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Ollie Bailey

Ollie founded Gymcatch in 2015 with the aim of making participation in fitness easier for all.  As founder, Ollie served as CEO since Gymcatch’s inception. He’s currently focused on growing the platform through strategic partnerships, corporate development and growing the team. Prior to founding Gymcatch, Ollie spent 10 years at Barclays, latterly as a Director covering the TMT sector. He gained an MBA with Honours from the University of Chicago in 2013 and higher class honours in Philosophy and International Relations from the University of Bristol. Outside of the office, Ollie enjoys travelling, playing and watching cricket and spending time with his young family.  He supports a number of charities focused on increasing physical participation.

Nov 07
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How to define your target customer

By Fitness business management archives and news, Gym and studios, HIIT and group, Pilates, Yoga

Who are you targeting as new customers? What do they want from their fitness provider?

Between now and the end of the year we’re going to take a look at 5 areas to help you Get 2023 ready.  Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin or Twitter to be sure you don’t miss our follow-up posts.

In the first post of our series, we look at why it’s important to define your target customer and how to do it.

As you plan for 2023 it’s a good idea to take a step back and think about your perfect customer.  Your customer profile informs everything at your business; what products/packages you offer, your pricing and marketing strategy.  We’ll explore those wider theme’s later in this series, but let’s first think about how to build that profile.

The best place to start is by interviewing, or at least thinking about, a selection of your customers that you’d consider ‘ideal’. How you conduct your research is up to you, you could use a free online survey tool, paper questionnaires or even just write down based on your personal knowledge (we know many instructors know their customer base very well!).

Below we explain the four most important factors to consider when building your ideal customer profile.

  1. Demographics

These are personal pieces of information that describe who we are as individuals and include age range, sex, income range, education, and family status. 

  1. Attitudes

These are lifestyle considerations and focus on what habits they follow, and what goals and pain points they have.  What values and interests do they have?

  1. Actions

This is about behaviour.  Consider how, when and what products those customers buy and potentially ask what they’d like to see added.

  1. Location

With the shift towards working from home, this consideration is particularly relevant.  Consider where your perfect customer is based at different times of the day.

With those questions answered, you can build something like this below (not that it needs to be made pretty!)

From here you can do two things:

  • Review your service and product offering in light of attitudes and location
  • Think about where to find new customers

Reviewing your service offering

Whilst there’s every chance that your current services meet your target customers’ attitudes and location you should take the opportunity to review this regularly. Asking yourself a few simple questions can help:

  • Do all of the services you’ve offered in the past still make sense?
  • Do the buying habits (what’s bought and when) reveal anything about what you should increase or decrease?
  • Do your services accurately map to what your customers state they want?
  • Are there any additions that would better fit or complement their revealed preferences?
  • Do the times of day you offer your services fit their routines?
  • Is there a better or additional location you could use that would better fit their routines?

Think about where to find new customers

With your customer profile built you can now begin to think about marketing tactics:

  • Who would they trust for health/fitness advice or recommendations?
  • Where (digitally / in-person) do they hang out?
  • How best to leverage customer referrals?
  • Are there any local/corporate business opportunities to access them?

This may take some time, and some further research so begins to build that understanding in the next couple of weeks as we review the other building blocks of your business. Making notes on your phone, or having a pad with you to jot ideas down as they come to you is also a good idea.

With your ideal customer profile built and service offering reviewed in our second blog post we’ll move on to consider pricing.  Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin or Twitter to see when it drops in the coming week!

Nov 01
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5 key considerations for managing block bookings or courses

By Dance, Fitness business management archives and news, Fitness industry archives and news, Gym and studios, Pilates, Yoga

In this blog, we consider when to sell sessions in courses or blocks, how best to maximise their operational efficiency, and block-to-block customer retention.

Are courses or blocks right for your customer?

A common theme in our business management content is to start with your customer.  We make no apologies for this, when thinking about your business model you should always start with an assessment of your customer or target customer.

When reviewing whether a course/block of sessions is right for your customers it helps to consider a few headline questions:

  • Do you assess your client’s progress frequently or set short-term milestones?
  • Is there a scheduling reason that courses/blocks may suit your customer better than other models (i.e. pay-as-you-go/memberships)? For example, are you targeting parents that have more availability during school term time?  Or kids where it’s often vice versa?
  • Can your customers afford larger one-offs, or twice over-term payments?
  • Would a perceived lack of flexibility in scheduling put them off?
  • What, if any, service would customers want when you’re not running courses?

When considering these questions, it is perhaps not surprising that many of our business customers who operate this model do so because:

  • They focus on parents as a demographic, effectively dove-tailing with school terms
  • The structure is particularly popular with Pilates and yoga modalities
  • Other programs where clear end results over a period are a focus often use them, with many personal trainers offering either 1-2-1 or small group training courses/blocks.

Your decision-making process can, of course, also be supported by considering whether alternative business models would work better:

  • In instances where courses/blocks make the most sense, it’s often the case that a membership model might be perceived by your customers as too long-term, or a waste of money (as regular commitments mean it wouldn’t get used for much of the year)
  • Whilst pay-as-you-go can supplement course income, running that by itself may also be seen as lacking a desired certainty of attendance for customers and, indeed, income for you as the business owner.  

How to think about retention

A reason we often hear for using memberships over courses is that the former encourages greater retention, as it doesn’t require a regular review / re-purchase. With this, it’s assumed that by surfacing the buying decision regularly you can increase the chances for the customer to cancel/not re-buy.

