Let’s talk about the ridiculous rumors and lies that keep you from being your best and reaching more of your goals. The media says anything to trigger you these days… have you heard the silly stuff about ‘gyms never getting back to normal’ and the fitness industry struggling to a point where gyms and fitness studios will no longer be in existence?
Sounds like scare tactics and b.s. to me… they want you fat, scared, lame and as a business owner- stuck (and closing!).
Allow me to reintroduce my passion about this
So first, if you know even a little bit about me, you know that I’m a huge proponent of the boutique independent business and gym industry. That means I fully support and have helped many fitness studio owners bring their studios to a place of success, to a place of inability and through any storms in any situation that comes their way, helping business owners to find resiliency and long term growth in their industry, in their niche and in their neighborhood. So for me, I may be presented as a little bit biased in this situation only because I believe there’s a reason why fear mongering has become so popular, both in the media, in the industry and throughout the world.
So I want to break down a couple of things to give you a critical mindset as you hear these rumors and news and think differently for yourself, for your business, and honestly, even for that place you love to patron and be a consumer of. So the first thing is that there’s a very clear case for why this whole gyms are never coming back, fitness studios are dead argument is completely garbage. And the reason is this, what I found while coaching and consulting many business owners in this space is that the strong have always survived and will continue to thrive. And so even with a period of difficulty, a period of lockdown, or even a period of the business not being extremely profitable, we’ve seen businesses reopen with a record number of demands. And so I want to be very clear about this. The concept of gyms are never coming back is obviously a really sensational title for the news, but it’s also something that lacks, I think, the insight as to what happens when a business does not reopen or goes under.
The winner and loser economy
And so I want you to have this mindset as you hear this type of reporting and it’s that, of course, there will be winners and losers in the current economy that we live and work and breathe in. So for every gym or business owner or fitness studio that does not thrive, there will be ones that do. And so I think oftentimes the spin or the skew of this sphere, it comes from a couple of different places that are actually rooted in struggles the fitness industry has had well before any sort of lockdown or crisis. And the reason is the industry has been plagued and struggling with retention for as long as it’s been around. I always joke it’s a $4.2 trillion industry. And yet those who are boots on the ground are usually getting the least amount of it. And so if you own a boutique business or maybe you present a product or a service, it’s incredibly important to realize that we’ve been in the business of motivating the unmotivated for a really long time and doing a piss poor job of it.
Motivating the motivated
Now, what we’ve done well is we’ve motivated the motivated, we’ve taken people who are interested in our services and offerings and given them a home, built a community and made it really exciting, I think, to work on your fitness once again. So of course, given that that has happened many years and decades prior, the trend of the me too, copycat hype-driven business has been waning for some time. So what perfect timing would a lockdown or change in the economy be for a business that’s already struggling. And I think we’re seeing that and will continue to see businesses that just go to the wayside because they weren’t built on great key performance indicators or KPIs. And they were really not businesses at all, they were glorified hobbies. But let me flip the script for a moment. There are businesses that have been thriving and growing every single year, including the year and years that have been challenging for others.
Be different, period.
And those businesses are usually rooted in some very different essentials. First, they’re usually differentiated in some way, they do more than just the basics. They’re not like their neighbors. They have a deeper reach, if not a broader reach. And those businesses have been thriving and growing and really expanding their ability to earn because they’re different and because of what they provide to their communities. And I don’t think those businesses are going anywhere. In fact, I think with consolidation in the industry, and this may seem harsh, not only will the strong survive, but actually they will continue to do better. And so I actually think this is a very natural, very symbiotic shift that happens in industry, and it’s been needed for some time in this one. So that may not be popular, but I do want to take a little bit of time to also address the other side of the industry that is rapidly changing and contributing to this fear mongering and fear creating.
But also that does have a valid point in the fact that the business and the industries will look different than they used to. So it would be remiss of me to overlook the fact that the fitness industry has become much more technologically oriented than it was even a year ago and certainly five or 10 years ago. So virtual fitness has risen as a way to combat the inability to be in the same room to expand capacity and honestly, to be a place where there’s still an ability to earn even through some extenuating circumstances. And I truly believe that this part of the industry is still in transition. There’s still lots of technology that needs to be evolved and to improve, but there’s also a good bit of technology that’s rooted in our industry at this point, and that means it’s likely here to stay.
There will be choices
While I believe and see the demand firsthand with an in-person studio or offering, I also believe there’s always going to be a client that realizes that it’s safe, affordable, and fun to work out at home once they find the right fit for themselves. And that client will continue to see value in virtual offerings. I do think the two will start to pair and commingle more as you’re starting to see already, and maybe you’ve taken your business and merged it into more of a hybrid business model that both serves people in your four walls and outside of them.
And I do believe that technology will make this even easier and even more proficient than it is today. And so while it’s sensational to put out an article like gyms are never coming back, it’s also not pragmatic to say that knowing that many gyms are adapting a very different business model than they were even a short time ago. And part of that is that the four walls, the entity that is the fitness studio or gym is evolving. It’s evolving in what it really is, what it means to the consumer, how the business owner or owners can thrive and continue to expand their offerings.
And I think that’s what’s so exciting about what’s happened. I’ve worked in virtual fitness for at least the last decade or so. So although I’ve worked in the fitness, beauty, health and wellness industries for about 20 years, half of it I’ve had a good handle of what’s been happening on the online front. And I’ve been excited to see the progress, but it was very, very slow and very inconsistent. And the client base was extremely challenging to invigorate and excite because there really wasn’t a purpose to consider it besides maybe the concept of convenience.
And now people are forced out of their comfort zone and able to see the benefits both to themselves and to the greater, I think, purpose of leading healthier, happier lives. So I’m here with great news today. I think the fitness industry is evolving as it should. It’s growing, but only those who really belong and it’s going to be even better, both in service and offering and product. And honestly, in the stickiness to the consumer that’s needed for this to be a lifestyle and an evolutionary part of someone’s health, wealth, and everything in between. I’d love to hear your thoughts and stuck points on this. Let’s talk more about this, soon!
xoxo KK
The strongest aspect to your success is self worth, strategy and hustle… believe that you can and that you deserve it. You’ll get it! -KK FIT TIP #1124