1. Control Capital Costs and Cut Labor Costs: Outsourcing takes your variable cost and makes them a fixed cost. That way businesses can invest elsewhere and limit the large expensive in their start up stages. In terms of labor costs, business owners have proven it time and time again that just because you can doesn’t mean you should. The time it takes an employee or business owner to figure out how to start a specific project, he or she could have had it done by Outsourcing it to the experts.
a. Example: A Fitness Equipment Dealer wants a website for his business, and along with one of his/her employees, they decide they can build it. A year later, the site is almost done and the manufacture informs the dealer of all the new products coming out and the old ones are discontinued. A waste of all that time and money!

2. Focus on core business: As employees workloads increase with non-core business tasks due to increasing business, the business focus can shift away from the core activities. When business outsource they keep their employees focus.
a. Example: The gym is growing and you need a better way to communicate with the members. Outsource a company to develop e mail and social media campaign instead of trying to do it yourself!

3. Level Playing Field or Even Give Your Business a Competitive Edge: As start- up business and/ or small businesses strives to grow and compete in competitive markets, they need to look as professional as the competition.
a. Example: Don’t through your new business website together on go daddy just so you can have a website. It is the first impression to clients and prospects.

4. Start New Projects Quickly: Coming up with an idea, hiring the staff for the idea, putting the procedures in place all takes time and money
a. Example: A Fitness Manufactures wants to develop Custom QR Codes that link to Instructional Videos. Do they know everything that goes into that project? It’s not just create a video and slap on a QR Code.

5. Reduce Risk: Business are constantly pushing the envelope with new ideas; before investing in staff, outsource the project and see it the project will generate revenue.
a. Example: Let’s build a shopping cart for the gyms website. Who will manage it; ship it; handle returns; credit card compliance issues, and so on.

6. Get Access to Skilled Expertise: Jack of all trade masters of none. Outsourcing enables the business to get experts in the field.
a. Example: A health club owner has some knowledge in website design; he decides he needs a new website and is going to build one in his spare time. The problem is he has not spare time because he is managing his health club, creating sales and marketing materials, doing the accounting and so on.

All these facts and example can be found in the Health & Fitness Industry. The question is why are they so prominent? If outsourcing is a common practice for Fortune 500 companies why don’t more health and fitness companies take advantage of outsourcing?

For more information on outsourcing services contact Tim Sebold @ tsebold@soOlis.com or visit www.soOlis.com/business for all soOlis’ business products and services.

 What makes us different from other certification programs? 

• Students review videos and text through our interactive web based program.
• Students can study anywhere an Internet connection is available.
• Managers/owners can monitor their student’s progress.

      ·         Your staff can maintain their certification via our Continuing Education (CEU) portal.

• Successful sales education to help acquire and retain clients taught by Jeffrey Gittomer (Author of several sales books including: “The Little Red Book of Sales and the “Sales Bible”).
• Your staff will all be on the “same page.”
• NCCA nationally accredited certification

There is nothing like this in the industry today.  In this economical climate, our platform is the perfect fit for people who want to enter into this field, but do not have the resources to get certified and the club manager/owner who needs a qualified staff to train their members.

Smart Fitness University is a division of The National Council of Personal Trainers (NCCPT), who has been certifying trainers for over 15 years.

For more information, contact:

Karen Perlmutter

Vice President of Sales and Marketing

karenp@smartfitness.com

888.666.1497 x11

SmartFitness

‘Revolutionizing Personal Training Education’

Patchell Evans with Fit4Less in Canada and Mark Smith from the City fitness in New Zealand.

The agreement, reached during a meeting held Wednesday, March 16 on the IHRSA Convention floor, served as a monumental launch for the 30th IHRSA Convention and Trade Show and a triumph for Star Trac fitness, which Mr. Bruno acquired in July of 2010.

Each of the three club chains is planning for substantial growth in the next few years. Star Trac CEO Michael Bruno was upbeat upon concluding the deal saying, “Teaming up with Tony, Mark

and Patch, three of the most respected gentlemen in the industry, is an exciting venture that kicks this great show off with a bang. We at Star Trac are honored by this partnership.”

