The ONE THING that can make or break your Fitness Business

Over the years, I've been asked many times to identify the ONE THING that makes or breaks a Studio Operation. Of course, there is no ONE THING, there are so many things that make up the recipe for a successful studio. There is no magic ingredient that will transform a struggling studio to a 7 figure studio overnight. However , it is in my experience and proof of my own Successful Studio that I can tell you, there is ONE THING you must do to leverage your revenue and keep you growing. If you implement this, you will make it as a Studio Owner.

What I'm eluding to is Multiple Streams Of Income (MSOI) . Many of you would have heard this term before, and are probably already implementing forms of this into your business... That's great!
For the vast majority though, it is an avenue that is not being explored, and this is severely limiting your ability to increase the revenue of your Studio.
An example is a 'PT only' Studio offering ONLY PT . They are limited to the physical space they have to run PT sessions, and the number of hours in a day. It's a very archaic formula, however one that is used so often.
To break it down and make it real... Let's say this PT only studio is 100 square metres in size. It's open from 6am to 9pm 5 days a week. Let's say it's only YOU running PT as an owner/operator. If you do 15 hours of PT, 5 days a week with no meal breaks you would be Superman! So, let's be realisitic.. 5 hours of PT per day from you, then add your first MSOI.. a team of trainers! Being 100m2 I would only recommend a maximum of 4 trainers operating this space at one time. Let's say they are at capacity (4 trainers x 15 hours a day x 5 days a week) x their charge out rate (say $80/hour) This means no breaks for the trainers, or replacing trainers every 5 hours (so you would actually need 12 trainers per day) Imagine the headaches of staffing, juggling clients, adjusting for sick trainers, client holidays... it wouldn't happen!

However, on paper this means the studio turnover per week would be $24,000 per week. Now that's a very handy, 7 figure Studio operation (considering they close for 2 weeks a year and don't open weekends). Remember, that's at 100% capacity and BEST case scenario.... this NEVER happens

Remember for this example, we are talking about a fixed rate per hour, PT ONLY.

Now, the reality is most Studio's run at 60% capacity in a limited space.
Obviously the bigger the facility, the more trainers you can have but then your overheads are bigger.. it's all relative.
So, I digress - your PT Only Studio is limited to what you can earn UNLESS you introduce MSOI.

On paper, the Studio could potentially make $1.2 Million a year (best case scenario), but realistically not even close.. if it miraculously did that for 1 week, it couldn't sustain it for weeks, months or years on end. There are too many variables.

Whatever the base revenue is, we can always add some MSOI to make it better!

The first one has been added already: A team of trainers!
2. Online PT Memberships
3. Supplements
4. Massage (turn your office into a massage space)
5. Outdoor Bootcamps

You see how your niche PT Only operation just expanded its service offering, yet didn't steer too far from what the client is there to see you for? Bootcamps can be used to cross sell your PT clients into, or downsell them if they are threatening to leave based on a change in their financial situation, or you can simply advertise the Bootcamps to a brand new audience you haven't yet captured. See, these bootcamps are outside so they won't encroach on your existing space.
What about if your clients are moving out of the area? How about your Online PT model! They can continue with your business through consultations or even a 'done for you' program you create and then sell to others who cannot physically get to you.
You can upsell your existing PT clients supplements and massage OR create a high end membership model that includes all the above.
We have this in our Studio called the GOLD membership. The client gets access to all services in a nice bundle. This is a $10,000 a year bundle.

So, we can see that by adding some simple strategies we can really leverage our Studio, no matter what the size we are working in. You just need to get creative!

To further emphasize this point..my Studio has 9 trainers using a 150m2 split space where we have Semi Private (up to 4 ppl) & Small Group Training(up to 12 ppl)in one area and PT Only in the other. We do 180 PT's per week, 30 Semi Privates and 25 small group sessions. We are currently at 60% capacity across both spaces and have unlimited space outdoors utilizing 2 x 160m2 bowling greens.

Many would say we are lucky, I'd say luck has nothing to do with it ;)

This leads me into my next blog on Choosing Your Location for longevity!

Stay Tuned!