When we first launched FIT CHICKS, we had 1 location in Toronto, and 7 chicks showed up. Within a year, we had spread like wildfire to over 20 locations across Canada.
Hoxton Personal Trainer
That was 9 years ago.
And today, we have expanded from offering only boot camps to retreats, online challenges, a DVD line, a TV show to FIT CHICKS® Academy (where we have certified hundreds of women in fitness), nutrition, wellness, and business with our Fitness & Nutrition Expert program.
With most fitness businesses failing within the first 5 years, we have been profitable since year one and have become a six-figure business in a super competitive industry.
So what did we do that was different than our competition?
Well, it wasn’t necessarily what we did but what we stopped doing that made all the difference.
So, are you a solo trainer, run a gym or boot camps, or are just passionate about health & fitness? And having contemplated getting into this awesome industry, are you ready to thrive and grow in this ever changing industry and continue to expand? Then here are the 4 fitness business mistakes you need to stop doing if you really want your business to take off: FIT CHICKS style!
1. You don’t know your value
Imagine you’re closing a sale, and your lead asks for your pricing. Do you quickly breeze over it in an awkward way, getting red in the face and just wishing you could get back to talking about progressive overload and squat form?
Or do you constantly offer discounts and deals (sometimes before they’ve even asked what they are) because you feel bad telling someone your rates?
Don’t worry, you’re not alone. This happens a lot!
But in order to easily sell your programs and build your business, you have to have to be confident in your value and what you bring to the world.
Let’s be honest—you have knowledge and skills that can completely change someone’s life.
You can not only transform their bodies, but also give them back their health, confidence, strength, and so much more. And that’s no small thing. You need to own that.
And that doesn’t mean you can’t help people who may not be able to afford your services.
At FIT CHICKS, we believe every chick should have access to quality health support. We offer tons of free awesome workouts, recipes, content through our FIT CHICKS Academy Learning Centre, weekly FIT CHICKS Chat Podcast, social media, and more.
We also offer programs at all different price points and levels from $29 – $1,699.
Everyone offers amazing fitness and health support, just in different ways.
The bottom line is, you have to feel good about what you do and charge your worth. You have to believe in your value for others too. So don’t underestimate and undersell yourself, you are worth it!
2. You aren’t online
If you’re not teaching, coaching, or training online, get on there now! Unless you have lots of money for offline mass marketing, you can’t grow and scale your business without having an online presence and digital/virtual programs.
Originally, all of our FIT CHICKS programs, like our boot camp and retreat, were in-person. Clients paid for classes and got their sweat on in their communities. We had over 20 locations going.
But we began receiving daily emails and phone calls from women wanting us to launch programs in their area. Being in such high demand was awesome.
So what was the problem? We had nothing to offer them!
We couldn’t teach everywhere (I wish we could clone ourselves and have bright yellow Chick Sergeants from Nunavut to New York to London every week to help chicks get their sweat on, but unfortunately we don’t have that functionality—yet) and were turning away paying clients. If that’s not frustrating, I don’t know what is.
That was when we began to expand our business into online challenges, DVDs, downloads, programs, and certifications. This allowed us to offer our kick-butt programs for women of all levels. So we went from being limited to the areas where we had classes to helping women around the world.
And what does that mean? Reaching more areas = more clients. More clients = more revenue.
This was a game changer for us, and it will be for you too.
Using programs like Skype, Zoom, Facebook Live, Google Hangouts, Mailchimp, and plain old email, you can coach and transform your clients from anywhere. And they still get the same awesome support and value you give your in-person clients.
The online space does not have to be scary, but you have to start building your audience today.
Like your in-person clients, they need to know, like, and trust you before they will buy anything from you. Begin building those relationships through your social media channels and getting them on your email list by offering free value such as workouts, recipes, free challenges, or PT consultations.
If this is a whole new area to you—don’t stress, we can help you out!
3. You lose clients because you’re not qualified to help them holistically
Does this sound familiar?
You have worked super hard to build your brand, deliver fierce workout programs, and get results.
You have clients who love you and want your help for more than just their exercise programming—they want nutrition support, weight loss programming, and wellness.
But you don’t have the certifications to help them, so you have to recommend them to someone else for those areas.
This is a huge lost opportunity! You are literally giving away your clients who want you for these services.
Clients are no longer looking just for a trainer – they want a holistic coach. Someone who can help them change their bodies, inside and out. If you are a fitness professional, you must be able to help your clients with nutrition, wellness, and coaching for true lifestyle change.
If you aren’t yet certified in these areas, do it! This is how you will you not only give them real long term results but also increase your program offerings and bottom line quickly!
4. You let the self-doubt monster creep in
I’m not going to sugarcoat it. Building business is not easy.
There are amazing highs when your schedule is packed, you have awesome clients who are getting excellent results, your website is fantastic, your marketing rocks—you feel like you are on a clear path to success.
Then suddenly your website crashes, your clients are sick, you’re burnt out, and you feel like everything is falling apart.
After 9 years in this industry and building a business from scratch, I promise you it is not.
This is part of the amazing, entrepreneurial journey. You have to embrace the highs and lows, learning to love both of them. Celebrate the successes and learn lessons from the failures.
Don’t let self-doubt creep up on you, stay faithful
The self-doubt monster will creep in (he still visits me), but you have to be able to quiet that noise and know that you will get through this, no matter what it is.
What is the best thing to do? Surround yourself with like-minded people!
People who are on the same entrepreneur roller coaster as you and have been through these challenges. Find a support network, mentor, or business coach who can help guide you and squash that monster!
