The Most Difficult Moment of My Consultancy Career

People often assume that the most difficult part of consultancy is solving business problems.

It isn't.

Most business problems are ultimately solvable. Sales can improve, retention can increase, systems can be fixed, teams can be developed and marketing can be refined. Whilst these challenges can be frustrating, they are rarely the moments that stay with you.

The hardest moments are rarely commercial.

They are human.

Over the years I have worked with hundreds of businesses and encountered all manner of challenges. I've seen businesses thrive, businesses struggle and businesses fail. I've seen owners achieve things they never thought possible and others face some incredibly difficult circumstances.

However, there is one moment that stands out above all others.

Even now, years later, I still think about it.

I won't name the company involved, and those who know the story will understand why. The purpose of telling it isn't to point fingers or reopen old wounds. The purpose is to share a lesson that fundamentally changed the way I think about business and the people within it.

At the time, I had been working with a franchise organisation. By this point I had already stopped working with them and had moved on professionally. However, one thing I have always believed is that relationships don't end simply because a contract does.

If I have worked with somebody, helped them or built a relationship with them, I generally stay in touch. That is just who I am.

One day I received a phone call from one of the franchisees.

Their business was failing.

Despite their efforts, despite the sacrifices they had made and despite trying everything they could think of, the numbers simply weren't stacking up. The business was heading towards closure and they couldn't see a way out.

As we spoke, the conversation became increasingly concerning.

Eventually they told me that the only thing they had left was their life insurance policy. They genuinely believed that their family would be financially better off without them than with them.

Even writing those words now feels uncomfortable.

For context, their business sat next to both a canal and a major train station.

You can probably understand why alarm bells immediately started ringing in my head.

This was no longer a business conversation.

This was a person in crisis.

A husband.

A parent.

A human being who had reached the point where they could no longer see a way forward.

I immediately raised my concerns with the franchise organisation. To their credit, I was assured that the situation would be addressed and that support would be provided.

I left that conversation believing action would be taken.

A couple of weeks later my phone rang again.

It was the franchisee.

Nothing had changed.

No meaningful support had been provided. No intervention had taken place. No apparent urgency had been shown.

At that point I realised this wasn't something I could simply assume somebody else would handle.

This time I formally documented my concerns and put them directly in writing to the CEO. I wanted there to be absolutely no ambiguity about the seriousness of the situation and the potential consequences of failing to act.

That finally forced movement.

But unbelievably, that wasn't the end of the story.

A few weeks later the business closed its doors.

The franchisee had run out of options.

The club was finished.

What happened next probably shocked me more than anything that came before it.

Whilst the owner was dealing with the emotional devastation of losing their business, there seemed to be more concern from the franchisor about removing signs and protecting the brand than supporting the people involved.

Staff still needed answers.

Employees still needed guidance.

Redundancies needed explaining.

People's livelihoods were being affected.

Yet support appeared remarkably absent.

I remember sitting there thinking that regardless of what had happened commercially, these were still human beings.

These were people who had invested their lives, their money, their hopes and their energy into a business.

They deserved better.

So I arranged childcare for my children, got in the car and travelled to the club.

Not because I was being paid.

Not because it was my responsibility.

Not because there was any commercial benefit whatsoever.

I went because it felt like the right thing to do.

Together with the owner, we sat down with staff, explained the situation and talked them through the redundancy process. We answered questions, provided reassurance where we could and simply tried to be there during an incredibly difficult moment.

I often reflect on that day.

Not because of the business failure.

Businesses fail. It happens.

Not because of the commercial loss.

Money can be rebuilt.

What stays with me is how close somebody came to believing they had no other option.

That is what I remember.

For me, that experience was the moment consultancy stopped being primarily about business and became much more about people.

The experience reinforced something I had always believed but perhaps had never fully appreciated. Who you choose to work with matters. Values matter. Character matters.

Expertise is important and commercial success is important, but neither tells you very much about how somebody will behave when things become difficult. It is easy to be supportive when businesses are growing, profits are increasing and everyone is winning. The true measure of a person, a leader or an organisation is how they behave when things go wrong.