In our experience, and based on the data we see, this is not a valid assumption, and we believe it rests on some antiquated thinking.  Whilst memberships are absolutely a great model for many businesses, having a recurring, ongoing, payment does not in itself increase customer retention.  Customers are now, perhaps more so than ever, very aware of their outgoings and rights with regards to cancellation.  Just because a payment is automated does not mean that it is unknown or unnoticed.

In our experience, when businesses build a course-centric customer base the ongoing requirement to commit to the next course/block serves to increase retention.  This is because it introduces a ‘fear of missing out’.  This is to say that customers can be made aware that spaces are limited, the course is popular, and if they don’t recommit then they may lose their space with no guarantee they’ll get it back.  This in turn increases their propensity to turn up to sessions and make use of their allocated space.  It therefore actually serves to have a positive impact on accountability, far more so than with a membership where the available sessions are entirely optional/bookable.

In addition, you can increase the ‘fear of missing out’ by layering extra privileges on buyers of your past course/blocks.  For instance, you could offer a priority purchasing window for your next course/block that’s only accessible to those that bought the previous one.  This adds immediacy to the buying decision and, again, drives repeated attendance and accountability which will assist in retention (our industry-leading Priority Access feature can help here).

How to handle swaps and drop-ins?

One understandable gripe we repeatedly hear on our consults is the time it takes many to administer week-to-week swaps when courses/blocks are running.  Illness, transport, childcare, and holidays are common themes that can cause customers to miss scheduled sessions and want to swap into different courses/blocks’ weekly sessions.

Whatever you decide to set for your cancellation policy for sessions, if you’re offering a swap/credit, the process needs to be easy and manageable.  Ensure you find a system (e.g. Gymcatch) that can handle the customer canceling and rebooking of their spot (where there’s availability) across courses/blocks without having to contact you.

With regards to drop-ins, these can be a nice way to both enable swaps, but also boost income if your course isn’t full.  The main thing here is to ensure that you’re not opening up too many spots too early (i.e. too far before their start time).  It’s important to remember that for every drop-in you sell, that reduces your total course capacity (until that session is complete) by one.  So drop-ins at premium pricing are really best used either when they’re made available close to the start date of the session, or if there’s considerable excess capacity in the course.

What to do outside of course term time?

Where courses/blocks are run across school terms, we see two approaches to non-term time.  One approach is to leave the calendar clear.  This can give customers a break, and the flexibility to manage childcare without feeling like they’re missing out or, guilt for non-attendance.  This can also give the business owner some valuable time to refocus on pre-marketing the next courses/blocks and general admin that’s difficult to do during the period of delivery.  If you hire space and variable business costs, it can also mean that you don’t necessarily continue to incur in-term overheads.

The second option we see deployed successfully is for a more flexible set-up over the period.  This might be where you allow only pay as you go, or class pack / bundle-bought sessions.  This can be a great way to boost non-term time income and gives those that want to maintain their routine the ability to do so, all without in any way prejudicing those that can’t.

How to launch or migrate to a new booking system?

If your booking system doesn’t allow for all of the above, then there’s potentially a decision to be made to migrate to one that does.

If you are moving from pen and paper, then planning a launch in between courses/blocks is no doubt a good strategy and can ensure everything kicks off with minimum disruption.  If you’re not digitally confident look for 1-2-1 onboarding as part of the offer.  At Gymcatch, we pride ourselves on ensuring that all customers receive the onboarding support they need.

If you are migrating from a system that doesn’t provide these solutions, or that you’re over-paying for, then thinking about the following can be helpful:

  • When are you going to switch?  Again, in between courses/blocks can make a lot of sense, but equally the system may be able to import/add customers to existing courses/blocks, which may make for a gradual switchover while you’re still seeing customers regularly face-to-face to smooth the inevitable (if hopefully infrequent) questions that come up.
  • Can you import customer data and create their accounts for them?
  • Is it easy for customers to claim their accounts?

We hope you found the post useful.  If you would like to speak about the above and discuss your online booking software and your fitness bootcamp booking software needs, please book a free consultation here or if you’d like to give Gymcatch a go for free for 1 month, please get started here.

Jan 10
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8 client lead generation strategies for fitness professionals

By Fitness business management archives and news

Here are 8 productive channels for generating new client leads. You’ll have a good idea of which are going to work best for you and where to concentrate your efforts.



For all of thee angles remember the three golden rules for engaging new clients.

A. Keep It simple. Make sure everything you communicate is clear and concise.

B. Call to action. Always include a clear call to action in your materials and communication. Tell the client exactly what they need to do next.

C. Track your strategies. Design your outreach in a way that you can track what’s working and what isn’t. This might be asking clients to quote “OFFER A”,“PARTNER B” “REFEREE C” when they respond to one of your offers. However you track results, it’s important you do it so you can avoid spending time on strategies that just don’t work.

  1. Referral scheme

    Your existing clients are your best route to new clients. This will happen organically, people talk about things they like and they want their friends to enjoy things they like with them.

    Your job here is to make it easy for people to bring along a friend and to make the client feel valued for making that recommendation.

  2. Physical Advertising

    Your in-person services are what marketeers call hyper-local. Most people do not travel long distances to attend fitness and wellness. Those services necessarily take place somewhere convenient.

    This makes old fashioned physical advertising a valuable tactic. Posters and fliers in prominent local places with high footfall of people in your demographics. Where do your clients go? Get your marketing materials up there.

    And remember – always give include a call to action: whether that be contact details, the times of your sessions… whatever you want your client to do next. Spell it out and make it easy.

