There is no doubt that personal trainers and small fitness businesses are facing an unprecedented and uniquely challenging time due to the worldwide Coronavirus outbreak. I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news or be too negative, but the harsh reality is this. Many of us are going to take a financial hit at some point very shortly.

However, there are things that we can put in place in our fitness businesses to minimise the impact. It’s important that we don't panic and also that we understand that our members and clients are looking to us as a trusted source of health advice, especially when there is so much disinformation around.

Think about it, how many times did you get asked your opinion on Game Changers last year. Lot's probably. So you must communicate with your clients and your members.

Reassurance and Communication

One of our long time clients Russel Pearcy has done a great job of this by posting the following to his Kettlebell Club members. It covers the government advice and also offers reassurance to his clients that he is keeping equipment clean and that his priority is their wellbeing. Here’s what Russell sent to his members (posted with his permission)

“KB3 is a very different experience than the standard big gyms where you could be exposed to hundreds of people on each visit. Working either from a small gym or open air, I operate a small, closed door community with many of you good friends. I know you are all smart responsible adults but just wanted to lay out some precautions and actions and just give some clear guidance.
The current government advice is mainly based around practising good hygiene…
Social contact
If you are sick, please do not come to your PT session or group session!
The symptoms of Coronavirus are a high temperature, a constant cough, and breathing difficulties. If you develop any of these symptoms, please self-isolate and then just let me know. Like many of us, I have older relatives with underlying health issues.
Hygiene…

I am taking extra precautions.

1. Hot water and hand sanitiser at all training sessions.
2. KB handles and kit wiped down pre/post use.
3. Client hands sanitised pre and post PT training sessions.
4. Group sessions, as much social distancing as you want – now there’s an excuse!
5. Elbow bumps and no hugs.”

Taking Clients and Members Online

Consider some sort of online offering for your current members.

This could be in the form of live workouts they can do at home, 1-1 online coaching calls and accountability groups.

You can deliver live workouts using Facebook or Instagram or online video conferencing software like Zoom or even Skype.

You can also create online memberships using Facebook groups or if you want to be more thorough you can build an online membership platform.

Facebook Groups are also a great way to build a community and keep the communication channels open between you and your clients.

Taking Clients and Members Outside

Consider taking your indoor classes outside and switching to bodyweight exercises only for a while to minimise contact.

Go for outdoor runs in the park and weather permitting some outdoor yoga and stretching.

Work on Your Business or Take Some Time Off

The likelihood is that this crisis is going to pass and it won't last forever which gives you a unique opportunity to do a lot of the things in your business that you've been putting off.

• An opportunity to work on your business
• Work on your systems and processes
• Write some blogs posts or start that book you've always wanted to write
• An opportunity for learning
• Planning social media and marketing campaigns
• Taking some online courses and become a better practitioner
• Recording videos and content for an online program
• Maybe even just to spend some more time with your family and loved ones

We are currently working on creating some resources and landing pages for our clients. We are also going to give everyone in our free Facebook group access as well.

We'll also share the tools and resources we use to take payments online, build our email lists and also we are working out how we can give you guys some website templates for free to use if you don't have a web presence.

You can join our Free Facebook group for support right now and get access to the resources we are going to be giving away to help you guys out.

Remember we are all in the same boat here and this is going to be a challenge for all of us.

Let's all pull together and get through this as a community

Liam