There are no shortcuts to running a gym business. The general upstart can be rough, and even when you think you have a handle on things, management gets tougher with increased popularity.
It’s not easy, but it can be.
The best way to run a successful gym business is by developing a plan for your growth. With a gym business growth plan, you can keep your thoughts organized and build a strategic road map for your gym business.
This article will tell you what a growth plan is, why creating one is essential for your gym business, and how to make a business growth plan.
What Is a Growth Plan?
A gym business growth plan is an ideal vision for your business’s future. It is where you would like it to be in the next year or two.
With a growth plan, you can plan out the company’s goals and objectives and the strategies to get there. There is also room to lay out strengths and weaknesses and how to go about them.
Ideally, the growth plans don’t take too long to draft as it’s focused on a 2-year timeframe. It may take some time to list out all future objectives, but the payoff for an efficient business plan is worth it.
What Does a Gym Business Growth Plan Look Like?
A gym business growth plan needs to be focused and clear for anyone to read. It should cover strategies to improve sales, quarterly financial goals, expansion opportunities, and a breakdown of the staffing’s needs and responsibilities.
Other details that could fit into a growth plan include:
- Marketing aims to focus on the target audience and the number of new customers gained by the end of the operating period.
- Financial forecasts to predict upcoming profits, losses, cashflows, sales, and audited accounts.
- Operational information detailing the location of your business, suppliers, and any additional equipment needed.
Why Is a Growth Plan Important In Business?
Who should prepare the business plan? There are several benefits that prove why planning for your business is critical.
Small, new businesses would need a plan that prioritizes their resources and know the right direction to take their company. It can help strategize ways to increase sales revenue and weed out paths bad for business.
More mature companies could write out a growth plan to keep track of their progress and analyze possible flaws in their current workflow. With years of experience under its belt, an older company can still find ways to improve growth in the business.
Developing a gym business growth plan is also great for investment opportunities. Having a solid idea of running your business operations will go well with investors and place more trust in management.
Team-building can also come from working on a growth plan. Not just the head managers, but the entire team can put their heads together to bring out some creative and productive strategies. An employee might carry a different perspective from the managers that could breathe new life into the company.
What Are The Types of Gym Business Growth Plans?
There are no restrictions on how you should draft your growth plan, but they generally fall into 1 of 4 categories:
Market Strategy
This business growth strategy is one of the most common reasons to create a business growth plan. Companies will outline their next course of action to understand the trending demographic and ways to attract more customers to the product or service.
The plans in this category include marketing campaigns, target demographic research, and following up on the latest trends that attract potential customers.
Product Strategy
The plans in this strategy are focused on the products and services themselves. If it sells well enough, more customers will flock over to the desired item and generate popularity around it. When this happens, the growth plan will outline how to capitalize on this growth.
Some examples of this strategy include possible upgrades or service deals and collecting surveys, reviews, and other feedback about the product.
Development
Development plans usually deal with finding new ways to transfer your product or service into a new market; The focus is on finding new ways to branch out into different markets, if possible.
Diversification
This strategy expands beyond the current market and creates new products for different audiences. This business path gives your company a good image and, if successful, opens new growth opportunities for profit.
How Do You Write A Gym Business Growth Plan?
Whether you are just starting your gym business or in the thick of it, writing out a business growth plan maintains the same steps for any stage. Here are the steps that will help you write the best growth plan.
Specify Your Ambitions
Before writing down your ideas, think about what goals you are trying to achieve with the plan. Brainstorming will be the most time-consuming part as you will need to look at your company from all accounts.
What’s not working at the moment? What areas could be improved?
It would be easier to focus on setting and achieving small incremental goals for yourself. You can also list long-term goals with a checklist of subgoals to accomplish.
Determine Your Metrics
How will you define your measure of success?
If the plan is to increase sales, you’ll be more focused on the profits earned quarterly. If your aim is towards the marketing aspect, then the follower count or views will determine the impact of the product.
Understand the value you will attach to success and build a plan around it.
Set a Timeline
All good plans have an end goal, and it helps to know how long it’ll take to reach your objectives.
If your goals will take longer than a year, plan out the necessary steps to stay on track. What’s important is to remain dedicated to the deadlines and try not to slack.
Use a Template
Microsoft and Excel have made it easier to create a business growth plan with templates that outline all the information you need.
You can find one that fits the needs of your business or treat them as examples while you draft your own.
Final Thoughts
Building a growth plan does a lot of good for your gym business. It will keep your ideas organized and offers more opportunities to advance.
Click here for more details on financing options or call 214-629-7223 or email jthomas@fmconsulting.net for more information. Or, apply now.
An Outsourced CEO and expert witness, Jim Thomas is the founder and president of Fitness Management USA Inc., a management consulting, turnaround and brokerage firm specializing in the gym and sports industry. With more than 25 years of experience owning, operating and managing clubs of all sizes, Thomas lectures and delivers seminars, webinars and workshops across the globe on the practical skills required to successfully overcome obscurity, improve sales, build teamwork and market fitness programs and products. Visit his Web site at: www.fmconsulting.net or www.youtube.com/gymconsultant.
