One of the best things about yoga is that it can be practiced anywhere and {nearly} everywhere. All you need to do is find the perfect environment for your students. It could be in a park, in home, in studio, through a fitness club, at retreats or spas. Because practicing yoga involves only the body and a few props, it’s become easier and easier for practitioners to be successful outside of owning their own studio space.

Unfortunately, this leads to a common misconception “I don’t have a studio, so I can’t have a website.” FALSE! In fact, I would venture to say that because you don’t have a studio you must have a website. I’m not telling you to go out and spend thousands of dollars on a website – these days a DIY website can be done for under $200. Should you wish to hire a designer or developer, I believe you should be able to pay that bill with the proceeds from no more than 15 hours of work. My rule of thumb is to make sure that you can pay the bill with approximately the same amount of effort as the designer/developer. So, if your website developer gives you a 2 week turnaround, you should be able to pay that bill with no more than 2 weeks’ worth of instruction.

Now that I have the logistics out of the way, let’s discuss you… the studioless practictioner. I bet you rely nearly exclusively on word-of-mouth advertising. That’s fantastic, but it is really only scratching the surface of possibilities when it comes to extending your business reach. Without too much effort, that word-of-mouth can become a much more powerful voice!

Perhaps you’ve realized that word-of-mouth isn’t quite enough, so you have created a Facebook business timeline (page). That’s a great next step. You’re able to list an email address, telephone number and perhaps even your availability. Unfortunately, the content that is on your Facebook page doesn’t belong to you, and as such could be removed, considered spam or otherwise be deemed inaccurate. Don’t get me wrong, social media is a valuable component to your marketing efforts, but it cannot be your only online voice.

The solution – your own website! And by this, I mean you go out and purchase your domain (business) name and get the domain hosted at a reputable hosting provider (there are many, but please for your own sanity don’t go with the one that ends with addy!)

Once you have a place that you can call “home” online, the sky is the limit on how you can grow and nurture your practice. True, your website needs to have certain information – such as how you can be contacted, your availability, prices, a link to your BizeeBee storefront for class purchases and the like. What makes having your own website so valuable is that it becomes the hub of all your marketing and relationship building efforts.

Let’s go back to that word-of-mouth advertising that has done so well up until now – it gets a new home as Testimonials on your site. Your clients’ words can convert people they’ve never even met!

In addition to growing your prospective client pool, having a website makes your job easier. Once your clients are used to getting the latest information from your website, you’ll be able to update your schedule, make announcements and offer promotions in one place! Having an online space that you can call your own will help your business grow, keep your clients more loyal and attract the type of students you want.

Your website grounds your business just as mountain pose is used for centering and grounding your mind and body.

We get asked this question a lot, so I’d just like to share what one is, and the many advantages of having a membership model for your business.

A membership business is one where you have customers who are either purchasing a service or product on an ongoing basis.  There are a couple flavors of membership fees:

• Pay a fixed amount on a monthly basis such as a gym membership or a cell phone plan.
• An initial deposit then followed by a fixed amount monthly, similar to paying rent.
• Pay a lump sum in advance for a year or longer.  There is usually a discount associated with paying in advance.

The benefits to offering memberships are the following:

• Predictable revenue stream. You know can easily estimate how much money you’re making off of active memberships each month.

• Memberships build relationships. Your business will become a power community as you develop a loyal base of members who visit your business periodically.

• Knowing when you need to run promotions. This is less obvious, but if you know when a group of members are about to expire you can send them a promotion.

There are of course a few hurdles to overcome when offering memberships, and its easy to fall prey to the recurring revenue traps:

• Customers don’t like to commit. Anytime a customers has to sign a contract they are more likely to not use the service, unless you give them some time to try out your service, with something like an introductory special.  You will want to make sure that people aren’t just signing up for a introductory special to get a free service.

