u/Strange-Risk-9920

After informing me she had bone health issues and her asking me directly if I had any knowledge of or experience with the subject, I gave her a brief, hopefully jargon-free rundown of the relevant science re: strength-training and bone health, my 20 years of training experience including working with bone health clients, my education which includes a M.S. I usually don't go into all that on a phone call but she asked directly.

There was a little pause and she asked me:

"Are you certified?"

I kind of paused and said yes I have a CSCS which is considered one of the most reputable certifications.

Then she asked "oh, you don't have a senior training certification or corrective exercise certification?"

Doh🙂

The other day a newer client (I'll call her "Susan") approached me and said "you know what I really like about this studio?"

I wondered to myself what her answer might be...

emphasis on unilateral training?

brilliant non-linear periodization schemes?

the ideal progressive overload plan?

Narrator: Susan didn't say any of those things.

Susan said (drumroll, please): "I like how there aren't any scuff marks on the walls."

I wanted to burst out laughing but instead said "Thanks for mentioning that. We do try our best to keep the place looking nice."

Now, I am at heart an old school lifter who grew up in gyms with cops, bodybuilders and even some pro wrestlers. Nobody there was concered about scuff marks on the walls. Although they did probably put a few holes in walls. lol.

But those dudes are not our target market.

Susan is our target market.

Susan is 50-ish, a mom, married, home owner, lives minutes from our studio and works in a high-earning, stressful career (as does her husband).

Susan is NOT hard core but Susan CAN pay $499 per month for semi-private training.

Susan cares about scuffs on the walls. So we do too.

Because we want Susan to feel like this is the place for her.

And her friends.

As long as what the client cares about does not conflict with one of our values or doesn't negatively impact other clients, we try to intentionally design a client-centric business that makes our target market feel like this is the best place for them.

P.S. If you are hard core and have a hard core gym, that is awesome. I would probably enjoy your place. One is not necessarily better than another. They are just different.

Few people get into training to get rich but you do need to make a living or you can't help anyone.

Here are some not so obvious decisions that lead to $ growth.

1. Got out of the weight loss business. Weight loss is a very common reason people hire a trainer, right? Take this marketing angle out and you're toast, right? Well...many years ago we tapped out of the weight loss market. There were many reasons for this but the bottom line is we now focus on increasing strength and quality of life. We can achieve this with basically 100% of people. People are happier, our systems are simplifed and everything just runs better. This simplication has been a big factor in increasing $ in a significant way. It also makes training more fun.

2. Run a single model. We only do semi-private training and I would say we do it pretty well. Each week we look for small things to improve to make the machine run better. Vs some gyms that are running many different training models and trying to market to all those models. A business book (can't remember the name of it) calls this the hedgehog model. This continuing simplification makes running the model dramatically easier and more efficient than trying to run a one on one model, large group model, kids' strength model, seniors' model-as just a few examples where fitness businesses try to be good at a lot of things. This means less work for us but more money.

3. Strategize toward permanent relationships and permanent clients. Truly understanding the value proposition of a trainer for our clients means they are extremely unlikely to ever workout on their own. We can teach them every exercise under the sun but as a behavioral point, they will choose not working out over working out IF they don't have an appointment with us. I had this convo with a client yesterday morning who said she really just wanted to stay in bed. She said because she is paying, she showed up because she just couldn't waste money like that. Our clients will NOT usually work out on their own. Many even have home gyms and they still won't do it. As long as we do a good job for them, they are likely to stay forever because much of the value comes from being an appointment for them. Add and retain enough of these clients and you will make a good living.

The thread about possible dropping demand/ PE-funded models and the like spurred some thoughts about the future. In no particular order...

1. Might sound ironic given the thread title but no one can completely predict the future. People have opinions on AI and fitness and many of those opinions might even be based in data and evidence. And many are based completely in bias. No one can tell you with complete confidence how AI, PE or any of that will impact our industry. All we can do is prepare the best we can.

2. Whatever AI does or doesn't do to our industry, I think it's a reasonable assumption to say it is likely to have an impact. I have taken 3 little Google courses on AI and use it to some extent on a daily basis. It's probably a good idea to get some education in it and keep an eye on trends, to the extent you can.