One of the reasons I am incredibly selective about the businesses and individuals I work with today is because of experiences like this. I have no interest in working with people who see business purely as a commercial transaction. Of course businesses need to be profitable and commercially successful, but that should never come at the expense of basic human decency.

What struck me most throughout the entire experience was how quickly people can become numbers. Membership numbers. Revenue numbers. Profit numbers. Franchise numbers. Yet behind every one of those figures is a person. A family. A story. A set of pressures and worries that most people never see.

The business owner at the centre of this story was not a number on a spreadsheet. They were somebody who had invested their savings, their hopes and a huge part of their life into creating something meaningful. When that dream began to fall apart, what they needed most was not another business strategy, another spreadsheet or another report. They needed support. They needed reassurance. They needed somebody willing to stand beside them and help them navigate one of the most difficult periods of their life.

That experience taught me one of the most important lessons of my career. Not everything we do should be driven by money. Not every decision should be based on commercial return. Sometimes the right thing to do is simply the right thing to do.

Looking back, it remains the most difficult moment of my consultancy career, not because it involved a failing business, but because it involved a person who genuinely believed there was no way forward. The thought that somebody could reach that point whilst feeling unsupported by the people around them is something that has stayed with me ever since.

Thankfully, that story did not end in tragedy. However, it easily could have done, and that is why I continue to tell it.

In an industry that spends so much time talking about growth, profitability and success, it is worth remembering that business is ultimately about people. The numbers matter, but the people behind the numbers matter far more.

My hope is that none of us ever become so focused on success, growth or protecting a brand that we forget our responsibility to the human beings around us. Because long after the revenue figures have been forgotten and the businesses have changed hands, what people tend to remember is how they were treated when they needed help the most.

For me, that will always be the true measure of success.

The most overlooked problem in franchising isn't recruitment

 

The most overlooked problem in franchising isn't recruitment

One of the themes that seems to come up time and time again in my conversations lately is franchise support.

Over the last few months I’ve spoken to franchisees from established brands, franchisees from emerging brands, people who have recently left franchise systems and others who are still operating within them but are becoming increasingly frustrated.

What’s interesting is that many of the conversations end up in exactly the same place.

Not marketing.

Not lead generation.

Not competition.

Support.

Or more specifically, the lack of it.

The reality is that most franchise brands put a huge amount of time, effort and money into recruiting franchisees. They build recruitment websites, attend exhibitions, run discovery days, create franchise brochures and spend significant sums attracting people into the network.

Yet once that franchisee signs the agreement and opens the doors, the intensity of support often starts to fade.

Not always.

There are some brilliant franchisors out there who genuinely care about the success of their franchisees and remain heavily invested in helping them grow.

But equally, I’ve seen franchise systems where support becomes reactive rather than proactive. Franchisees are left to work things out for themselves, they lose direction, performance drops and frustration begins to build.

The irony is that many of these franchisees didn’t join because they wanted complete independence.

If they wanted that, they would have started their own business.

They joined because they wanted systems, structure, accountability, support and access to experience that would help them avoid mistakes and accelerate growth.

That’s what they’ve bought into.

As a franchisor, there is a responsibility that comes with bringing somebody into your network. They have invested their capital, committed their time and put their trust in your brand. The sale should never be viewed as the end of the process. In many ways, it’s the point where the real work begins.

The strongest franchise systems I’ve seen aren’t necessarily the ones with the best recruitment marketing.

They’re the ones that remain consistently engaged with their franchisees years after they joined.

They provide direction.

They challenge performance.

They share best practice.

They create accountability.

They help franchisees navigate difficult periods as well as celebrate the good ones.

At the same time, if you’re a franchisee reading this and feel like you’ve lost some of that support, don’t assume you have to struggle through it alone.

A fresh pair of eyes can often make a huge difference.