• Easy cancellation policy. Customers want flexibility.  They want to be able to easily cancel a service if they move away or pause it if they go on vacation.  This of course makes it harder to predict your revenue, but if you are too rigid in the cancellation process or charge fees you might lose out on gaining a valuable customer.

• Members get comfortable with prices. There are times when you have to change your prices.  Long time members don’t want to have to pay more especially since they’re used to the membership price you gave them.  Its up to you to determine whether or not to apply the new price to old customers or just to new customers.  In either case, you should have be tracking the number of memberships you have at the old price vs. the new price.

To get over some of these hurdles you can try the following:

• Show savings by offering a discount. You’ll need to change the pricing for other packages you offer and then show them the savings by comparing the two.  For example, if they sign up to pay $100 for unlimited monthly visits that’s $1200 annually  vs. $150 each time they want to purchase unlimited monthly visits = $1800 Savings with signing up ahead of time with the unlimited monthly is $600!

• Work out the unit cost for them. If people aren’t sure how often they’ll have time to frequent your business, ask them how many times do they think they could come?  And do they want $20 a visit or do they want to pay $10 a visit? This will also encourage them to come more often!

• Offer rewards! If people have pay you on time for more than a year, you should offer them a reward, maybe a free service or a one-time upgrade.  Your service is valuable, and so is acknowledging the long term commitment a member made to your business.

Memberships are a great way to build a community around your business, but before you decide to switch make sure it makes sense for the type of business you have.  Most importantly, be sure to keep track of expirations, and be sure to follow up a few days or weeks before a member expires!

Every business wants to sell online, because its a channel with a wide reach.  The benefits compared to opening a brick and mortar shop are countless.  For starters you don’t have to pay rent!  Then there are details like not having to go through the pains of setting up a credit card processor.  These days there are plenty of DIY services out there for setting up an online store within minutes or at most a day.

So with all these great “options” why are people still struggling to get paid and become a profitable business?

Some Transactions Can Only Be Made After an Initial Interaction

Would you prepay your dentist?  What about your kid’s karate lesson?  Maybe.  But only if you had known them for awhile.  While it’s easy to buy things online from sites like Amazon and Zappos where there are reviews, two way shipping options, and product pictures these things don’t yet exist for small businesses that offer services like fitness studios.

Consumers want to try out the service before they buy.  They might be comfortable paying for an introductory special that’s around $20, but they are more reluctant to purchase a service that’s more than $100 site unseen.

You Might Be Losing Sales Online

Just because you have a link to an online store does not mean people will pay you!  There are still countless people who aren’t comfortable with making purchases online.  Yes there is a name for such people… But truthfully even people who do online banking and bill pay will enter a site, and be turned off if they checkout process isn’t streamlined or appears sketchy.  The worse drop off point is if they have to sign up for a service in order to pay you!

Make sure that your customers don’t have to sign up for service, they should be able to pay using a credit card, and then immediately receive a notification that they were successfully charged.  You should also receive a payment confirmation.

Make it Worthwhile to Pay Online

Some customers are happier just handing you their credit card or cash when they come to your store.  If you don’t want to accept payments in person then create an incentive for them to pay such a small discount.  This is also a good idea for prepaying.

Most of all make sure that your customer does not incur fees when checking out.  This will surely prevent them from ever using your online store.

Keep Your Store Up-to-Date

If you no longer offer certain services or promotions then remove them from your store.  Don’t create confusion for customers, and have to handle the lengthy and tedious process of refunding them.

Be sure that you can change your online store yourself.  If you have to call a designer or developer every time you want to make a change, then you’re only losing money.

Track Sales Online and Offline

If you are a local business, keep statistics on both online and offline sales to see, which is doing better.

You should also make sure that you promote your online store so that customers know that it exists.  Make it discoverable on your website, and any social media sites you use, like Facebook.  The more places its accessible they more likely you are to get paid!