3. Be aware of the strengths and vulnerabilities of your model. This is something I think about constantly. I always look for ways to generate a better client experience/results which generates more revenue for the business. I try to make it stronger every day. I also look for areas where we are not maximizing. Whatever the future holds (see #1 above), I want to be as strong as possible if something changes. And change is inevitable. We just don't know exactly what that change will be.

1. One of the most challenging aspects of operating a training business is there are always 100 things you can be working on and there isn't a book that tells you what is next. Try to determine what your biggest challenge is based on your current situation and what the biggest lever is and improve that.

2. There are some problems you might not be able to 100% fix but you can improve them. Trainer schedule is an example. When you start you might be working early am to late pm most days of the week. This is common. Just try to consistently improve your schedule. Do that five times over several years and you can move to a much better schedule, even though it still might not be perfect.

3. Avoid binary thinking when it comes to technical training and providing a great personal experience for your client. A great training business will provide good technical knowledge and a good human experience. It isn't either or. It's integration of the two that makes the machine hum.

4. "Keep the showers clean." This is not a reference to actual showers (we don't have any). But it is a reference from a book where the author highlights the importance of consistently executing the basics as opposed to super-dramatic moments. The "keep the showers clean" is a reference to hotels where they put the mint on the pillow and all that. But the showers aren't consistently clean and that would destroy a hotel business. Focus more on the showers always being clean and less on mints on pillows. For our industry, "keeping the showers clean" means being reliable and consistent. Sounds incredibly obvious but a lot of our industry (probably not people on here) consistently cancel on clients with short notice and/or may be late for sessions. Keep the showers clean and worry about fancy bells and whistles later.

5. Actively question whether your model actually works. If you are making 6 figures but the model you work in requires you to be there 5am-7pm five days per week and half day on Saturday with lots of unpaid time on site in between, that model might not work for you. Or maybe it works for you when you are 25 but not when you are 35. Stay open to new models that are more conducive to all your goals-financial, professional and personal-not just your financial goals.

Let's go

Is how scared many financially qualified prospects are of the gym. Trying to make it easier for these clients to onboard can make you a lot of $.

I have done a "few" consultations and one thing most of them say is "I have been wanting to do this for many (months or years) but just couldn't make myself do it until now."

Often their biggest concern is getting injured or humiliated in the gym.

There really aren't a lot of super-simple solutions but I try to be aware of this factor when posting on social media. I don't post a lot of heavy lifting pics or post about beastmode and the rest.

It's okay to show fitness credibility but I'm aware that some things I grew up doing (and love doing) might intimidate our typical middle-aged client. Most of our social posts focus on support, encouragement and education.

When I joined our industry 20 years ago, I almost immediately noticed some issues with fitness business models. That started me down a (long) path of questioning how things were done.

Here are some things you would think a solid business model would provide.

1. A good income.
2. A reasonable (not necessarily perfect) schedule.
3. Opportunity to make more money over time.
4. Fulfilling work.
5. Reasonable time off for vacations and PTO.
6. Some flexibility
7. Opportunity to potentially hire and still achieve #1 (good income).
8. Fair pay for potential employees
9. Opportunity to potentially build a valuable business asset. Probably not everyone is interested in this but ideally it could be on your horizon.
10. The skills of the trainer match the needs of the position.

These are some of the first things that come to mind for me.

The typical gym trainer model fails a few of these-an unreasonable schedule (#2) being one. Also, often good trainers aren't comfortable selling/marketing(#10) and we know sales/marketing tends to part of what is needed to succeed as a trainer. #9,#4 and #7 generally aren't available either.

Going independent is one path to achieve some of these.

Another path is considering a semi-private model in a small space.

What that might look like chronologically:

1. Spend a couple years developing a basic skill set and demo you have the ability to attract and service a full-time (30 hour) training schedule.

2. Look into leasing a small space for yourself. 500 sq ft maybe.

3. Adopt a semi-private model. This is a big leap for many but I have found it has been the best (not necessarily perfect) way to achieve the 10 goals listed above. Many of the biggest concerns for people are easier than they might seem. Onboarding for example could be handled through an onboarding process outside your regular SPT schedule. But it does take some practice learning how to manage 3 or more people at once. Probably a couple years to get good at it. Just like developing a one on one skillset usually takes a couple years.

