So, you’ve opened your own gym; thinking about how to increase gym revenue is the logical next step in your fitness business. And even though you’ll hear about how gyms rarely make money, you actually can increase revenue easily in the fitness industry.
But first, the bad news. Home fitness has significantly risen as your existing members are now very likely to work out at home, driving member retention into the ground.
But the good news is that there are a ton of ways to still increase gym revenue, from offering personal training sessions to adding more equipment to your fitness center.
And that’s what this guide is about. We’ll talk about how to get another revenue stream and increase how much you make from your gym. Let’s dive in.
Seven Easy Ways to Increase Your Gym’s Revenue
1. Provide Group Training
Consider offering group training if you don’t already provide the service. Usually, group training offers different kinds of value that your gym members will happily pay for. That will include motivation from group exercises, the ability to mingle with other gym members, and even greater member retention.
You probably already know how tough it is to keep training clients motivated, so grouping training sessions is a great way to get ahead of that.
More importantly, you can increase revenue from group sessions while charging less. Gym members will happily pay a discounted price and still train, and your gym will walk away with a sizeable profit, even after paying the fitness trainer.
As you offer group training, you could charge specific amounts per class, per cluster of classes, or cover these classes in your membership.
These are bound to sell because they create some levels of urgency and accountability while encouraging communal growth and adding value to members. This is one revenue stream that many gyms are now using.
2. Organize Boot Camps
Boot camps are used by many local businesses, but they are especially effective for establishments in the fitness industry. Think about the major reason why most people don’t achieve their fitness goals – it often comes down to a lack of motivation.
Bootcamps offer a solution to that by pushing people to focus on their goal and chase it passionately. A boot camp has massive revenue stream potential for your gym because people love to join boot camps.
If you can launch it at a time when people are most eager to get in shape, even better! Look at early in the New Year, the months before summer, or other periods when people are most motivated to get in shape, and you’ll increase gym revenue pretty rapidly.
You also have to think about attracting more members to your gym. When people hear of a boot camp that’s guaranteed to help them lose weight, they’ll flock to your fitness business.
3. Become an Affiliate Partner
By becoming an affiliate partner, you would share, promote, and encourage potential customers to purchase particular brands and products. You will also be paid a commission when someone purchases the product.
Visit any gym or fitness center, and you’ll find that this is one of the most common revenue streams out there. You could also create your own blend of workout supplements and sell to your members. They are likely to buy because they trust you, and boom, increased gym revenue.
It’s true that affiliate marketing won’t make you wealthy. It’s a nice side hustle that can mildly boost revenue, and when you’ve just opened a new gym, that extra income could be everything.
4. Run Regular Workshops
Workshops are excellent ways to help your members overcome certain hurdles. These are also fantastic opportunities to provide training tools to help mix routines and get better results, making you more revenue.
When you equip your members with more knowledge and better tools, you’re setting them up for more success. This success converts to the retention of members and a more sustainable income for your gym.
When looking to organize workshops, remember the questions that patrons often ask and use them to your advantage. For instance, your workshop could answer questions like:
- What is the best way to prepare for a fitness competition?
- Does lifting heavy make me bulkier?
- How much cardio is best for me?
- What are the best supplements to take?
Before your workshop, you should talk to other brains in the industry. You could also include other professionals in the program.
5. Offer Massage Therapy
Adding new equipment to your gym is an excellent way to increase gym revenue. Many establishments probably already offer personal training sessions, so going a step above that makes sense.
Massage therapy, for example, can be a low-hanging fruit in your fitness center with a lot of revenue payoff. If you have the space, you can strike a deal with a massage therapist and split the income there.
With generating revenue streams, you have to think outside the box, especially when you run a health club. That’s why you should consider leasing your extra space to a massage therapist or another complementary service provider.
6. Offer Nutrition Plans
Americans spend billions every year on health and fitness, and unfortunately, gyms only get a small part of that. Others go to personal training sessions, group fitness classes, supplements, and of course, diet and nutrition.
The more of these services you can offer, the more gym revenue streams you can unlock. You could get nutritionists to work for your gym just as you employ trainers, probably on a freelance deal.
These nutritionists would offer your members services, creating additional income for your business, which is one of the excellent ways to increase gym revenue streams.
You can also bundle this up with your other gym offers to ensure that more people pay. So you could bundle nutrition, personal training, and even supplements into the gym subscription. Throw in some epic customer service, and you can increase your gym’s revenue by a significant margin.
7. Provide online training sessions
One more customer segment that’s inaccessible to you are people who prefer to work out online. These individuals prefer to join a class on Zoom, do HIIT exercises that burn calories, and go about their day.
Offer online individual or group fitness classes to tap into this market by working with a personal trainer to lead the classes. You can also inform your current members of this online class because they may already be considering the switch.
You can also generate additional revenue by offering different tiers of classes. Group sessions will be the cheapest, followed by one-on-one sessions where clients can really focus on their goals.
How to Increase Your Gym’s Revenue in 2023
Create Videos for TikTok
I know it isn’t the most conventional tactic, but it works. TikTok has progressed from a “just-for-fun” app to a potential revenue pit, if you know how to use it properly.
