In a downed economy, a key to surviving is branching out into new areas and diversifying your current offerings.
Things such as offering new group exercise programs, diet analysis software, or free personal trainer sessions for new members can have a positive affect on your bottom line.
However these traditional ideas should be all that you do.
Another option for business diversity is partnerships.
Professional partnerships are a great way for fitness professionals and/or fitness facilities to increase their overall revenue.
A partnership by definition is: *a relationship resembling a legal partnership and usually involving close cooperation between parties having specified and joint rights and responsibilities (Merriam Webster's Dictionary).
Sounds sort of scary? Well it does not have to be.
A partnership can be as simple as committing to provide some referral, service, opportunity, or discount for a company's clients you are interested in partnering with, and in return they provide your clients/members with a similar service.
For example, let's say there is a registered dietitian just down the block from your fitness facility.
As part of a partnership, you could provide to all of the registered dietitians current patients/clients a discounted registration fee for joining your gym, and also a free personal training session.
The registered dietitian could then offer a similar discounted diet analysis session with any current/future member of your fitness facility.
This then benefits both the fitness facility and the registered dietitian because: 1) It provides a new potential clientele pool that both business parties might have had trouble accessing on their own 2) It allows for new marketing opportunities.
Each facility could market they are partnered with the other facility, in hopes of providing a more rounded health plan for both parties clients/patients.
This can help improve the overall visibility of both business parties.
The above is a great example but by no means the end all to partnership opportunities and/or ideas.
You can also look at partnering with local physical therapists, chiropractors, allied health/medical professionals, etc.
By having several partnerships, you are opening several doors at once for new and greater revenue opportunities.
Worried about entering into a partnership due to all of the legal mumbo jumbo that often leaves most of us questioning our ability to read and understand English? Don't worry partnership agreements do not have to be complicated.
Depending on how much you trust the other party; they do not even have to be formalized with a written agreement.
Most times having a simple "you scratch my back I scratch yours" mentality will be enough.
If you or the other party deems it necessary for a written agreement, be sure to not only research what should go into the agreement, but also hire a lawyer to review the final agreement before signing it.
Now to save money, often times you can find some solid example agreements online that you can than use as a template for creating the final agreement yourself.
However, after you have put an agreement together, even though you may know everything that is in the agreement, it is still a good idea to have someone, such as a lawyer, who is knowledgeable in contracts go through it to make sure nothing important is missing.
The last thing you would want to do is sign an agreement that could hurt yourself or your business.
Partnerships are a great way to not only survive a downed economy but also possibly thrive in one.
To be successful with a partnership, be sure to provide enticing discounts.
Doing things such as providing a free shirt might not do the trick.
When trying to decide what to provide, keep in mind that if you provide something better such as offering first month of membership free with a 12 month membership, your short term bottom line might not look to appealing.
However, looking at the long term, it can prove quite beneficial.
Couple that with the fact that without this partnership, you would not have any new revenue streams anyway, offering an enticing partnership discount will in the end increase your overall bottom dollar.
Things such as offering new group exercise programs, diet analysis software, or free personal trainer sessions for new members can have a positive affect on your bottom line.
However these traditional ideas should be all that you do.
Another option for business diversity is partnerships.
Professional partnerships are a great way for fitness professionals and/or fitness facilities to increase their overall revenue.
A partnership by definition is: *a relationship resembling a legal partnership and usually involving close cooperation between parties having specified and joint rights and responsibilities (Merriam Webster's Dictionary).
Sounds sort of scary? Well it does not have to be.
A partnership can be as simple as committing to provide some referral, service, opportunity, or discount for a company's clients you are interested in partnering with, and in return they provide your clients/members with a similar service.
For example, let's say there is a registered dietitian just down the block from your fitness facility.
As part of a partnership, you could provide to all of the registered dietitians current patients/clients a discounted registration fee for joining your gym, and also a free personal training session.
The registered dietitian could then offer a similar discounted diet analysis session with any current/future member of your fitness facility.
This then benefits both the fitness facility and the registered dietitian because: 1) It provides a new potential clientele pool that both business parties might have had trouble accessing on their own 2) It allows for new marketing opportunities.
Each facility could market they are partnered with the other facility, in hopes of providing a more rounded health plan for both parties clients/patients.
This can help improve the overall visibility of both business parties.
The above is a great example but by no means the end all to partnership opportunities and/or ideas.
You can also look at partnering with local physical therapists, chiropractors, allied health/medical professionals, etc.
By having several partnerships, you are opening several doors at once for new and greater revenue opportunities.
Worried about entering into a partnership due to all of the legal mumbo jumbo that often leaves most of us questioning our ability to read and understand English? Don't worry partnership agreements do not have to be complicated.
Depending on how much you trust the other party; they do not even have to be formalized with a written agreement.
Most times having a simple "you scratch my back I scratch yours" mentality will be enough.
If you or the other party deems it necessary for a written agreement, be sure to not only research what should go into the agreement, but also hire a lawyer to review the final agreement before signing it.
Now to save money, often times you can find some solid example agreements online that you can than use as a template for creating the final agreement yourself.
However, after you have put an agreement together, even though you may know everything that is in the agreement, it is still a good idea to have someone, such as a lawyer, who is knowledgeable in contracts go through it to make sure nothing important is missing.
The last thing you would want to do is sign an agreement that could hurt yourself or your business.
Partnerships are a great way to not only survive a downed economy but also possibly thrive in one.
To be successful with a partnership, be sure to provide enticing discounts.
Doing things such as providing a free shirt might not do the trick.
When trying to decide what to provide, keep in mind that if you provide something better such as offering first month of membership free with a 12 month membership, your short term bottom line might not look to appealing.
However, looking at the long term, it can prove quite beneficial.
Couple that with the fact that without this partnership, you would not have any new revenue streams anyway, offering an enticing partnership discount will in the end increase your overall bottom dollar.
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