  3. Social marketing

    Social networks are where many of your clients will spend most of their online time. If that’s true for your client base, it’s also where you should be investing sales time. That doesn’t mean you need to have a super-sales-y social profile, nor does it mean you need to think about paid ads. But what it does mean that having an engaging, responsive and vibrant social channels where you interact organically with your client base will be a lead generator in its own right. Having an online marketing strategy will help refine your social media efforts.

  4. Reciprocal marketing

    Are there local businesses who have the same client base as you? Some sort of complementary service? This could be a cafe, salon, bookshop? Can you do a deal with them to promote each other to your client bases. A special stamp card for coffee at the local cafe for your clients? 10% off at the book store for your clients.

    And they can offer some sort of reciprocal deal in their stores to promote your business.

  5. Profile building

    Sometimes when trying to generate leads you’ve got to think laterally. Are there opportunities for you to raise your profile locally? Could you volunteer to do a free session at a care home or a youth club for example? Those markets might not be directly in core market but running those sessions first of all might provide a valuable service to the community, but also if you run those sessions other people might here about it? Staff and residents of the care home and youth workers, parents and teachers of the kids at the youth club will here about you with a very positive image.

  6. Local influencer

    Do you know anyone with a big local influence and following? It could be a local blogger or just someone with a high profile in the community. We’re not talking a TV A-lister, just someone locally with a bit of a footprint. If you can find one why not invite them to a class, or if that’s not a possibility, would they be willing to mention your services to their following.

  7. Intro offers

    People’s buying habits differ. For a lot of people, within reason, price doesn’t really come into play when they are making a buying decision. But for others, particularly when trying something new, there can be reticence about spending money on something they aren’t sure if  they will enjoy.

    For that reason introductory offers are a good idea to make the decision to walk through the door a shot to nothing. In the grand scheme of it it’s also a pretty sound investment for you too. Sure, there will be some clients who come for a discount session or a free session and you won’t see them again. But for a far larger number of clients who may otherwise have not taken the plunge, you’ll have a long-term client.

  8. PR

    Advertising can be expensive but you don’t always need to pay to get into local media. PR is strategy of “selling in” a story to media outlets. If you can come up with something interesting and newsworthy your local media might well be interested in covering it. This needs to be something topical, different, extravagant that will interest the readers of the publication. You won’t get much interest if you ask them to run a story saying that you’re launching a new class on a Monday morning. But you might have more luck if you organised a 24 hour event fundraising for a local charity. 

For more information on Gymcatch group fitness business software and how it can help your yoga, pilates, dance or personal training business. Get in contact to book a demo or start a free month.

Feb 01
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How to become a fitness instructor

By Uncategorized

A fitness instructor teaches, guides, and encourages groups or individuals during activities and exercise routines. Most of the time, fitness instructors teach clients how to execute exercises and monitor their progress. They also help clients reach their fitness goals, provide them with information about lifestyle, manage their weight, and monitor their food intake. Good fitness will adjust fitness programs to ensure that clients reach their goals while maintaining safety regulations.

One of the first things you should do is determine what type of fitness instructor you want to become. Below are the common types of fitness instructors;

  • Personal trainer – here, you will be dealing with individual clients or families. As a fitness instructor, you may have to travel to your client’s homes and work around their schedules. Most of the time, you work with one client at a time. Therefore, you will have to tailor fitness programs for each client.
  • Group fitness instructor – here, you will be working with a group in a studio or outdoor setting. It involves the use of equipment. As a group fitness instructor, you can lead clients in exercises like Zumba, cycling, and dancing. You will also have to offer some specialized attention to each person in the group for better results.
  • Specialist instructor – here, you get to focus on a single discipline. For instance, you can master one type of workouts like yoga, pilates, or spin classes. Here, you will be working in a studio that specializes in a particular discipline. You will need special certification for your field of focus.
  • Health and wellness coach – here, you will focus on clients’ health, daily routines, eating habits, and making life changes for overall wellness. Your role will help clients get in shape, maintain healthy lifestyles, take care of their bodies and achieve all-around wellness.

When determining the type of fitness instructor you want to become, you need to examine each of the options carefully. That way, you can make an informed decision.

Find out the duties of a fitness instructor

After you have figured out what type of fitness instructor you want to be, the next thing you should do if you are looking to start a fitness training career is to research your would-be duties. Below are the primary responsibilities of a fitness instructor;

  • A fitness instructor’s main duty is to work with individuals or groups demonstrating exercise routines and activities. This also involves teaching participants how to avoid injuries while partaking in exercise routines.
  • As a fitness instructor, you will also have to provide your clients with instructions like breathing and using exercise equipment properly.
  • In a fitness class, music is just as important as the exercise routine and instructions. Therefore, another duty of a fitness instructor is to choose the best music selection for fitness sessions. The right choice of music will help the group or individual get energized and motivated.
  • If you are to work as a fitness instructor for individual clients, you will also have to offer one-on-one consultations. In such cases, you will have to work around your clients’ schedules.

With this information, you can go into the business fully aware of what is expected of you. This means that you will also get the chance to prepare for your duties before taking on clients.

Enroll in a training program

After you have all the necessary knowledge of the roles and duties, you may need some training so that you can provide the best services. The good thing about this career is that you do not need a college degree. You can become a fitness instructor by simply completing a non-degree college or certification program. Most of these courses cover the basics of fitness training like cycling, dancing, and strength training. This step is important whether you want to start your own business or get employed. Most employers prefer trainers with certification.

