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1. 7 Common
Mistakes
Made by
Fitness
Businesses
By:
Simon Birdsall
Accounts On Point

2. These common
mistakes are
here to help
you!
These common
mistakes are
here to help
you!

3. Just remember:
- Everyone makes some or all of
these mistakes at some point.
- It's valuable to pinpoint problems
so you can set a path for
continuous improvement.
- These mistakes are VERY inter-
related. If you fix one thing it
will improve other areas too.

4. Now, here are the 7
common mistakes..

5. 1)Working too hard/long hours

6. Many of us start a business for a better
lifestyle but, sadly, it is much more
common for business owners to be
working an unhealthy number of hours
each week.

7. If you've started a fitness business and
you're feeling overworked and
underpaid you need to know that you're
not alone - you're in the majority.

8. This ultra-competitive industry requires
that you put yourself out there on social
media and everywhere else possible so
that you have a good shot at success.

9. This means failure is very public. Maybe
that's a good thing? Some of us work
better under pressure.

10. If you don't have anyone
helping you with your clients,
your day is probably something
like this....

11. - Get up at 4:20am for the early sessions
- Work your butt off during the day to get
things done
- Take breaks whenever you have a few
moments
- Try to look energetic for the evening
sessions

12. - Get home late
- Post and comment on social media
- Then, just when you try to sit down and
relax you get client messages or new
enquiries via Messenger. You can't ignore
those!

13. Sound familiar? This 'mistake' is actually
a symptom of other root causes
mentioned below. I think everyone starts
out working like this out of necessity. It's
manageable in the beginning due to the
excitement of it all - but it's not
sustainable.

14. 2) Not having a well defined target
market

15. How do you compete with 24-hour gyms
or massive franchises that have a
seemingly endless marketing budget?
The answer may be to narrow your focus
on a target market, or to
specialise/niche.

16. If you haven't yet niched it might be
because you're worried that specialising
in something may deter other 'would be'
clients. Well it might deter a few.

17. On the other hand, if someone is looking
for a new fitness solution, what is it that
would currently attract them to your
business rather than a super well known
and trusted brand?

18. Being unique and promoting your
point of difference has three
advantages:

19. 1) It tends to attract the sort of people you
want
2) You’re more likely to provide an amazing
service that will keep them with you
3) They’re more likely to spread the word

20. Is there something about your business
that people would actively search for
and when they find you they would think:
This is it!

21. 3) Poor financial management

22. Fitness businesses aren't alone on this
one. Poor financial management is the
leading cause of small business failure.

23. The thing about the fitness industry, is
that most trainers or instructors are
working to build up their client base and
can't really spare time or money to
manage the finances properly.

24. A lot of people spend more time and
money on marketing to increase revenue
- but don't stick your head in the sand.
It's important to know your numbers even
if they’re pretty small at the moment.

25. Knowing your numbers may provide
extra motivation for improvement.

26. If you already have the finances sorted
when big changes happen, such as
registering for GST or suddenly making a
bigger profit, then you won’t be caught
off guard.

27. The tax office doesn't accept ignorance
as an excuse and having a tax debt
makes running a business much harder.

28. 4) Not creating systems
"Let
systems
run the
business..."
Michael
Gerber

29. But who has time to develop systems
when they're starting a business? Well,
when you consider that 94% of problems
with a business are systems driven and
only 6% due to people (Deming), it makes
sense to work on the 94%.

30. Here’s the good news: you already have
systems for your business, even if you
haven't documented them. You just need
to get them out of your head.

31. Years ago, I used to type up static
manuals for business processes but
that's all changed. Now we create an
online directory of every process and fill
each module with video and screenshots
or easy-to-update text.

32. This seemingly boring task seems
way more interesting when you
consider the big benefits:

33. - Improved quality
- Improved client
satisfaction
- Improved client
retention
- Increased
referrals
- A more professional
perception
- Increased perceived
value and higher
fees
- Optimised
marketing

34. - Optimised sales
- Optimised training
- Optimised
management
- Improved team
satisfaction
- A higher business
valuation
- The prospect of
franchising

35. I'll stop there but, honestly, the
implementation and continuous
improvement of systems is what
separates the leaders from the pack.

36. 5) Going it alone
"... and let
people run
the
systems"
Michael
Gerber,
again

37. Most fitness businesses are started by
one or two people who are running all
the sessions themselves and trying to
balance all other business tasks in their
down time. This is OK in the very
beginning but then it's common to get
stuck in 'no man's land'.

