How To Thrive and Survive in Fitness

Fitness Business Basics by Andy Wake and Rachel Holmes

I was going though my article archives and I found this brilliant article by Andy Wake of Boxercise,

It featured in the Choreographytogo newsletter 3 years ago, Ive edited it and added a few additional points to it, as, I think its SO relevant right now.

Rule 1
CASHFLOW , or lack of it , kills businesses. Spend less money than you make and your business will survive.

Rule 2
You ARE NOT in competition with anybody else- only yourself. There is room for competition in the fitness industry- the market is not saturated, it probably never will  be! If your business fails it is because of something YOU did (or more commonly- did not do).

Rule 3
Do NOT BORROW money against your HOUSE, or bank charges and interest will KILL YOUR BUSINESS. Short term borrowing is much better than long term borrowing- even if the rates seem better- check the total amount you will pay back before you borrow. If you add a loan to your house you will pay back the sum borrowed 3 times over!

Rule 4
The best investment you can make is to PAY OFF YOUR DEBTS.

Rule 5
Do not PLAY at being self employed , when you go to work WORK don’t sit there and make endless cups of tea and watch TV or doss about on social media.

If you’re not busy working , get off your butt and generate some work.  For those of you who are in any doubt, you SHOULD be working every minute between 9am and 5pm- cut out the lie –ins!

Rule 6
Grow your company organically, ie. Slowly and with the money you have saved, NOT money you have borrowed. Companies that spend a fortune on huge launches have to pay that money back- usually to the bank, at commercial loan / mortgage rates which are MUCH higher than domestic rates.

Rule 7
Turnover is VANITY, profit is SANITY. Look at the giant companies in our industry, such as the Equipment Manufacturers,  and you may at first say   ’ I wish I was as successful as them ’ . Let me tell you, their level of debt would scare you! It scares them too, most companies operate in hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of debt. If you don’t- well done to you, you are in the 10% of companies that don’t!

Rule 8
Plan your EXIT  STRATEGY before you start, nobody has a crystal ball but at least you should try. One of the things I have seen is people on Dragons Den giving away 50% of their company  for a few quid- even before they START. Absolute MADNESS! Enough said.

Rule 9
You do not become self employed to make Millions- to do this your level of borrowing will need to be SCARY and you will essentially be working for someone else ( like the bank manager or the taxman!) You turn Self Employed for the lifestyle.

Rule 10
If you don’t enjoy it GET OUT!

Rule 11
Work to live NOT Live to work- take regular (scheduled) breaks1

Rule 12
Remember compliments, forget the insults ( those being different to constructive criticism) – If you figure out how to do thIs – LET ME KNOW!

Rule 13
Do not believe what other trainers write on Facebook. And definitely don’t let Facebook hype and comments steer you from your personal goals and plans. Focus on YOU and YOUR business only.

Rule 14
Take advice from people who have done it,lived it and are successful. Success leaves a trial.

The really successful fitness entrepreneurs dont shout about how much they earn or the material possessions they own or how busy there are. They don’t need to…..

What rules would you like to add to this blog post?