying costs be for the kind of facility you want? How much will you need to charge for memberships in order to meet your goals and net a profit? idea fitness manager/may 2001 idea fitness manager/may 2001 programs

As owners and managers of fitness facilities, one of our greatest challenges is attracting, training and retaining great personal fitness trainers. While there are no guarantees when hiring employees in any profession, there are ways to significantly limit the amount of time you put into choosing the right kind of trainers for your facility. At Innovative Fitness, a Vancouver, British Columbia-based company catering exclusively to personal training clients, we use very specific criteria when hiring staff members.

Average hours worked and compensation for the industry were reported in the January 2001 issue of IDEA Health & Fitness Source. These charts break down those results into regions. When looking at the numbers, consider that the region includes big cities and suburban areas, as well as small towns.

In the last “Money” column (January 2001), I addressed what it takes to start a new fitness facility. As you may recall, I introduced “Mark,” a real-life entrepreneur who lives in “Smithville,” a fast-growing suburb on the U.S. East Coast. Despite my warnings, Mark opened a 10,000-square-foot club with $100,000 of his money and additional funds from investors. His competition was a slightly aging YMCA, a licensee of a popular fitness chain, an older racquets-based club and a small “ma and pa” operation.

Each year business owners and managers in the fitness industry spend millions of dollars promoting their facilities and trying to sell memberships. Every form of media is utilized —television, radio, direct mail and so forth. And yet, when we ask those customers who do end up joining our clubs how they heard about us, the number one answer in my many years of experience remains the same: word of mouth. Here’s what I hear: “My sister is a member.” “My neighbor encouraged me to join.” “My friend at work brought me as a guest.”

Remember the last industry convention you attended?

When faced with the dilemma of how to motivate employees, many managers simply avoid offering employee incentives because they “don’t have it in the budget.” Yet most employees can be handsomely rewarded if managers budget time, effort and a bit of creativity.

There is nothing wrong with competing on price. However, if it’s not a part of your overall marketing strategy, then flirting with price concessions to win short-term business could indicate a dangerous trend for your business. Compete on value, rather than price. Use the following questions as springboards toward action.