What We Cover In This Episode:

• Pre-event planning strategies to pay attention to when creating a successful outdoor event [4:56]

• The necessity of clear communication with attendees regarding location, parking, weather expectations, and what to bring [6:55] 

• An important reminder to confirm location permits or partnership agreements before hosting outdoor fitness events in public spaces or other venues [12:09]

• More client communication tips that will set your event up for success [13:49]

• The basics of a contingency plan to have in place and other considerations to keep in mind in terms of logistics on the big day [15:10]

Quotes: 

“I think this is a huge blunder when people don’t do this. You’re going somewhere new, and that means for existing clients that are coming, it’s also new to them. So, where are you going to be? Draw a map, maybe get some drone footage coverage if you can do that, make Instagram posts about it and tell them where they can park.” [7:46] 

“Always treat your outdoor events like a business, not a block party. Your reputation and liability are on the line....you want to create a community gathering as best you can, you want it to feel like a party, but it is a business first.” [8:19]

“Send a day before text and email with location, parking tips, weather expectations and what to bring. I think that leading up to this they should know where they’re going to park, they should know where it’s going to be, but weather expectations is something that you can do earlier in the week to get people prepared.” [13:54] 

LINKS: 

Learn More About All of Our Partners & Get Exclusive Offers

Visit the fitDEGREE Knowledge Base

Send Megan Your Playlist or Discuss the Podcast Here! 

fitDEGREE’s Business Portal

https://calendly.com/fitdegree-support 

[email protected]

https://www.instagram.com/fitdegree/

​​https://www.instagram.com/fitspot_guru/ 

https://www.fitdegree.com/blog 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChJ5rK6zWPXjbxtUQx3ys9Q

https://www.tiktok.com/@megan_fitdegree

What We Cover In This Episode:

• Details on the FTC negative option rule coming into effect May 14th and why compliance is key when it comes to protecting your boutique fitness business [3:51]

• The clear and easy to use option to keep your business compliant as well enhancing the client experience [5:38]

• How FitDegree provides control over in-app cancellation options [8:05]

• The new reporting feature in FitDegree that allows studios to track membership cancellations, along with optional push notifications for real-time alerts and more [11:07]

Quotes: 

“This is going to be about transparency, it is about consumer protection, tha’s why it is being enforced, and it’s about making sure people don't feel trapped in a membership they can't get out of.” [Nick, 4:03]

“It is not a ‘nice to have’, it is a federal law. You need to stay compliant and it's one of those things that if you do a little bit of work upfront you are going to avoid legal headaches down the road. It’s also going to build trust with your clients.” [Nick, 4:46]

“We saw some softwares come out with this feature before us and they simply just threw a cancel button on there. We took our time… with our development team.” [Nick, 8:19]

LINKS: 

Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

Learn More About All of Our Partners & Get Exclusive Offers

Visit the fitDEGREE Knowledge Base

Send Megan Your Playlist or Discuss the Podcast Here! 

fitDEGREE’s Business Portal

https://calendly.com/fitdegree-support 

[email protected]

https://www.instagram.com/fitdegree/

​​https://www.instagram.com/fitspot_guru/ 

https://www.fitdegree.com/blog 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChJ5rK6zWPXjbxtUQx3ys9Q

https://www.tiktok.com/@megan_fitdegree

What We Cover In This Episode: 

• The key financial readiness benchmarks you should be considering before transitioning to full-time [4:55]

• What operational systems are key for a fitness studio transitioning from part-time to full-time [9:01]

• Why it is so important to test if your fitness studio can function without you [11:53]

• What analyzing the last three months of business will tell you about the position you are in to go all-in with your business [16:11]

• Free tools and resources you can use, including how the "Profit First Method" and how it can help you manage your business finances like a salary [17:19]

• Specific questions to ask yourself weekly as you assess if now is the right time for you to make the leap to full-time in business [22:07]

Quotes: 

“Make sure all the systems are in place, so when you do the full-time jump you are trying to scale the business and not trying to figure out the business.” [Nick, 9:40]

“It is twofold why you should be implementing software early on, because it is going to help with the scheduling, it is going to help with the billing, it is going to help with some communication and to use when onboarding new clients.” [Nick, 10:42]

“Going full-time doesn't have to be reckless, it just has to be intentional. Use the data, build a plan, step into the role of the business that is waiting for you, that you want to be in.” [25:57]

LINKS: 

