**Double-check your email for accuracy to ensure you receive the report.Finding the Ideal Location to Run Your Fitness Boot Camps
Guest Post by Laurel Blackburn
The following is a guest post by the boot camp queen Laurel Blackburn
I've been cleaning out my office with the help of a professional organizer. I decided that paying someone to help me do the things that overwhelms me and stresses me out was well worth the money. It also frees up my time and helps me to be more productive with the things I enjoy, like building my business.
While I was going through my stuff (junk), I found my old planners and notebooks from when I started my business. I also found my old W-2s from when I was a personal trainer, working for "the man". I worked part time, probably the same amount of hours I work now and I made around $6,000 for the year. Man, I am glad I struck out on my own. Now I bring in 3 times that….in a month!
If you are still doing personal training in a gym and giving half of your income to the owners, I feel for you. Of course if you are content with that, I feel for you to.
So, last month I wrote about planning, dreaming and setting a start date. My start date was about 3 or 4 months after I made the scary decision to get out of the gym. Now it was time to quit dreaming and get to work. First on the list was finding a place to hold my camps. This proved to be the hardest part of starting my own business...
I really thought I could just do it at a park and be set. Things did not work out that way. I know in a lot of cities, using public parks is allowed. I quickly found out that in my town, it was not allowed. Now I know trainers who have the attitude that it is "better to seek forgiveness, than ask for permission". Do not do that! Just that one tip is so important, that I will say it again. Do not do that! As a matter of fact, I think it is so important that I will put that in bold. Do not do that!
Just think how unprofessional you would look if you got kicked out of your park after you started your camp. You would have to explain to your clients why they have to stop their training while you find another place to hold your camps. Your reputation as a solid, upstanding and serious business person would go out the window. It may take you a month or more to find a suitable location. It took me 2 months to find space and I went everywhere.
Before you start approaching businesses begging for space, you need to be prepared. This is the point where you go from gym trainer to professional business person.
Put together packets to hand out to businesses. Go out and get some nice folders. In that put copies of your certification, liability insurance, continuing education credits, resume, professional organizations you belong to and testimonials from clients. You also want to include a flyer on the first page with information about your boot camp. It doesn't have to be fancy, but you do need to put what it is, what the benefits are and your contact information. On that flyer, you need to also put a discount or perk that you will offer the business if they let you hold camps at their location. Make sure that there is something in it for them.
So, how do you find space without money?
Here is what I did. I drove around town to the areas that would be the most convenient for people to get to. I made a list of churches, schools, karate studios, dance studios, community centers and even a skating rink. I looked for businesses that were only open in the evenings that might be interested in making some money during their off hours. At this point, I was thinking I could only find space for morning camps. There is nothing wrong with only doing morning camps, but then you would not be able to expand into the evenings with this set up. Of course you can put away some money from your morning camps and then look for your own place.
When you find suitable places to hold your camp, then it's time to make appointments to speak to the person in charge. Make sure when you are meeting with these people that you dress and act like the professional you are, or at least hope to be. They are taking a huge risk and the more professional image you present, the better.
Ok, I think I've left you with enough to do for now. I know some of you are thinking, "this is hard" or "I didn't think there was so much involved". Remember, you are starting a legitimate business. If you take the necessary steps and the extra time to plan, then chances are you are going to succeed.
Until next time.
Laurel "The Boot Camp Queen".
Laurel Blackburn is a fitness boot camp marketing specialist. You can learn more about Laurel and her marketing strategies at MyBootCampBusiness.com AND check out her boot camp site at BootCampsToGo.com
Comments on Finding the Ideal Location to Run Your Fitness Boot Camps »
Good information Laurel.
I've been blessed through networking to have 4 locations in my city for $150 a month. Three of those are schools and one is a church. I'm in a fairly small town but I truly believe the power of relationship building works anywhere you go.
People need to know you, like you and trust you.
Thanks for the post.
Donovan "DFitnessguy" Owens
great post, Laurel! I'm looking for another location right now. The ones I have now I really just emailed a bunch of martial arts and yoga studios. Think this way is a lot more professional especially the business packet.
Chris,
Thanks for this blog post from Laurel. This has been by far the hardest part of setting up my boot camp business and while I have thought of some of things in this post to do. I just didn't know how to put it together to present in a professional way to other business. This outlines it perfectly.
Thanks for all the great info.
Mike
Good advice on finding a location for camps.. I also have a great welcome packet I put together!
Dear Laurel
It's funny how I just opened my email and this article because I am a certified personal trainer and I am starting my BootCamp for the 1st time on May 4.I didn't know you had to get permission to use outdoors like the park,beaches ect.How do I find out if it's legal in my city/state and if not who do I ask permission from?
Thank,Heather Borges CPT/NS
Hi Laurel: I'm a trainer and I just left the hour to hour training in a gym for the same reasons you did! I have a partner that's also a trainer and we see a need to introduce bootcamp classes in our area. Not only do people want to get out of the gym and get outside but we find that people don't want to spend wasted hours in a gym when they can put in their time in bootcamp and get on with their day. Other than purchasing your business packet what should we do first? We find that there's so much to do we end up spinning our wheels and get nothing done.
