How To Save A Failing Gym [2/2]: Rebuilding A Healthy Gym

A few days ago, you joined us for the first part of a story about a gym on the brink of collapse.

In the second part, we’re going to tell you how we solved those problems.

And not only that, we’re going to give you a completely FREE way to do the same at your own club.

Okay, it’s not completely free. The price is to read our story to the end.

And If you missed the first part, then you can quickly catch up by reading it here.


This Is How We Saved A Failing Gym…

 

At the end of the last part you might remember that we had identified dozens of problems with Prime Fitness upon discovering it had been abandoned.

But there were some key issues which were the most troubling:

  • The gym was insecure and was being used for free by a huge number of people
  • The gym was open 24/7 but was barely being used at night hours
  • The gym’s running costs were astronomical
  • The gym was far too large for purpose, which meant high business rates
  • The place was generally run down



That was a nice handful of issues to walk in on. At first it seemed like the whole project should be abandoned. It was clearly in disarray and we simply didn’t have the money in place to spend on improvements even if we’d wanted to.

However, the desire to try and bring it back was too great. Ashbourne is built on effectively managing gyms and clubs and this seemed like exactly the challenge which had sparked our love and got us into the business over 25 years ago.

So we broke it down into 3 areas that needed focusing on.

  1. We needed to lower the current outgoings
  2. We needed to raise further capital to fund the improvements
  3. Which meant we needed to grow our memberships

 

Focusing On The Positive

The good news was that the gym was incredible. It had some major selling points.

The gym was an amazing size and was clearly popular. Unfortunately, at present that translated to it being expensive and most of its users weren’t paying for it.

 

We just needed to access that potential in a way that no one else had.

 

Step 1: Negotiating Lease & Business Rates

 

We immediately discussed terms with the landlord on the lease and the energy suppliers. Many clubs won’t be aware of this, but the days of negotiation are not over.

You as the customer, have a lot of power and more often than not a landlord and energy suppliers need you as much as you need them, sometimes even moreso.

We cut our prices by thousands in just under a week, with words alone.

The sheer area of the gym was also posing a problem with our business rates. The place was simply too big. However, where there’s a will, there’s a way and it turns out that the very layout of your gym could be costing you thousands extra a year.

With no changes to the gym itself and by simply isolating certain areas, we once again cut our rates by a significant margin. You just have to do the research and learn how rates are actually calculated. It will surprise you how much money you can save.

Once the money had been saved, next we needed to increase our earnings to fund the gym and that meant we needed members.

 

Step 2: Cutting Our Costs & Bringing Members In

 

We cut the 24 hour open times!

There were some grumbles, but it was for the good of the business. It simply wasn’t worth it in the long run and that’s how we had to look at it.

A new biometric system was instantly put in place to only allow entrance with fingerprint.

As well as that, turnstiles and a fully manned reception (helped by the gym not being 24/7) were installed to completely block entry to everyone but our actual members.

Members began signing up in the dozens. It could have been a coincidence, but it’s clear that suddenly a lot of people had lost access to their favourite local gym and were now signing up as members for the first time.

We also increased prices, which didn’t affect the membership at all and instead just brought in more income. If your gym is worth the price, then people will pay it. It’s natural to want to race to the bottom, but you need to make a profit as a business and it’s a habit that needs breaking out of.

Of course, we also gave members back something for that extra price, even though it cost us nothing extra.

We gave access to free internet for the members. It was an internet connection that was already there but simply not made available to members. It cost us nothing and surprisingly, people at the gym didn’t use the internet enough to affect our speeds at all.

But the value to the member was there and that was all that mattered!


And we turned one of those previously pointless rooms into a simple cafe. It was easy to set up and gave members even more reason to spend money and time at the gym.


And then came the third part of our plan. Getting new members.

 

Step 3: Discovering New Members & Building Our Reach

 

We built a new website in-house from scratch.

We created trackable codes.

We began advertising on Facebook to the local area.

We hosted a simple promotion to remove our joining fee.

 

It took us 5 days to do all of that and we got 100 new members for our trouble!

 

And you might remember all of that rundown equipment?

Well, using the new savings and increased income from our targeted membership growth, we pulled in enough to update all of the gym’s equipment and began a total rebrand and redesign of the club, which is ongoing today.

And it was all done with zero investment! 

 

All of it was simply from the gym’s own income.

 

This Is How You Can Do The Same For Your Gym…

 

And now that you’ve read our story and seen what’s possible with your club, this is where we fulfill our end of the deal.

We are offering you a completely free phone consultation.

Using the knowledge we have learned and put into action at Prime Fitness, we want to:

 

  1. Talk to you about your club

  2. Show you how you can improve nearly every aspect of it

 

From how to improve your business rates, to retaining more members or even how to discover a whole new stream of members – we are here to help with exactly that!

Please get in touch with us here and we’ll be in touch to help you take your gym further.

Get your club in shape.

Want to discover how? Let us show you.

Simply select your preferred timeslot and we’ll be in touch to have a chat about your health club,
the goals you want to achieve, and how our system can help you.

Get your club in shape.

Want to discover how? Let us show you.

Simply select your preferred timeslot and we’ll be in touch to have a chat about your health club, the goals you want to achieve, and how our system can help you.

Get your club in shape.

Want to discover how? Let us show you.

Simply select your preferred timeslot and we’ll be in touch to have a chat about your health club, the goals you want to achieve, and how our system can help you.

Member of a gym? Simply text "HELP" to 60777 and we'll help you.

Member of a gym? Simply text "HELP" to 60777 and we'll help you.

Member of a gym? Simply text "HELP" to 60777 and we'll help you.

Let Us Help Drive Your Business Forward...

Book your free demo slot and let us show you how
we can help take your gym to the next level.