Creatingan inviting environment is critical to any thriving fitness studio. Yourclientsaren't just paying for the workout, they're also paying for the experience.Andif the experience comes with dust and dirty toilets, they will likely taketheirbusinessand their bucks somewhere else.
Nowis the perfect time to freshen up your studio, from a deep clean toanew paint color to some financial and schedule "cleaning"ââ as well. Newclientsare flooding in, so putting your studio's best foot forward will giveyoua leg up this year, and some back-room organization will give you anequalamount of peace of mind. Here are 10 ideas to freshen up both yourinternaland external environments:
- Clean, clean, clean. This means cleaning, polishing and maintaining your equipment, washing your windows (even the outsides) and mirrors, updating the magazines near the cardio equipment, making the floors shine, scrubbing the frequently used but often dirty areas of your studio, etc. Throw away or recycle the clutter (avoid being a pack rat!). Set a deep cleaning day, when you enlist the help of your whole staff and, with task list in hand, get the place looking new again. Maybe make it a team-building exercise to keep it from becoming too tedious. Pit two sides against one another, and end it with a group luncheon or dinner!
- Make your own cleaning supplies. The expensive stuff adds up, sometimes to the point where you should have hired the pros to do it! So do it yourself. All-purpose cleaner is 1/2 cup baking powder, 1/2 cup household ammonia and seven cups warm water. Make your own antibacterial spray by adding one tablespoon of household bleach to a spray bottle filled with water. Use newspapers for cleaning windows, as they don't leave streaks. Club soda is a super-simple solution for spot removal; simply pour it on, wait a few seconds, then blot it with a sponge. Use a pencil eraser for removing black marks from shoe heels. Look online for more!
- Refine your training area. How long has it been since you've painted the walls? Touch up all the nicks, chips and dents in the walls around the weights, and consider updating the paint color in your studio. Have you added any new equipment lately? Even inexpensive pieces - such as new medicine balls, suspension trainer or kettlebells - show your clients that you are on the cutting edge of fitness trends. Do you still have the same layout you've had since you opened? Sometimes you can freshen up the look and functionality of your studio just by rearranging some equipment.
- Prep for outdoor workouts. Make sure your nearby outdoor area isn't cluttered with dead foliage (or animals!). Rake, mow, transplant, dig... do what you have to do to make it look like you hired a professional landscaping team!
- Double-check the books. Cleaning doesn't stop at your image. Make sure the money is flowing smoothly and to the right spots. The first of the year is a perfect time to look back at profit/ loss statements and create a 2010 budget. See what areas didn't produce a return on their investment, and reroute funds to more lucrative categories.
- Pack away unused equipment. Don't worry, you won't hurt their feelings. This stuff is just taking up valuable square footage. If it has dust on it, your clients and trainers aren't using it, and it is wasting space. Pay close attention to traffic patterns as well, and evaluate what pieces are used and what pieces are just taking up room. Make adjustments as necessary. Maybe you could even sell unused equipment to a friend or a local secondhand store to add more dollars to your equipment budget!
- Dump stressful clients. The extra bit of money isn't worth it if you don't look forward to training certain clients. Evaluate if it is worth keeping clients who complain incessantly, cancel often or generally have a negative attitude. If you fire those clients, you'll most likely find your spirits lifted and newer, better clients filling their spots. It's an uncomfortable step to take at first, but certainly a necessary one for building a solid client base and working toward an enjoyable, lifelong career.
- Tighten up your timetable. Speaking of your schedule, make sure you close up scheduling gaps. If you haven't yet, organize your training times into blocks of back-to-back sessions, not a wide range of different times. Most clients are open to other times when you explain to them that your schedule isn't the same as it was when they first began training. Also, consolidate all of those post-it notes and scattered reminders into a single calendar. You know what they say: "A cluttered desk [or training area] is a cluttered mind!"ââ
- Your computer needs cleansing, too. Clear out your inbox, making sure you responded to those who need responding to. Simplify and tighten up your website, making sure there isn't excess verbiage or outdated material on any pages. Maybe add some new posts! Keeping clients coming to your website helps keep clients interesting and paying attention to your business. Also, make sure to back up your computer's hard drive.
- Put your mind at ease. Don't forget about what's going on "up there." Try to clean out any office drama. Talk with your crew, and see what they've been griping about. Try and improve your systems with their constructive feedback, or at least let them vent and then explain why things must remain the same.
Ofcourse, there are many other ways to spruce up your area and impresspotentialclientele who walk through your freshly preened doorway.Resolvetoday to clean up your physical and mental environments. Betteryet,schedule some cleanup time immediately. It is one of the quickestwaysto an efficient and prosperous 2010.
Ifany of these ideas or ones you come up withcausea serious boon to your business, let usknow!Simply email shelby.m@rbpub.com withyourstory and/or additional tidy tips.
