Trends in the Fitness Industry and Why They are Important to Your Fitness Business
Posted by Steve Hochman on Sat. Jan. 12th, 2013
This is a guest post by Fit Body Boot Camp co-founder Bedros Keuilian.
Enter Bedros...
I’ve been coaching and offering consultation to fitness professionals for well over a decade and I wanted to share an abbreviated version of an email I recently sent out to my subscribers titled the Official Annual State of the Industry Report which could also be called a Fit Body Boot Camp Franchise Review.
I didn’t expect the enormous response I got but it was good to know so many people in this industry are eager to understand which way the business is headed. My Report is all based on careful research and facts, and anybody who knows me personally will tell you I put my best efforts into everything I do.
Raw Data from Real People
Just to let you know I don’t pay a company that knows nothing about the business to gather the facts. I get firsthand feedback from:
- 50,000 fitness pros who are subscribers to my email list
- 150 fitness pros worldwide who are members of my Mastermind and Coaching Programs
- Hundreds of Celebrity trainers
- 40,000+ trainers who read Personal Fitness Professional Magazine
- Fitness Business Summits
- Thousands of fitness trainers who attend industry events
- Friends who sit on boards of companies in every niche within the industry, including supplement companies, equipment manufacturers and research groups
And as President of Fit Body Boot Camp Franchise my finger is always on the pulse of this burgeoning industry, once considered as totally insignificant.
Evolve, Adapt & Listen to your Market
By closely monitoring everything that goes on in the industry I’ve been able to evolve and adapt. I listen to consumers and their needs yes, but the most important thing to me is helping fitness professionals grow their businesses so they’re not struggling along doing 60 hour weeks and making under $50k a year.
The industry average for the majority of trainers is only $37,000 a year. How long can they keep that up?
It’s my purpose and passion to educate fitness professionals who want to do better and help them move from the 49.3% who earn under $50,000 up to the next level – the $50-$100k bracket, and higher. In fact, the biggest jump I saw in earnings in 2012 was in the $100-$250k earnings group – a 1.5% increase over 2011.
Where did I get these figures? Every year I’ve been sending out a short survey to the 50,000 personal trainers who subscribe to my email list. I then write the official State of the Industry - Fitness Industry Trends and Predictions Report.
What Conclusions Have I Reached?
Apart from seeing the majority of fitness trainers working their butts off for peanuts, I see so much potential wasted. I meet many one-on-one trainers who think that’s the only way to go – the best hourly rate they’ll ever be able to achieve.
Only 1% of fitness professionals who build their business on one-on-one training are making a substantial income.
I’m not knocking one-on-one, I did it myself for years – but if you want to build a strong business, and earn a good living without killing yourself or watching all your profits go to payroll expenses, I urge you to consider a Fit Body Boot camp franchise.
For example, in 2011 one of my subscribers checked the “under $50,000” income box. In 2012 his income was over $150,000. He started a Fit Body Boot Camp franchise and within 12 months he’d tripled his income!
Part of the survey also deals with per capita client expenditure. Between 2011 and 2012 it dropped $40/month. But not because of a bad economy!
If that was the case trainers would have been making less per month too. By running a Fit Body Boot Camp, services cost less to the client but you make more money. And of course making fitness training cheaper opens up a larger pool of potential clients.
The Industry is Moving to Group Training
I don’t want to insult anyone’s math skills here, believe me. But group training using the Fit Body Training Boot Camp system makes sense because:
- You’ll employ few people giving you higher profits, fewer problems and less aggravation
- You’ll have a larger impact on your community
- More people can afford to join
- Clients will see better results, especially with fat loss and in general fitness
- You’ll have fewer worries
- You’’ have more time for you and your family or to develop other aspects of your business
Even if your bag is sports training, or one-on-one, offering a Fit Body Boot camp session just once a week will increase your income and make more people aware of your primary fitness training niche.
People Have More Choices
Remember when there were a big name fitness franchises all over town? What happened?
First of all they didn’t heed their customers’ needs, and secondly consumers were given more options. They could stay home and train to DVDs and Wiis or join Pilates and Yoga classes. It’s no longer pay to join a gym, buy a home treadmill or pay the high price of one-on-one training.
Lastly, franchisor profits were devoured by high payrolls costs and they were spending increasing amounts of marketing dollars trying to attract a rapidly dwindling market.
Most people wanted something different, something fun and - most importantly - a way of getting fit and losing weight that works, and that’s where Fit Body Boot Camps stepped into fill a huge void in the market.
Businesses that don’t adapt to what their clients want will fail - even McDonalds has been forced to offer more than just greasy fast food these days. Consumers are more educated now than they’ve ever been and demand more.
With the internet, FaceBook, Google Reviews and all the other means for the consumer to learn what’s good or bad about any business, I’m proud to read so many glowing Fit Body Boot Camps reviews from around the country. They’re getting full marks for service, innovation, quality of staff and training, and especially the positive results their members are achieving.
All YOU need as a trainer is the will to succeed and a proven system, and that’s Fit Body Boot Camp.
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