The Great Gym Deception

Gyms have to be filled with the biggest load of body dysmorphics in
the world; each trying to achieve some Adonis inspired impossibility
of perfection and becoming even more dysmorphic in the process. Last
week, if you remember, I griped about my gym subscription, I thought I
would carry on with the trend. Many people go to gym essentially out
of fear; fear of rejection by the girl across the room, fear of the
fat-induced heart attack, fear that you do not live up to the
photoshopped expectations of the Men's Health cover guy. Others go to
satisfy the macho-image of bench pressing a ludicrous amount of metal
in the name of manhood. Seriously when else do you ever lie on your
back and push a weight off your chest. Unless you are a mechanic and a
VW golf falls on top of you I fail to see the practical benefit of the
bench press. “Ah but bru it gives you better pecs.” Sure, that's a
great reason for performing a non-functional exercise with massive
shoulder wrecking capabilities if done wrong. Despite all this I
really love gym. A convenient way (not the only way) to get some
exercise in and a great endorphin release. I still cannot justify the
expense at the new subscription rates though.

Here is my problem with gyms. They are a luxury experience at the high
end of my expense bill. Like most businesses in Zimbabwe they are
targeting the small minority of people with an above average income.
All the gyms are basically competing for the same, finite pool of
individuals. It is like being in a room of starving people and
fighting over the same small pot of sadza instead of cooking up
another batch from the ingredients in the kitchen. Only one gym in
recent history came into the local market with a strategy of targeting
new clients and even then I do not see it happening any more. What we
have is a pool of professional gym hoppers, people who shift from one
gym to the other. What we do not have is large numbers of people who
have never done gym before trying it out and sticking with it. What we
do not have is a sustained marketing strategy aimed at converting
people over to the product, no one is increasing the size of the sadza
pot.

It takes effort to come up with a way of targeting new clients and
building a relationship with them. The process can be scripted and
systematic, but it needs to be intentional. As a business you cannot
sit around and expect clients to fall into your lap. You have to be
intentional about targeting them, reaching out, and keeping them. Nor
should you be waiting for a lull before you jump into action. It needs
to be part of your process from the opening all the way through. If
you focus on enriching the lives of the client rather than lining your
pocket you will probably do a better job at keeping them. So for the
gym, that means being a little more concerned about my health and
fitness than about just increasing your fees, because if you take care
of me well enough I may just bring a friend along to train.

This is not a gym unique problem. It affects almost any business in
the country right now.

I was reminded this last week of a quote from the 1954 movie Sabrina,
where Linus Larrabee is explaining to his brother his motivation for
business;

'A new product has been found, something of use to the world. A new
industry moves into an undeveloped area. Factories go up, machines go
in and you're in business. It's coincidental that people who've never
seen a dime now have a dollar and barefooted kids wear shoes and have
their faces washed. What's wrong with an urge that gives people
libraries, hospitals, baseball diamonds and movies on a Saturday
night?'

If we keep fighting over the same pot of food we will never grow as a
nation. If we never bother to grow other people and enrich their lives
we will never grow as a nation. If our business is all about just us
getting money, getting fat, and never giving anything back we will
never grow as a nation. It is that simple. We will become a bunch of
greedy, corrupt people, happy to screw each other over in the name of
gain; a bunch of people the rest of the world will never want to deal
with because all we ever do is take.

I want to leave you with another quote from Sabrina, “Making money
isn't the main point of business. Money is a by-product.” Have a great
week.