Would you say you are you a planner or a reactor when it comes torunning your business? Do you have your business down to schedules, systems andprocesses so your business practically runs itself? Or do you tend to run yourbusiness by whatever seems to be working at that moment in time?
While instinct and even conventional wisdom likely tends to favor beingorganized, planned and systemized, there can be value in running your businessby the seat of your pants.
I ran a successful boot camp business at three community-based locationsfor just over four years. We got to a point where we had systems in place foreverything from attracting new client leads, marketing special programs,converting clients to 12-month members, client appreciation, team communication,workouts... you name it, it was a system. The business practically ran itself.
Then I opened a 2,000-square-foot brick-and-mortar studio. Many of thesystems that once were a vital part of the success of my business, needed acomplete overhaul because the business model had changed. We now could offermore services and more workout times, had an opportunity to increase our numberof revenue streams and our capacity for membership drastically increased.Everything from schedules to membership rates to branding to businessfinancials needed to be reconfigured.
It took a solid 18 months to get to a point where we had systems thatfit the ebb-and-flow of the new business. Trial and error; tweaking andtesting; repeat, repeat, repeat. I often felt like I was running the businessby the seat of my pants; but it was absolutely necessary to figure out whatwill propel my business forward and what will hold it back.
Systems will (and should) continue to evolve as long as yourbusiness evolves (and evolution is often a key to longevity!); systems helpsyou to be more of the planner in your business. But it's often thoseseat-of-the-pants experiences that keep your business a living, breathingoperation with limitless possibility... and it makes being a fitness entrepreneurthat much more rewarding!
