VENTURE CONCEPT #1

Drizz-Fitness Marketing

Opportunity:

Local unconventional gyms usually have small staff and one owner that deals with most of the business side of things. Due to this and other factors it is harder to focus on sales and marketing and that Is why most of their customers come through referrals and not as often as they’d like. The opportunity I want to exploit is providing these gyms with social media marketing and a sales force to help follow up with leads, meet with potential customers, and generate new customers.

As of now some of these gyms do social media marketing and some do not. If they do, they still have to take care of the sales side of it and it is usually done by a manager or owner, so it is not as effective as it can be. If they aren’t doing social media marketing, then they are really just relying on word of mouth and now days that can be dangerous for the longevity of the business.

The ideal customer is a gym owner that wants to continue to grow his business but might not have enough time, or the staff, or expertise to do so. They might even have a thriving business, but they might be wanting to delegate more work and just oversee the business.

Social media has made advertising so much easier. There is an ocean full of customers out there that these businesses can reach, they just have to have the focus to follow up and meet with potential customers and also know who to target. These are areas where my company would provide expertise. I believe the opportunity has a lot of potential, but I don’t think the window will be open for long. There are already companies that do similar work and social media is something that can be learned, as well as sales. Once these companies learn the system then they might want to branch off and do it on their own.

Innovation:

Most gyms already know and have some form of social media marketing to draw in new customers. They might already have a sales strategy. The problem is putting those two together and finding the time and the focus to be effective in their efforts. My company will manage their social media efforts, follow up with their new customer leads, meet with these leads one on one, create a sales strategy, and then close the deal and provide the gym with new customers. 

Basically, my team will be independent sales contractors for the gym. We will meet with them and discuss what type of customers they are trying to attract, who they would like to focus on, how many customers they would like to add and what packages they have available. Then together we will come up with an advertisement to post on Facebook and a lead generator for people to enter their info and be contacted by us. The gym will pay the social media advertising fee (for Facebook it can be around $800 a month) and will pay us a maintenance fee based on how many ads are available and how many hours we estimate it will take us to check on them and keep them running. Once we start to add customers to their gym then they will pay us a percentage of the customers contract. For example, if we sign up a Personal training client and their monthly contract is $1000 then we will charge 40% of the contract value. The percentage will also be based on the value of the contract, so as to encourage my team to sell more expensive contracts, and the number of contracts we sell. If a gym only wants 10 new customers a month and we do not hit that quota then we will not get the full percentage. Again, these prices are based on many factors that will be discussed with the gym owner and will be based on their needs and what they want for their gym. Although most of these gyms would like to add as many new customers as possible, some are not ready for too high numbers.

Venture Concept:

First of all, through the social media advertising we will be tapping into the ocean of customers that are looking to join new gyms and get back to being healthy. There are so many people out there and each of them has different needs. As we sit and make plans with these gym owners, we will find out what needs their specific gym can meet and what customers to focus on. Then the last step is actually getting these gym owners new customers so that they can continue to take their business to the next level.

I believe these gym owners will buy our service because first of all it is not something that they need forever. The investment is until they feel comfortable with where their gym is at. With that said we still want and will have customers that will stick to us for a very long time because they might find it is more comfortable that way. Also, more customers mean more business for them, this is a service that will be easily measured and will provide their gym with more revenue, more work, and more credibility. 

As of right now there is only competitors on the social media advertising side of things. My company, as far as I know, is the only one that would be providing social media help and sales help. I think it will be hard to switch for the gyms that are seeing some kind of success with their social media advertising, but those that are truly looking for all options to grow I think it will be easier to get their business.

As of right now, I would hire someone to take care of all social media for my team. They would be the ones maintaining the ads and leading the initiative in making new ones based on the customer demographics we are trying to reach. Starting off I would be the one taking care of the sales force for the gyms, as we begin to grow then I would like to have 1 sales person for each gym and they would be getting paid based on commission. 

Most Important Resource:

I believe my most important resource is the experience I have working at a CrossFit gym. For the past year I have worked at a successful CrossFit gym and I have learned how they advertise, how their sales process is, what obstacles are presented, and how to work around them. I know the people that are joining these gyms, I know what most of their goals are and why they are interested in these gyms. All these things help to give me an advantage to anyone else wanting to do what I am doing.

What is next for my venture:

I would like to be able to expand our reach to other bigger gyms and health services. Maybe having a partnership with massage therapists, chiropractors, physical therapists, etc., people in the health field that also need clients. I’d like my services to not just be limited to CrossFit gyms.

What is next for me:

Eventually I would like to become an independent contractor providing training for these gyms.