Three years ago my mindset changed and so did the way I went about my business. My previous mindset of more is better didn't fit in with the healthy lifestyle I wanted to live as I felt my energy levels drop resulting in missing my own training sessions and poor nutrition.
For years I followed this aimless 'work harder' path only to lose the enjoyment of what I did. When I decided to get some professional, proven advice from someone who had been through what I had been through it became the catalyst for change to a lifestyle that allows me to travel and still have my business ticking over. The best place to start is in assessing where you currently are and then putting a strategy around how to free yourself from your business.
Analyzing your business will enable you to get a better understanding of what you are doing well and more importantly where you are deficient. As soon as you develop awareness around your deficiencies your efforts can then be directed at building a better business rather than putting out spot fires on a daily basis.
One of my glaring weaknesses was my involvement in the training side. It needed to be pulled back if I was to honor my perfect week and my strong values of family and health. So I put a strategy around removing myself from training clients; which was challenging as my business model was a boutique, semi personal training model. Clients liked my style and knowledge so my strategy was to bring someone in to train the clients with me and get them used to training under another trainer and literally handing them over to the new trainer.
What's my point? Freeing you up from personal training still allows money to be made but allows you to develop an expanded awareness around your business and highlight the amount of opportunities in the fitness business world waiting to be captured. Working on your business, staying accountable to a plan and honoring your own values are a proven success strategy that will never fail you.
The add, delete, multiply and delete model PT Plus follows will give you the opportunity to firstly identify what you are doing well as what is holding you back. It will highlight what you can multiply in your business to increase income, time, or whatever it is you desire as well as how dividing one small business aspect such as moving from a one to one training model to becoming a semi personal training model can increase the amount of people's lives you affect as well as increasing your hourly rate.
You and I live in an environment that is so conducive to health and wellness yet our population is getting sicker and sicker. Sun, warmth, lots of open spaces and a great economy are what we have in WA so getting your fitness businesses health in order will allow you to make a world of difference to so many lives, not to mention your own. Start working on your business today by requesting your very own business health check.
David Virgo
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
you are your business
As a PT you are your business. This fact determines how you operate and how to develop your business. Many of you that have attended PT Plus events would have heard us explain the BUT principle. As a quick recap, the BUT principle states that in order to have a successful PT business we must develop our skills in the following three areas:
B = Business
U = You and your personal life
T = Technical
In my experience PTs spend time developing their technical skills to the detriment of the business and personal side. The reason that we become PTs is usually that we enjoy exercise and the skills that allow us to do it, teach it and talk about it as professionals. In some cases I've seen trainers attend technical workshop after technical workshop in the belief that by improving their knowledge their failing business will miraculously turn around. The belief that improving your technical skills will generate you a large client base and a solid business is flawed! If you want to be a great technician (which I hope you do) you must study technical skills. If you want a great business, you need to develop your business skills.
The PT Plus Business Bootcamps we delivered throughout Australia and New Zealand had a large emphasis on personal development. Since you are your business, developing yourself = developing your business. As a coach, I've found that self development is the foundation to grow your business. Without belief, vision and purpose you won't get far. For those of you that attended our bootcamp you should definitely have clarity around your vision and mission.
What's the next step? Make a plan and action it! Drive yourself into action to achieve your vision/goals. This is a very difficult step for most folks. In my experience common responses are:
Dave Liow
B = Business
U = You and your personal life
T = Technical
In my experience PTs spend time developing their technical skills to the detriment of the business and personal side. The reason that we become PTs is usually that we enjoy exercise and the skills that allow us to do it, teach it and talk about it as professionals. In some cases I've seen trainers attend technical workshop after technical workshop in the belief that by improving their knowledge their failing business will miraculously turn around. The belief that improving your technical skills will generate you a large client base and a solid business is flawed! If you want to be a great technician (which I hope you do) you must study technical skills. If you want a great business, you need to develop your business skills.
The PT Plus Business Bootcamps we delivered throughout Australia and New Zealand had a large emphasis on personal development. Since you are your business, developing yourself = developing your business. As a coach, I've found that self development is the foundation to grow your business. Without belief, vision and purpose you won't get far. For those of you that attended our bootcamp you should definitely have clarity around your vision and mission.
What's the next step? Make a plan and action it! Drive yourself into action to achieve your vision/goals. This is a very difficult step for most folks. In my experience common responses are:
- Being overwhelmed and not knowing where to start
- Have great intentions but can't/won't put time aside to work on what is important to take their business to the next level
- Know it's important but decide it's too hard at the moment (and for months/years after)
Dave Liow
11 top tips for business success in 2010
1. Build a database. My opinion is that the health of your business is directly proportional to the size of your database. In fact Ryan Lee who was one of the pioneers of Internet marketing in the fitness industry has been quoted as saying words to the effect that 'you could take my millions (of dollars) away from me tomorrow - just leave me my database and I would create financial independence again in no time'. Your database should include your current clients, past clients, people who you would like to be your clients, potential joint venture partners, family, friends - anyone who has even the slightest interest in health and fitness or seeing you succeed. Once you have established a database then communicate with them regularly via a monthly newsletter, weekly health tip and/or special offers.