After reading a little bit about BeMoved I couldn’t help but reach out to Mary Heller.  She is a licensed BeMoved instructor in Moscow, Idaho. This unique dance class encourages participants of all ages and skill levels to get up and dance! She has made a career out of improving the lives of her students through the power of movement. A treat to share with you Mary’s story and a little insight into her business.

What is the story behind how you became an instructor?

Sherry was one of my Jazz teachers in the late 80′s, early 90′s in Chicago when I was working in 4 dance companies as a professional. She was invited by the University of Idaho to set a piece and teach classes, one of them BeMoved, 2 years ago. I fell in love with it! Since I go home each summer to choreograph floor routines for gymnasts, I decided to get licenced to teach it!

What is BeMoved and what can a first timer expect when attending a class?

BeMoved® Designed by renowned choreographer Sherry Zunker, BeMoved is the new dance fitness experience for adults of all ages and skill levels. BeMoved inspires participants to embrace dance as a lifelong path to health, joy and fulfillment.
Each week focuses on a different musical genre such as Bollywood, Gospel Pop, Swing, Latin and Disco. Classes begin with easy-to-follow therapeutic movements that integrate the upper and lower body. The warm-up flows into fun and engaging dance combinations, sure to inspire anyone from first-time dancers to professionals.

BeMoved lifts our emotional spirits, keeps us socially connected and enhances our mental and physical fitness — all while having fun!

What are the biggest challenges you face as a business owner?

Growing a business as I do 4 other jobs. The business was started in September, and I did a huge advertising push to get it out there. Word of mouth is what I can afford now. It is steadily growing, but since I must give a 40% cut to 1 out of the 3 places I teach it at, 10% to 1, and then get a low base salary for the SRC, it can be tricky to be compensated reasonably. I have increased my prices once in December. May need to do one more price increase here soon. LOVE dancing with everyone! BizeeBee has helped tremendously in keeping track of all my clients at the 3 different places I must keep attendance for!

What types of outside professionals have been key to running your business?

Sherry Zunker, creator of BeMoved, Esther Jeles, Business Advisor for BeMoved, Mark McKinney, co-owner of Nourish Yoga, who told me about BizeeBee, and the wonderful people I work with that own/manage the businesses I rent space/time from!

What are two pieces of advice you would give to anyone considering becoming a BeMoved instructor or business owner?

When you get licenced/certified, ask as many other teachers how much their costs have been the first year and for what so you know what you are getting into, AND, you got to love it!

What is your favorite part about teaching and owning a business?

Truly knowing that the product works for everyone on some level, AND I dance with people every day that want to be there to simply dance. I can set my own hours somewhat too.

What are the best ways to get in touch with you and find out more about your business?

BeMoved-Dance.com, go to locations, and scroll down to Moscow ID locations, past Chicago, NY, LA, etc. although Moscow got BeMoved® before NY & LA ha! There, one will find all locations, times and prices I teach BeMoved®. The Nazarene Church does not list a price, but it is still currently $6/class like eveywhere else, with your first class free! $48 for a 10 class card and $27 for a 5 class card for everywhere you take it here except the Student Rec Center at the University of Idaho. There they state it is $3/class, or you can buy one of their season passes. These prices are a steal considering that in cities BeMoved is usually $15 per class. I also have a senior citizen discount. One can also reach me by email if needed at marychoreographer@gmail.com.

Without doubt there has been a few times during your entrepreneurial adventure someone has told you the importance of a business plan. Even if you did jot one down, it doesn’t mean it hasn’t collected it’s fair share of dust over the years. I get it, the idea for your business may have evolved over weeks and will continue to over the years, and that’s okay!  Having a business plan doesn’t mean it’s sealed in stone.

“This living, breathing document generally projects 3-5 years ahead and outlines the route a company intends to take to reach, maintain and grow revenues.” – SBA.gov

If you don’t have a business plan, cringe at the thought of having to write one, or are thinking of revising yours to give it some needed love then read on for some tips to help with the process or writing one.

