Since the covid-19 pandemic impacted everyone, gym owners are finding different ways to make money. One of the more popular measures used by gym owners is moving from physical classes to online. But after making such a move, what next? Trying to continue having your gym doors open and clients motivated are fundamental areas to focus on during the lockdown. Below you will find 6 ideas for making money during covid-19.
- Creating an online platform – Before the pandemic hit, gyms were in a much better position. However, seeing that this pandemic resulted in a lockdown, most people can no longer go there, but for the gyms that had already started doing online classes, they had a head start when the lockdown started. While some gyms started out early online, it didn’t stop the others from following swiftly behind. The positive effect of streaming online is that your business can stay open even in the chance of a second wave of the virus. Using an online platform allows you to tap into the work from home crowd where there are many potential clients.
- Discounting membership fees: While this is not an idea that most gym owners welcome, you can consider doing it if you wish for your clients to stay, especially when transitioning to online. Some may think that this degrades your business’s quality, but it’s the opposite, and this will allow clients hold on to their membership while you’re still benefitting from the steady stream of payment.
- Renting out your equipment – Before deciding to give your clients discounts, you can try to rent out your gym equipment. You can offer them to your clients free of charge; this will entice them to maintain their membership open, encourage them to continue exercising out at home, and that will keep your money coming in.
- Offering gift certificates: You can offer your clients gift certificates. These can later be used as bonds, buying now, and can be used for a higher value later. What happens with this process is that you get paid while the customer enjoys benefits such as an extra gym class, merchandise sold by the gym, or even one on one time with a personal coach. After all, which client wouldn’t be interested in getting extra from their gym?
- Offering bonus classes: Even though getting new clients during a pandemic may seem unlikely, you can hold on to the hope that it is possible. So don’t be depressed. To get new clients, you can offer to add a bonus to their package; this can be a class, extra teaching sessions, and to sweeten the deal, you can add that these bonuses have no expiration date. So after the pandemic or once they’re able to go back to the gym, they can cash in on them.
- Offering one-on-one sessions privately: You can use this time to get to know your clients by doing private one-on-one sessions with them; this can be done through video calling. Because they can no longer go to the gym, having their personal trainer present can motivate them to continue working out at home. Even though you are already doing free online classes to attract new customers and keep your old clients, you can add private one-on-one sessions for an added fee. For areas where the lockdown is not in full effect, you can offer to do private sessions one-on-one with your clients in person as long as they are content doing so; this way, you can practice social distancing by avoiding the crowd.
These are a few ideas to ensure money keeps flowing in your gym; you can try some if you haven’t yet started and see what works for you.