I Will Teach You to Be Rich: No Guilt. No Excuses. Just a 6-Week Program That Works by Ramit Sethi

Smart Passive Income Podcast (Pat Flynn)

Clockify 

Toggle

Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine by Mike Michalowicz

Profit First Nation Podcast

The Wellness Business Podcast

The Goal Digger Podcast (Jenna Kutcher)

SBA Mentoring Program

Learn More About All of Our Partners & Get Exclusive Offers

Visit the fitDEGREE Knowledge Base

Send Megan Your Playlist or Discuss the Podcast Here! 

fitDEGREE’s Business Portal

https://calendly.com/fitdegree-support 

[email protected]

https://www.instagram.com/fitdegree/

​​https://www.instagram.com/fitspot_guru/ 

https://www.fitdegree.com/blog 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChJ5rK6zWPXjbxtUQx3ys9Q

https://www.tiktok.com/@megan_fitdegree

What We Cover In This Episode:

• Effective strategies for creating recurring revenue with summer-only Memberships [3:20]

• The benefits of summer outdoor fitness classes and how you can leverage  the outdoors in your business [4:50]

• Some ways you can use seasonal promotions and loyalty rewards to maintain summer engagement [9:13]

• The importance of freeze options over cancellations for summer absences [10:46]

• Why you should be considering upgrading classes, adding classes and/or instructors during this time [14:45]

• How to implement referral programs for family and friends who are also on vacation to maintain traffic in your studio, along with other summer-specific programs and events you can tap into [16:09]

Quotes: 

“Incentivizing people to be there when it's easier to not be there is always going to be a good idea, and it's going to be even more true during the summer when it's warm weather, longer sunsets, things like that.” [Nick, 10:33]

“When it comes to decreased traffic, it is just about getting crafty with it. You have to get creative, people are leaving for the summer so say ‘hey, instead of cancelling your membership why don't you freeze it.’” [Megan, 11:39]

“I think that the biggest thing is that you still want them to maintain this lifestyle to some degree, so that when things slow down with them they are ready and they are eager to get back in the studio and really bring that lifestyle back to the forefront.” [Nick, 12:13]

LINKS: 

Perkville

Learn More About All of Our Partners & Get Exclusive Offers

Visit the fitDEGREE Knowledge Base

Send Megan Your Playlist or Discuss the Podcast Here! 

fitDEGREE’s Business Portal

https://calendly.com/fitdegree-support 

[email protected]

https://www.instagram.com/fitdegree/

​​https://www.instagram.com/fitspot_guru/ 

https://www.fitdegree.com/blog 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChJ5rK6zWPXjbxtUQx3ys9Q

https://www.tiktok.com/@megan_fitdegree

What We Cover In This Episode:

• The difference between an LLC and an S-Corp, and how that affects liability, taxation and future growth [4:31]

• What the purpose of a legal entity is, and how it protects your personal assets from business lawsuits [7:04]

• How to negotiate commercial leases effectively, plus the strategies you can use to protect your wealth [15:45]

• What makes membership and staff agreements critical for a new gym business and why not having these in place isn’t an option [19:33]

• The significant financial risks of misclassifying staff and how the true costs this type of mistake can have [25:17]

• What specific lease clauses gym owners should negotiate, and how to get better protection within those contracts [29:32]

• What you need to keep in mind as you future plan for the sale of your business [35:08]

Quotes:   

“The whole purpose of the legal entity is to protect your personal assets. Think about it as we're basically putting a roof over your head so that the lawsuit comes at you, at the legal entity, and it's going to bounce off you personally, and it's going to stick to the legal entity." [Matt, 6:59] 

“The lease is a contract and every contract is negotiable. So the landlord will present you with an initial copy of the lease and recommend that you hire somebody to go through and basically say, we like this language. We don't like this language." [Matt, 15:27] 

"So it's not really a question of whether or not you think you should have a membership agreement. You have to. By law." [Matt & Nick, 22:26] 

“We want to make sure that we are building an asset, this is an investment, this is an asset that is growing and it is nice and packaged up, because it's a nice little LLC and the more you operate in it the more you can remove yourself from the business it is going to increase its evaluation and then ultimately, we are going to try to sell it.” [Matt, 36:40]

LINKS: 

Gym Lawyers Website 

Gym Wealth Strategies Website 

Their Gym Ventures & New Gym Owner Services

Matt’s Previous Episode on fitSpot Guru

Learn More About All of Our Partners & Get Exclusive Offers

Visit the fitDEGREE Knowledge Base

Send Megan Your Playlist or Discuss the Podcast Here! 

