» Management
Handling Increased Competition Will Determine Your Success
BY GREG LAWLOR
past the “price is the only criteria” for fitness services. There are many fit- ness services where price has broken all previous standards. Crossfit, for example, has created enough value that charging $100-$300 per month is the norm for training at one of their facilities. In the year ahead, successful fitness
professionals will remember that they are in the industry because a healthy lifestyle has positively impacted their lives and because they want others to have similar experiences. The fit- ness professionals who prosper will tap back into these personal motivations and will carve out something special that will engage their members, help them reach their goals and create val- ue for both the clubs and the clients. Those who are true to their passion
for serving others through fitness will find that the years ahead will be very prosperous.
C
ompetition for today’s fitness dollar is fiercer than ever. With the increased number of op-
tions to the consumer, a club today can’t survive by simply providing fit- ness programs, classes and a place to exercise. What lies ahead in 2014 depends on
how your fitness organization will deal with the many exercise options that will try to pull your customers away from you. • One strategy is the head-in-the-
sand approach: don’t do anything, and hope for the best. • Another strategy is to duplicate
what others in your community are do- ing. This could work for a while. • A third strategy, and the best strat-
egy, is to map out a marketing and revenue plan that centres around a program of unique and engaging experiences. If we look at the most successful
commercial fitness offerings in the last few years, from bootcamps to women’s- only, from Zumba to Crossfit, what do they all have in common? They offer a unique experience tar-
geted to a specific group, with market- ing and revenue plans that differ from the standard. Clubs that will be financial sustain-
able will ensure that everything they do is tied to a revenue plan. We are fortunate to have moved
26 Fitness Business Canada January/February 2014
Ontario, I see the value and need to go back to the basics. The foundation
A
s a fitness business own- er operating two clubs in small rural communities in
Greg Lawlor is a partner in STAK Fitness, a na- tional supply and education company. His first book, on the crisis in fitness leadership, will be published in 2014. To connect with Greg, and for updates on receiving a free copy of his book visit
twitter.com/greglawlor and
facebook.com/ stakfitness.
Look Back as You Move Forward
BY BARNEY KUNTZE
principles which Paul Chek teaches in his Holistic Coaching programs (Thinking, Breathing, Movement & Nutrition and Hydration & Sleep) are what we use at our clubs to guide cli- ents to success. Short, sweet and sim- ple. When I talk about “getting back to basics” in the New Year, I’m also suggesting revisiting your personal, professional and even spiritual core values. For example, ask yourself, Why did I start my business in the first place? Have I let my own fitness slip in an attempt to keep up with the de- mands? Many of the basic program- ming and training principles we all use today are timeless. They never re- ally change but rather are regularly morphed into something new. “New” cool training programs, like
H.I.I.T and Tabata are being market- ed as the latest trends – short intense bursts of exercise using timed or per- formance based metrics. I find this a little humorous because
I remember first reading about H.I.I.T training when I was 16 years old. But continuously re-creating pro-
grams to keep our members engaged is a practice we should never lose. Keeping things plain and the same is a sure way to lose clients to your competitors. Here are a few quotes that have
changed my life and that I will con- tinue to strive to live by in the com- ing year: Bill Phillips: Stick to the basic
training principles to avoid paralysis of analysis. Todd Durkin: Stay humble and stay
hungry. Sean Greeley: Know your damn
numbers and focus on net profit, or you’ll get eaten alive. Jeff Russo: Avoid the price slashing
wars. Let others devalue themselves and their services and put themselves out of business by lowering their prices. Robin Sharma: What gets sched-
uled gets done. Paul Chek: It should be a mandato-
ry law that no one can teach anything about health and nutrition without being able to do it in a Speedo.
Barney Kuntze is the owner of Pinacle Health & Fitness Inc. in Milverton & Elmira, Ont. Contact him at
pinaclehealthandfitness.com.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52