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