Write for all the right reasons

Your word choice, organization and time put into this document are going to be drastically different depending on it’s purpose. Many entrepreneurs write a business plan in anticipation of handing it over to a bank for a loan. Others approach business plans more casually as a document to be an clean idea catcher, taking their big vision and putting it down in ink.

You’re writing a plan not a dissertation, start small

Start by just answering these key questions:

What? These are going to objectives that are clear and can be communicated to your team.

How? Now that you have stated what you want to do, how are you going to do it? What are your strategies?

When, Where & Who? These can be grouped together as they take on the mechanical details of how strategies are going to be implemented. These can be specifics or high level tactics.

Already have capital?

Even if you have all the money in the world, you still need a business plan. Instead of calling it a business plan, let’s rename it to being call a FOCUS document. This document will give you permission in energetic brainstorming missions to table the outpouring of ideas and re-focus on the objectives and strategies that were agreed upon. Worst case? You tweak your focus document when you need to.

You sign the bottom line

While the creation of your business plan can indeed be a group effort, the actual process of putting pen to paper and creating the final document needs to be done by [drumroll please...] YOU, the business owner. This isn’t going to be a long winded document to be filed away, it is going to become something you have memorized, gone over and are committed to. Once again, this business plan is your focus document. So take your team, advisers and best friend’s-mother’s-neighbor’s advice with a grain of salt, don’t make the mistake of copy and pasting their ideas verbatim, it won’t turn out pretty.

It’s OKAY, you are probably doing it wrong

When most people approach a business plan they stuff it with a bunch of junk. This is not the place for buzzwords, acronyms, or the place to ramble on for 60 pages. Here is a skeleton structure to consider when creating your business plan.

“Think of it as a calling card to get you in the door, to get me asking questions. Do NOT write a 50-page business plan with five-year financial models. It’s garbage in and garbage out.”- Shanda Bahles, general partner at El Dorado Ventures, USA Today

The Meat

Problem
Solution
Business model
Marketing
Sales
Competition
Team

Highlights: Projections & Timeline
One page with the key metrics (costs, customers, marketing budget, sales figures). This might seem daunting, yet try to stay away from pie in the sky numbers, since everyone knows these are estimates.

Conclusion

“Because entrepreneurs who don’t get clear about what they want from life run the risk of starting a business that might not be a good business for them.” – Melinda Emerson, Small Business Trends

Remember this is a plan is going to be written to be deliberate, however as you find new better ways of executing your plan or find your numbers were graciously under the scope of reality allow yourself to have a flexible plan.

“A business plan is a tool that can bring clarity to decision making in your business. This is not a static document – a functional business plan is a dynamic plan that is consistently reviewed and updated. It keeps the business on track so that you can achieve the vision for your ideal life.” – Racheal Cook, The Yogipreneur

Here are a couple other links you should dive into.
Frugal Small Business Start-up Tips: Step 5- Writing a Business Plan
Caroline Baxter: Creating A Start Up Business Plan

Anna Lee grew up  dancing, it was only natural she the dove into teaching dance. Anna has a fiery passion for fitness that was a perfect fit for the fast paced Zumba. I  reached out to Anna Lee to share her story as well as tips she has found helpful around managing her business, marketing and hiring.

How did you get introduced to Zumba?

I have been working as a group fitness instructor for 15 years, and with the exception of spinning, have taught all fitness class formats e.g. Bootcamp Classes, Interval/Circuit, Step and TurboStep, Cardio Kickboxing, Yoga, and Hi/Lo Aerobics. I had heard of Zumba in 2009, found a Zumba training nearby, and attended my very first Zumba class at my Zumba training!  I wasn’t sold at first, to be honest!  But, after coming home, absorbing the music and the steps,  I began to have A LOT of fun with it.  I grew up dancing and even danced at the college level on two differenct schools’ dance teams, and had been teaching ballet for many years.  Most of my fitness classes were athletic-based  and ”dancey moves” were avoided.  Zumba has  me ”grooving” again and truly enjoying the rhythms of the different types of music!  I was enjoying it, but it wasn’t until about 3 months into teaching Zumba, though, that the realization came of what a wonderful calorie-blasting workout Zumba could be, and how many steps could be taken during one class!  With a dance background, and my fitness experience (also working as a NSCA-Certificed Personal Trainer), Zumba was a great fit.

