When the situation isn’t going the optimal route, you need to consolidate all your efforts into maintaining your business growth. Here are my principles that will help you do just that.

The previous year presented many challenges.

There have been extended lockdowns and shifting timetables that caused some confusion. These complications affected various services. Fitness business owners are not an exception to this.

In fact, many fitness businesses are finding themselves in uncharted territory. They’re facing an uncertain future as there’s no clarity on exactly which services will resume work.

Will commercial or semi-private gyms be able to work? What about one-on-one personal training?

The truth is, we simply don’t know.

So what can you do in this situation?

You want to make sure to spend the next 90 days directing your efforts towards protecting your current cash flow and existing clients, as well as setting up for profit. And this will require an adjustment in behaviour.

As a first step, you’ll need to ask yourself these vital question:

What’s my fitness business going to look like if I keep doing what I’m doing right now for the next 90 days? Is it going to continue to perform well or is it going to tank?

If these questions concern you, that’s a signal you need a different approach.

I’ve had clients whose businesses flourished despite the circumstances, so I know it’s possible to hit big numbers even during challenging times.

Here are some of my principles that can help you do the same for your business.

The Four Principles

Principle #1. Face Reality

If you want to achieve success, you must be aware of your circumstances. And facing reality is one of the best ways to stay anchored and deal with what’s going on right now.

When the initial shock is gone, all that’s left is the current situation. We could be facing difficulties in the fitness business for an unknown period, possibly even longer than anyone initially expected.

That’s a hard pill to swallow, especially for gym owners.

What you can do about it is face reality. More specifically, there are three aspects of it that you need to think about:

1. Hindsight – looking back at the past couple of months, what are the three big lessons you’ve learned about your business? How well did you prepare for the crisis? Were you under-prepared, over-prepared, or just right? How did your clients react? Did they prove less or more loyal than you thought they would be?

Some gym owners were completely taken by surprise. They lost clients who had been with the gym for over 10 years in an instant, and they were left upset and depressed about the whole thing.

What three important lessons have you learned through you and your client’s reactions during this period?

1. Insight – consider your current situation. What are the three things that are working in your business right now? What’s the state of your onboarding process? Is your marketing contextualised to the present state of things? Has your service adjusted to the circumstances?

I’ve helped all of my clients to pivot their services online. Whether they are gym owners or personal trainers, they became able to deliver results without using a gym. They are now able to leverage people with different skill sets and include them in their programs and social network groups. In doing so, they’ve created a community, produced new value, and continued to drive their businesses.

So think about what three things are working for you right now and how you can promote or improve them.

1. Foresight – finally, you need to look forward and think about the three things that need to happen in the future. What should you build or create over the next 90 days? Do you need to work on a relationship, a system, sales, revenue, or marketing?

Consider the details and how you’re going to get there. What do you need to learn to start working on those things? Get very clear on all specific aspects and get a bird’s eye view of the situation.

A big mistake that I see many fitness business owners make is not looking at the big picture. They get caught up in the weeds and all of the tiny details that they lose a clear target and end up getting overwhelmed.

Take the time to write down these points and questions, as well as your answers. Decide on the three things you need to do in the next 90 days and go after that goal.

Principle #2. Calibrate Your Message

Once you formulate a plan, taking all of the hindsight, insights, and foresight into consideration, you’ll need to ensure that your message is calibrated.

Highlight the pains of the following period and think about what’s going to happen if the same situation continues. How will you present your service and how are you going to feel if the complications prolong?

Focus on your marketing and your messaging and make the claim that you’re going to be the service and the business leader that helps people through the tough times.

In Authority Network, my 12-month mastermind program, we talked about creating a life raft and a ladder program to get clients out of a hole and to their destination.

Principle #3. Protect Your Base

The crucial step you must take is to look after your current clients.

Your monthly recurring revenue that comes from those clients is the easiest to sustain. It’s the most uncomplicated revenue you can make. After all, those clients already know you and you know them.

Suppose you’ve adopted the deliverables, positioned yourself as essential within the client’s lives, and been transparent about how you’re operating at the moment. In that case, you already have systems in place to help your clients.

Of course, you might get a few cancellations. But I always stick to the golden philosophy that there’s an infinite number of clients for an infinite number of coaches. So you should never think that you’re going to run out of clients because you won’t.

The most important thing is to be consistent, both with your business practice and your marketing.

If you’re not and if you disregard the principles I’m stating here, you’ll be at great danger of losing sales and finding yourself in a tough spot.

Principle #4. Be Comfortable Selling in a Crisis

You’re selling a solution to a problem, so you have to be comfortable with the idea of doing just that.

People sometimes think that making money is a bad thing. They look at other people making money and they feel jealous. That’s the kind of a mindset you need to stay as far away from as possible.

Thinking about being opportunistic or exploiting the market shouldn’t have a negative connotation. Everything will depend on your perception of the situation and your perspective.

If you’re making a huge, consistent profit over a more extended period, it’s because you’re providing a service that people are willing to pay for. Your revenue is a testimony to the quality of the service you’re delivering.

And if the situation is allowing you to adapt your deliverables and your coaching radically, and you’re helping people through it all while they’re willing to pay for your service, there’s no reason not to lean into the opportunity.

This kind of attitude is missing in the fitness industry, even if it’s common sense.

So don’t be afraid to do everything you can to maximise sales.

Think about your sales target for the next 90 days and calculate the minimum and the maximum for every month. When you hit that target, it’s a confidence booster like no other because it means you were accurate in your thinking and moving forward.

Use the Next 90 Days to Launch Your Business

To recapitulate the main points, if you want to help your business grow in the next three months, you’ll need to face reality, create a tight, powerful message, protect your client base, and get comfortable with selling your service. All of these actions will help you come out of this situation stronger.

So, look at your expenses, only spend money on things that drive your business forward, and focus on marketing, knowledge, and developing skill sets.

Remember that after the crisis, there will be a lot of new customers who will need your services, as well as plenty of newcomers to the industry that won’t have the same level of marketing and sales experience that you have.

In other words, you could spend the next 90 days staying where you are, or you could prepare, investing in the right training, support, and community-building.

You don’t even need to ask yourself when is the right time to start doing all of this. The answer is: right now.

I hope these principles will help you grow your business in the next 90 days. Take care.

Ps. Whenever you’re ready there are 3 ways you can partner with me and my team to grow your fitness business.

1. Check out Fitness Business Growth Kit → Here

This is the entire end-to-end system for plugging into any fitness business. It’s a 8-week build out of business foundations, sales, client delivery, scaling, and a custom 30 day challenge. Lifetime access. But it’s an 8-week drive for the growth you’re ready for. 

2. Apply for Authority Network and Partner Directly With My Team → Here

Direct mentorship with me and my team started by assessing your current business strategy, assessing blindspots, fixing immediate weaknesses… 

And building new scalable foundations. Specifically to coaches and entrepreneurs looking to crack £10K months, get out of the gym, and grow online. 

3. Discover More About Power Room

I take on a specific group of already 6-figure fitness entrepreneurs and dial into their goals. Sometimes it’s more freedom, sometimes it’s a wealth machine, sometimes it’s both. 

This is limited, extremely private, and intimate. If you’re reading this and have reached a level where you’re above everyone else, apply here → Here