8 Common Mistakes Gym Owners Make and How to Avoid Them

Have you recently opened a new gym or fitness studio? Are you a seasoned gym owner looking to level up your business and improve sales in the new year?

It doesn’t matter if you’re brand new to the fitness industry or have been part of it for decades. There’s always room for improvement. 

Listed below are 8 of the mistakes that gym owners make most often, complete with tips on how you can avoid them.

1. Not Prioritising Pre-Sales

Often, new gym owners don’t take overhead costs into account when they open a facility. 

Between rent and utilities to employee salaries and insurance bills, there are a lot of expenses associated with running a gym. Furthermore, there’s usually not a lot of money coming in to cover those expenses in the beginning.

If you don’t have a plan in place to deal with these bills, they’re going to pile up and cause you to start your business off on a bad note.

One of the best ways to overcome this issue is to create a solid pre-sales strategy. Pre-selling memberships before you open your gym will help you make sure you have enough income (not to mention members) coming in as soon as the doors open.

2. Thinking Too Much Like a Trainer

Many personal trainers have a dream of opening their own gym one day.

If you’re a former trainer who’s finally making their dream come true, congratulations! Remember, though, that you now need to shift your way of thinking from that of a trainer to that of a business owner.

If you stick with a trainer mindset, you may end up focusing too much on coaching your members and handling the physical aspects of the job. This can cause you to neglect the business side of things (such as managing payroll, creating marketing plans, keeping up with facility maintenance, etc.).

3. Failure to Create a Retention Strategy

As a gym owner, gym member retention ought to be one of your top priorities.

It is much more expensive to attract a new member than it is to retain an existing one. If your members are constantly cancelling their memberships after just a few months, you’re going to end up losing a lot of money trying to fill their spots.

There are lots of ways that you can bolster your gym’s retention rates, including the following:

• Create a solid onboarding process

• Engage with your members via multiple channels (in person, email, text, etc.)

• Prioritise maintenance and cleanliness

• Celebrate member successes and show your appreciation

4. Not Using the Right Software & Tools

In addition to prioritising member retention, you also need to focus on tracking and following up with new leads.

These tasks, alone, can eat up your whole work week if you’re not careful. The right gym software and tools can help, though.

Invest in a well-designed Customer Relationship Management (or CRM) software for gyms. This will make it much easier for you and your team to capture new leads, manage contacts, increase sales, and improve productivity.

If you’re not sure which CRM tool to use, check out GymLeads. This is the #1 lead management tool designed specifically for gyms, and it outperforms all other lead management software options.

5. Neglecting Marketing

A well-planned and carefully executed gym marketing strategy will make a big difference when promoting your gym and attracting new members. Make sure you include a variety of marketing techniques in your strategy, from email marketing to traditional print ads.

Keep in mind, too, that you need to do competitor research and find out what kinds of fitness marketing promotions other gyms in your area are running. This helps you avoid wasting money on tactics that aren’t effective for your target audience and won’t provide a good return on your investment.

6. Only Having One Revenue Stream

Membership fees are the average gym owner’s bread and butter. That doesn’t mean you can’t have other revenue streams that help you bring in additional income, though.

There are lots of ways to generate extra revenue for your company, including the following:

• Sell supplements (protein powder, pre-workout, vitamins, etc.)

• Sell merch (branded towels, T-shirts, water bottles, etc.)

• Host events (fitness classes, seminars, etc.)

Diversifying your revenue streams not only generates additional income, but it also helps to give you peace of mind. Even if your membership sales drop a bit one month, you’ll still have money coming your way from other sources and can feel confident that you’ll be able to keep the lights on. 

7. Not Asking for Feedback

As a gym owner, you need to seek feedback from your members. If they don’t feel that their voices are being heard or that their opinions matter, they’re going to be less inclined to stick with you long-term.

Regularly reach out to your members and find out what kinds of improvements they’d like to see. For example, is there a certain piece of equipment you don’t have that a lot of people want to use? Could your staff do a better job of keeping the gym clean?

This kind of feedback helps you create a better, more inviting facility — one that people want to join and continue coming back to month after month.

8. Not Tracking Results

Finally, make sure you’re collecting data and tracking results.

If you don’t keep an eye on how your gym or studio is performing when it comes to things like sales and marketing initiatives, you’re going to have a hard time knowing what works and what doesn’t. This also prevents you from making smart decisions and effectively planning for the future.

Maximise Your Gym Management Strategy Today 

Are you ready to improve gym sales and customer retention while also setting your company up for long-term success? By avoiding these 8 common mistakes, you’ll improve your strategy for running your gym and create a better experience for all of your members.

If you’re curious about how GymLeads can help you increase your sales and build your member base in 2022, click here to see more about our gym software, and book a demo to experience it for yourself!