The longer the economy stays down the more we will hear of companies like Crunch Fitness filing for bankruptcy protection. So how do you prevent yourself from following the likes of Crunch or the other fitness chains that have done this in the past or will in the future. Below I have listed a number of key factors that if you do not have a handle on then you should grab a hold fast before you end up in someone's blog about why you failed.

For success you will need to truly know your market which I break into five equal parts; the people, the community, the region, the staff and the service.

• The people are the demographic you provide services to, you need to understand their needs in order to make sure you are providing what they want and how they want it. If you know the people that use your services then you need to be in the area that they can easily access your offerings. For the most part people will travel 20min by any mode of transportation to get you so you need your services to meet the needs of the demographic in that community.
• Your community is the immediate surroundings of your location so go for a drive and a walk around 20min in any direction and you will see all the businesses and residential housing in your area. Make notes, lots of notes, of competing businesses and of all possible affiliates that are around you. Doctors, lawyers, grocery stores and other professional services are fantastic to have in your community.
• Your region is the town or city and the state or province that you are in. Here it is important that you know of future developments, taxes, governing law, legislation and the effects this will have on your operation or location for example in Ontario the tax change is going to add 8% to all fitness memberships and service. It is also important to find out what events are happening in your region, so if there is a marathon or a festival that would be of interest to your target market (your people) then you can blog it, post it and email it to them and let the viral marketing work its magic. Good news this is free.
• The staff are in my opinion the most important asset a fitness company could have. We are in the service business it does not matter how nice your gear is or big your facility if you do not excel and meet the customer service expectation of your demographic then you are done. Be nice to them treat them well and most of all hire the appropriate staff for your people. You can teach somebody on your systems and style but you cannot teach them personality. Hire their personality and train them on the rest.
• For those that are in the business of fitness you need to sell the right services to your people. Your facility needs to speak to them and make them feel like they are a part of your community this is the same for a boxing gym or a yoga studio. To do this you need to know what your members or clients want from you. Easiest way is a survey, Survey Monkeyis good for online, send it out to your members via email as well as hand it to them personally when they come in the front door. Make it short no more than 10 questions, these questions need to have clear direction and simple answers yes or no with a comment area for suggestions.

Become a master of these five areas and you are guaranteed to be successful and be around even if the markets crash again, which they will it is a cycle after all.

Barry Duncan
Volo Innovation
Surge Ahead