You can also go a step further and get a degree. With a degree in any health-related major, you will have better chances of getting employed in this field. If you decide to take this route, you can get a degree in exercise science, physical education, or behavioural health science, among other health-related areas. Note that you do not need to have this level of education. You can, most of the time, become a fitness instructor with a high school diploma or an associate. However, a degree will give you an edge in the competitive industry. It is also worth noting that the level of education you need depends on the type of fitness instructor you want to become. For instance, if you’re going to become a health and wellness coach, you may need a degree in nutrition, fitness, nursing, healthcare, or psychology. On the other hand, to become a personal trainer, you require a high school diploma and associate certificate.

Acquire the necessary certification

Note that certification is not mandatory. This is especially the case if you are looking to become a self-employed fitness instructor. However, while some employers may not care about certification, most of them prefer it. Before you look for a certificate, you need to check your laws to see which certification programs are credible. The internet is a great tool for this purpose.

Start practising

Once you have completed the steps mentioned above, you can go ahead and look for a job as a fitness instructor. You can also start your practice if that’s the route you wish to take. You can work at a gym, health club, or hospital.

If you decide to start a career as a fitness instructor, you may want to consider investing in a fitness management software like Gymcatch to manager your clients and payments.

Jun 22
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How to take payments online for fitness classes

By Fitness business management archives and news

Following the movement restrictions, lockdowns, and social distancing regulations in different parts of the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most businesses are basing their operations online. Fitness service providers are some of the companies that have had to operate online. Online transactions are quite convenient, but only if you have the right tools. Failure to do so could result in the collapse of the business and a lot of losses. For instance, you need a reliable tool for taking payments. Here’s what you need to know to take payments online.

1. Choose a tool that is easy to use

The first factor you should consider when choosing an online payment system is the ease with which both you and your clients can use the tool. Several companies are offering online fitness classes. You want to make sure that your company stands out from the rest and offers different payment options. Clients will always pick a company that provides the most comfortable and secure payment methods. Make sure to make the task easy for both your clients and your employees.

Complicated tools and software may result in a lot of losses both because of poor administration and loss of clients. For instance, Gymcatch’s software gives you access to a simple Stripe integration means. This online payment system allows customers to book and pay for fitness classes easily via debit or credit card.

The amount of time it takes clients to make the payments should also be as minimal as possible since clients tend to get bored and leave lengthy card transactions without achieving their goals. Your goal for your business should be to attract new clients and to maintain the loyalty of those who are already working with you via recurring payments.

2. Simplified billing systems

The billing systems should also be simplified. As a business, you should be able to send statements, track balances, and receive payments within the same methods. Group transactions for families and other companies should also be tracked under the same account. You want a system that allows you to send bills to clients directly from the calendar. It should also allow you to send invoices and statements via email. In other words, you want to accept payments online. It also wouldn’t hurt if you could schedule, bill, and receive payments on a single platform.

3. Make sure clients get their receipts

Receipts are very important because they are a proof of payment. The fact that they are given in different kinds of stores, including supermarkets and retail stores, is proof enough of their importance. Therefore, you don’t want to be the only company that does not provide receipts immediately after payments. A software that gives automatic receipts would be the best option. You also want to make sure that the receipt is not dispensed until the money is received in your bank account. This will help you avoid unnecessary losses.

4. Flexibility

You also want to pick a method of receiving payment that is flexible. For instance, your clients should be able to make payments on any device like computer, iPhone, Android, or Tablet. This will help you attract all kinds of clients hence earn you more money. Also, make sure that the tool is easy to use on whichever device.

5. Global scale

You also want to pick a method of taking payments that can help you work with clients from different parts of the world. This is especially important for an online fitness business because you can accept clients from different parts of the world. A payment processor that can be used by clients from different parts of the world should come with algorithms that can process different currencies and payments made from different parts of the world. This feature will help your business stand out from others in the market.

6. Additional features

Tools for taking payments like Gymcatch software provide a wide variety of features. Using the stripe method, the money is sent directly to your bank account without any deductions like commission and other transaction fees.

Gymcatch also allows you to create blocks and courses of classes that clients can purchase and get booked on the relevant sessions. It also enables you to set time-limited drop-in bookings. This will help you maximise your revenue by automatically switching customers to another available session if they can’t make the class they’re booked into.

You also want software that will help you to create a flexible discount code. Examples of such codes include early bird codes, intro, exclusive and promotional offers. They can be applied to individual sessions, packages, courses, and customers as well. They allow you both control and flexibility with your pricing.

Picking the right software

The tool you use for taking payments is the backbone of your business. The simpler and more efficient the mobile payment tool is, the more successful your business will be, and the more profits you will make as well.

With the Gymcatch group fitness business software, you can create passes, bundles, and free trial classes. Your clients can also pay for the services with customisable terms and conditions. Gymcatch also allows you to cap, place time limits, and allow flexibility and convenience for your clients. If you would like more information on how Gymcatch fitness management software works, feel free to get in contact with us or book a demo online.

Jun 22
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7 tips for streaming online fitness classes

By Fitness business management archives and news, Gym and studios

Fitness professionals have had to adapt their businesses to the surge in demand for online fitness classes. Live streaming, for example, has opened up new ways of conducting businesses, from product descriptions to tutorials and exercising. With the current pandemic, fitness studios around the world can reach out to their clientele and deliver useful fitness classes through live streams. However, they need to do several things right to ensure success. Here are a few tips for streaming online fitness classes.

1. Dressing code for live instructors

It is essential that you wear clothing that is branded with yours or your gym colours and logo. It helps with brand awareness, recognition and professionalism. Besides, avoid clothing that blends with the background as most users cannot tell your form, yet it is vital when exercising. Although you are excising, you should look presentable on camera. However, there’s no need to call a professional makeup team, as looks are not the primary focus of the show.

