Another way to ask this question is – are you a coach that pays the facility expenses or a business owner?
It sounds harsh when put into such terms, because I know that your gym is an extension of who you are, the hard work and literal blood, sweat and tears you’ve put into your facility and each member that trains with you. It’s not to diminish your hard work, but rather an opportunity to reflect on how you are spending your time in your business. If you spend your days rushing between coaching, replying to emails, mopping the floor and maybe squeezing a workout in, it’s time to look at how you can own your role as founder and CEO of a business rather than keep on as an overworked coach.
When you are just starting out as a gym owner, you wear all the hats. You’re the coach, program master, cleaner and admin person. As your business grows, you can only stretch yourself so far – and need to bring some help in. Maybe you get a cleaner in, perhaps you purchase coaching from an online program and maybe you bring in a part time coach. You have more time on your hands – so how are you spending it?
To start, the goal is to spend at least one hour per day actively growing your business – and I am not talking about replying to email leads. I am talking about creating systems for bringing members in, increasing your revenue or building additional programs in to take you one step closer to financial prosperity.
So how do you get to this point? Here are three changes you can make to give you time to focus on growing your gym:
Make Time
If you cannot afford to get outside help, start by figuring out how you can carve out more time during the day. This might mean pairing two PT clients together to save an hour, or cleaning the gym floor every second day while only spot cleaning three times a week. Get creative about how you can block out at least 30 minutes each day and then work your way up to an hour. The book Make Time by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky can help give you some inspiration here.
Hire for Lower Skill Tasks
Choosing to hire someone to clean your gym or handle your admin can seem like a stretch in the beginning, but it could be the thing that frees up enough time for you to focus on growing your business. If you use the time spared efficiently, you will make up the deficit in no time. An additional 2-3 members could be what you need to cover that expense, which you can focus on bringing in in the hour or two 2-3 x per week the cleaner is in.
Outsource Skilled Work
Bring someone in to assist with your social media, or choose an online program to run at your facility. The members come to you for the community, coaching and quality of your work – any half-decent program will get them the results if the coaches are skilled and show the members they care.
How do you grow your business?
Now that you have a bit of extra time, be specific about how you spend it. Choose 2-3 tasks that you can focus on per week to grow your business. Some ideas are:
- Meeting with clients for goal-setting sessions,
- Request referrals or reviews
- Updating your website
- Running social media adverts
- Reaching out to previous clients to bring them back in
- Organising social events and “Bring a Buddy” events
- Organizing a specialty workshop (such as gymnastics, Olympic weightlifting or nutrition workshops)
Gone are the days where you can leave your gym be, focus on coaching and have one or two beers on a Friday night with members. You need to be actively working towards growing your facility. Sit down and brainstorm 2-3 ways you can set time aside, and then get to work building your business!