Three of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Health/Wellness. A major business sector is health and fitness. If run properly, these businesses can be very lucrative business niche for those who run them. The following contributed post is entitled, Is Health And Fitness The Business Niche For You?
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Health and fitness has become a huge industry in the last couple decades. If you’ve been considering starting a business within this niche, here are just several tips to help you succeed.
Choose your business angle
There are many different roles that you can take up within the health and fitness sector. You could become a personal trainer, you could start your own gym, you could start your own nutrition class or you could invent a fitness gadget (that’s only a handful of the options). Consider where your strengths lie.
Find your sub-niche
Health and fitness is one of the few sectors where it really benefits to specify in order to help you stand out. If you’re becoming a personal trainer, you may want to cater your training to a specific type of fitness – this could include long-distance running, strength training or weight loss. You could even cater to a certain group such teenagers, pregnant women or people with disabilities. The same applies to nutrition or fitness tech.
Get educated
Being an expert in your field is important both for providing the best service and gaining trust from customers. By getting educated, you can feel confident knowing that you’re qualified. You’ll find all kinds of specific courses such as physical therapy courses and macrobiotic courses online. Take your time to compare courses so that you’re getting the best education for your needs. Online courses have the advantage that they can be studied around other commitments.
Do your competitor research
Whatever sub-niche you get into, you’re likely to have competition. Researching your competition is important so that you can find a way to single yourself out. Don’t get too caught up trying to offer the cheapest service – think about what will make you unique. For instance, if you’re starting a gym, you could try investing in unique gym equipment, hosting unique classes or offering unique benefits to members (some gyms offer discounts to local services or even give out free wearable tech to loyal members).
Invest in marketing
Marketing is how you will attract customers in the first place, so it’s worth investing money into a variety of marketing channels. This could include designing a website, printing off business cards, trying SEO, getting involved in social media marketing and even designing your own app. Word of mouth is also a valuable marketing strategy and it could be worth dedicating time to networking to build connections.
Lead by example
Health and fitness is more than an occupation – it’s a lifestyle. You need to be an inspiration to the people that you’re marketing to, which means keeping in good physical shape and taking on healthy behaviours. Make sure that you’re committed to such a lifestyle and that you’re not simply going through a fitness phase.