2. Personalise your service. This tip is all about adding value to current or potential clients whenever you can. It involves following up meetings or sessions with a personalised email with an article attached. It could be sending a gift to a client's place of work. The imagination is the limit with this tip.
3. Lead boxes. This lead generation tool has been around for a long time, however sometimes some of the old school methods are the best. Approach other business who service your ideal client such as health food stores, hairdressers, beauty therapists etc. The most effective way of forming a relationship with owners of these businesses is to offer to train them and/or their partner for free as well as to feature their services in your newsletter. If you go in with an attitude of 'what can I do for you' rather than the other way around then you give this strategy its best chance of success.
4. Referrals. IHRSA which is the largest Health Club membership body in the world suggest that 46% of new fitness business clients come from word of mouth referrals. Now obviously doing a great job with your clients will drive a percentage of referral business, however to put this on steroids you will want to start driving traffic more directly. One idea that I love is giving cash to clients who refer, eg/ you might give clients who refer a client who signs up for one of your packages $100 cash. If you know the lifetime value of your clients then you will know how much you can afford. Eg/ if your average client spends $200 per month with you and on average stays with you for 12 months then there lifetime value if $2400. Now that you are armed with this information it is a no brainer to offer $100 at the point of sale to receive $2400 in return.
5. Have a social element to your business. Having things such as client appreciation days will increase client loyalty which equates to more dollars for you. In addition social events can be a great lead in for inviting friends of clients to come along which is another obvious lead generation tactic.
6. Join an existing community. This could mean joining your local Business Networking International (BNI) Group, becoming involved with a local sporting club etc. The more exposure you have within your local community the greater your chances of attracting new clients.
7. Have an online presence. It is the year 2010 and if you don't have a website than I don't believe that you are serious about having a business! You really want to have your online presence optimised so that when a potential client searches Personal Trainers in your suburb that you appear on the first page in the search engines. In addition having a blog is a great tool to engage with existing or potential clients.
8. The power of 5. This is PT Plus speak for having joint partners. Ideally we believe you should have at least 5 other businesses that service your ideal client refer clients to you and vice versa. Typical businesses include allied health professionals such as Physio's, GPs, Massage Therapists, as well as other businesses like health food stores, beauty therapists, sport stores etc.
9. Meetings. A key performance indicator I use for Private Mentoring clients is to have 10 new business meetings per month. These meetings could be a no obligation health chat, through to a meeting with a potential Power of 5 joint venture partnership. As mentioned above under the 'personalise your service' tip follow up each of these meetings with an email and an article or download. This follow up will add credibility and differentiate you from other Personal Trainers.
10. Talk to 5 people every day. This strategy is one of the most powerful things you can do for your business. You can draw these people from your existing database, gym floor, potential power of 5 partner etc. The more you talk to people about your business the more it will grow. Try this tactic for 3 months and you will be blown away by the results.
11. Public speaking. This is one of the fastest ways of growing your business. Health and Fitness is very topical and there are many community groups and work places that would love to have someone come and give them good quality information. Once you have completed your presentation make sure you have a special offer for your services as well as the ability to capture the contact details of all attendees who will go onto your database for ongoing communication - see tip 1.
Aaron Whear
2. Personalise your service. This tip is all about adding value to current or potential clients whenever you can. It involves following up meetings or sessions with a personalised email with an article attached. It could be sending a gift to a client's place of work. The imagination is the limit with this tip.
3. Lead boxes. This lead generation tool has been around for a long time, however sometimes some of the old school methods are the best. Approach other business who service your ideal client such as health food stores, hairdressers, beauty therapists etc. The most effective way of forming a relationship with owners of these businesses is to offer to train them and/or their partner for free as well as to feature their services in your newsletter. If you go in with an attitude of 'what can I do for you' rather than the other way around then you give this strategy its best chance of success.
4. Referrals. IHRSA which is the largest Health Club membership body in the world suggest that 46% of new fitness business clients come from word of mouth referrals. Now obviously doing a great job with your clients will drive a percentage of referral business, however to put this on steroids you will want to start driving traffic more directly. One idea that I love is giving cash to clients who refer, eg/ you might give clients who refer a client who signs up for one of your packages $100 cash. If you know the lifetime value of your clients then you will know how much you can afford. Eg/ if your average client spends $200 per month with you and on average stays with you for 12 months then there lifetime value if $2400. Now that you are armed with this information it is a no brainer to offer $100 at the point of sale to receive $2400 in return.
