You’ve likely heard the expression “Those who don’t learn from their mistakes are doomed to repeat them.” Living in the information age, we have access to information about virtually everything. So why do business owners continue to make the same mistakes over and over expecting different results? Whatever the reason, one thing is for sure: some mistakes are avoidable while others are not.
When it comes to starting a fitness business, many new business owners make the same mistakes. Here is my list of the top five mistakes made when starting a business.
1. Being under educated. This mistake doesn’t refer to whether or not you have a degree from a university. Instead, it refers to not understanding what it truly means to be an entrepreneur starting a company. Many people dream about how they want their café to look or their flower shop sign design before they even run the numbers to see if their venture is viable. There is so more to consider than aesthetics. How much money do you need to start your business to compete in the space you are in? If you are in a competitive industry, you will need at least two times more money than you think, and you will dedicate at least triple the time you think you will need to at the beginning. You will need a business plan that’s not on a napkin. You will need to investigate your target market and how you will grow in the next five years. To some extent, you will have to forecast for the unknown. However, you should leverage the experience of people who have come before you to answer some planning questions you may have, such as pricing on your products and services, cost for your website, how much to budget for marketing, etc. Educating yourself as much as possible before starting your business will have profound effects. Start this phase by creating 50 questions to ask and then find the answers to those questions.
2. Wrong location. Ensure your business is in a town or geographic area that can satisfy a business of your type. Is there enough consumer demand in the area to support your business? Determine the kind of commercial space you’ll need and its physical positioning on the street or property. A fitness business may not work best on the second floor of a live performance venue off the main road. Leverage the knowledge of a tenant represented real estate broker (the landlord pays their fee) or ask an established entrepreneur who owns brick and mortar businesses for help.
3. Unrealistic marketing budget. It is difficult to spend money on something you don’t see an immediate return on, but marketing is the lifeline of your business. It will be how people come to recognize you, how they engage with you, how they become paying customers and how you leave your brand mark on the community. Skimping on your marketing budget or misallocating your marketing budget can spell doom long term. Opting for the $2,000 paint inside your store or paying the extra $1,000 for shiny wood floors at the start of your business is a big mistake. Instead, you should devote much of your start up dollars to marketing. Create the demand, serve the demand and recreate opportunities to serve the demand of your customers in the future. This is what really counts. What good are beautiful floors if no one walks on them? Once you decide on a marketing budget, add 10 percent.
4. Not understanding your target market. Many times when I ask fledging and struggling entrepreneurs to identify the customers they are marketing to, they say, “Most of my customers come from all over.” Think about this. If someone committed a crime and the police asked you where the person ran, would you say, “Officer, they ran all over.” No, you would say “Officer, they ran down that street between those two buildings.” Specificity gets results. It doesn’t mean that your customer base can’t evolve over the years. However, you should start with customers who have the most likelihood of purchasing your service or product. How do you determine this if you haven’t landed on a target market? Two distinct ways: First, research the industry to see if they have already identified the target market most likely to purchase your service or product. Second, think about who you have already served. Who were they? How old were they? Where did they come from? How much did they buy? What did they buy? Use those questions to build your customer avatar.
5. Failure to get business coaching from a qualified business coach. Mark Cuban hates the idea of a business coach. I think it’s because he believes that entrepreneurs should fail on their own, learn from their failure, become more resilient and move forward. I do not necessarily disagree with this take; however, I believe there is a lot of value in having business coaches. A good business coach can help you navigate through choppy waters, but at the same time can give you a long leash to make your mistakes and help you understand what you could have done instead. A good business coach guides and doesn’t cover over your mistakes so you end up learning. Why would you want a business coach who allows you to stumble? Because if your business coach gives you all the answers to the test, you still may not even understand the concepts they’re trying to impart. Failure has a way of turning a 2D problem into a 3D problem, which lets you see all sides of an issue and understand it as well. My only regret is that I didn’t have a business coach when I first started. Trust me you won’t regret it, but choose wisely.
Even though you may have experienced other mistakes in your journey, these are my top five mistakes of new business owners that affect the operation of a startup. Keep plugging, keep working and you will be successful.
BIO
Micah Logan has been an entrepreneur for the last 15 years. Micah is the Founder/CEO of MELD Fitness + Wellness a fitness concept that focuses on delivering high-value, high-ticket personal training to members in small groups. In 2021 Micah started franchising his fitness concept with eyes on national expansion. Micah is also the CEO of HushFrame. HushFrame is the inventor and manufacturer of HushFrame connectors a soundproofing device that is disrupting the landscape of soundproofing in the construction industry. In addition to these roles Micah is also the host of the internationally downloaded small business podcast The Common Cents Show and a requested National Speaker. Micah is also a Business Coach having coached multiple business clients to achieve 6 and multiple 6 figure revenues.