Myself and Ryan Charlesworth at Black Raccoon Consulting regularly support franchisees and franchisors across areas including:

📈 Sales performance

🎯 Lead generation and conversion

🔄 Retention and member experience

📊 Reporting and KPIs

👥 Team development

🚀 Multi-site growth

🏢 Franchise development

💡 Operational performance

🤝 Strategic partnerships

Ultimately, successful franchising isn’t just about recruiting great franchisees.

It’s about helping them become successful once they’re in the system.

I’d be interested to hear other people’s thoughts.

 

The State of the Nation Report: Great News, But Let's Not Ignore the Bigger Questions

The recent State of the Nation Report has been welcomed across the fitness industry and rightly so.

Membership numbers are growing. Participation is increasing. More people than ever are engaging with gyms, health clubs and fitness facilities across the UK.

At a time when many industries continue to face economic challenges, these are achievements worth celebrating. Every additional person who becomes active is a win for our industry and a win for the nation's health.

However, whilst I fully support celebrating the positive news, I also think it's important that we don't simply focus on the headlines and ignore some of the underlying questions.

Now I'm sure some people will accuse me of being a negative Nelly for even suggesting this.

That's not the intention.

In fact, quite the opposite.

If we genuinely want to grow participation and improve the health of the nation, then we need to be prepared to critically evaluate the data, understand its limitations and focus on the challenges that still exist.

One of the first questions that comes to mind is the integrity of the data itself.

Having worked within the fitness industry for 28 years, I've seen first-hand the quality of data management across many operators. Many clubs do an excellent job, but many don't. Cancelled members remain on freeze, old records remain active and databases are not always managed consistently. If membership numbers are being extracted from systems that aren't maintained effectively, it is fair to question how accurate some of those figures really are.

Another area that deserves attention is participation.

Whilst the report highlights increases in participation, how confident can we be in those numbers when so many clubs don't accurately track member usage? Some operators have sophisticated reporting and know exactly who is active and who isn't. Others don't. A membership tells us somebody is paying. It doesn't necessarily tell us they are exercising.

That becomes even more relevant when we consider sleeper members.

Many clubs have significant numbers of members who continue paying every month but rarely visit. In some businesses that figure can be as high as 20%. If that were replicated across the industry, we could potentially be looking at millions of members paying but not participating. That's great for revenue, but less impressive when our purpose as an industry is supposedly to improve health outcomes.

Then there is the issue that rarely gets enough attention: retention.

Many operators celebrate achieving monthly attrition below 5%, but let's put that into context. A 5% monthly attrition rate equates to roughly 60% of your membership base leaving every year.

Using the report's membership figures, that could mean as many as 7.5 million memberships being cancelled annually.

Yes, some of those people will join another facility.

Yes, some will return later.

But many won't.

Which raises an important question.

Why are so many people leaving?

In the clubs we work with, one of the biggest opportunities is rarely sales. It's onboarding, engagement and retention. Most clubs don't have a structured onboarding programme. Many don't maintain regular communication with members. Few can confidently tell you every member's goal, whether they're achieving it and what support has been provided to help them succeed.

As an industry, we spend huge amounts of money and effort driving new memberships because acquisition is easy to measure and easy to celebrate.

Retention is harder.

Community is harder.

Member success is harder.

But ultimately, that's where the greatest opportunity lies.

What also interests me is the longer-term perspective.

The report suggests we are now sitting at around 18% penetration.

That's positive.

But when I joined the industry 28 years ago, we were around 14%.

Whilst progress has undoubtedly been made, it isn't exactly a dramatic shift when viewed over nearly three decades.

More than 80% of the population still aren't members of a gym or health club.

For an industry built around improving health, that should concern us.

We should also consider whether some of the reported growth is the result of broader inclusion criteria. The fitness landscape has changed dramatically over the years. Boutique studios, functional fitness facilities, recovery centres, reformer Pilates studios and many other concepts are now part of the wider fitness sector in ways they weren't previously. Equally, many clubs may not even be included in the reporting depending on how the data is collected.

Again, this isn't a criticism of the report.

