The NUMBERS that Drive Your Fitness Business
Do you know what every failing business FAILS to grasp and every long-term SUCCESSFUL business has control over?
It’s their NUMBERS.
Re-read that again.
Let it sink in.
You MUST get this.
And not just ‘get it’, but DO IT if you’re going to have a business that consistently grows.
I can tell you that after several years of coaching fitness business owners, everyone I’ve EVER seen fail missed this piece.
Many of them missed other pieces too.
But it was missing THIS piece that ultimately did them in.
You just can’t operate very long ‘flying blind’.
It will catch up with you.
Not a matter of ‘if’, just a matter of ‘when’.
That’s why the NUMBERS continues to be my #1 soapbox topic.
And probably always will be.
You’ve heard me mention it before, and you’ll hear me mention it again.
It’s ALL About The Numbers
Everytime I talk with a client, I want to see their numbers.
Otherwise it’s just guessing.
Doesn’t matter my opinion, your opinion, or “feelings”.
The NUMBERS always tell the truth (and full story) with 100% accuracy.
Anyway, today is not about me just ranting.
What I want to talk with you about are the top 17 numbers that you must know in order to manage your biz.
These numbers are divided into 4 categories (Finance, Sales, Marketing, and Operations).
And each of these 4 key functions of your business must be tracked and measured.
Without consistent reassessment and a clear view of your position in each area… you don’t even know what’s going on, let alone what the heck to do about influencing them in a positive direction.
The Top 17 Numbers That Drive Your Biz
Ok, the top 17 numbers are:
Finance:
1. Gross Income
2. Gross Expenses
3. Net Profit
4. Net Profit %
Sales:
5. Number of Consults
6. Number of Sales/New Clients
7. Close Rate
8. Total New Client Revenue
9. Average Transaction Size
Marketing:
10. Total Marketing Investment
11. Total New Leads
12. Average Cost/Lead
13. Total Contacts in Database
Operations:
14. Total Active Clients
15. Total Active Members
16. Total Trained Sessions
17. Total Staff
What you SHOULD do is track these numbers every month, and graph them.
Once you get at least 2 data points (2 months of numbers) all of a sudden you have… drum roll please…TRENDS!
And a trend is either moving up, moving down, or flatlining.
Guess what?
Which ever way your numbers are trending tells you some VERY important information you need to know in order to make good business decisions!
The numbers going in the right direction?
Great! What have you done to influence that trend?
As Eric said last week…KEEP IT GOING!
The numbers moving in the wrong direction?
Uh, oh. What occurred or what did you do to cause this?
How can you address it or counteract the problem on the other side of the equation?
DO IT PRONTO!
What it’s all REALLY About
You see ultimately the tracking the numbers is all about:
1. Taking responsibility for staying informed about the status of your business
2. Getting the data visible you need to make good business decisions
And THAT is 80% of the battle!
Most people don’t fail because they made bad decisions with good data.
Sure that happens every once in a while, but those errors are generally recoverable and part of the learning process.
Most people fail because they make BLIND decisions based off absolutely nothing… because they have not taken responsibility for #1, so therefore can’t get to #2.
So what does this ultimately all boil down to?
NPE CORE VALUE #1:
Personal Responsibility & Accountability
It’s the basis for all success.
And here’s the great part about that.
Nobody ‘gives it to you’.
You just simply step up and take more of it for yourself.
Not happy with where you’re at?
Step up and take more personal responsibility for your success.
What to go further faster?
Same thing, but plus it by joining a peer group where you’ll be held accountable to someone other than yourself for getting things done and pushing yourself to consistently grow by getting outside your comfort zone.
That’s just one of the many benefits our VIP members enjoy.
And one of the big “reason’s why” so many of our VIP’s are consistently having their best-month-ever after best-month-ever again.
Speaking of which, we’ve got some great new case study videos to share with you coming soon that are VERY instructional and inspiring.
Stay tuned for an announcement this week.
To your success,
Sean
P.S. I’d love to get your take on this. Think back to the times when you’ve grown the most in your business and/or your life. This can be about anything… doesn’t have to be about business… just about growth/goal achievement/personal development.
Would you say it was because you ‘stepped up to the plate’ and took more personal responsibility?
