– A blog post on how to start a fitness boot camp business on a budget –
Hey Bedros here, hope you’re doing great 🙂
Before I go into this boot camp business building post, I wanted to let you in on something I’ve been working on over the last few months.
It’s a new type of fitness business coaching and it’s about to launch soon so I thought I’d give you a little preview of what’s to come. Just click ‘Play’ on the video below.
The Fitness Business Accelerator program will be launching soon. If you’d like to get on the notification list then enter your email in the form on the upper right hand side of the page and you’ll be on the notification list and you’ll instant get some really cool clients getting systems.
This new program is for you if you want want to know how to start a fitness business or if you already have a personal training, group training or boot camp business and you want to take it to a new level. This is for those fitness pros want to join a mastermind coaching program like my 7 Figure Formula group but can’t financially swing it at the moment… It’s the program that’s designed to take your fitness business to six figures. It’s for hard working trainers who want coaching, mentoring, and guidance on a budget.
So stay tuned 🙂
Onward!
When you think about all the moving parts in a business it can get pretty overwhelming at times. When I opened up the first of my five personal training facilities I gotta admit that the entire process was somewhat anxiety producing.
But like anything else… after you’ve done it once, it get a WHOLE LOT EASIER and the anxiety of the “unknown” is much less of an issue.
It’s the same thing when you’re thinking about how to start a fitness boot camp business.
I know how confusing it can be and I remember when I was starting out I had all these ideas, but in the back of my mind there was this lingering feeling of fear that I might open up the doors and end up with no clients.
That’s never a good feeling.
In fact, fear and negative self talk are the number one reason most people give up on their dreams of starting a fitness boot camp business.
Truth is, if you’re thinking about starting a fitness boot camp business, I can tell you that it’s a heck of a lot easier and way more cost friendly than starting a personal training business which requires more equipment, more space, and has lower profit margins… I should know… I operated five of them.
Below is a simple boot camp business-building checklist I have created to help you organize your highest priorities and give you a more clear-cut direction.
- Location– If you don’t have a location, that doesn’t mean you can’t market. If you know the general city or area you plan to open up then you can start building relationships with local businesses and getting the word out about your upcoming fitness boot camp location. Yes, you can market WHILE you are scouting for locations and down below you’ll find a list of 21 boot camp marketing tactics you can swipe and deploy. I’m not a fan of outdoor boot camp. It’s one thing to have an indoor location and go outdoors when then weather permits. But it’s another thing to run a boot camp outdoors and to think you have a business. It may be a business, but it’s certainly not a business with “legs”.
- Insurance-seems like a no brainer, but I still hear about people that rush out to make their fortune but forget or neglect to get in insurance. This can be a career killing blow, and the fact that I have to mention getting insurance in your business scares me. On that note, I’ve heard many times when a trainer who was running an outdoor boot camp got nailed when they had to file a claim and where denied because the park, beach, or place they were training did not fall within what the insurance provider considered “standard practice”.
- Marketing plan– here’s a checklist of 21 fitness boot camp marketing strategies you should be using to build your business.
1. Tag clients on Facebook and give them appreciation,
then reach out to their local friends who “like” or comment
and invite them in for a free workout or two.
2. Drop postcards in the mail to targeted homes within
five miles of your facility. Make a low barrier, irresistible offer
with a deadline to respond by.
3. Distribute door hangers with similar offer as above to
higher priced (affluent) homes in your area.
4. Buy ads on Facebook, point them to a fan page with an
awesome offer (free ebook, report, video) in exchange for
an email address.
5. Get 30-50 personal trainer lead boxes in local businesses
that serves your ideal market.
6. Network with local business owners. Create a strategic
alliance and promote each other’s businesses.
7. Create 4-6 minute “how to” videos and post them up
on youtube with your keywords and add a link to your site
in the description box.
8. Buy traffic from google (ad words) and point them to
your website. (be sure that your site converts well)
9. Build an email list of local prospects, business owners,
your clients and former clients by offering free reports and
ebooks on your website or blog.
10. Deliver killer content, articles, recipes, and case studies
to your email list on a consistent bases so that your list will
get to KNOW, LIKE, and TRUST you.
11. Periodically send out promotional emails to your email list
and make them irresistible, low barrier offers.
*Here’s a great way to start email marketing for fitness trainers.
12. Craft phone and email scripts to use when you get
phone and email inquiries.
13. Make referral giving a condition of doing business with you.
14. Run client referral contests once a month.
15. Over deliver on results, service, recognition and appreciation.
16. Use the Steve Hochman human billboard method to build
an referral generation army.
17. Craft and distribute press releases that tie your business
in with human interest stories or news.
18. Get your website to rank for the top keywords that your
community is searching for on google.
19. Call former clients and prospects and make them irresistible,
low cost and short term offers to come back and try your
programs out.
20. Run free Saturday boot camps and group training sessions
for the community for 3-4 weeks at a time.
21. Become a better “assistant buyer”. Learn how to sell fitness programs.
- Budget– budgets aren’t fun, but any serious business owner recognizes their value. You HAVE to know what you have spent, what you have to spend, and in addition, what those dollars spent have earned you. Sometimes, if it ain’t’ in the budget, you don’t do it. Now, of course, there are TONS of ways to market for free or for very little money, but even still, without an organized budget, you are likely to spend the bucks you need for things like…the lights…the ac… equipment, and signage on things that don’t matter as much.
- The YOU that keeps em coming back for more!-I know, that one sounds a little FLUFFY…but guess what? This is the most IMPORTANT thing you have to have on your how to start a fitness boot camp business checklist! Without YOU, there is no business, and if that YOU isn’t supercharged, pumped up, tuned up, and ready to EXPLODE…you might not have a business either. The fact is, the thing that keeps people coming back again and again and telling their friends and family about your boot camp is because of energy…passion…motivation…and RESULTS!
When people see you, make them feel energized! Make them feel like your day is better just because you saw their face. Acknowledge their accomplishments and congratulate their decision to make a change in their life for the better. Make sure to always keep learning about new and fun exercises so that your boot camp is a blast and gets some serious results. The fact is, I know people who had nothing more than an empty BOX of a space and only a few friends to start with, but because of their drive, commitment, motivation and an awesome results driven program, their boot camp business grew to become enormously successful. YOU SIMPLY HAVE TO BRING IT!!!
Like I said, starting a fitness boot camp business is easier than starting a personal training facility. I’ve done both and I know from first hand experience. But make no mistake about it, if you don’t take the start up process serious and keep things within budget and on a timeline then you may end up with a mediocre boot camp business at best.
And if you want a boot camp business that’s turn key, and comes with a ton of done-for-you marketing systems, is a growing brand and a tight knit family then consider starting a fitness boot camp business with Fit Body Boot Camp.
Live Easy,
Bedros 🙂