Have you ever thought about starting your own fitness business, only to abandon the idea because you weren’t sure how to get started? Not to worry! Opening your own fitness business isn’t crazy complicated. In fact, with the recent uptick in global obesity, fitness has become one of the most sought-after industries to invest in today.

There are fitness franchise opportunities for entrepreneurs that will teach you everything step by step on how to start a fitness business. If you’re looking to change people’s lives, as well as to live a prosperous and rewarding life, then you owe it to yourself to consider starting your own fitness boot camp business.

Starting a Fitness Business

Fitness marketing expert and founder of Fit Body Boot Camp, Bedros Keuilian discusses strategies when starting your business. If you really want to now how to start a fitness business, you must watch this video.

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Which is the best fitness business opportunity? Is it a fitness boot camp, big box gym, or personal training? But why start a boot camp? People have become more and more frustrated with the overcrowded, broken machines and the impersonal customer service you’ll find at most big box gyms. Meanwhile, personal training remains too expensive for a majority of people, while others just don’t have the time to work out.

That’s why fitness boot camps are on the rise. Boot camps bring the benefits of personal training to a group setting, and they’re also easy-to-follow and only take up a small amount of your time. It’s the best way to make big profits while still giving each of your clients the attention they deserve.

Here are the first steps to take if you want to start your business off on the right foot. Watch the video below about strategies when implementing your fitness business or skip below to see our detailed checklist.

Checklist for Starting a Successful Fitness Business or Boot Camp

    • Make Sure Your Fitness Trainers Are Certified

You don’t need to be a personal trainer to own your own fitness facility. It helps, but it won’t make or break your business. You do need trainers that are certified instructing your programs. People will choose your facility based on the classes, workouts, and experience you offer, so if your classes are run by amateurs, your clients will get amateur results. You need to show your clients that you are legitimate, and your trainers need to be familiar with the best practices in the fitness industry.

To this point, your clients will ask to see your trainers’ certifications; make sure your staff has proof of certification on hand. When your clients see proof of your trainers’ education, they trust in their skills and experience. Fit Body Boot Camp requires its coaches to be certified, both nationally and in-house. That way, we ensure that only top-level coaches are working with our clients.

    • Get Insurance

Insurance is a must when starting your own business because it protects you from personal lawsuits and liability. Coverage is really important to understand before you open your doors. Lowering the chance of injury is one of the primary responsibilities of the fitness professional. You should know what type of exercises your boot camp will perform and what equipment clients will need to complete those workouts. It is also important to consult with your clients before they work out; you want to make sure they don’t have any major medical conditions that could be aggravated by training. At Fit Body Boot Camp, we help you secure business insurance. In fact, it’s one of the first things we teach our incoming franchisees, because we want every one of them to be covered in case anything crazy happens. Simply put, make sure you’re covered!

    • Get a Business Permit

Get a business permit and abide by the laws of your local city. Some fitness professionals believe they don’t need a permit because their business is too small. That’s 100% false. Breaking the law can do serious damage to your business. For instance, playing gym music without the proper licensing can result in lawsuits for tens of thousands of dollars, even for a small business. Following city code might feel like a hassle at first, but it pays off. When your city penalizes other businesses for ignoring local laws, you’ll be free to expand your already-compliant business model. When you join Fit Body Boot Camp’s franchise, we coach you through obtaining the business permits you need to open shop.

    • Decide Whom You’ll Train

As mentioned earlier, the type of workouts you choose to run determines what kind of equipment you need, and what kind of atmosphere you promote at your boot camp. But what determines the type of workouts you offer? Simple: your target audience! How do you decide your target audience? The rule of thumb is to stick to your strengths and passions. If you are a former athlete, then maybe you’ll do well training athletic clients. And what do athletes need in the gym? High intensity workouts.

Select your target demographic, mold your workouts around said demographic, then outfit your boot camp with the equipment you’ll need to do those workouts. When you become a Fit Body Boot Camp franchisee, you don’t have to worry about picking a niche. We’re experts at delivering fat loss to women ages 25-55 and we’ll teach you how to do it too!

    • Offline Marketing

Once you know your target demographic, it’s time to market and bring in some qualified leads. There are many ways to successfully market your fitness boot camp; some cost money and some don’t. Start off with some offline marketing. Tell everyone you know that you are starting a business—local businesses, local media outlets, etc.—and invite them in for some free workouts. Once you deliver them results, have them tell their employees about your boot camp. You can even invite them to your grand opening so you can generate buzz in the community.

You can even offer a 2-for-1 special if they bring a friend to boot camp; once they become clients, offer them a reward or incentive for referring family and friends to you. Make sure you ask your clients for referrals within their first month at boot camp—that’s when they’re most likely to refer. Word of mouth and referrals are two of your most potent marketing strategies—and they don’t cost anything! On top of that, there’s another effective strategy you can use to get leads online. Fit Body Boot Camp hands you a 12-month marketing calendar, chock-full of offline marketing strategies that our franchisees use to success.

    • Social Media Marketing

Leverage social media to your advantage. This is another great marketing strategy that doesn’t have to cost anything either. Facebook alone has over 500 million users, so the potential to reach new prospects is almost limitless. All you need is to create a fan page for your business. You can then use that page to show off your clients’ success stories, post photos of your sessions, share motivational quotes, let your clients get to know you better, and anything else that adds value to your clients’ lives.

Here’s what’s cool: you may start with your own client list, but once you start posting things your fans like, all they have to do is “like” your post and *bam*—all their friends see it on their feeds too! That’s even more exposure for you and your business. If you want to get more aggressive, you can advertise to your target demographic on Facebook. While that will cost you money, it is an effective way to net a bunch of new leads. Our Fit Body Boot Camp marketing team optimizes your Facebook ads so you can rake in tons of leads. They’ll also walk you through our marketing campaigns and strategies; that way, you never have to guess at what strategies you should be using!

How to Succeed with Your Fitness Boot Camp Business

Starting a fitness business is everything you could ever want as an entrepreneur and more. Now the potential to make a more than satisfying income is up to you. What do you want out of your business? And how hard you are willing to work to get there?

With the right foundation, business plan, and strategies, you will be on your way to improving people’s lives and earning financial freedom. Keep in mind that success doesn’t happen overnight, and no one will hand it to you on a silver platter either.

There are three keys to success with any fitness boot camp business, and you can easily remember them as “the three Rs.” Those are…

  1. Results
  2. Retention
  3. Referrals

For each of these three Rs, there is a simple process you can follow to maximize that aspect of the business and keep your client base, revenue, and profits growing consistently every month.

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Impact Through Ownership

Empower yourself and others by owning a gym franchise