4. The huge benefit of a SPT model is it allows a clear path to generate much more revenue. And increased revenue is how you achieve 1-10 above, because you need $ to hire and pay a fair wage, to build an asset, to potentially segregate job duties (like sales) and all the rest.

5. Specifically, if you regularly charge $80 per session, your SPT rate might be $65. So $195 per hour rather than $80. And if you're on a subscription model, that's basically $195 guaranteed.

6. If you take that basic model and build up to just 25 hours per week, that's $4875 per week. $243k annual. Not saying that is easy to do but definitely achievable within 12-18 months.

With that type $, you have dramatically more flexibility and opportunity to achieve 1-10 above.

At that point you can hire, take on a partner, segregate roles where someone strong at sales/marketing and strategy handles those and someone who is primarily a good trainer can handle that.

But it is hard to do any of that initially until you first grow your $, unless you take a loan or something to make payroll which I would not recommend.

7. As a bonus, if you develop systems along the way that are not dependent on a single SuperMan or Superwoman individual, you might even find yourself creating a business asset you might be able to sell for a good amount of $.

8. Once you get around that $250k mark (or before), you could add training hours, open another slot per session (4 rather than 3) and potentially get a little bigger space.

But revenue dictates your options.

More revenue=more flexibility

I don't think anyone got into this business primarily to make money but the gym with no members closes and the trainer with no clients leaves the industry.

Making money is necessary for survival.

Here are a few ideas after 20 years in our industry. Most of these are long-term strategies but they can all help you make good money in the long run.

1. Embrace the suck and really learn anatomy. You can fake it sometimes but your confidence will improve (and clients sense that) when you know anatomy well. It's hard to work with a middle aged clientele (and up) if you don't know your anatomy pretty well.

2. Expand your personal horizons. Whenever I am in a gym, I watch the trainers. I always notice the demographical differences between trainers in most gyms and the clients. Often the trainers are maybe 30-ish and the clients are about twice that old. Try to maybe see a play, visit a museum or do some things that expand your ability to converse and engage with people who usually have never visited bodybuilding.com.

3. Try to establish a subscription model if you can. We never ask a client "do you want to renew?" Their agreement says they automatically renew until they cancel. This is an enormous asset for retention and financial administration.

4. Track your $ numbers with weekly review. I'm always examining our $ numbers and comparing them to previous years and months. "What gets tracked, gets improved" is the saying. This is absolutely crucial if you run a gym and important if you are just on your own.

5. Know the rate in your market but don't feel controlled by it. I know the general rates in our area but tbh am not too concerned with that. I review our numbers and then strategize based on those. Since we are pretty close to capacity, I can feel confident increasing rates since I feel confident if we lose some people we can replace them. I don't know all those details for other gyms so I don't consider their pricing for our decisions.

6. If you are doing well, consider communicating even more clearly with any clients who are difficult and establishing boundaries. Difficult clients are almost never worth the frustration unless you are barely paying your bills. I think trainers and gyms can be better off financially when you deal with these situations, even if they leave. Especially if they leave.

7. Consider outsourcing bookkeeping. I started outsourcing bookkeeping 14 years ago. Best money ever spent since I don't enjoy it and I can spend my time generating new biz, working on our service or do other things that improve things.

8. Track your Top 3 sources of business. Our Top 3 are returning clients, an article I write in the local paper and referrals. That's all we need to focus on to grow. People spend a lot of time and energy on unproductive growth strategies.

9. Keep overhead low, if you can. This keeps pressure lower than if you have high overhead. We can be patient and make decisions that serve our long-term $ interest vs running 6 week promotions. We haven't run any special or 6 week promo for maybe 7 years.

10. Study active listening and maybe get some education in that. When you pair good technical skills with good active listening skills, you are dangerous. lol

11. Make sure your prospects can afford you long-term. If your prospects can only afford short-term training, it can be hard to get momentum since you get so much turnover. Our average client has been here 4 years and once you get above break even, any new client is almost all profit. That's how you can really get ahead $ wise.