Anna Lee Elquist

How has your diverse background in fitness helped you as a business owner?

After teaching for 2 1/2 years at a local fitness club, I decided that I would like to start my own fitness classes in Oakley, ID where my sister, Tasha, and I owned and directed a dance studio.  Under the business name of “Main Motion Fitness,” I worked as an ACE-Certified group fitness instructor and  was the fitness director for 10 years.  With this experience, I was able to take what I’d learned and start teaching in Burley, ID with my Zumba classes.  “Main Motion Fitness” became “Planet-Zumba” in Sept. 2010 when my classes were moved to a large warehouse space that could accomodate over 100 people for classes, which it did!  We were able to hold Zumbathons, Zumba Parties and classes that were so full of great people and energy with room for anyone who wanted to join in on the fun and experience!

What are two things you struggled with during the early days of building your business?

When I first began teaching Zumba Fitness classes in Burley, I rented the Lloyd Cox Event Center.  It had a stage in about a 2,500 square foot room that could accomodate up to approx. 50 people max. for a Zumba class.  This worked out well for a few months in the beginning, until class popularity was growing and the size of the space became an issue.  We needed more room!  I didn’t want people to be turned away because of lack of space!  I knew of another Zumba Instructor in nearby Rigby, ID who rented a school gym (4,800 sq. feet) and I wanted to find a space large enough to hold as many people that wanted to come and experience Zumba.  After a long and arduous search in Burley, we were able to locate a very large, empty warehouse space that needed A LOT OF WORK.  It was filled with parts and miscellaneous debris, but it did have restrooms, a tall ceiling, and parking.  I knew we could make it work, and it did happen, BUT ONLY with the help of some amazing, talented and giving FAMILY, FRIENDS, and my HUSBAND who works in construction.  Many, many hours were spent sweeping, scrubbing, cleaning, painting, electrical wiring, and constructing a Zumba stage and raised Zumba floor. ”Planet-Zumba” at the warehouse was just gaining momentum when the local fire chief and several firemen made an unannounced inspection, even during one of my evening classes.  After inspecting the building, he announced that we were under violation of certain capacity limit codes and that we would have to make some major changes or be evicted.  Long story short:  property manager wouldn’t comply and the fire chief gave us 30 days eviction notice.  Needless to say, after months of work, we were devastated.  Since then, we relocated for three months to a gym in nearby Rupert, ID and then relocated AGAIN back to the Lloyd Cox Event Center in Burley.  Relocating a total of 4x has been very, very difficult.  But, Planet-Zumba has some wonderful FOZees (the name Planet-Zumba fondly uses to refer to Fans of Zumba) who have supported Planet-Zumba’s classes through all of the challenging changes.

What were two ways of marketing your business that were key to attracting new students?

There were two means of marketing that have helped to spread awareness about my classes:

1. The free local newspaper publications that comes weekly to everyone’s mailbox.  Ads are not cheap, and the paper is only delivered once a week, but at least EVERYONE receives this free paper in their mailbox.
2. I was fortunate enough to have one of the local radio personalities attend one of my classes when I was just starting out.  She liked it enough, that she mentioned it on the air, and continued coming and continued talking about it on the local radio station.  This helped tremendously, and I was flattered and really appreciated it!
3. Word of mouth, word of mouth, word of mouth!

What is one of your favorite memories working with students?

