Fitness Business School – Finding Post-Pandemic Success

Full Transcript

Hey, Pat Rigsby here. And in this episode, I want to talk with you about having post pandemic success. And there are a few things you’re going to need to have in place. If you want to succeed going forward, we’re going to discuss those in this episode.

Welcome to the fitness business school with Pat Rigsby, the podcast for fitness entrepreneurs who want to make more income, have greater impact, and enjoy more freedom in their ideal business. If you’d like an accelerated route to these goals, email me at [email protected] and put BGA in the subject line and I’ll get you all the details about our business growth accelerator program.

If you’re like me, you’re excited about the prospect of being able to kind of lift some restrictions and open up. And I mean, let’s face it, the summers in the adult fitness market are rarely a peak season for us and in some, in some areas they are, but in most cases, you know, we, we look forward to the fall. We look forward to kids going back to school, parents kind of freeing things up people being back from summer vacations. And so, you know, by the time we get around to the fall of this year, we can probably expect you know, I hesitate to say a new normal, because I think that that phrase has kind of been played out. But a good look at what business is going to really be going forward in the immediate future. I mean, restrictions are going to be likely lifted and capacity is going to be higher in most locations, we’re going to have all the competitors that were heavy group focus, being able to kind of operate in a more normal way.

We’re going to have you know, the, the new kind of significant players, not that they are new, but that they are far more significant the Mirrors and the Peloton all kind of, kind of settling in and the role they’re playing in the industry. So there’s going to be kind of a more stable landscape if you will. So knowing that, what do you need to do to succeed in that environment? Not just in the fall, but all the way into 2022 and beyond.

Well, the first thing that you need to to accept is that the playing field is never leveled, right? There are always going to be people that have different advantages, whether it be some competitors like the franchise competitors in most markets you know, being in higher profile, greater visibility, real estate, or you know, having bigger ad budgets, or if it’s going to be online competitors, spending hundreds, thousands of dollars, if not millions of dollars a month in advertising for visibility, the playing field is never going to be level where you’re just competing apples to apples with somebody. And you have to accept that because if you don’t, you’re going to lose pretty decisively because you’re, you’re not going to be able to beat people who are well-funded people who you know, have the best locations just by being, being a clone of them.

And then the other thing that we really need to accept is things are always moving forward. Things are never going to go in reverse. Things aren’t going to be what they were in 2019. So if your business isn’t evolving, if your strategy isn’t evolving, then you’re going to get left behind. And the people that get, you know, get left behind are, are almost always the people who are behind change. The people that are unwilling to be proactive. They’re not willing to get outside of what everybody else is doing and be innovative, be creative, do something different. So if you want to succeed, that’s right.

Probably the first thing that I can tell you is understand that you have to be proactive. You have to get ahead of change. You have to anticipate that consumers are evolving. And this past year plus has accelerated that evolution probably as much as anything has accelerated evolution, other than the smartphone in my adult life. And, you know, if, if you, accept that, and you’re paying attention, you’re seeing, okay, how are businesses outside the fitness industry evolving? How are they kind of taking advantage of this? I mean, you see so many people with online ordering online checkouts at restaurants, you see people that have QR codes to access their menu before you ever sit down or before you even get to a drive through microphone you have access to the menu.

And so what that tells me is businesses have kind of erased the line between online and offline. They accept that people want things, conveniently, people are not averse to using technology to move the transaction through smoothly. They, they don’t divide things up the way that maybe we have in the past where you’re either an online business or you’re an offline business. You are a business that is interested in serving the consumer. Could it serving the client as best as you possibly can? And so if there are ways to use technology, if there are ways to kind of have this hybrid approach where you’re mixing online and offline to better serve, to better make things convenient, to provide more accountability, to be a more complete solution, then that’s being kind of ahead of change. That’s really kind of skating to where the puck is going, if you will. So we need to embrace that change. We need to be in front of it.

And then, you know, there, there are some other things that I would tell you that, that are going to be paramount and they’re not tactical things, right? Having the, the appropriate attitude, making a better effort, being more consistent, having persistence when things don’t go well, I, I think that, you know, let’s face it. Your business starts with you as a small business owner, whether you are a, just a, a solo-preneur or you’ve got two, three, four locations, your business really kind of is built on your shoulders, the attitude, the effort that consistency, that persistence that you embody are going to be the things that really kind of spell success or lack of success for your business. And that’s something that I think we’re going to see magnified over the next couple of years, because, you know, people all have what I think we would define as challenging circumstances. I think that change is not something that’s easy for people, circumstances been kind of excellent. So the people that really bring the best version of themselves to their business are always going to do better. The people that come in with a positive leadership attitude, not kind of a utopian mindset, if you will, but an attitude of, yeah, we’re going to be able to do this. We’re going to be successful. We’re going to find solutions instead of dwelling on problems, people that put their head down and do the work to find the right kind of mix of service offerings of of marketing tactics of of ways to develop and lead their team. Those people are going to be rewarded. And, you know, the, the persistence to kind of battle promotions or campaigns that don’t work, client attrition, that, that kind of naturally ebbs and flows.