It's simply an acknowledgement that reports are often used for multiple purposes. They help influence government policy, support investment decisions and demonstrate industry growth. Naturally, they tend to focus on positive outcomes.

And that's fine.

But alongside celebrating the wins, we should also be prepared to ask the difficult questions.

Because growth won't come from celebrating success alone.

It will come from understanding our shortcomings.

The report gives us plenty to be positive about.

But if we truly want to grow beyond 18% participation, improve public health and build a stronger industry, we need to spend just as much time discussing why people leave, why they disengage and why more than 80% of the population still choose not to join.

A Final Thought on Industry Research

There is one final point worth considering.

Many of the reports and surveys we discuss within the fitness industry are treated almost as fact, yet very few people ever question how the information was gathered in the first place.

Did you know that a survey can often be considered nationally representative with a sample size of around 2,000 respondents?

Statistically, that may be perfectly acceptable.

Intuitively, however, many people struggle with the idea that the views of 2,000 individuals can accurately represent the behaviours, motivations and opinions of more than 60 million people.

Then we have to consider who actually completes surveys.

The reality is that survey respondents are rarely a random cross-section of the population. They are typically people willing to give up their time to answer questionnaires, which in itself creates a level of selection bias.

We should also consider where respondents are sourced from.

Which operators are involved?

Which demographics are represented?

Which geographical areas are covered?

How many independent operators are contributing compared to larger chains?

Many independent clubs won't belong to organisations such as UK Active, CIMSPA or other industry bodies, making them less likely to be represented in some industry-wide studies.

And perhaps most importantly, we should consider the design of the questions themselves.

Anyone who has worked with research knows that question design can dramatically influence outcomes.

I recently saw research suggesting that mental health was the primary reason people join gyms.

Now, before anyone sharpens their pitchforks, I'm not suggesting mental health isn't an important benefit of exercise. It absolutely is.

But when I looked more closely at the methodology, respondents were allowed to select multiple reasons for exercising rather than ranking them in order of importance.

That's a very different question.

A member whose primary goal is weight loss may also tick mental health because exercise makes them feel better.

A member focused on strength training may do exactly the same.

Someone exercising for sport performance may also recognise mental health benefits.

The result?

Weight loss might be selected by 50% of respondents.

Strength training by 50%.

But mental health by 90% or more.

That doesn't necessarily mean mental health was the primary motivation for joining.

It simply means it was a widely recognised benefit.

The distinction matters.

Because if we misinterpret the data, we risk building products, services and marketing strategies around the wrong assumptions.

None of this means the reports are wrong.

Far from it.

It simply means that all research should be viewed through a critical lens.

Good reports should start conversations, not end them.

And perhaps that's the biggest point of all.

The value of reports isn't that they provide absolute truth.

The value is that they encourage us to ask better questions.

Because if we continue to challenge assumptions, question methodologies and explore what sits beneath the headlines, we'll gain a far deeper understanding of both the opportunities and challenges facing our industry.

And that understanding is ultimately what will help us grow.

The Bias We Don’t Like to Admit Exists in Customer Service

 

The Bias We Don’t Like to Admit Exists in Customer Service

A few days ago, my daughter and her boyfriend, both 17, went out for dinner at what should have been a really nice restaurant experience.

Instead, they waited around an hour and a half before being properly served.

Eventually, I stepped in and spoke to the manager and we are still in discussions on this one

Bias.

Because if I’m honest, I strongly suspect the experience would have been very different had a middle-aged couple in business attire walked through the door instead of two teenagers.

And that’s uncomfortable to admit.

But it happens everywhere. Including in our industry.

Human beings are naturally wired to make quick assumptions. Psychologists refer to this as unconscious bias or implicit bias. These are the automatic judgements our brains make based on age, appearance, clothing, body language, gender, confidence, attractiveness or perceived status. The difficult part is that most people genuinely do not realise they are doing it.

In customer service, these assumptions influence far more than we think. They affect how quickly somebody is approached, how warmly they are spoken to, how much effort staff put into the interaction and even whether somebody is viewed as a “valuable customer” before they have said a single word.