Apart from the regular dance and comedy genres, the fitness genre is now making headway into TikTok, and gym owners are hopping on that trend. These steps will make it easier for you:
- Learn how to use TikTok: Duets, fitness challenges, knowledge sharing, and reaction videos are all ways you can create content on TikTok.
- Create a TikTok profile.
- Check out existing fitness content: If you’re feeling a little lost, explore the app for other fitness content to place you back on track. Use hashtags to find all the videos you require.
- Find a personal content style: You can engage in fitness duets, create exercise challenges, share knowledge on fitness, make videos of people using your gym, and more. Try out different things, so you have the style that suits you.
Using TikTok as a marketing tool may be what your gym needs to expand physically and financially. So go ahead and get TikTok-ing.
Collaborate With Fitness Influencers in Your City
Are you a behind-the-scenes kind of person? Don’t fret; that’s why there are fitness influencers. And even if you love being in front of the camera business, collaborating with influencers is still a great way to promote your gym to a broader audience.
Here are some ideas on how you can make the best of this idea.
- Lean into an influencer who represents your brand and caters to your desired audience. Observe their posts before reaching out to them.
- Offer them some perks of collaborating with you, like giving them a space to film videos in your gym, allowing them to work out in your gym, and more.
- Select TikTok as your social media platform of choice or other platforms as you so wish.
- Be sure to create a content plan with your chosen influencer. This plan will help you to keep an eye on your marketing progress.
It’s a win-win for both you and the influencer. An added advantage is that you get to save money.
Offer Group Discounts
Giving discounts is a tricky subject because, traditionally, you should never offer random discounts. Most customers will start to expect unreasonable discounts once you go down this road.
That’s why popular deals like free-week trials, reward-based discounts, and group discounts are often systematic discount methods. A group discount is one avenue you should explore because it’s one of the best ways to attract several people at once to your gym.
The new year is here, and most people are preparing for their goals. Groups of families or friends who want to do better with their fitness in 2023 will be looking to register at a gym; your gym.
Big Picture Strategies to Generate More Revenue in 2023
Pricing Point
At the risk of losing some customers, you should consider increasing your price as the value you offer increases. More often than not, people tend to hike costs to skyrocket their revenue drastically; this is often the wrong approach.
The right way is to increase it while carrying your existing customers along. A monthly $250 going to $260 is still revenue growth. As long as you continue to find new ways to provide value and be unique, you won’t lose a lot of customers.
Make Pricing Tiers
Humans automatically are open to paying more once they feel it’s a better offer. Instead of flat-out increasing your gym fee, create new tiers or levels. For instance, if members currently pay a cost of $30 per month to access your gym, your pricing tier may look like this:
- $30 – entry level
- $35 – sub-level
- $45 – boss level
These tiers should be clear to clients and potential clients that the values offered increase as the tier increases. You can add tweaks like:
- Unrestricted 24/7 gym access
- Guest allowance
- Membership freeze
- Private sessions
Invest in Lockers
As basic as this sounds, it is an effective way to attract customers while increasing revenue. Everyone loves to work out without thinking about the safety of their valuables. Invest in lockers and charge your clients to gain access to this security service. Additionally, you can add this service to one of your pricing tiers.
Rent Out Space
If your gym has ample space and you don’t intensively use all of it, then this is for you. You can rent the space at a reasonable fee to industries that complement your brand. Businesses like yoga, massage therapies, and wellness treatments will significantly complement your gym business. Apart from the money you’ll earn, your customers can use their additional services and vice-versa.
Team Training
Every member of your staff must know how to sell memberships. As a gym owner, you may think you can handle this alone. But that’s a misconception because the more the number of people on it, the more revenue you can generate.
The demand for gym services is high, and competitors abound. You can break the sale process into stages such as:
- Target your chosen audience
- Know your prospects
- Turn leads into customers by making them membership proposals
- Ease their minds and calm any fears/objections
- Deliver quality service
When you ensure that each of your staff has the excellent knowledge and experience to secure sales, you are guaranteed an increase in revenue.
Retain Existing Clients
In a bid to rush for new customers, don’t forget the importance of retention. By keeping your existing customers happy, you can gradually increase revenue in 2023. Plus, the chance of getting referred to your existing customers’ social circles is very high.
Strategies like interacting with your clients, tracking their progress, and sending encouragement emails will help to retain your customers. It creates a lasting business-to-customer relationship.
Follow Up After Purchases
Following up is inherently a part of retaining existing customers. The period after making an initial sale with a new customer is the best time to follow up. Clients are usually at their best attitude and excitement.
You can do follow-ups by sending ‘thanks for purchase’ notes, checking in on clients, or giving incentives like face towels. These little acts highlight what the customer thinks of your brand, and they are sure to make your gym their favourite.
The Bottom Line
Creating revenue streams for your gum requires a lot, from unique offers to providing an exceptional customer experience. But with the information in this guide, you now have enough knowledge to go and make your gym as profitable as possible.
To increase your gym’s revenue, look into organizing group training, workshops, and boot camps. Then, you can offer nutritional plans, private sessions and lessons, and massage therapy.
You should also invest in your education. For example, check out this post on the things nobody tells you about running a small gym.