You know, it’s so easy as a business owner. I mean, we’ve all seen those, those graphics where the life of a business owner is this turbulent thing that’s up and down all within the same day. And I think the people that are going to be most successful are the ones that do their best to keep the, the lows from getting too low and probably not over overvaluing the highs and stay a little bit more even keeled to take advantage of the opportunities that are on the horizon.

And so that kind of leads me to the next point. If, if your savvy about this, if you really are eager to kind of lean into what’s to come, then you’re going to keep your head add up and notice some unique opportunities that may be weren’t available to us in 2019 or early 2020, or maybe you know, that we’ve never noticed in the past. I mean, there are always opportunities to better serve your market, to tap into a new market, to, to maybe just see something that was there, but big kind of hidden behind just doing the status quo. It’s kind of the, the business, this equivalent of the sports version of dribbling with your head up. Like, you need to see the court, you need to be able to see the field. And all too often, people get caught up in doing what they do and kind of just punching the clock and they don’t notice these opportunities. I mean, I was meeting with a client the other day and, you know, there were some, some characteristics about this client that it was, I mean, it was really interesting that you know, this, this person had never really marketed to people with their own personality traits and they had kind of just followed the normal path and chosen a very common target market. So when they’d send out promotions, it didn’t really get a lot of traction. Well, the first promotion they sent out that was appealing to their target market, that that kinda matched their personality, man. I mean, it got a better response probably by three fold than any other engagement offer they, they had made. And it’s not that that opportunity wasn’t there just the, you know, maybe it was kind of hidden behind the status quo. So, you know, if you, or willing to be different, but then have the consistency and perseverance to see things through to you actually get to that kind of where you’re reaping some of the rewards, because let’s face it, most things you gotta be willing to be bad before you’re going to be good.

And, you know, if you think about, okay, how can I be better in my respective market at certain things, I may not win the battle of who’s got the most visible location, but I can win the battle of having the best follow-up or I can win the battle on one specific marketing channel. I can have the most you know, the most valuable YouTube channel, or maybe I’m going to be the best solution for a particular type of client, or maybe I’m going to solve similar problems that other businesses are solving, but I’m going to solve them through a different format like semi-private training or in home training.

And if you think about how can I best be client focused in serve the people that are under my care, you’re going to be successful, but it’s going to take the right intangibles, that right mindset, that right attitude going into business, the work ethic that you need and making good choices. I mean, in my, in my mind, that’s the most powerful currency you have. It’s not how much you can spend on ads. It’s am I making choices each and every day that moved me towards my goals rather than making choices that are often just kind of getting through the day or immediate gratification things.

So yeah, this wasn’t exactly the tactical podcast that some of the episodes are, but in my mind, the tactics are always available and they’re plenty of tactics that work. It’s not a one size fits all approach, but if you don’t have the right mindset in the right attitude, going into what’s to come here, as we start to, to, to kind of maybe shed some of the challenges we faced during the pandemic, like if you don’t have those things in place, you’re not going to be successful. But if you do have the right attitude and you are aware of the opportunities that that are going to be available to you, you may just have a stronger business than you do You’ve ever had.

Thanks for listening to this episode of The Fitness Business School. And before you go, I have a quick announcement. When I first connect with a fitness business owner, they almost always ask me, “How can I get more leads or how can I get more clients?” Well, I have an exclusive offer for you and it’s going to help you do just that. As a listener of this show, you can test drive Fitness Lead Academy for six full weeks for just a dollar. Fitness Lead Academy is a one of a kind program where you get done-for-you marketing tools and coaching to attract more qualified prospects and convert them into paying clients. Imagine having three marketing emails written for you each and every week for easy-to-deploy promotions provided to you that are proven to convert and they’re ready to use and proven ads and social media posts given to you each and every month as well. Plus you have access to three weekly live video coaching sessions to help you with everything from dialing in your brand to navigating things like building funnels and getting ads approved. You get all of this and more when you join Fitness Lead Academy. And to prove that FLA can serve you as your virtual marketing department and not only save you plenty of time, but also consistently bring you more leads and clients, you can get access to the entire coaching program for six full weeks. Again, for just $1. If it delivers for you in the way that I expect it will, you can continue on for just $199 a month. So basically, just one additional client each month and you’re ROI positive. And I’m sure that if you apply what we give you, you’re going to get more than just one additional client each month. And you’re going to likely save at least 10 hours a month to take advantage of this special offer. Just go to TestDriveFLA.com to try it out for six full weeks. If it’s not what you’re looking for, you can cancel it any time.

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