Once you start noticing it, you see it everywhere.

One of the classic examples often discussed in sales training is the wealthy customer dressed casually. A man walks into a high-end car dealership wearing joggers, trainers and a hoodie. Staff assume he is “just looking”. Meanwhile, another customer walks in wearing a tailored suit and expensive watch and instantly receives full attention.

Yet often the genuinely wealthy people are not trying to impress anybody.

The first customer may have significantly more purchasing power than the second, but perception shapes behaviour. Luxury retail has known this for years. There are countless stories of high-net-worth individuals receiving poor service because they simply did not “look” wealthy enough.

The same thing happens in gyms.

We like to think the fitness industry is welcoming and inclusive, but subconscious bias still exists in many clubs.

Older adults are often treated differently. Somebody overweight walking into a gym for the first time may receive less engagement because staff assume they are unlikely to stay long term. A younger person may be ignored because staff assume they cannot afford membership. Somebody quiet or lacking confidence may receive less support simply because they are not naturally outgoing.

And without even meaning to, staff often gravitate towards people who feel familiar to them. The already fit. The confident. The experienced gym user. The person who looks like they “belong” in that environment.

But if our industry genuinely exists to improve lives, then surely the people who deserve the greatest service are often the ones least comfortable walking through the doors in the first place.

It is easy to impress somebody who already loves fitness.

The real skill is making somebody feel comfortable who never wanted to enter a gym at all.

The nervous beginner. The older adult trying strength training for the first time. The teenager lacking confidence. The overweight member terrified of being judged. These interactions matter more than most businesses realise because people are making emotional decisions within seconds of entering a facility.

Research consistently shows that first impressions within service environments strongly influence long-term loyalty and retention. Not equipment. Not décor. Not technology.

People.

The dangerous thing about bias is that it is rarely intentional. Most staff are not deliberately rude or dismissive. They simply do not realise their assumptions are influencing how they behave.

And that is why training matters so much.

Customer service training should not just focus on sales scripts, tours and objection handling. It should focus on emotional intelligence, awareness, empathy and inclusion. Staff need to understand that every single person walking through the door has a story, an insecurity, a motivation or a fear that may not be immediately visible.

The best operators train teams to treat everybody with the same level of interest, warmth and professionalism regardless of age, appearance, confidence or background. They ask questions before making assumptions. They focus on understanding the individual rather than categorising them.

Because inclusion is not just about race or gender, which is often where these conversations immediately go.

Real inclusion is much broader than that.

It is age. Appearance. Clothing. Tattoos. Hairstyles. Confidence levels. Body shape. Personality. Social background. Education. Culture. Experience.

In reality, it is about how we respond to anybody who appears “different” from what we subconsciously expect.

Bias is rarely obvious discrimination. More often, it appears in smaller ways. Less attention. Less patience. Less warmth. Less effort. And the person on the receiving end feels it immediately.

The teenager who feels ignored. The older adult who feels out of place. The heavily tattooed member judged before speaking. The overweight beginner who assumes everybody is watching them. The quiet person who struggles to approach staff.

These moments matter far more than most businesses realise.

The irony is that the fitness industry constantly talks about wanting to engage more people, yet many clubs unintentionally create environments where huge parts of the population feel uncomfortable, judged or unwelcome. Then we wonder why only a small percentage of the population actively uses gyms.

Perhaps the bigger question is this:

How many people have walked away from businesses feeling unseen, unwelcome or judged purely because of unconscious bias?

And how many businesses had absolutely no idea they were doing it?

The fitness industry talks constantly about inclusion, but inclusion is not posters, campaigns or slogans.

It is how people feel the moment they walk through the door.

That is the real test.

Knowing Your Numbers Could Be the Difference Between Being an Underperformer and Becoming an Industry Leader

 

Knowing Your Numbers Could Be the Difference Between Being an Underperformer and Becoming an Industry Leader

A few nights ago, I was rewatching one of my favourite sports films - Moneyball. If you haven’t seen it, it is genuinely worth your time. On the surface, it is a film about baseball, but underneath it is really a story about challenging assumptions, ignoring conventional thinking and understanding the true power of data.

