Why you should start an online fitness business

Picture this. You have been training for years and enjoy fitness more than the average Joe. So much so that you wish to turn your hobby into a profitable and marketable business. You start planning and establishing a budget for rent, equipment, utilities, and other extra funds. Next, you have to worry about the market you are entering and realize that there are famous fitness gurus and celebrities out there that you need to compete with when you are yet to make a name for yourself. Add an unexpected pandemic and you are starting to lose hope. But guess what? You can start your online fitness business now.

To counter the problem, gyms have moved online and personal trainers are now having 1-on-1 sessions with their clients from the comfort of their own homes. Equipment necessary? A mat, some resistance bands, a set of dumbbells, and a laptop, and a few of our tutorials. If you think about it, this pandemic has replaced the four walls of a fitness studio online streaming platforms.

By the time you are done reading this article, it is safe to say that you can start building your virtual fitness company with WpStream.

Why Train Online

Respect your time

Starting your business online or moving it online from a physical gym gives you greater control over your time and how you manage it. You can count on the fact that even the most experienced, hardworking, and high achieving coaches and fitness trainers experience the dreaded burn out. Running or working at a gym requires you to be on call and at the location for the full time it is open. On the other hand, having an online business where you can speak to your clients and set up proper schedules will help you manage your time more efficiently.

Cut on costs

If you are a gym owner, you already know the cost of running your business. If you’re just starting out, a quick Google search and you will find that the most basic fitness start up can range between $10,000 and $50,000. This includes fancy gym equipment, paper work, legal and processing fees, building improvements and renovations, and traditional advertising (billboards, posters). Note that after spending all this money, a business is still a risky investment and you do not have a guarantee. 

However, if you start an online business, you will only require the following (most of which you already surely have):

• Your home
• A laptop
• A camera with a tripod/ iPhone/ Android
• Internet connection
• Basic equipment– mat, dumbbells, resistance bands.
• A WordPress website
• A live streaming solution- WpStream.net
• Social media accounts to market yourself
• Enthusiasm and charisma

Make more profits

If you were previously limited to 15-20 clients per group class and had multiple sessions a day, you can now live stream a session to hundreds and even thousands of people at the same time. During a one hour session, you can have plenty more clients than ever before paying for your services. Your own city is no longer the limit. You can reach clients nationally and  internationally. Broadcasting your fitness class online removes barriers and builds your reputation on an international spectrum. Furthermore, you save time and energy by broadcasting a class once and then uploading it as a Video-On-Demand for your clients, bringing in even more income. If you check out Fitness Blender and Blogilates on YouTube, you will understand how popular online fitness classes are.

Find your niche market

Gyms and personal trainers need to market their gym to a certain demographic in the area that they are living in. This is so that it is easy for them to get to the gym easily or travel to their client. You can also find your niche and target your demographic, but with a wider audience, and therefore, attract more clients. Your clients are constantly looking for live stream fitness classes that they could do at home (especially in a pandemic!). As long as you speak their language and provide a service that they need, you can start building a relationship. 

Now, you’re probably thinking…

“This all sounds great but what is a niche market and how do I find mine?”

A niche includes denoting products, services, or interests that appeal to a small, specialized section of the population. It is a section of the larger market and in this case, a small segment of the fitness industry. To find your niche market, follow these steps:

Step 1

includes asking yourself a set of questions about your own likes, interests, hobbies, and personality traits.

• What type of exercises do I enjoy doing the most?
• Which types of training motivates me to learn more and do more?
• What sort of skills do I have? (You can think about your current job, what you have done in the past, or ask your family and friends what you are good at)
• What kind of clients do I enjoy working with? Which ones do I dislike?
• What kind of client transformations give me the highest job satisfaction or make the most proud?

Step 2

includes creating your ideal customer. It is important to take time and research this as it will help you come up with your market segment and then be able to market yourself as a fitness brand on your social media pages. You should establish their;

• Age
• Gender
• Personality traits
• Occupation
• Income
• Hobbies
• Values

This list could go on and on and you can set up different profiles for different types of clients. You can even give your created persona a name! 

Now, think about a problem that this client may have and are looking to address. Here is a random example of a persona that I have created.

“Daniel is in his late 20s and works a 9-5 job as a recruitment manager and earns about $50,000 per year. He tries to run every morning before work to train for a marathon that he will be taking part in. He has 4 months to train for this. Daniel is a high achiever and likes to have his life scheduled to perfectionism. Although he runs almost everyday, he wants to start strength training because he has only been doing cardio and is starting to lose muscle mass, which will consequently slow him down.”

With this information- Strength Training for Marathon Runners– you can now start researching your niche.

Step 3

is where the Google search becomes magical. Start typing in the keywords of your niche and see what comes up.

• How big or small is the niche?
• Will I have a lot of competition? (Google Adwords Keywords shows you the most competitive keywords (aka possible niches)
• Is the ideal customer I created actually interested?
• Does my ideal customer have the time and resources to use my services?

You should be looking at a big niche with little competition. Think outside the box and aim high. A niche that scores well in at least two or three of the above categories should also work well.

Step 4

should have you doing even more market research. Analyze the field and read up on other similar businesses. See what works for them and what doesn’t. If you find a fitness company that offers services that are similar to yours, find a service that they are missing and add that to yours. Starting a business is all about finding and marketing your Unique Selling Point. A USP is what sets you apart and be prepared to answer this question: 

“What makes you different from XYZ and why should I pick you?”

Start speaking to people in person, send out surveys, and conduct focus groups. The more people you ask, the more reliable the information you receive is, decreasing risk potential from the get go. 

Here are some potential questions that you can test the market with by asking your ‘participants’

• Is it important for you to solve this problem? (Strength training for marathon runners)
• Do you require these services?
• Would you pay for these services?
• Have you previously come across these services?
• Have you previously paid for these services? If yes, how much?

Step 5

is figuring out whether this is the niche for you and if it would be a profitable online fitness business. If the results of the above 4 steps have brought about positive answers and you see that this is a potential problem that clients are hoping to address, great! You can confidently start Strength Training for Marathon Runners. 

If the responses are negative, you can still work around Strength Training but find a different niche market. All you need to do is repeat the steps mentioned above. 

Market research for your potential niche will take some time and as cliché as it sounds, patience is a virtue. Consider this the ground work before setting up and running a successful fitness business.

Step 6

is when you have come to the end of your market research and you can now start broadcasting your classes. With WpStream, you can run a live workout, record your training sessions, and set up Video-on-Demand for your clients to watch on their own time. You can choose to monetize these broadcasts and videos or offer them for free. You can set up subscriptions, pay-per-view, free videos, or hybrid monetization options. Find out more about broadcasting live fitness classes in this article.

If you would like a full Business Guide especially constructed by us to the smallest detail, including finding your niche, creating your brand image, and how to make a WordPress website, fill out this application and we will send you a free copy.

Conclusion

With technology evolving and the onset of Covid-19, the online fitness industry has been booming. Gym owners had to temporary or permanently close down and/or move their fitness business online to continue training their customers. Fortunately for fitness entrepreneurs, there has never been a better time to start an online fitness business. With a bit of market research and the right streaming equipment, you are ready to start broadcasting your fitness classes with WpStream.  Check out our YouTube Channel for upcoming fitness videos and learn how to broadcast.