All I can say to this question is this:  as I get older, I will look back on this time in my life, and be so thankful for the opportunity I’ve had to teach large, fun groups of people through Zumba.  It has been an amazing experience!  I’ve had several bloopers and embarassing moments, but the exhilerating feeling that comes from leading good, fun, effective exercise set to addicting, fun music is almost unexplainable.

What are two tips you would tell someone considering opening up a Zumba or another fitness business?

Gain as much experience in the fitness industry as possible, and make sure you have a passion and respect for the industry.

Where do you see Zumba in the next 10 years?

I believe Zumba will still be alive and kickin’ in 10 years!  I think there will still be some strong, respected, talented instructors teaching and still having a BLAST with it!  Possibly, there may exist in 10 years, some more advanced formats of Zumba classes that will incorporate some strength training, body-weight exercises, and challenging circuits, like a “Power Zumba” or something of that sort.

How many instructors work at Planet Zumba?

In the beginning, it was just me!  But, through the past two years, things have evolved.  There are currently 3 official instructors (including myself) and 1 additional who helps out with Zumbathons and special occasion parties.  (Incidentally, two of them are my sisters!)

What tips do you have around hiring instructors?

PERSONALITY, LIKEABILITY, the ability to make class members FEEL comfortable, and then of course, SKILLS and TALENT.  Planet-Zumba has GREAT INSTRUCTORS!!!

What are the best ways to get in touch with you and learn more about your business?

I can be reached either through Email, Facebook, or even text. Also, check out Planet Zumba’s website.

Let’s say you and I were able to align our schedules and sit down for an hour. Let’s say even in person, sipping coffee, tea or my current favorite hot chocolate. I am there to be totally focused on you, let’s talk marketing. I get it; you are mentally stretched from running your business and you need help.

Your business has grown, you have learned a lot, but now it has become a bit of a squeaky wheel. Your business needs some serious attention. The stars have aligned; it’s just now that you have found a little time to actually think about how to go about improving it.

I see it in your eyes; you want something quick and easy. You were recently introduced to the idea of doing a daily deal through Groupon and think it might be just what you need to drive new business through your doors. Even through Groupon has been around for about two years, it’s just now that you are scratching your head for quick ideas to boost revenue.

First off, Don’t Groupon

Don’t jump on the bandwagon. Groupon wants you to offer a heavy discount, typically 50% off. After the coupons have been sold, you, the business, gets to split the revenue down the middle with Groupon. So, let’s say you have a $100 service, that means you offer it for $50, and in turn get $25 in revenue.

“The logic is simple: Merchants are encouraged to use the deals to attract new customers, who in theory will return at full price. But, in what seems to be an increasing number of cases, customers come for the deals and then leave for deals offered by other merchants through Groupon. So the number of “new” customers attracted by cheap prices increases, and the number of loyal customers decreases as shoppers prefer to become “new” again for whoever offers the best deal.” – Ester Dyson, The Groupon Paradox

I hear you, that even a small amount of revenue would be good, plus having your business in front of thousands of potential customers does sound tasty, especially since it sounds SO easy!

Like Poornima had said in her blog post After The Groupon, “using a Groupon or daily deal site is one way of attracting a lot of prospective members to your business.  I say prospective because many may never become actual members.”

Easy Things to Do Instead: Tap Into Your Existing Customers

For the most part your current customers come to you not because they are getting a deep discount but because they love coming to your business. They enjoy your staff, the experience and have found value in the time and money they have spent with you. Tap into your existing customers with these easy, hassle-free ways to boost business.

Send Out Email Newsletters: Tools like MailChimp and MadMimi offer free email marketing plans and tools. I am pretty sure that you have a few customer emails hanging around. Even if your answer is “Well, yeah… they are around here somewhere”, find them! What I often see is businesses are a bit surprised to see they have A LOT of email addresses.