5. Have a social element to your business. Having things such as client appreciation days will increase client loyalty which equates to more dollars for you. In addition social events can be a great lead in for inviting friends of clients to come along which is another obvious lead generation tactic.
6. Join an existing community. This could mean joining your local Business Networking International (BNI) Group, becoming involved with a local sporting club etc. The more exposure you have within your local community the greater your chances of attracting new clients.
7. Have an online presence. It is the year 2010 and if you don't have a website than I don't believe that you are serious about having a business! You really want to have your online presence optimised so that when a potential client searches Personal Trainers in your suburb that you appear on the first page in the search engines. In addition having a blog is a great tool to engage with existing or potential clients.
8. The power of 5. This is PT Plus speak for having joint partners. Ideally we believe you should have at least 5 other businesses that service your ideal client refer clients to you and vice versa. Typical businesses include allied health professionals such as Physio's, GPs, Massage Therapists, as well as other businesses like health food stores, beauty therapists, sport stores etc.
9. Meetings. A key performance indicator I use for Private Mentoring clients is to have 10 new business meetings per month. These meetings could be a no obligation health chat, through to a meeting with a potential Power of 5 joint venture partnership. As mentioned above under the 'personalise your service' tip follow up each of these meetings with an email and an article or download. This follow up will add credibility and differentiate you from other Personal Trainers.
10. Talk to 5 people every day. This strategy is one of the most powerful things you can do for your business. You can draw these people from your existing database, gym floor, potential power of 5 partner etc. The more you talk to people about your business the more it will grow. Try this tactic for 3 months and you will be blown away by the results.
11. Public speaking. This is one of the fastest ways of growing your business. Health and Fitness is very topical and there are many community groups and work places that would love to have someone come and give them good quality information. Once you have completed your presentation make sure you have a special offer for your services as well as the ability to capture the contact details of all attendees who will go onto your database for ongoing communication - see tip 1.
Aaron Whear
the missing link to come out of WAFIC
All in attendance would agree that WAFIC 2010 was a wonderful event and if you didn't go this year; you need to be there next year. From my perspective, all in attendance of the of the business seminars are set for a big business future. Why? By attending business events you invest in your business and future growth. If you fail to invest your time, action and resources into your business everything you have done up to now and will soon become outdated with the speed at which the way we do business moving faster than ever before.
In reviewing the PT Plus model of Add, Delete, Multiply and Divide I have identified a common denominator that is lacking from the majority of businesses that I was in contact with at WAFIC. By adding this simple concept to your business immediately, you will already be stamping your fitness business as superior to your competition. I want to share with you a simple technique I teach personal trainers keen on making the transformation to 'fitnesspreneur'.
If you don't want to do it or you don't enjoy a certain task in your business - systemise it. Medial tasks but vitally necessary to ongoing business are administration responsibilities. To allow you to easily add an admin assistant to your business you need systems for them to follow.
If you document a task a week that you do yourself, step by step you will soon have a file full of systems that you can pass onto anyone that enters your business to assist. If it is producing invoices, sending out thank you cards, adding people to an automatic debit program or posting articles to a website or blog. Take the time to document each step in simple, easy to understand steps so someone helping can pick it up easily.
If you are serious about growing and making your fitness business sustainable, creating systems must be a priority right now. Having holidays, attending WAFIC's and not becoming a slave to your business will all be available to you if you embrace the systems concept. Also if you are aiming to build your business up to sell, then systems will guarantee you a much better price because your business will be capable of running without you.
So hop to it Western Australian 'fitnesspreneurs' and start systemising your business.
David Virgo
In reviewing the PT Plus model of Add, Delete, Multiply and Divide I have identified a common denominator that is lacking from the majority of businesses that I was in contact with at WAFIC. By adding this simple concept to your business immediately, you will already be stamping your fitness business as superior to your competition. I want to share with you a simple technique I teach personal trainers keen on making the transformation to 'fitnesspreneur'.
If you don't want to do it or you don't enjoy a certain task in your business - systemise it. Medial tasks but vitally necessary to ongoing business are administration responsibilities. To allow you to easily add an admin assistant to your business you need systems for them to follow.
If you document a task a week that you do yourself, step by step you will soon have a file full of systems that you can pass onto anyone that enters your business to assist. If it is producing invoices, sending out thank you cards, adding people to an automatic debit program or posting articles to a website or blog. Take the time to document each step in simple, easy to understand steps so someone helping can pick it up easily.
If you are serious about growing and making your fitness business sustainable, creating systems must be a priority right now. Having holidays, attending WAFIC's and not becoming a slave to your business will all be available to you if you embrace the systems concept. Also if you are aiming to build your business up to sell, then systems will guarantee you a much better price because your business will be capable of running without you.
So hop to it Western Australian 'fitnesspreneurs' and start systemising your business.
David Virgo
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