Is your business sustainable? How to fix

Continues from How to work out how much to charge per session.

In the last article we calculated how much you need to be charging per session to build the business you want.

How close is what you are currently charging to the one you calculated?

If it’s less (which having done this exercise with a lot of trainers, I’ll hazard a guess and say it is) then you need to look at increasing your rates.

(I should mention that you can also reach your financial goals by running more sessions or increasing your ideal class size. That may not be sustainable for you though so be careful messing with the figures you picked in the first place. A better goal is to work out how you can get to charging what you want and need to charge.)

I know at this point you might be freaking out at the thought of charging more.

Maybe you think you’re not worth it.

Maybe you think your clients can’t afford to pay more.

Maybe you just got into this to help people and hoped the financial stuff would work itself out later.

We’ve all been there at some point. But here is the the very blunt truth of it: If you are not charging enough to stay in business long term, then you will not stay in business.

How can you help anyone improve their health, wellbeing or lives if you are put in a financial position where you have to quit? Take a moment to let that sink in.

As you can see, what you charge people to come to your class is actually really important.

I want you to stay in business so below I’m going to help you with some ways you can increase how much you charge.

1. Quick Increase:

If you’ve never changed your prices before, give your clients plenty of notice and then go ahead and increase your prices by 20%.

Go for it: Aim to keep increasing every 6-12 months until you are getting close to your target.

2. Change Pricing Structure:

Not many sustainable fitness businesses are built on clients who only come once a week. Remove the option to come only once a week so people can come at a minimum twice a week. Or keep a drop-in rate but make it much more expensive than 2 or more times per week.

Go for it: Make 3 times per week the minimum someone can attend your classes. Remove once and twice a week options.

3. Increased Perceived Value:

This one goes hand in hand with a price increase, but what you want to do is increased the perceived value at the same time. Specialist classes like Yoga, Pilates, Spin, etc. have no issue charging their clients $20-30 per session. How can you add create a workout that will allow you to charge more?

Go for it: Rebrand your classes to be something high-end and unique.

4. Add An Online Service:

If increasing your prices is completely out of the question, then you need to think about how else you can make money. One great way is to start something online. It opens you to a wider set of clients than those who can travel to your classes and has really low overheads.

Go for it: Create and sell multiple online products or services (free and paid).

How are you feeling after all of that? Inspired to start charging more or kind of freaked out?

Either way, let me know in the comments below and I’ll do my best to help.

Kyle Wood

Kyle Wood created Bootcamp Ideas in 2010 when he was hunting around on the internet for workout ideas. He ran a successful bootcamp in Victoria, Australia and spends his spare time managing this site, adventuring (or lazying) with his wife and find new ways to make bootcamps even better.