Network Magazine Summer 2018 | Page 15

CEC ARTICLE 1 OF 5 ARTICLES THE 6 STAGES OF FITNESS BUSINESS GROWTH Fitness sales maestro Sean Greeley lays out a roadmap of the stages, challenges, goals, and success factors you must grow through to take your fitness business to the next level. n his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell talks about the 10,000+ hour rule. Studying top athletes, executives and elite performers across many fields, he analyses the factors involved in achieving mastery in any field, and concludes that the most important one is time. You’ve got to put in a lot of time in your field to achieve mastery. Gladwell proposes 10,000+ hours as the benchmark. In 2006 I founded NPE to help fitness professionals and business owners gain mastery of their businesses, and since then we’ve assisted thousands of people in 96 countries to do just that. Along the way, we’ve learnt what the entire fitness business journey looks like, from personal trainers wondering if they can work full time and make a living at fitness, to elite entrepreneurs with multiple locations, franchises, certifications, and licensing arrangements. This experience has enabled us to create a 6-stage roadmap that lays out each of the stages, challenges, goals, and success factors that fitness professionals and business owners must grow through to take their business to the next level. As you progress in your career, this is what you can expect. I 1 Just starting out 1 Revenue: Not applicable. Challenge: You’re still new to the industry and don’t yet have the skills and experience to successfully serve clients. You may be insecure about not having all the skills needed and unsure if you can successfully follow fitness as a career path. Goal: To discover if you can make a business out of your passion, to learn the craft, and to help clients achieve their health and fitness goals. Success factors: Vision and Community. For most, developing a vision is where the journey begins. You love fitness, you love sports, and you may have an athletic background. Now you’ve decided to get qualified as a fitness professional. So what’s next? Most fitness professionals start out working for a commercial gym. Depending on the facility, your work when starting out may well involve more than training clients, such as working the front desk, cleaning equipment, and doing other low-level work. It can be frustrating when you’ve studied hard to learn a professional skillset and now find yourself a glorified treadmill cleaner! I started out just working with a few friends, helping them write programs and coach them, and my first client – an elderly man named Bob – was referred to me. Bob was recovering from an injury and just wanted to get back to being active again. Fitness was also a social time for him to get out of the house. When you’re 70-years-old, getting out of the house and being able to move without pain is really important in order to stay active and socially engaged. NETWORK SUMMER 2018 | 15