Thanks for the great website and valuable information!
Linda*
This is a very timely post. Great ideas and very helpful. Thanks!
Bob
http://www.totalcyclingperformance.com
that is excatly what i am doing right now. i am trying to move another town and i have been driving around the community trying to find a place for my speed camp to work with kids who wants to become a better athlete! and of course boot camp for women. yes, i have been making a list and looking and PRAYING!! i do believe in miracles only if I want to work on it..i never waste my time but you know sometimes i do get a setbacks and i don't like it at all. the last time thatLlaurel talk about writing it down. that is what i have been doing too. i have been asking myself many questions such as what, how, where, and when! like an interview to me and myself. lol. i think Laurel is right on track…thank you!
you know there is something else here i should say…ask anything in prayer- you will get it once you ask God anything…like finding a boot camp space and He will give you ONE big time…. if you believe it— if you don't believe it…then i am sorry to say that you won't get it. thanks chris and Laurel….you guys are great to talk about business!!! keep it coming and we all need to hear from you from time to time! thanks Guys!!!!!!!!
Awesome post Laurel - I'm trying to get over this part at the moment as well.
What kind of business license did you go for btw?
Hey Laurel!
Great post!
I managed to get gym space for my bootcamp by not only paying for the space, but guaranteeing training for the 8-18YO athletes that work out here in the evenings.
It's not ideal, but I have a HUGE indoor space that was just sitting vacant in the mornings. (Turns out a lot of teenagers won't get up to practice at 4:10a.m. weird.)
So I get a cut in my lease and soon I'll be having an intern from the local college do my evening training duties for me.
Have a kickass day!
~ Luke
Hey Laurel
Thanks for the post and tip. Do you have any suggestion as in how much or percentage of what we get from the boot camp be paid to the owner of the premises?
TC
http://www.tcpersonaltraining.com
Try calling the Parks and Recreation in your town. Also the park itself may have a sign with contact information on it.
I started these blogs with what I did from the very start. I guess you can go back and search through Chris's site and find them. There is also a lot of other good info on this site from other boot camp owners.
laurel
I got an LLC. I didn't know a thing about business, so it was important to me to do everything right. I contacted our personal accountant and let him do all the work.
Laurel
I prefer offering a flat fee up front. When you do percentages then someone else needs to know what you make and will be all up in your business…literally.
I think I paid my grass owner (the guy I rented grass from) $25.00 per class. You just have to see what it's worth to you. Even if you paid $200.00 a month or $50.00 per class, it may only be 1 client. I think of stuff in "client". My rent now is $1,100 a month. That equals 7.3 clients. I have around 100 or more clients a month so it's worth it.
When I paid per class and then started adding classes it got too expensive. So at $25.00 per class at say 5 classes a week, that was $125.00 per week or $500.00 a month. If you have plenty of clients, that's fine but at the beginning I had around 16. You just have to play with the numbers.
Math is my worst subject, so I wouldn't take advice on anything like that from me!
Laurel
Hey Chris! Thanks for not loading my blog with pictures of women in bikinis with machine guns and stuff!!!
Laurel
you rock
–z–
Great post . looking for locations at the moment as well so will come in useful Personal Training Southend
Hey Laurel,
Great post and thank you for all the tips you have provided so far…
A question if I may… How long did it take you to get to 5 figures per month with your camps after taking that scary jump?
Cheers
Adam Toohey
6 questions - all very relevant and helpful to other trainers
Firstly, good morning to you Chris… weather sucks in NY
1. so eventhough I can train in the parks where I live, would you suggest other indoor methods cuz weather is a huge factor with rain and a whole other bunch of crap like kicking smoked out high school frizbie players out of your area who are just looking for trouble?
2. Thinking about joining your members club. Is it now 47 bucks as opposed to 27?
3. is it for a year or can you opt out?
4.would I have access to the information you have provided in previous months or would I start from where I sign up?
5. accepting credit cards for EFT training? - thoughts? personally too expensive, I just do from checking account to checking account. I think c.c are only good for convenience when you are selling info products or other stuff online like membership sites. agree? why lose money so clients can get frequent flyer miles!
6. specific but important - ok so I have a guy tonight that might sign up for EFT (true) - If you want to strike while the iron is hot and get him to sign tonight, the eft asks for his routing number and his account number. he may not know this off hand. HOW DOES ONE INFORM A CLIENT TO BRING THAT INFO OR SIMPLY A CHECK WITH THEM WHEN THEY ARE MEETING YOU FOR THE FIRST TIME. IT WOULD SEEM WEIRD NO? MANY PEOPLE DON'T CARRY THEIR CHECK BOOK AND I WOULD NOT WANT THIS CLIENT TO WALK OUT THE DOOR TONIGHT WITHOUT SIGNING.
Mitchell,
Hey man, here's a few answers for you.
2. Yes, it is now $47 with the newly added Auto-Delegation Toolbox
3. $1 trial then you can opt out at any time if you like
4. You would have access to the whole club, from the beginning of time
5. I accept both cc / debit cards and checking. I get about a 2% rate, it really isn't bad at all. CC is way easier to manage billing in my opinion. You don't have to worry about bounced checking accounts, what dates to bill on. Plus some people, just can't afford it normally, so they put it on CC.