Industry veteran Mark Smith, who had a long relationship with the Star Trac brand during his tenure at TSI, was delighted by the agreement stating, “I am thrilled to be able to come full circle with Star Trac after my very successful partnership with them when running TSI. City Fitness now has a significant New Zealand presence, and the prospect of having exhibition facilities showcase Star Trac products is an exciting one.”

David Patchell Evans stated, “I have a lot of confidence in the new ownership and management of Star Trac and look forward to using it for our Fit4Less brand. It is another sign of our whole industry getting stronger after this recession.”

Echoing David Patchell Evans’ sentiments was Tony de Leede who said, “I and my team are very excited about working with Mike Bruno, Andy Richters and the Star Trac team in rapidly rolling out showcase clubs featuring Star Trac products.”

About Star Trac

Since 1979, Star Trac has been a leader in developing advanced equipment for the fitness industry, focused on providing products to mold lifelong habits for health and fitness. Its user-focused product innovations are reflected in the complete line of cardiovascular and strength equipment, including the revolutionary Star Trac Coach™, a personalized treadmill workout led by a professional coach, the groundbreaking eSpinner®, the newest Spinning® innovation resulting from the long running relationship between Star Trac and Mad Dogg Athletics, and the Inspiration Strength™ line that takes aesthetics, biomechanics, and features to the next level. More than four million people in over 75 countries use Star Trac exercise equipment daily, enjoying its unparalleled functionality and style. For more information about Star Trac, which is headquartered in Irvine, Calif., call 1-800-228-6635 or visit www.startrac.com.

About Cityfitness

Cityfitness, the fastest growing health club company in NZ, has been offering world class gym and fitness facilities for more than 15 years. Its gyms are located throughout New Zealand, currently at 16 clubs with plans to open another 3 over the next 12 months. The 5 year plan is to grow to 30 clubs.

About Fit n Fast

Fit n Fast is a new chain of health clubs launching into the Australian market with a new approach to fitness. Tony de Leede, former CEO of Fitness First and industry veteran, together with a small consortium of partners have founded the new concept in fitness, being “The Quickie” or “the 30 minute workout”, a cheaper, better and faster” approach to fitness. With at least 50 clubs planned to open over the next year.

Surprisingly, despite the relatively low cost and the readily available background checks electronically, clubs continue to avoid this necessary operating cost.  I might suggest that clubs can ill afford to NOT incur the cost of a thorough background screening for prospective new hires and team members up for promotions.  Perhaps things are tight and health clubs cannot afford it.  I may agree, however, the real questions are can clubs afford the costs associated with fraud, theft, violence, turnover of good employees, litigation & negligent hiring, turnover or job related accidents because of employees who are cons or convicts in our clubs?

Some clubs are extremely diligent and exhaustive in the interview process; they conduct team interviews & ask the ubiquitous open-ended behavioral questions, check references and perhaps even conduct on-line personality profiling.  They even conduct background checks.  If so, congratulations!  You are one of a few who are long on team member selection and due diligence.   So, how do you know that your third party company does a national data base search?  Have you asked?  Typically, if you are paying in the $15 to $25 range for a basic criminal check, searches are only done within the state your club is located.  If they do a national search, does a real live person assess the “rap sheet” of a prospective hire?  Or as in most cases, does a computer program flag or pass a candidate for you to hire.  Assault in Arizona is coded differently than theft in Texas.  Without an evaluation of the criminal data by a trained person, normally flagged prospective hires can be passed.  I am aware of one club who assumed the management of a club and conducted background checks for the new team members fr0m the old regime.  During the transition period and interview process, an existing, manager candidate admitted to the new owners they did “some time”.  Not wanting to deal with a rehabilitation case, the new owners figured the background check would produce a flagged result not to hire.  Unfortunately, that did not happen and the process of managing this person out must begin.  An in depth background check and evaluation by a trained person would have resulted in a termination during the transition.