38. You'll become too busy to do anything
properly and your business will suffer,
not to mention your mental health.

39. There are some tasks that could actually
be done better by someone else for a
cost that makes sense. Consider things
like cleaning, bookkeeping, social media
management…

40. Then, imagine finding an amazing
trainer/instructor who could handle 12
sessions a week. Your time could then be
spent on business improvements that
are much more valuable than running
sessions.

41. If you're worried about what your clients
would think, don't worry, you can focus
on retention activities that may make
them even happier than they were
before.

42. The business is so much more valuable
to a buyer once the separation of owner
and operations is complete. In fact, it's
nearly impossible to sell if you haven't
done this to some extent.

43. And one more thing about going it
alone... wouldn't you like to have a
holiday?

44. 6. Thinking you can't afford or not
ready for the software you need

45. Software can seem expensive but there
are so many benefits.

46. I have noticed how those who make the
leap and fork out for good software
suddenly find themselves signing up
more clients. They become busier with
more clients and couldn't imagine
coping without the software.

47. On the other hand, those who hold off
seem to be constantly struggling.

48. Why is that? Maybe it's because the
software gives a more professional
appearance, which attracts customers.

49. Here are a few reasons it can make
life easier for you and your clients.

50. Good software efficiently
manages payments.
This gives you a consistent and predictable
cash flow. The majority of fitness clients
actually find this better than having to
have the right cash or purchase 10 packs
through a weird system. Direct debit is set
and forget - for them and you.

51. It also efficiently manages
bookings or scheduling.
Clear communication around
schedules is vital for your business.
Why wouldn’t you optimise that?

52. This sort of software can
help you grow.
Maybe it's the retention work you
can do with the software that gives
the competitive edge. Or perhaps
it’s the marketing capabilities they
include if you integrate them with
marketing apps.

53. However it happens for you,
after some growth (if not from
the start) you'll need good
accounting software - not only
to help you stay out of financial
trouble but also to know your
numbers, set targets and
monitor your performance.
“That which
is measured,
improves”
Peter
Drucker

54. 7) Thinking you're too busy to spend
time on service and satisfaction

55. To be honest, there were tonnes of
"being too busy to..." type mistakes in the
survey responses, but there was a lot of
overlap so I've narrowed it down to the
three key areas.

56. I've also changed the title of the mistake
from "being too busy to" to "thinking
you're too busy too". My reason for this
is that these things are so important in
the fitness industry that if you don't
attend to them regularly they will come
back to bite you.

57. They're not just “nice to haves” - they're
critical.

58. If you spend hours on social media
each day, that's great, but it may be
more effective to to spare a bit of
time on:

59. Improving your services
(REFERRALS, CLIENT
ATTRACTION AND RETENTION)

60. You're probably already continuously
educating yourself on health, fitness and
nutrition. That learning is an amazing building
block for new services and the continuous
improvement of existing services. Service
improvement is a leading determinant for
referrals, client attraction and retention.

61. Checking customer satisfaction
(REFERRALS, RETENTION)

62. Trying to sense the vibe of customer
satisfaction probably isn't good enough.
You're probably too busy to have one-on-one
chats with everybody, so consider using your
software to periodically send out a three
question survey.

63. This could highlight problem areas fast,
shows changes over time, and let you know
the winning elements that shouldn't be
changed.

64. Checking team satisfaction
(TEAM RETENTION, CLIENT
SATISFACTION, REFERRALS)

65. How’s the team doing? This should also be
systematically checked. Even if you've got
bulletproof hiring and training systems, when
a team member leaves it's a major disruption,
and a black hole for money and your time.

66. Keeping your team highly engaged and proud
of the business should reduce team turnover
and mitigates the risk of them leaving on bad
terms.

67. You need to look after your crew so well that
they don't start looking for work elsewhere or,
worse still, decide to build up their own client
base in direct competition with you.

68. Some of the fitness people who helped with
this article had ways of lessening the impact
of these 7 mistakes through additional
revenue streams like online coaching, online
training courses and product sales.

69. I'd love to hear about your fitness business if
it's immune to any of these 7 mistakes. I’d
also love to know I've missed anything so get
in touch in the comments section to add your
experiences.

70. Ready for more business insights?
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https://www.accountsonpoint.com.au/blog/2018/9/2
7/the-top-7-mistakes-by-fitness-business-owners

71. Here at Accounts On Point, we are excited to help business
owners in the fitness industry get their business into better
shape and performing better every week!
Please feel free to connect with us:
Website: https://www.accountsonpoint.com.au/
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Thank you for your time!
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