6. Most my clients that pay by checking have memorized their checking / aba #'s. If not they usually have a check and they can do it off that. And if not that I just have them fill out everything except that and they promise to call and leave me a message that night with the numbers. 10 out of 10 I've done that way have followed through with it.
Zach, I appreciate greatly yo taking the time to be so detailed and fast with the answers
Heres a few more
wow - cancel anytime and have access to whole membership. sounds awesome and I think i will sign up tonight!
1. whats the auto delegation toolbar?
2. so you do accept c.c eventhough Bedros and possibly Chris would say just do checking account to checking account? Am I right on that? i think they say not to for p.t. I guess you feel the option makes you land more deals and the 2% is worth it huh?
3. i just started using FirstACH for my EFT. Very affordable. What do you use?
4. thoughts on semiologic plug-in? if any
5. where can you get a custom header like on your blog. i have wordpress and have a blog but need a website but need to get a cool header like kickbacklife has. suggesstions?
6. love that damn click to play movie button on your testimonials. is that webvideozone? if so what package to you suggest. if not, where the hell to you get that?
Thank you 100 times over and its nice to have role models eventhough i have been doing this for 11 years and am close to 6 figures, you all have inspired me to reach for the stars.
Laruel,
Thanks for the great info. I am just kicking into gear HSchool Bootcamps for the summer and location was a BIG TIME hassle.
Thanks again
JP
Mitchell, yep just $1 to get on the inside.
2. Check out kickbacklifestyleclub.com for an indepth look on the auto-delegation toolbox
3. I believe Chris does Credit Cards only, even requires cc's to set an app with one of his trainers. I use Authorize.net along with InfusionSoft crm.
4. I have a background in Computer Programming, so did all my own coding / design for the current SpokaneFitnessCoach.com, but I've used semio and think it's great as well.
6. Yep, web video zone, I have the lowest package as I host all the videos on my own server.
Zach thanks - this is great stuff man
just signed up for the KBL club - im excited - If you speak to Chris - tell him thanks for me. I will thank him on another post I am sure.
Do you know if Semiologic lets you create a cool unique header for your blog - you know kinda like the one chris or bedros has - one that is not generic?
In all seriouness, I would love to consult with you for some detail questions I have for you about my business. I am a doer, so I would just need the info, and I am off and running. I would be willing to pay you for say 30-60 minutes once or a few times to pick your brain on questions like these. Interested? I will send you a check today. even if you think you may not be able to help - trust me you will beased on your answers to the other questions. If you feel more comfortable - just go to my web and grab my number and we can talk about this possibility
I can't remember. Average is 68 clients at $145.00, so that was my first $10,000 month. I think it was less than 1 year.
Now we average 100-120 a month and my prices are higher. We also do personal training.
Great tip thanks laura am starting up in the world of free lance away from the gym :-/ nervous but very excited about the endless possiblities out there :-). boots camps are at the top of my list and was just going to meet people at a park and get started but asking and getting permission sounds like a safe and sensible way to go thanks for the great advice :-)x
Great content thanks for the tips.
What is the best way to go about finding a facility to host indoor bootcamps?
Currently I am calling around to facilities like martial arts and cheer leading places because they have large rectangular rooms that I can fit many people into for the classes. And these places tend not to have morning classes (so they have free space available). However I am running into a lot of interference from the owners. You would think that with the current economy, these places would be happy to get help with the rents, but I am having communications problems (martial arts places) and a distinct lack of interest from most of the owners - they just don't want to be bothered from what I can tell - insurance issues (got that covered), they are worried about cleaning up (or having to have the place clean when I get there) and having to have a person at the location when I am there (trust issues here - they could just give me a key).
What is the best way to pay for the use of the facilities?
I'm in the classic catch 22 here. I don't have any bootcamp clients because I don't have a facility so I don't know what I can really afford. I'm trying to work it out such that I don't have to pay a standard rent like $50 per hour of usage or $1500 per month. So I am trying to get a percentage split. How much is a good split now and later when I am more successful? I am planning to offer free memberships like Steve Hochman suggests upfront to get human billboards and two week free trials as well. So I could have a bunch of people using the facility and no revenue for a while. This situation doesn't seem to sit well with the folks I am talking with.
Thanks for all your help,
Charles
fitHealthJournal.wordpress.com
i would recommend starting without no more than 1000 dollars.
and learn part time. for a year or two then youll be educated.
I completely failed my first try at it.
I think I have good sense for next try.
its a learning experience and success comes after you try and try again.. as long as you learn from the mistakes!
Keeping bootcamp clients seems to be the biggest problem, not getting them.
Also indoor locations are best in high income areas.
also having a tolerable fee per class obviously is not a bad idea either.
niche out and rock out.
bye
I operate a boot camp on the Gold Coast in Australia. Thanks a lot for the great post and the tips. It amazes me that many trainers do not take a professional approach to planning and when approaching potential boot camp venues. All the Best!