fitDEGREE’s Business Portal

https://calendly.com/fitdegree-support 

[email protected]

https://www.instagram.com/fitdegree/

​​https://www.instagram.com/fitspot_guru/ 

https://www.fitdegree.com/blog 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChJ5rK6zWPXjbxtUQx3ys9Q

https://www.tiktok.com/@megan_fitdegree

What We Cover In This Episode:

• How to strategically carve out dedicated "CEO time" each week and why this focused time is so crucial [7:49]

• Why a time audit is essential for business growth [10:18]

• How to implement 90-day planning cycles for more agile and effective business growth [14:50]

• What you can do right now to shift your mindset from an instructor to a leader and why this transition is vital for a studio looking to scale [20:21]

• Tips for effectively delegating tasks to free up your time and how doing this can significantly improve your productivity and team empowerment [21:41]

• How to use journaling prompts to improve your mindset and leadership and you go on your journey to work on, not just in your business [25:17] 

Quotes: 

“There's always going be work to do, there's always going to be little things to do, and at some point, those little things stop moving the needle and they start to become distractions.” [Nick, 5:45]

“We can't go on vibes, we need data to make informed decisions. After you are in the nitty-gritty, in the thick of it, you have developed an informed decision because you have data, both quantitative and qualitative.” [Nick, 17:47]

“You should be hiring someone for things that you are either not good at or hate doing. That person is signing up knowing that this is going to be their job, so they have to be into it just a little bit to know what they are signing up for.” [Nick, 22:48]

LINKS: 

Learn More About All of Our Partners & Get Exclusive Offers

Visit the fitDEGREE Knowledge Base

Send Megan Your Playlist or Discuss the Podcast Here! 

fitDEGREE’s Business Portal

https://calendly.com/fitdegree-support 

[email protected]

https://www.instagram.com/fitdegree/

​​https://www.instagram.com/fitspot_guru/ 

https://www.fitdegree.com/blog 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChJ5rK6zWPXjbxtUQx3ys9Q

https://www.tiktok.com/@megan_fitdegree

What We Cover In This Episode:

• A look at our recent key feature updates, including schedule visibility, gift card discounts, and more [1:17]

• The flexible gift card redemption feature now available that will enhance user experience [6:32]

• Some use cases that highlight why these new features will be valuable to you [9:58[

• What we’ve done to simplify the refund process for drop-in classes and how this will improve administrative efficiency [12:10]

• Why it’s important to understand where these new features are coming from and next steps to submit your own feedback [19:10] 

Quotes: 

“Discounts for a gift card only work on the public app for users, not for guests, and the reason that we had to build that is because someone can get into an infinite loop where they are using gift card balances to buy more gift card balance.” [Nick, 5:03]

“We've always had the ability of having flexibility around your billing, where you could bill within a matter of weeks, months or years, but with perks, we have only had it on a monthly basis, or a per week basis. So, now we have extended that so that membership perks can now be renewed on a four-week basis, two-week basis, three-week basis, three-month basis, whatever you want to do to get creative.” [Nick, 7:42]

“One of our goals in mind was Mother's Day. We really wanted this [feature] before that next holiday, where we do see an uptick in gift cards.” [Megan, 13:15]

LINKS: 

Learn More About All of Our Partners & Get Exclusive Offers

Visit the fitDEGREE Knowledge Base

Send Megan Your Playlist or Discuss the Podcast Here! 

fitDEGREE’s Business Portal

https://calendly.com/fitdegree-support 

[email protected]

https://www.instagram.com/fitdegree/

​​https://www.instagram.com/fitspot_guru/ 

https://www.fitdegree.com/blog 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChJ5rK6zWPXjbxtUQx3ys9Q

https://www.tiktok.com/@megan_fitdegree

What We Cover In This Episode:

• Strategies for onboarding new clients and communicating studio policies effectively so that clear expectations are set from Day One [4:24]

• Why enforcing policies fairly across the board is essential to prevent accusations of favoritism and to maintain member respect [9:56]

• How enforcing policies contributes to a better experience for both members and the business, rather than just being a “tyrant” [11:03]

• Tips for maintaining boundaries with members while still being friendly [11:44]

• What you can do to effectively communicate policy updates to members, using multiple channels [12:29]