Padding resumes can also be an issue for clubs as it can be for any industry.  When someone represents a body of work done on a resume and in fact it is not true, how do you know?  Do we really want a personal trainer who claims they are certified, when in fact they are not, conducting VO2 Sub-max or max testing to determine safe training heart rate ranges?  If the former coach of Notre Dame Football, George O’Leary, claimed he falsely earned a letter playing football at New Hampshire, a journalist, Janet Cooke could win a Pulitzer Prize for an untrue story and the former CFO of VERITAS who “misstated” he earned an MBA fr0m Stanford, then clearly lying on a resume is possible.  If those individuals have the gumption to stretch the truth, then a supposed graduate with a degree in Exercise Physiology and Certified Personal Trainer could certainly type accomplishments on a resume that are not earned.

I come fr0m a trust but verify school of thought, famously espoused by President Ronald Reagan.  And I know for a fact, we have some of the most amazing servant leaders and service providers in the health/fitness business compared to anyone in a service business.  Additionally, I believe frauds and cons are not rampant in our business, and yet I believe just as strongly that we sure want to authenticate such a belief so as to preserve the assets and business reputation we have earned.

Frank J. Ancharski, M.S. (Verifiable)

Chief Coaching Officer

Club Coach Services

March 2011

CHICAGO — The 2010 Best of the Best awards were presented last Friday during the Breakthrough Brunch at the Club Industry 2010 show in Chicago. The contest recognizes the best programming in U.S. fitness facilities.

Two of the judges in this year’s competition were on site to assist Club Industry Editor Pam Kufahl with the presentation. Sandy Coffman, president of Programming for Profit, and Eddie Tock, owner of Eddie Tock Health Club Sales and Marketing Consulting, gave commentary on the award recipients’ winning programs.

The winners of the six categories are ACAC Fitness & Wellness Centers, Best Nonmember Program; Chesapeake Energy Corp., Best Behavior Modification Program; Club One Fitness, Best New Member Integration Program; HealthQuest, Best Member Appreciation Program; Right Fit Sports Fitness Wellness, Best Children’s Program; and Greenwood Athletic and Tennis Club, Best Community-based Program.

Photos of the winners are on the Club Industry Facebook page.

Omni Health and Fitness is five year old, 45,000 square foot facility that offers five lines of Life Fitness products, 75 pieces of Cardio equipment, Kids Zones, Locker Rooms, Saunas, Group X Classes, Pilates, Yoga and a Cardio Cinema Room.  Anyone traveling in Rock Hill, South Carolina should definitely stop in to see this beautiful health club.

“With Omni’s growth plan, we understand how important our exclusive advertising is to them, said Brad Bishop, President/CEO of soOlis.com.  We look forward to a long relationship with them.’

We look forward to reviewing your comments!

If you happen to be looking for a health club in the Silver Spring area, stop by Rock Creek and see why Bethesda Magazine voted it “The Best Place to Work out in 2010”

The machine provides a moving platform with a wide conveyor belt and an electric motor or a flywheel. The belt moves to the rear allowing a person to walk or run an equal, and necessarily opposite, velocity. The rate at which the belt moves is the rate of walking or running. Thus, the speed of running may be controlled and measured. The more expensive, heavy-duty versions are motor-driven. The simpler, lighter, and less expensive versions passively resist the motion, moving only when the walker pushes the belt with their feet.

Ya ya ya!  Great but with the hundreds of treadmills out there, which manufacture and model is right for you?  This is the 1 million dollar question.  Here at  soOlis.com we are here to help answer these questions.  We will provide the pictures and the specifications for almost all the treadmills out there.  You can look at commercial, health club or gym grade treadmills, home treadmills, and of course used treadmills. 

There are three keys to buying a treadmill, the first is the look. Do you like the way it looks? Second, do the specifications meet your needs?  For example, are you concerned about the warranty, does it go fast enough, what is the weight capacity?  And finally, GET ON IT.  Anyone who buys a treadmill without trying the unit is setting themselves up for an expensive coat hanger.  At soOlis.com, we provide the locations where you can get the specific unit you are looking for, so please go try it out!