JOURNEY FITNESS BUSINESS AUDIT, OCT. 7-11 ELMIRA, NY
GET OUTSIDE EYES ON YOUR BUSINESS
Every one of us gets “business blind,” where we’ve been looking at our business for so long that we get accustomed to what we see and hear. We miss warning signs, triggers and opportunities right under our noses and in front of our faces. We start looking for the same numbers, stop hearing what our clients are saying, and fall into patterns and habits that can cause us to miss valuable information which can improve our business.
<< Eric “The Copy King,” myself, Travis, and JC
This process, again, is invaluable in hearing why people love you, value you, and what they want to see more of and less of, so that you can create and build a business around what your clients need and want. When you can narrow down the focus and see the true value, you can raise your rates. An example is the fact that we identified that Journey Fitness is not actually in the fitness business per se, but rather, they are in the weight loss and medical business. They have a signature system for duplicating over 100-pound weight loss, getting people off meds, and turning lifestyle-related illness around. Only problem is they are not being “sold” that way. The time we spend the next few months repositioning the programs can jump his rates from $167 per month to $497 per month, and create feeder programs worth $997-plus before rolling people into standard memberships. That’s how you can get out of the fitness rat race and into a category of one! 3. Audited the sales process, marketing funnels and books Travis is fairly dialed-in with his systems — he loves them — which is why he’s so easy and fun to work with. But, like “business blindness,” when we are the ones who built everything from scratch and started the processes, then handed them over, and then move on to the next ones ... if we don’t have a mechanism in place to police the processes, things can fall through the cracks. However, when you have an outside firm coming in, you get the benefits of no emotions and no past attachment to the brand. We came in with a ruthless and relentless approach to see where staff was not performing as they should be, and we looked at the books and saw where the gaps were and where the potential was. It’s invaluable to have a company that knows what the dials and levers are that can be improved, tweaked, and enhanced come in and show you where things are and recommend a strategy on how to phase in growth. By the time we left, we gave Travis a 20-page document on how to add $900,000 in gross revenue and drop expenses $100,000 for a net $1 million addition. Now, all that’s needed is execution and implementation. He kept us on for an additional four months to help him ensure execution. That’s a man on a mission. Take these three steps and execute a fitness business audit to see where you stand. If you are interested in a fitness business audit, email me at vito@vitolafata.com.
I rolled into Elmira with two of my boys, Mike Murphy and Eric Bakery, to conduct a three-day, deep-dive business audit on Travis Barnes’ Journey Fitness brand, so we could help him prepare it for potential franchising.
Here are a few gold nuggets of what we did that you can go do, right now, in your business to conduct your own fitness business audit.
It really is helpful when you have an outside company do it, because people are more forthright and willing to tell you things in an unbarred manner. But, you can do it and still get great results. Just make sure you create a safe, trusting space for people to share. 1. Interviewed staff without owners present We did this so staff could speak freely and openly, sharing the good, the bad, and the ugly of what day-to-day operations are like, and what their honest feedback is on leadership, direction, and focus. We used this knowledge to pinpoint where the staff is overwhelmed, too many roles for too few people, breakdown in systems, strengths and weaknesses in leadership, communication, and a lot more. If you sit your staff down and really let them go off and tell you what they are thinking and feeling, you will gain some of the most valuable information you will ever use in fine-tuning your brand. 2. Interviewed and focus grouped 30-50 clients Now, why did we do this so in depth? Because your best marketing comes from the words of your buyers! Not your market, but your buyers. So, if you do nothing else, go interview your buyers about your business and why they bought or joined, the No.1 reason they keep staying with you, and use that to power your marketing. Now, as far as us coming in, we did this so we could ask a series of questions to help gather the language, wants, and needs of the best clients, who were raving fans. That way, we could start stripping out the USP of the business and the three unique avatars that exist in the business, for us to start creating signature funnels and higher-priced offers, back end systems, bundled offers, recognition, and about 20 more systems that need attention.
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