Thomas Plummer - Living Your Dream: Opening a Financially Successful Fitness Business

Opening a
Financially Successful
Fitness Business

Thomas Plummer

2011 Healthy Learning. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States.

A previous version of this book was published as Open a Fitness Business and Make Money Doing It.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Healthy Learning. Throughout this book, the masculine shall be deemed to include the feminine and vice versa.

ISBN: 978-1-60679-169-1

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011923852

Cover design: Studio J Art & Design

Book layout: Studio J Art & Design

Front cover photo: Hemera/Thinkstock

Healthy Learning

P.O. Box 1828

Monterey, CA 93942

www.healthylearning.com

This book is dedicated to every brave individual who ever dreamed about opening a fitness business and then took the risk to make it happen. In the fitness industry, we are in the business of changing lives, and living your dream by opening your own business makes the world a better place for a lot of people who might never have found fitness without you.

This book is also dedicated to the entrepreneurial spirit that has fueled the incredible growth and success of the health and fitness industry worldwide. In many ways, we are just getting started in this industry, and the best days of the fitness business are yet to come.

I can honestly say without a doubt that I have been in front of more fitness business owners and operators of every type than anyone else in the history of this industry and I think I have learned something from each and every one. Thank you to all who have passed through my seminars for the questions and experience you have brought with you.

I am also profoundly grateful that I have been able to live my life pretty much on my own terms through my involvement with the fitness industry and through the owners and vendors who have supported my efforts all these years. There are far too many to list, but to all those who have helped me along the way, I would like to say thank you once again.

As I have said in my other books, no one really goes it alone. Everyone who has achieved any type of success has had the helping hand of someone elseand I am no exception. My thanks to all who have made my business and my life a wonderful journey.

I couldnt end this note without a special thought for Susan, who makes the journey worthwhile, and for Jillian, Madison, and CJ, special people who give me new reasons to enjoy my life beyond work and fitness.

Noted author Stephen Covey once wrote about the four levels of competence. Level one is unconscious incompetence. You dont even know that you dont know what youre doing. Thats where most people in the fitness business are: blissfully ignorant.

Level two is conscious incompetence. This is the level when you are cruelly made aware that you dont know what youre doing. This is where Thom first takes you. And this is where you hate him. Its the worst feeling in the world but you are getting closer.

The next level is conscious competence. It takes a while, but Thom will get you there. Youll now be making smarter decisions and running your business based on tracking and numbers. You start to make a little money.

This is when you start to love Thom!

The final level is unconscious competence. Youre now a business owner, who thinks, acts, and operates like a business owner (instead of playing one). If you let Thom be your guide, this is the mastery level.

Everyone needs a coach. Everyone.

Whether its a team sport such as football or basketball, or individual sports such as boxing or tennis, behind every great performer there is a great coach, advising, pushing, and directing.

In the fitness business, the number one guy is Thomas Plummer. Hes been my personal coach for years and my life and business are dramatically different thanks to his knowledge and input.

This book embodies everything you need to know about opening your own fitness business, and it should be mandatory reading for anyone involved in fitnesswhether you are opening a studio or a bigger gym, or even if you are just a trainer looking to get to the next level.

Alwyn Cosgrove
Author and Lecturer
Owner of Results Fitness

NOTE TO THE READER

Use this material at your own risk. Much of what is written here is based upon my own opinion, derived from my own research and experience in this industry. All the material included in this book is offered as a simple starting point for an owner or manager to use as you build your first business or simply improve the one you already own.

In all cases, and especially in legal issues concerning your business, such as leasing, you are advised to seek the advice of qualified professionals that support your business locally, including accountants, attorneys, and other business professionals who may know your business and your situation on a more intimate level.

Neither the author, nor publisher, nor any party related to the information and development of this book assumes any responsibility or liability for the consequences, whether good or bad, of your application of this material.

Also please note that some examples or bits of information are repeated in several different chapters in this book. Many of the readers of the earlier books have reported that they read this material by choosing specific chapters that are relevant to their interest or business problem at hand and dont always read the book straight through in order. If you are opening a new business, and it is your first, it is recommended that you read the book straight through, highlight what you need, and then start conversations with your team of professionals. Experienced owners should concentrate on the issues they encountered during their first venture that they wish they might have had some guidance on at the time.

SO YOU WANT TO OPEN A FITNESS CENTER?

Whatever possessed you to want to get into the fitness business? You can be sure that you will be asked this question often as you ponder opening a fitness facility for the first time. Your potential investors, your banker, your significant other, your family, and your friends will all want to know why youre getting into a business that is perceived by those on the outside as so easy, yet is known by those who own and operate fitness businesses as one of the most challenging and intensive small businesses you could own.