2. Video tips for streaming online fitness classes

Lighting

Lighting affects the quality of your live stream. You need your audience to see every action in HD quality. Otherwise, those good moves will be of no use to them. You can either have natural or artificial lighting. If you have windows, do your performances facing the source of light. Investing in artificial lighting is a must if you streaming a dimly lit room to avoid negative feedback from clients.

Take Care of Acoustic Noise

Ensure that your voice is clear and audible. You can use wireless lapel microphones strapped to your clothing and connecting to your camera or capture device. Ensure that the room doesn’t have too much echo or noise from other areas. If broadcasting from a home environment, it is essential to warn other occupants that you’ll be live streaming so that there is no disturbance. You may also want to mute all participants in the steam so that they’re not interrupting for others.

Keep Your Set Simple

Only keep the items and props that you will require for your exercises in the live stream. This will avoid you having to run out of shot to pick up a piece of equipment which will make you look unorganised and unprofessional. Also you don’t want anything that might distract the attention of your viewers like cars going past the window.

3. What fitness equipment should you use in your live shows?

Where possible, stick to items that your viewers can find at home. Minimal equipment makes your online fitness classes relevant as your viewers can replicate the same at home. However you can add fitness equipment that can be bought with ease but remember to tell them your clients beforehand what they will need for each home workout. Bare in mind fitness equipment is pretty scarce at the moment due to the current climate so it’s good to be flexible with the requirements.

4. What equipment do you need for live shooting?

Fortunately, live streaming doesn’t require expensive equipment to stream high-quality videos. This can be done by the use of the phone or a USB webcam from your living room. There are also cheap handycam brands that you can purchase for live streaming. When using the phone, ensure that it is fully charged. It should also shoot horizontally so that you can have a wide-angle camera. The camera should be placed on a stable location and at an appropriate height to your type of workout without adjustments.

Gymcatch offers various tools that you can use to schedule multiple sessions and deliver virtual classes through platforms such as Zoom. It enables you to share the link to your online fitness classes with ease and interact with the audience that will be following you online. You can also request payments and manage bookings for online classes with ease.

5. Test everything

Do a test run of your live stream before you go official. Running a free trial or a reduced price while informing your customers there could be technical issues. You could also invite friends and family for test class if you don’t want to push your sessions live until everything is running perfectly, bear in mind they can be biased towards you.

6. Ensure that internet connection is stable

It is vital that your videos are smooth and of high quality throughout the entire session. If several devices are sharing the narrow bandwidth, turn off access for any other device that is not directly used in the workout. This is vital to avoid audio cut-outs and video lags.

7. Deliver the live session professionally

At the start of the session, welcome your clients as you would in an in-premise workout session. Tell them how they can contact you and ask whether anyone would be comfortable being called out in the video. Be careful about the music you play in your videos so that you do not use copyrighted material. There are sync licences to help you use a song in your session. However, you can also get royalty-free music on platforms such as Premium Beat and Artlist.io.

Don’t forget to have fun and enjoy the workout experience. If there are glitches (they do happen even with meticulous preparation), do not stress about them; apologise and continue with your workouts. However, be sure to correct them for subsequent online workouts.

Want to find out more how Gymcatch can help you stream your fitness classes online. Feel free to get in contact with us or sign up for a free demo and we’ll get in contact with you.

Jun 22
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How to price your fitness classes online

By Fitness business management archives and news, Fitness marketing and social archives and news

The global pandemic has changed the way most of us do everyday things. People have been introduced to Zoom meetings, podcasts and grocery delivery slots, and online exercise classes have become part of the norm. Virtual exercise has welcomed a different group of people into the fitness community – those seriously pushed for time, folks with caring obligations, the self-conscious and the gym curious.

For fitness providers, now is the perfect time for offering online tuition of all kinds. But if you’ve never held a virtual class before, or you’re adding to your repertoire, you’ll need to know how to price your service.

Here are 5 things to consider when you are working out what to charge for your fitness classes online.

Class size

Think about how many participants you want to teach. If you offer one-to-one classes then the costs will be passed onto a single client, but smaller group classes would lower the cost per person and potentially give you more income.

How does that work? Well, for a personal 1-2-1 class you could charge £40 as an example, but if you offer small group sessions for just 4 people at a time and ask £12 each, each client pays less and you earn and extra £8 a time.

Large classes with limitless participants can be offered at a lower cost per head, but think about how many you’ll need to make your target income? You could think that being cheap will encourage larger numbers, but is it really worth it to you? If you have 20 people logging in at £4 each, it’s the same to you as 16 logging in for £5 per head but you need 4 fewer clients each session which might be easier to achieve. So you need to consider if you’ll be able to fill the class at your selected price to get the profit margins you want.

Check your competitor prices

Sounds like a basic thing to do but checking out your competitors is key. Make sure you understand what others charge for the same service. Make a comprehensive list so you can make a good comparison, don’t just stop once you find one. There are no set rules when it comes to online classes – you will probably find a wide range of prices but you’ll notice a trend to give you a ball-park figure to work with. Take note of what others offer for their price such as the length of class, frequency, number of sessions a week and if there is a cap on the number of participants.

Block booking and packages

Consider whether you want to offer courses or block bookings at a discount. To get clients to pay upfront for a package of 5, 6 or 10 classes will help you with your finances but be aware that this comes with some complications.

Will your customers have to use their sessions for the same class each week or can they log in for your full programme of sessions? How much of a discount will you offer for booking multiple classes at a time and will this still give you the income you need? Clients will want to have the option to miss a session due to sickness or have a refund if they cancel.

Your cancellation policy must be clearly displayed and carefully thought out before you choose this option. There is no reason that discounts like this won’t work well, they simply require some planning.

