I talk to a lot of people throughout my work week who are either one-on-one trainers or in another industry altogether and they’re thinking about starting a boot camp business. But many of them do one of two things: they either assume what they have to do is open their doors and sit back or they look at people who are earning six and seven figures and assume it took those people ten years to get to that point.
Well, I’m here to tell you that there’s a formula to starting a fitness boot camp and making it very successful. Sitting back is not part of that formula in the beginning, though it can be a big part of your lifestyle later on. However, if you follow the formula, it won’t take you anywhere near ten years to earn six or even seven figures. A lot of our Fit Body Boot Camp owners made $100,000 the first year and some of them much more than that.
So here’s how to start a boot camp and get it to $100,000 very quickly:
1 – Treat it like a business from the beginning – not a hobby.
If you go into this treating your business like a hobby, that’s all it will ever be; an expensive hobby. Forget about running boot camp sessions in the park on the weekends. You’ll never make much money and you’ll have a hard time making it sustainable, if you even find a place that will let you do it. Bad weather, liability issues and community events all have a way of knocking you off your feet when you try to run a business in someone else’s back yard.
2 – Make your location simple and cheap.
You need your own location, but you don’t need anything fancy or huge. Find the best deal you can and limit yourself to about 1500-2000 square feet of space. You only need about 1000sf of workout space, a bathroom and a little space for your office. Find a landlord you can negotiate with and ask not only for a good rent but also for bonuses like a few months’ rent free, improvements on the space, or rent credit for making your own. See if you can get a three-year lease at a lower price than a one-year lease.
You also don’t need a ton of equipment. Most of the best boot camp equipment is small-ticket items like ropes, balls and dumbbells.
3 – Market smart and market early.
If you don’t already have a website, build one. Make sure you have an opt-in page for a nice freebie like a diet plan or a 15-minute at-home workout. People get the freebie in return for giving you their email address and those email addresses are golden. When you have an email list of prospects, you have a list of clients ready to be signed up.
Make a fan page on Facebook and post valuable content like how-to articles, motivational posts, transformation pictures and so on. Again, offer free reports and other info products in return for email addresses.
Use that email list! Send valuable, usable content every week that establishes you as an expert and helps people know, like and trust you. Then, every ten emails or so, send out a great low-barrier offer.
4 – Use low barrier offers to bring in new clients.
Low-barrier offers should be between 14-28 days and cost between $29-97 for the duration. They can be challenges or transformation contests or just an introductory offer. These are low-risk for both you and the client and give you two to four weeks to completely knock their socks off so that you can sign them up for a long-term contract.
5 – Go out into the community to get more clients.
Don’t just hang out in your gym or sit behind your computer doing online marketing. Get out into your neighborhood and start making a name for yourself. Go to businesses where your target demographic shops or entertains themselves. Ask to set up a table for an afternoon and do free body fat tests or nutritional advice. Give everyone who stops by a coupon for a free week.
6 – Start your rates low, then gradually raise them.
If you’re just starting your business, I recommend starting low. Charge anywhere from $99-120 per month and you’ll be very competitive. Then, after every twenty clients or so, raise your rates for NEW clients by $20. Do this until you’re charging new clients roughly $200 per month.
You only need 49 clients at $197 per month to bring in $100,000 per year. Once you’re there, really start working your clients for referrals, which is the single best way to grow your business from the inside. When you break the numbers down like that, it’s a lot easier to see yourself bringing home that kind of money.
But it does take work, smart marketing and a commitment to giving your clients the best experience you can.
Committed to Your Success,
Bedros