There’s a huge market of people who want to get healthy and fit, but they don’t know where to start. If you’ve got a fitness program to share, it might be your ticket to success.
If you’re an expert in the field, you can share your knowledge by starting a fitness business; plan exercises, teach people the correct techniques, and help them stick to a routine.
In this article, you’ll learn the steps you need to take to begin your journey in the fitness industry.
Why you might want to start a fitness business
When talking about fitness businesses, most people think of gyms and yoga classes, but this industry has tons of profitable niches that you can exploit.
Let’s say you want to become a fitness consultant. You can specialize in weight loss, muscle building or body toning. You’ll have the freedom to teach in classes or become a personal trainer.
It’s not all about working out either; if you want to get into the nutrition game, you might set up a healthy meal business. You can be a meal planner, open a diet meal delivery service, or create a health food store.
Since the fitness business is predicted to grow at a rate of 10.6% from 2018 to 2023, the opportunities to cash in are great.
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7 Steps to start a successful fitness business
A successful fitness business won’t pop out of thin air.
Step 1: Find your niche
The number one rule to start any business is to have a niche. In this case, you need to focus on a specific fitness program.
Let’s say you want to open a yoga class. To accommodate the members, you need to rent a studio, provide the right equipment and potentially hire yoga instructors.
This step will affect how you define the target audience and what you need to do to attract them. We’ll talk more about this later.
When brainstorming the right fitness program, make sure to research the fitness trends in your area. Perhaps there’s a demand for a women-only gym, or a lack of affordable healthy food for college students.
List down every possible opportunity and settle with one you think you can thrive at.
Step 2: Write a business plan
A business plan defines how you start and run your business.
By planning and doing proper research, you’ll know the current condition of the market, what’s possible for the company, and what you need to do to succeed.
Factors to consider while writing your business plan:
- Your target market: Define the target audience based on criteria like age, gender, and occupation. This information will be useful when creating marketing strategies and possibly help you reach underserved markets.
- Your competition: Identifying the competitors in your area will help you find your strengths. Find out who your competitors are by doing an internet search for local and non-local businesses, driving around in your target area, or searching the local phone book. Get details about their products, market segments, and the benefits they offer.
- Marketing and sales: This factor encompasses a lot of areas. You must plan competitive pricing, promotional events, and utilize the most effective marketing channels.
- Starting costs: Raise the funds yourself, search for business partners, take out a bank loan, or try to get sponsorship from the local business community.
- Goals: Business goals keep you on track, so you can reevaluate your strategy if your initial plans don’t work out. Maybe you aim to have a certain number of members at the end of the month, or increase your social media following.
Step 3: Name your fitness business
An impactful brand name plays a huge role in deciding whether you’ll succeed in the fitness industry.
It helps create good first impressions, increase brand recognition and awareness, and evoke a strong emotional connection with the customers. Crafting a beautiful brand name is a must.
Your name, above all, should be memorable. As a rule of thumb, it should be easy to spell and pronounce, and not consist of more than two words.
Just take a look at the list of top brand names in the world, and you’ll see that it is dominated by one or two-word names.
You can make a new word that has no meaning like Google or Etsy, or opt for a meaningful name like Evernote (“forever” and “note”).
It is essential to make sure that the chosen name has never been registered by another company. You can check it through a government portal in your area.
Tip 💡 – Help yourself visualize brand names by using Zyro’s free AI Logo Generator to see how it would look as an official name.
Step 4: Choose your location
Whether you want to use your home, purchase a property or rent, you need to pick a strategic location.
Consider the demographics of the area.
Think of your target audience and see whether the location is convenient for them. For instance, a building near colleges or home residents might be a great choice if you want to open aerobic classes for young women.
Also, take into account your location’s accessibility. Can it be accessed via public transport? Is it near the main street? Does it have enough parking space?
Be sure to research the location and the surrounding areas thoroughly.
Your business site will determine who your competitors are, which in return will affect the price of your products and services.
If you choose a spot near big competitors, you might need to put extra effort into creating an attractive program at a competitive price. The benefit, though, is that there is a captive market already made.
However, if you think the competition will only make it harder for you, it’s best to find another location.
Step 5: Acquire necessary paperwork
As a fitness business owner, it is important to get some training and obtain certification to prove your credibility.
You can get your certification from an accredited organization such as ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine), NSCA (National Strength and Conditioning Association), and NASM (National Academy of Sports Medicine).
It’s likely that you’ll need other accreditation to operate within specific disciplines, so do your research before charging for your services.
You need to have certain permissions to own a business. The requirements vary based on geography, so check the local authority to ensure you are following all the regulations.
Business insurance is important to ensure your customers and your business are legally protected. Make sure you have insurance to cover events such as stolen or damaged equipment, worker’s compensation, and accidental medical coverage.
Step 6: Create a website
Market your business with a website is quick, affordable, and allows you to reach a wider audience than traditional advertisements.
Aside from marketing, you can use your website to open a web-based fitness business, or an additional online store. Boost profits by selling workout videos, meal plan ebooks, or personal coaching programs.
To create a website, you need to have hosting, a domain name, and a website interface. Thanks to Zyro, you don’t need to buy those services and tools separately.
With Zyro, you don’t have to build a website from scratch.
Choose from dozens of beautifully designed templates, and use images from our library to enhance the appearance of your site.
With only a few clicks, you can start attracting your first customers.
You don’t need to work hard to make a catchy copy for your website either. Simply use Zyro’s AI Writer tool, insert a few sentences, and it will generate text for you.
Step 7: Share on social media
While print and direct marketing can be expensive, hard to target, and ineffective, reaching potential customers on social media is relatively cheap and easy.
Besides increasing your business’s profile, you can create more engagement with the customers and give your brand real personality.
Use social networks popular with your target market, and post regularly.
You can create content about fitness tips and tricks, updates filled with before-after pictures, or promotion for free products and services.
Conclusion
The steps you need to do to start a fitness business:
- Find your niche — research the current trends and choose a viable fitness program.
- Write a business plan — research your market, competition, marketing and sales, cost, and goals.
- Name your fitness business — come up with a catchy and memorable name.
- Choose your location — choose a physical location that suits your business plan. Don’t forget to consider nearby competitors and your building’s accessibility.
- Acquire necessary paperwork — obtain certification or licenses.
- Create a website — use it to promote your services, improve your brand image, and build customer trust.
- Share on social media — increase your business’s profile and engage more customers.
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