Uniqueness and popularity

Be aware of the uniqueness of your classes. Straightforward HIIT sessions are more commonly found online so, without an unusual hook, you can’t charge much more than your competitors. But if you specialise in Kundalini Yoga, for example, then you are offering a niche product and can charge a premium rate.

Setting the price

The last thing to be aware of is that people will make an opinion of your classes based on the price. Offer your services too cheap and it will be considered an inferior product. Set your fees too high and clients will expect much more from you, and the extra cost will put off a large group of clients. There is a sweet spot – you just need to find it.

Luckily, you don’t need to think of everything by yourself. Gymcatch has made life easier for online fitness class providers with software that is simple to use. Take class bookings, manage waiting lists and collect payments with ease. If you’ve decided to use promo codes, passes and bundles to get things off the ground, then you can set all of these too – you have complete control. Get in touch for a free demo.

Apr 21
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How to gain more clients through yoga marketing

By Fitness business management archives and news, Fitness marketing and social archives and news, Yoga

Yoga is quite amazing. People rely on it to transform into better versions of themselves. It helps people to heal. And those are some of the reasons the yoga industry continues to gain more popularity in the UK. However, running your own yoga studio is not a walk in the park. Like any business, the yoga industry has a lot of challenges and competition. Therefore, you need to embrace the best yoga marketing strategies to stay ahead.

Let us have a look at some of the most effective yoga studio marketing strategies that you could employ.

Come up with loyalty programs

If you wish to increase your client base, an easy way to do it is to create loyalty programs for clients who frequent your yoga studio. So, why are loyalty programs important? Well, they will make your clients happy, which means that you will retain most of them. Happy customers can help you sign new clients faster by recommending your studio to friends and relatives.

You, therefore, should make the loyalty programs a priority; they don’t even have to be complicated. Something simple such as a point system could work. This is where a customer earns points every time she/he comes to your studio, and these points add up to some real redeemable value.

Entice your customers with value

Another great way of getting more clients coming to your yoga studio is by enticing them with value. What does that mean? Simple. Come up with viable ideas on how to create special promotions for your customers. For starters, you can offer new clients free trials. If you wish to retain the clients, however, then you’ll have to come up with something sustainable and much better than a free trial.

For instance, you can come up with incentives such as reducing the rate of the first few classes. Additionally, you could come up with a great pricing model that is easy for your customers to understand. That way, your customers will have an easier time selecting a package.

Target your audience

Another great way for you to grow your client base is by knowing your target audience. Once you define the customers you’d want to come to your studio clearly, then you can come up with yoga advertising ideas. Ensure that each ad you put out there focuses on a particular audience. You could even use your current customers to determine the people within the same demographic.

Fortunately, there are plenty of ways for you to advertise your business. One of the most effective platforms includes social media. You could post Facebook ads targeting different audiences. You could also send out emails to people who seem to share the same interests with your current students. That way, you will be able to reach a wider client base.

Rely on yoga studio software

We live in a technological age. Long gone are the days where you had to stack files to maintain your database. That is why you need to start using yoga studio software to streamline tasks in your business. If you have the proper management software, then your instructors will have an easier time managing your clients.

But that’s not all! Having the proper software in place could also improve your booking procedure. In fact, clients will find it easier to schedule studio sessions because the software provides versatile booking procedures. Additionally, the software will save you and your customers a lot of time, and there is nothing more enticing to a customer than saved time and flexible solutions.

Hire great instructors

Hiring great instructors counts as one of the best yoga marketing ideas. How come? When a client comes to your studio, she/he looks towards bettering themselves. As a result, clients will want to be under a trainer who can help them achieve their fitness goals effectively.

Besides, your staff contribute to the success of your business greatly. So, whenever an instructor takes your clients through a particular structure or yoga style and it works, there is a high likelihood that those clients will recommend your business to others. The opposite also applies.

To get a good instructor, you have to make sure that you are thorough during the hiring stage. Besides hiring the skilled instructors, you should also come up with ideas to promote them. By doing so, you create a good rapport with them, and they will be more likely to take care of your clients as expected.

Connect with local businesses

Yoga studio marketing should involve creating partnerships with local businesses, especially if you set up your business in a small town. You should make an effort to know the owners of the businesses around you, especially those that you can benefit from.

For example, if there is a coffee shop within your location, you can organize an event whereby the coffee shop will serve as the caterers in your studio parties. This will benefit both parties, and that is how other business owners will recommend your business to their clients.

You must ensure that any partnership you get into will benefit both parties. Otherwise, your efforts will be futile. Moreover, ensure that any dealing you have is both time and cost-effective.

Sell products in your yoga studio

Frankly, anyone coming to a Yoga studio is looking to stay fit by embracing a wellness program. Therefore, if you want to gain more clients, then you should try selling wellness products in your studio. That will not only entice your customers but will also help you engage with them much better. Furthermore, you get to boost your source of income.

Apart from wellness products, you can also sell beauty products, nutrition supplements, yoga clothing, and fitness equipment. You can even go a step further and brand these products with your business’ logo to increase awareness.

Host a free workshop

One of the best and most effective ways of gaining new customers in a yoga studio is by hosting a free workshop. However, you must ensure that the workshop focuses more than just your current yogi students. There is a high likelihood that there are people in your locality who have never considered yoga as something they would do. As such, you should tailor your workshop to focus on them as well.

The primary purpose of your free workshop should be to create awareness. Use it as a platform to educate those people who don’t know a lot about yoga and to clear out some myths that surround the practice. Be careful, however, not to make it so overwhelming.

