Five ways to increase your fitness club’s profit

No matter what kind of gym you are operating, surely one of your main goals is to maximize your profit. Only then you can grow your business and turn it into a success. As you probably already know, there isn't a hard and fast rule that works 100% for any gym. But multiple strategies can help you.

When you try to improve how you increase your profit margins, it's good to focus on small changes easy to measure. However, if you have already implemented a series of strategies that don't work, you shouldn't throw in the towel and try to change everything. Instead, make minor adjustments and constantly track the results. Only then you'll be able to see what works and what doesn't.

I can recommend a few simple strategies that you can use at your fitness club without too much effort, which can positively impact your business' profit.

Price difference

I am sure you offer basic and all-inclusive memberships with a slight price difference between the two. Generally, those willing to pay for premium services will do so even if the price difference is more significant.

Therefore, instead of providing premium services with only a few dollars or euros more, create packages with loads of benefits that you can sell at double or even triple the price of the basic ones. Ensure those purchasing these memberships receive all the attention they deserve from your staff and are treated like superstars. Members won't have an issue paying more if the services are premium.

Change the duration of the memberships

Most gyms have month-long memberships, three, six, and twelve months. Some larger chains provide 2-year contracts as well. But that doesn't mean you must follow the same concept. Instead, provide memberships with a particular number of weeks at a discounted price. This type of membership is desirable, particularly for new members that are not ready to commit to a long-term contract, even if it's just for a month.

For instance, the price for two weeks will be a lot easier to take in. Once the member starts visiting the gym, you can help them find a rhythm and then constantly renew their membership and become a loyal member.

In general, the shorter the membership period is, the higher the price per day is. Therefore, memberships for 2 or 3 weeks will have greater value for your business.

Limit the number of sessions

Another phenomenon that I often encounter at gyms is unlimited memberships that provide access anytime the member wants. Usually, this strategy is meant to give a greater value to that membership because it has no limits, and the member can train whenever they want. However, this doesn't necessarily make it the best option.

Usually, when people have unlimited access to particular services, they tend to postpone using them. Therefore, particularly for a new member who just purchased an unlimited membership, it will be very easy to delay visiting the gym every day. Then, when their membership expires, they barely use it, and they won't see any reason to renew it.

However, if a membership has a particular number of entrances or class bookings, they will be more determined to use them because it's something they can quantify. So if they don't use those 8 check-ins that month, they know they will be losing 8 entrances.

Therefore, you can provide these memberships, particularly for new members, to easily encourage them to use them. As I mentioned before, once they get into a habit of going to the gym, their renewal will be a given. But that won't happen if the member doesn't visit the gym from the start.

Decrease the duration of a PT session

If you provide personal training sessions, you can decrease the duration of a session slightly without cutting into the price of the package. This way, your trainers will have time for more clients during the day.

If your PT services are among the most popular at your club, you can decrease the duration of sessions from 60 minutes to 45 minutes or even 30 if you also cut the price a little. The cost of the package can be 25% lower, but trainers can double the number of sessions, which means the sales of these packages will increase and offset the discount.

Lower the number of group X classes

Assess your group fitness classes to find the most popular ones. Usually, clubs have 6 or 7 classes per day during the week, but not all are at total capacity. Nonetheless, you must pay your instructors just the same.

Consider cutting the classes that are constantly not full and limit them to 4 or 5 per day. The cost of our instructor will decrease, and you can increase your profit with a logical cost cut. In addition, if all your classes become full, you will attract the attention of the rest of your members that usually don't attend classes.

If you notice that more and more members complain they don't get a spot for their favorite classes, you can reconsider the daily number depending on their preferences.

You can slowly add new classes, maybe the same that are usually at capacity, and condition members to attend as often as possible.

I know not all these changes are easy, but they can significantly influence your company's revenue. Try to take them step by step, and don't forget to keep track of the result of each change. Some of these strategies might not work, and others to be a surprising success. You won't know until you try it.