Small Gym Owner? Discover the Pros and Cons of Gym Management Software
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Being an owner of a gym has its challenges and a lot of them. When you have a small gym or are just starting a brand-new gym, roadblocks seem to keep piling up. You’re trying to figure out where to source the time and money it takes to start and manage a gym, how you’re going to build a good quality team, and what measures you can take to ensure efficient operations and profitability.
Gym management software combats some of these challenges and makes sure your employees are happy, your members are satisfied, and your operations are running efficiently. However, no solution is perfect—there are pros and cons to every decision. Let’s start with the cons to get the negatives out of the way.
Cons of Gym Management Software
Upfront Costs
Good quality gym software is expensive, and the upfront costs can seem a bit startling, especially for a new or small gym. However, if you want to operate your gym with a long-term focus, it is a necessary cost to endure. Keep in mind, seeing a return on investment does not happen immediately, but in due time it will help you increase your productivity and decrease your cost of business operations. To relieve some of the financial stress you may be feeling about using gym management software, consider setting up a budget or using additional financing options for funding.
Job Shifts
Not all people like change, so making the transition for your staff to refocus their skills on another position can be tough, but it will be worth it. Gym management software can reduce the number of administrative tasks employees have to do for billing, scheduling meetings, and file management. This allows your employees to focus on driving membership sales and other tasks. Begin to think about who on your team could become a potential personal trainer or employee supervisor. How can you shift employees to new positions to build an even stronger team? Keep in mind it will take time for everyone to get up to speed, so be supportive of your employees as they begin this transition. You may consider updating your training or on-boarding system at your gym to help ease this process.
Pros of Gym Management Software
Reduce Delinquencies
What every gym owner or gym manager wants is for members to pay dues on time without having to chase them down. There are a few different ways gym software allows you to do this. First, you can set up automated emails to remind members that a payment date is coming up, which prevents delinquent payments from occurring. In addition, having access to reporting data—gym payment activity, account reconciliation, and daily delinquencies—allows you to see where problems are taking place so you can address them directly.
Grow Membership Sales
When you are just starting a gym or own a small gym, gaining members is no easy feat, but gym management software can help you grow your sales. It eliminates some administrative tasks to open up more time for driving membership sales. You can send recurring emails to continuously interact with prospects and persuade them to commit to your gym. In addition, online or mobile digital applications for your gym makes membership status more accessible to potential members, so you can sign up new members or upgrade existing memberships anywhere.
Increase Member Retention
Retaining current members is necessary to sustain your revenue and keep costs low. In order to build retention rates, you have to have an understanding of who your members are, where they came from, and how they behave. Gym management software allows you to track their these metrics and more, which can then guide how you communicate and engage with your members, making the gym experience more personable and memorable. Showing your members you care about what they like, what they dislike, their goals, and so on, will develop a sense of trust with that they will not be able to find anywhere else.
Better Decision Making
To make better business decisions, you need to understand your data, and there are several reports you need to be paying attention to. First, view your financial reports so you know where your money is accumulating and where it is being spent. Other reports, such as the member profile report, can give you an understanding of what type of members you attract and why you attract them, which can be used to better target future marketing and advertising campaigns to reach the right audience. Finally, reports on peak workout times and patterns in member traffic can help your gym optimize your equipment and experience for members.
In summary, spending reports are important if your gym is on a tight budget, which is often the case for smaller gyms or gyms that are just starting up. Meanwhile, reports on the types of classes your members take can drive marketing campaigns and grow your business without wasting time experimenting with new workout fads.
Although the upfront costs and potential job shifts may be intimidating to a small or new gym, there are many benefits that gym management software can bring to you. Request a demo to learn more about the positive impact ABC Financial’s gym software can have on your business.