Like any other business, the yoga industry is a competitive one. Therefore, you may want to employ the yoga marketing tactics that we’ve listed above if you want to stay ahead of your competition. Proper marketing strategies will not only get you more clients but also increase your revenue.

To take your yoga offering to the next level check out how Gymcatch can help you. Book a demo today!

Apr 21
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Gym name ideas: The inspiration you need

By Fitness marketing and social archives and news, Gym and studios

The fitness industry is rapidly growing. Therefore, several fitness shops are opening around the country and competing for a similar audience to your gym. You need to differentiate your service from the rest to attract a substantial market base. One of the ways you can do this is by selecting the right name for your gym. Your prospective customers must have heard the name of the gym before they even know what you are offering.

The name also gives the personality and the identity of your brand. This way, you can give your audience a preview of who are and what you do. Unfortunately, coming up with gym names can be challenging. In this article, you are going to learn the importance of a good business name and steps to follow when coming up with creative gym names.

Why should you select the right business name?

The name embodies everything about your gym business. It gives your brand the voice, personality, core values and the vision of your gym. The audience is able to tell what you do and how you do it. You can also tell a story of your life with the name.

Grabs attention and enhances recall

A good name captures the attention of your users. Then, it becomes the word that comes to mind when your target audience is looking for quality fitness training.

Influences user perception

You can use your name to influence how the users view your brand. Perception plays a role in the effectiveness of your marketing methods and shapes your branding strategy.

Steps to use when coming up with a name for your gym

As discussed above, the gym name is a vital component of the business as a whole. Below are a few steps on how to generate name ideas for your fitness business.

Know your potential market

You always have the target customers in mind when coming up with a business name. This enables you to get a name that presents the right message about your business. To determine your target market, start your research using demographics such as income, location, gender and level of education. Create a wholesome gym persona of your potential clients.

Check how the competition is doing it

The local competitors are looking at a similar audience as you. Therefore. Some of the ideas that they are implementing can work in your case. Look at their choice of the brand name and ways they engage their audience. Use this to gain insight into your naming. However, do not use a name that is similar to any of the competitors so that you do not end up losing clients to rivals due to the name confusion.

Select your archetype

The archetypes are those characteristics that determine your brand. They are also the models of thinking and long-lasting truths that form part of the brand perception. Popular archetypes include the hero, magician, caregiver, lover and the outlaw. Create a name around any that you pick to bring pout the personality defined by the archetype. Brands like Nike and Gymshark have created names around such models as heroism and magician.

Generate name ideas using online tools

You will find various business name generators on the internet. These free tools will ask for the type of business and come up with tons of names. While these names may not be the most inspirational ones out there, the ideas can give you insights for your brainstorming. The good thing is that these tools are free. You can always play about with various elements to see what names you can get. Then, pick a few names and improve them to create excellent results.

Keep your name simple

Create a simple, straightforward name for your gym. Remember, when it comes to business names, simple ones are the most memorable. You also want a name that your customers can share out with ease. However, being simple does not mean that it should be boring. Always pick a catchy name that shows what your fitness business is all about.

Here are a few examples of simple but effective business names, SoulCycle, Cobody and Bam Bam Boogie. In the above examples, SoulCycle’s main fitness activity is cycling, while Cobody main business is getting fit in a small space. If you are running a business with various services, you do not need to be specific on a particular activity. Instead, you can go for gym name suggestions such as Fit Train, FitPro, Cheetah Gym and Ribbed Lift.

Get a different perspective

You may find it hard to come up with names on your own. In such a case, ask for help from other people. They can inspire you and help you find insights out of the box. On the other hand, if you have gym name ideas and are not sure if they are good, shortlist the best ones and ask for other people’s views on the same. Professionals in the fitness industry are a good point to start.

However, if you would like to try various gym name ideas on a circle that is larger than your immediate one, you may use social testing tools such as SurveyMonkey. With such online tools, you can send your ideas to a small focus group and get detailed feedback. Since the focus group does not know you, they are more likely to give honest feedback.

You can also get prospects from your target audience and ask them a few quests on gym names. Here are examples:

• Is there a memorable gym that you know?
• What does the name remind you?
• What would you expect from gyms with similar names?

Check if you can use the name and domain

It is essential that you check if the name is free or similar businesses are using it. This saves you from unnecessary lawsuits from the use of a registered business name.

On the other hand, you need your domain to look similar to your name. Given that over 65% of your target market are likely to search for a business online, you would want the name that comes to their mind to point to your domain. After securing your domain name, go ahead and create an excellent gym website. Also, consider having a gym management system to meet your customer service expectations.

Examples of excellent gym names

ConBody

ConBody fitness group showcases it offers as activities as prison-style fitness. CossMarte created the company while he was incarcerated. These classes are designed based on workouts that he could complete in his 9″ by 6″ cell. In essence, this business name tells a story of the owner’s life and the kind of fitness styles you would expect from its classes.

Girls Just Wanna Box

A boxer called Kristina Ejem started this company. During her physical training on boxing, she had first-hand experience of how women boxers are disadvantaged in their training. Since there were very few opportunities for women to join boxing, she started a niche in this area. This is when Girls Just Wanna Box was established. From the business name, it offers courses that are specifically designed for women who would like to join boxing. This name provides an excellent example of how one can communicate the product directly to the audience using a name.

Conclusion

The choice of creative gym names affects customer perception, brand marketing strategy, and product positioning. Use the examples and ideas generated in this article to clear a perfect name for your fitness business. A good name is several steps ahead into marketing your gym.

Once you’ve got your gym brand name sorted out you’re going to need gym management software. That’s where Gymcatch can help, book a demo and see what we can do for you.