Get “Liked” on Facebook: From the comfort of your customers’ homes to their mobile devices, your customers are on Facebook. Facebook fan pages are an easy way to communicate with your existing customers. From schedule changes to updating events, don’t underestimate this tool. Create a Facebook fan page to increase your communication; it is also a great tool to communicate emergencies.

Schedule Your Marketing: If you are crunched for time then scheduling out messaging to customers can be a super easy thing to do once or twice a week. All email marketing services have a way to schedule emails in the future. To manage and schedule content on your social media accounts use Hootsuite. Also, create a marketing calendar using a tool like Google calendar and share it with your staff so they can clearly see when promotions are happening.

Polish Up Your Business Listings: A simple task that can be done in a few moments is verifying your Google places account. Also take time to claim and update your business listing on Yelp, and Citysearch.

T-Shirt + Conference: Find a local promotional apparel business or hop on Cafepress and order a t-shirt with your logo, and website. Turn yourself into a walking billboard. Then attend a local conference. Build awareness by shaking hands, introducing yourself and don’t forget your business cards!

Re-connect with customers: A simple email, even using a text message service like Tatango, can remind a customer about your business. Check your attendance records; did one of your regulars suddenly stop coming? Send them a personal email to check-in. An amazing simple

Maintain Relationships: Beyond keeping in contact with your customers, nearby businesses are also great potential customers. As the employees may want to take a class from you and they themselves will be willing to recommend your services.  Local businesses are also going to be happy to hang your fliers and brochures.

Polish Staff Skills: Customer service is very important. An easy way to boost sales is by teaching staff about specials, ways to bring up services and ways to express appreciation for customer business.

Reward Referrals: When customers send you referrals make an extra effort to personally thank them. Discounts can be okay, however a simple hand signed thank you note would be wildly appreciated and be unique. If customers mention you on Facebook or other social media channels then be sure to publicly thank them.

What these simple tasks are going to do is strengthen existing relationships with customers, increase repeat purchases, and build referrals.  Drive business through the door with customers who value your services and who are excited to share their experience with their networks.

Still stuck on where to get started? Give me a call for a free 30 minute brainstorm on what you can do instead of doing a DailyDeal to boost your business.

Despite the size of people’s bank accounts, everyone is sensitive to price because we all want a fair exchange of values.  The price point of a service such as a yoga or personal training session, or a dance class is the first indicator of value.  As a business owner who has members you’re probably wondering how you can price your service and still reach a reasonable profit margin without having people be sticker shocked.

When creating a pricing structure owners often make one of these three mistakes:

Fallacy of Free

Offering something for free is one way to attract new members to your business.  You can create a complimentary card for your members to hand out to friends and family, give a new member a free session just to try out the service, or extend an expired membership for a loyal member.  But continually offering freebies can be detrimental to the bottom line of your business.  People have little incentive to pay for a service that they are getting for free.  They are also not as invested into the service.  For example, if you give away 2 sessions for free, why would someone return and pay for a third?  If you instead charged them upfront and told them they get 3 sessions, they know they’re paying for 3 sessions, and will be more likely to come to each.  Paying for each session is an investment to them, and hopefully after the third session they are hooked.

Also it costs you money to render the service, so you need to keep track of the number of freebies you’re giving out weekly and monthly to make sure it doesn’t cut deeply into your margins.

Undercutting or Copying a Competitors Pricing

We all face competition.  The easiest way to lure a member away from a competitor is through price.  If you undercut on price too much you attract the wrong type of member, and its becomes easy for another competitor to come along and undercut you!  You really need to be competing on the quality of your service.

Not Offering Premium Services

You don’t have to be a celebrity trainer to offer a premium service.  Too often owners forget that they can have fewer members, and charge them more.  This might be a good option for those of you who are more interested in having a business where you focus on teaching.  You can have a small group of loyal members who pay premium, in return you offer them high quality and customized service that addresses their needs.

The next time you look at your monthly revenue and its not quite adding up to what you want or need, see if you’ve become victim to one of these pricing pitfalls.