• The importance of training staff to confidently enforce policies and communicate them effectively [14:45]

Quotes:

“We believe by enforcing all these policies based on our modality, based on our studio, based on our community, that this is going to create the overall better experience when a new member walks in the door.” [Nick, 11:20]

“You don’t want to be the bad person of your studio as the owner. You want to train your staff up, to not only know all the policies, but how to communicate these policies without conflict.” [Nick, 14:46] 

“At the end of the day, enforcing policies does not make you a villain, it makes you a responsible business owner and the most important rule of business is to stay in business.” [Nick,19:58]

LINKS: 

Learn More About All of Our Partners & Get Exclusive Offers

Visit the fitDEGREE Knowledge Base

Send Megan Your Playlist or Discuss the Podcast Here! 

fitDEGREE’s Business Portal

https://calendly.com/fitdegree-support 

[email protected]

https://www.instagram.com/fitdegree/

​​https://www.instagram.com/fitspot_guru/ 

https://www.fitdegree.com/blog 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChJ5rK6zWPXjbxtUQx3ys9Q

https://www.tiktok.com/@megan_fitdegree

What We Cover In This Episode:

• Why quality over quantity matters when it comes to social media followers [7:29]

• The dangers of adding more options you to your studio, both for your business and your clients [12:17]

• The key reasons that a multi-modality studio should have a multi room studio [16:15]

• How setting boundaries and creating systems, rather than being available 24/7, leads to better business management and prevents burnout [21:26]

• How keeping your clients happy before you worry about getting more of them will pay dividends [26:05]

Quotes:

 “Perfectionism is the cancer for business owners. Done is better than perfect should be the tattoo everyone gets when they become a business owner.” [3:41]

“Think about that emotional burden that you're putting on yourself when you are piling up to-do lists. What is actually worth your time and what is not?” [6:30]

“Over accessibility its going to lead to burn out and clients are always going to expect more and more and more. You are going to realize that you are not charging enough for how much you are trying to offer right now.” [22:24]

LINKS: 

Learn More About All of Our Partners & Get Exclusive Offers

Visit the fitDEGREE Knowledge Base

Send Megan Your Playlist or Discuss the Podcast Here! 

fitDEGREE’s Business Portal

https://calendly.com/fitdegree-support 

[email protected]

https://www.instagram.com/fitdegree/

​​https://www.instagram.com/fitspot_guru/ 

https://www.fitdegree.com/blog 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChJ5rK6zWPXjbxtUQx3ys9Q

https://www.tiktok.com/@megan_fitdegree

What We Cover In This Episode:

• What you can do to maximize profit through regular, not once-a-year, audits of your numbers [3:33]

• How to stop membership leaks and strategies for handling expired cards and follow-ups [4:49]

• Ways to reduce overall studio expenses by focusing on your software and payment fees [11:20]

• Why your pricing matters and what you can do to avoid undervaluing memberships [13:28]

• How to free up your time using delegation and simple loyalty programs [23:31] 

Quotes:

“If you’re doing big audits or a big analysis once a year, sometimes it’s already too late. So, really focus on monthly and quarterly improvements and audits and don’t just focus on once a year, because who knows if you’ll be around by that time next year.” [Nick, 3:31] 

“At some point, you have to build a process and trust them to be capable people. If they are not capable people maybe either you have to spend more time on development and training, or maybe they're just not the right fit.” [16:57]

“I think there is such an obsession with new leads, but how many people are coming through the door that you are not converting and are people cancelling their memberships after 6 months, 12 months, things like that.” [19:00]

LINKS: 

Episode 229: Unlocking Studio Financial Prosperity: Terri Fry on Perkville, Profit, and Paying It Forward

The Value of Keeping the Right Customers (Harvard Business Review) 

The State of Health Club Industry Retention Strategies (IHRSA)

Customer Retention and Business Profitability (Bain & Company)

PayWorks & Payably 

Learn More About All of Our Partners & Get Exclusive Offers

Visit the fitDEGREE Knowledge Base

Send Megan Your Playlist or Discuss the Podcast Here! 

fitDEGREE’s Business Portal

https://calendly.com/fitdegree-support 

[email protected]

https://www.instagram.com/fitdegree/

​​https://www.instagram.com/fitspot_guru/ 

https://www.fitdegree.com/blog 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChJ5rK6zWPXjbxtUQx3ys9Q

https://www.tiktok.com/@megan_fitdegree