And 1 in 5 small businesses fail in 12 months, with 65% closing their doors during the first 10 years.

You might as well call it quits and move on. Become a realtor or get into solar panel sales. 

Or if you’re thinking about becoming a coach, think again. Take the easy, predictable option: a 9-5 desk job.

Forget that you’re passionate about fitness and move on. Get a real job.

For this to happen, the client needs a solution to his/her problem—to get and stay fit and healthy. The coach needs job fulfillment and an opportunity to make a professional wage so he can have a long-term career in fitness. And the business needs clients and coaches to stick around in order to be profitable.

You have seen it and perhaps you have even felt it. It can be really hard to bring great clients into your gym. If it were easy you wouldn’t see 1000 different email and digital marketers “prowling” your Facebook feed with paid ads telling you how the are “killing it with digital marketing.” They know you are struggling and that you need help bringing new clients into your gym. Before you get swooped into paying for a service that often is unproven, take a moment to read this so that you can answer one major question….Are you actually “speaking” to the right people?

It is a noble profession to get to help people change and enhance their lives.  Through fitness and nutrition as well as through support, a professional coach often becomes the linchpin for a large number of their clients.  What could be better?  So why do so many gyms struggle so much to grow their businesses or succeed financially for the long run?  There is never just one problem but one of the largest places we have seen people struggle with is with their numbers…all in.  If you do not know your numbers you will eventually go down.

The reality is, many (arguably most) small gyms struggle to turn any kind of relevant profit, much less have the ability to afford to pay full-time coaches a professional wage. Instead, they hire a couple of part-time coaches and pay them $20 an hour.

In the fourth article of this six-part series, we’re going to look at how you can incentive your coaches to care.

Though many group class and CrossFit affiliate gym owners find themselves overworked, burnt out and barely turning a profit, they’re too scared to make sweeping changes, so they continue on the dire path they’re on. They continue to let their fears get the best of them:

If you're thinking about starting your own online fitness coaching business, it can be difficult to know where to begin. With the online training market already saturated in 2023, breaking through all of the noise is a big challenge. 

As an OPEX RC head coach, Sam has worked relentlessly over the past 5 years, and has earned the opportunity to step into the role of visionary and leader. Sam is unmatched in his commitment to providing a leading coaching service and in the role of owner, will drive forward new and innovative ways for the OPEX RC team to provide fitness coaching in an online setting. 

How does CCP Coach Sam Smith manage 100+ clients while maintaining a healthy lifestyle? Learn Sam's tips for a fulfilling (and sustainable) coaching career

Before I dig into these, I think it is important to give a bit of context as I am a believer that our perceptions around money come from our personal experiences. I come from a family that would be considered low income by an American standard. I did not grow up in a household where finances were discussed. Rather, I learned through observation that you have to work your butt off and your efforts are a direct reflection of your earnings.

There is something powerful about the calendar flipping to a new year and the feeling of a “fresh start”. But before we set our goals and New Year’s resolutions, we should first reflect on the year that has passed.

Your client visits your polished coaching storefront and sales page, is impressed with what they see, and signs up right there and then with our in-platform payment processing. Plus, no more chasing monthly payments with our subscription feature!

The hardest thing for most coaches is to identify their purpose. However, it’s an essential one. The first step in having long-term success is to understand why you do what you do. 

If you can work to understand this with your prospects, selling yourself as a coach becomes easier and much more genuine. When you’re selling your service to potential clients, always think about the value you bring and how you can connect that to what they value.

I can speak for individual design confidently that it produces autonomous clients, connected and aligned clients, results the individual is looking for, a coach/client relationship, and a program that prioritizes the biggest priorities with prescriptions that the individual is capable of.

To grow a successful coaching business you need to balance both the art of coaching—delivering high quality programs, building relationships, and getting great results—with managing your client list, finances, marketing, and operations.

None of us are immune to the economic climate around us, which is why it’s essential to take a proactive approach to building resilient coaching practice that will stand the test of time, regardless of what the world throws at you.

It takes patience, consistency, and time to grow your client load. This is the journey you sign up for when you become a fitness coach, so you have to approach it with a growth mindset.