Or was having accountability to someone other than yourself that made the difference?
Or both?
Post your comments below. I’d love to hear how these 2 factors have had an impact on your life.
Best 2 stories posted here will receive $100 NPE bucks good toward anything in our webstore.
Winners announced Tuesday.
Excellent post and a reality check.
I think you hit it on the head!
I think both!
What I need is a way to track my numbers. Simple quick easy and honest
I hav e always made the most personal progress when I stepped up to the plate and added the accountability of another. At five years in business, business is ‘steady’. Not good enough. A business coach has helped but has not gotten into my head to get the forward momentum. My ‘systems’ are lacking and have not found the peer group that clicks with me. Both 1 & 2 are right where I am!!!!
I have always made the most personal progress when I stepped up to the plate and added the accountability of another. At five years in business, business is ‘steady’. Not good enough. A business coach has helped but has not gotten into my head to get the forward momentum. My ‘systems’ are lacking and have not found the peer group that clicks with me. Both 1 & 2 are right where I am!!!!
One can only be accountable to themselves if they have information to guide them. these 17 numbers present a very clear meathod of tracking trends in my biz that i have previously turned a blind eye too. In fact i can report some big fat zeros in most of the catagories presented in this list. I’ts like wandering around in the dark latching on to any thing you can to maintain a direction, while never really knowing where your going. A constant cycle of hand to mouth succsesses with no real understanding as to what’s really happening and eventually failure.
I will say this…while I agree with everything that Sean just wrote about knowing your numbers it’s important NOT to get caught up in reports and trends. Knowing these “17 numbers” which are all very important by the way, simply help you make decisions to change your business to be more profitable. At the end of the day, this is all that matters! Trends don’t mean jack in this business long-term. There are too many variables that are outside of your control to sit there and analyze trends every day. The ONLY thing that matters is are you taking specific action steps each and every day to grow your business? Use a checklist of the 5-10 most important things you can do to grow your business (that you should be doing every day) and simply “do.” Review your sales weekly and your other numbers monthly to see where and how to change and then get back to work. Remember, nothing happens until somebody sells something!
Shane,
Thanks for your post and to clarify, I’m not suggesting anyone be paralyzed by reading reports.
Reports are simply data tools to make good decisions.. and YES take action!
But think about (and this is for everyone) the times when you’ve struggled in your business (everyone has).
Was it because you were lazy and not taking action, or because you didn’t have a grasp of what was occurring in order to make a good decision and see the writing on the wall ahead of time?
In my experience in working with a LOT of folks, the bigger problem is the latter.
This is far too often overlooked by most…. and I’ve seen it put too many folks in the grave.
Hence the big warning and call to action for focused attention on these key metrics to all.
Sean
Well said posts by everyone.
I used to work for a large Canadian Gym as a Trainer and a Fitness Manager.
While there, everything was about numbers. That is what determined the success and helped forecast future growth.
Sales targets, closing percentages and so on…
This company happens to be one of if not the most profitable fitness club in Canada with over 250 gyms.
This is by no accident. It is because of numbers.
Sure they have a stellar sales and customer service staff but the management are always reviewing weekly and monthly numbers.
As an entrepreneur now, I find it very easy to get caught up in marketing, advertising, sales, HR and personal training. It is very easy to lose sight of these numbers Sean is talking about.
I bet if you had an investor or someone looking to buy your company for a couple of mil, that person would greatly want to know all the numbers Sean mentioned if not more.
I guess some people are very detailed oriented and focus solely on numbers – action on sales needs to take place too.
Sean, great post!!!
It is refreshing to hear a fitness info company like your team, put up such an awesome informative post.
I greatly thank-you.
Guess what my company meeting will be about this week – knowing your numbers!
Just like we have key indicators for our clients, e.g. # of calories consumed, how often they are doing their cardio, as well as HR..etc These are excellent key indicators for business.
Thanks guys.
Hey Sean, can we make that a wall poster too? Copy, paste, making my own till then. Such clear stepping stones. By the way, just launched my first boot camp yesterday with 8 ladies at the National Guard Armory. A long exciting story short, I’m definitely out of my comfort zone in so many areas and growing and loving it. Thank you for the info above.