By
applying for a fitness business loan, you can have the money you need to pay for your marketing efforts, hiring, expansion plans, among other initiatives. Check out our top suggestions for utilizing your additional financing so that you can grow your fitness business!
How to Use a Fitness Business Loan
1. Expand Your Marketing
To attract new members, you need to find creative ways to reach them through marketing. For instance, you should make sure you have a user-friendly, attractive website. To start, brainstorm how you can refresh your site, such as featuring client success stories, adding a section with work out tips or selling retail items online. If you’re unsure, don’t be afraid to ask your current customers about how you can improve your website. The more value you can give away for free on your site, the more likely it is that you’ll gain members.
Aside from your business’s online presence, you should invest in marketing handouts like pamphlets and business cards. This is a smart sales tactic; when potential members visit your location, you’ll be able to provide them with papers that detail your fitness business’s benefits, current offers and pricing.
Another marketing idea your business can try is to
sponsor a local athlete or beauty pageant contestant who uses your facilities. This will provide you with a strategic PR opportunity, as you’ll likely get featured in advertising materials for the athlete or pageant contestant’s events, as well as on their social media accounts.
2. Hire More Employees
Are you planning to open a new yoga studio or spinning class, or do you want to hire on more personal trainers? Whatever your fitness business’s specific focus is, building your team of employees is crucial. Having knowledgeable trainers, teachers and location managers will affect your business’s overall customer experience.
Using your loan for hiring is especially wise if you plan on expanding into a fitness franchise. You’ll need to hire enough employees to cover all locations so that you can keep your customers and employees happy!
3. Sell Retail Products
We all know how frustrating it can be to get to the gym and realize we’ve forgotten our weight gloves or ear buds. Keeping popular fitness items on hand is not only a great way to increase revenue, but it also builds rapport with your customers because you’ve saved them from having to drive back home to grab something, or endure a workout session without their music.
Other fun retail options could include selling protein bars and beverages. Gym-goers will appreciate being able to grab their post-workout snack at the gym, instead of having to travel to another location. In addition, you can sell workout clothes decorated with your logo. This is a smart branding opportunity, and gives you another opportunity to earn revenue.
Remember, selling retail items at your gym should bring more value to your location. If certain items aren’t selling, you may end up losing money. Consistently reevaluate what is working for your fitness business and what isn’t.
4. Expand or Open Another Location
Once you have a steady stream of customers using your gym or other fitness facilities, you should consider adding to your existing location. Maybe a specific class really took off, and you know that if the room were twice its size, it would still fill up with customers. Starting an expansion project could help you serve even more customers, and in-turn boost sales.
Expanding can also mean opening another location. Turning one location into a fitness franchise can seem daunting, but with a fitness business loan you will be able to start your project without worrying about your finances. Using your fitness business loan to pay for construction costs will allow you to invest in the long-term future of your business!
5. Update Machines
Provide high quality, high functioning equipment for your customers. If your equipment is outdated or prone to breaking, then you should lease or purchase new models. Having updated equipment will ensure that you don’t lose customers to a nearby establishment that could have better equipment options than your business.
Choosing equipment comes down to researching brands and being willing to purchase expensive options. Over time, cheap equipment wears down, while higher quality machines last longer. Be wary of the alluringly low prices for products that, in the end, won’t last long enough to give you a return on your investment.
Owning a fitness business can be a rewarding experience, made even better as you grow your operations over time. If you’re inspired by ideas mentioned in this post, but don’t have the revenue to make it happen, then consider
applying for business financing!