Apr 21
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How to start a dance studio

By Dance, Fitness business management archives and news

Has the question on how to start a dance studio ever crossed your mind? Or, have you already began researching how to start one. Maybe you have wondered whether you have whatever it takes to start and run it and make it prosperous. Does any of these sound familiar to you? Here is a post for you! Below is a guide on how to open a dance studio, from the first step to the grand opening of your studio.

Track a studio or proprietor you admire

Do you recognise another studio director that you admire or respect? Do you like a local studio in the city or another town? The perfect way to learn how to start a dance studio is to work in it. If there is a local studio that has existed for a while, fix a few hours to visit the studio daily and take notes. Or get a studio owner you like and ask whether he can be your mentor.

While you are there, you can volunteer to stand-in the diverse jobs or roles where they require assistance so you may see the way things work from every angle. This gives you clues to significant challenges in dance trade and the way they are fixed.

More significantly, ensure you enjoy your work! Starting a dance shop is a great way to segment your love for a dance with a wider audience, but it is not for everyone and that is fine.

Get ready for the roles you will take on

In addition to understanding the commerce, you also require a clear picture of the diverse roles you take on being the owner. Past choreography and teaching lessons, you are to manage many fragments of your business. Some of the roles include:

• Manager: You will ensure that daily schedules and activities run smoothly. You must have the ability to convey what you need, what you require to improve and make sure your workforce is focused on the objectives.
• Mentor: you will represent the attitude and work ethic you presume from staff and students.
• Entrepreneur: your job does not stop at the opening of the studio. You ought to advance and come up with new dance studio plans. Being an entrepreneur, you will also be deeply involved in community outreach, marketing, customer service, event coordination, and more.

Find out from the beginning which of the roles comes naturally from within and which is best subcontracted to another reliable teacher or employee.

Build a title for yourself in the community

Dance studio Holders often go with confidence knowing that they have enough followers to take classes from the start. In case you don’t have enough followers yet, find them in the following ways:

• Offer dance services to the local gyms, schools, and churches
• Offer discounts for individuals who refer the classes to family and friends
• Advertise your classes at close businesses which are not entrants but have a clientele interested in dancing
• Share your approach to dancing on social media and personality so that others in the community can know you better

This is a long step you should accomplish before searching for a location or drawing up the business plan, as it consumes time. Fortunately, you may work on this while performing your other initial dance studio opening tasks.

Make your business plan for the dance studio

Your dance workspace business plan refers to a document that describes your business objectives and how you want to attain them. It lays a firm base for your studios for years ahead. Here are some of the essential sections you should include in the business plan:

• Executive summary
• Business description
• Products and services
• Market analysis
• financial estimates
• Marketing summary

Find the perfect place for your studio

Once you have found out how the business will work and what your monetary position is, you may start finding a good location. At this stage, the question “how much does it cost to open a dance studio” comes to mind. Find out the amount you have for renting and what additional costs come with the site you choose.

Dance studios have their unique requirements. Ask yourself the amount of space you will require. Do you need a room or several studios in your location? Also consider an office, a lobby, storage, commercial space, bathrooms, hallways, and a waiting room.

Also do not ignore things like:

• Parking Options: Do space have enough parking space for the number of learners you expect to attract?
• Security: Parents must feel safe and comfortable when taking their children to your place
• Visibility: It might cost extra to be in a visible place, however, it also allows passive marketing

Develop your processes and systems

It is time to come up with a plan on how to run your studio when it opens. This is more detailed and separate compared to the business plan, however, it is very important.

Also note that the more structured your process and system initially is, the lesser the persons you will have to hire. This is the reason why so many dance studio holders use management software for a dance studio. For instance, Gymcatch provides a dance studio management software that helps you manage your payments, classes, customer communications, and bookings. This plays a great role in saving time and reducing labour costs.

Arrange your studio room

Things like mirrors, floors, and dance Barres are an integral part of a ballet studio. Ensure you set up in a really attractive way. Do not stop there. Be sure to set up your dance studio such that it invites movement and creativity.

Employ your dance studio personnel

You may not require a lot of staff, especially if you are just starting. Please note, however, that you may not have much time to teach many lessons when you initially open it. As the owner, there might be many chores on your plate at first. Hence, your first employee might be someone who can train your classes, most likely short term. A different one can help with administrative tasks and front office.

Market your dance studio

You possibly have a great collection of individuals ready to register for your lessons. Still, it is important to inform the public about starting your ballet studio.

For starters, your website is your primary source for recruiting new students. Here, parents see your location info, contact details, positive feedback, teaching hours, and more. With a website, you can link directly to the Gymcatch website which helps you save time, increase revenue, promote communication with clients, and promote customer experience.

In addition to your website, ongoing advertising tasks include:

• Increase word of mouth promotion and referrals
• Build your presence on social networks
• Expand your email list
• Compilation of positive feedbacks on social networks and Google
• Develop partnerships with other local companies and charities

Once you’ve set up the above tasks, it is time to promote your official opening. Here are some ideas:

• Hang a large poster so that people can see that you have completed your “Grand Opening”.
• Keep an open house
• Place ads on social media and in local newspapers
• Have your learners perform at occasions in the community
• Find small commercial events to take part in
• Hang brochures at sociable local companies

Finally, people don’t open a dance studio for administrative tasks. They open for the liking of their profession. Offer yourself the chance to relish the dance studio you start. The above guideline will help you if you still have a query on how to start a dance studio. Go through it and you will never regret.

Managing your dance studio will be much easier with Gymcatch dance class management software.

Book a demo and get in contact with Gymcatch today.

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