The film follows Billy Beane, General Manager of the Oakland Athletics, a baseball team operating on one of the smallest budgets in Major League Baseball. Financially, they simply could not compete with the giants of the sport. They could not afford the biggest stars, the most famous names or the players with the strongest reputations.

Faced with that reality, they had two choices. Accept mediocrity or find a completely different way to compete.

What followed fundamentally changed not just baseball, but modern sport itself.

Instead of relying on instinct, tradition or hype, the club began drilling down into the numbers. They analysed which statistics genuinely contributed to winning games and ignored decades of accepted thinking within the sport. Players who looked average to traditional scouts suddenly became incredibly valuable because the data showed they contributed in ways the sport had historically overlooked.

The most fascinating thing about the story is that the numbers had always existed. The difference was that somebody finally chose to pay attention to them properly.

Today, versions of this same philosophy exist throughout elite sport. Football clubs now use increasingly sophisticated data analysis to identify players based not on reputation or emotion, but on measurable outputs and predictive performance models. Clubs such as Brentford and Brighton have become famous for outperforming financially stronger rivals through intelligent recruitment and analytics-driven decision making.

Again, not guesswork. Not ego. Not hype.

Numbers.

And this is precisely why understanding data is so important within business.

Because most businesses, including gyms and fitness clubs, still make an extraordinary number of decisions based on feeling rather than evidence. Owners often believe they know why members leave, which marketing works, which staff perform best or what clients truly value. But believing something and proving something are very different things.

The reality is that many businesses operate with surprisingly little operational clarity. They know their total membership numbers, but beyond that the detail becomes vague. Ask many operators about their average length of stay, attrition percentage, lead-to-sale conversion rate, appointment show percentage, cost per acquisition or secondary spend penetration and the answers often become uncertain.

That uncertainty creates a huge problem because businesses without clarity tend to react emotionally instead of strategically.

One slow month suddenly becomes a panic about marketing. One competitor opening nearby suddenly triggers fear-based decision making. One poor sales week results in random offers and discounting.

But often the issue is not the market itself. The issue is that the business does not truly understand what is happening operationally beneath the surface.

Take a simple sales funnel example.

Imagine a club where:

• Lead-to-appointment conversion is 50%
• Appointment show rate is 50%
• Appointment-to-sale conversion is 50%

If that club wants 100 sales, they will need roughly 800 leads to achieve it.

Now imagine improving the latter two conversion points to 75%.

Suddenly the same 100 sales require closer to 355 leads.

That single operational improvement completely changes:

• Marketing spend
• Sales pressure
• Team workload
• Profitability
• Staffing demands
• Advertising strategy

The fascinating part is that nothing revolutionary happened. The club did not suddenly receive magical new marketing. It simply improved the efficiency of the system.

This is where another sporting example becomes incredibly relevant - Sir Dave Brailsford and the philosophy of marginal gains.

When Brailsford took over British Cycling and later Team Sky, cycling was still heavily associated with performance-enhancing drugs. Competing cleanly against riders using banned substances seemed almost impossible. Team Sky estimated that doping could provide roughly a 10-15% performance advantage.

Rather than searching for one huge breakthrough to compensate, Brailsford focused on the idea of marginal gains. The philosophy was simple. Improve enough things by 1-2% and the combined effect becomes enormous.

This led to obsessive attention to detail:

• Improved bike aerodynamics
• Better clothing materials
• More efficient helmets
• Enhanced nutrition
• Better recovery protocols
• Improved hygiene
• Sleep optimisation

Famously, the team even transported their own mattresses, pillows and bedding to hotels during major races to ensure riders achieved the best possible sleep quality.

Individually, many of these decisions sounded insignificant. Collectively, they changed cycling forever.

And the exact same principle applies to business.

Too many gym owners are constantly searching for the huge breakthrough. The game-changing investment. The revolutionary marketing campaign. The one magical idea that suddenly transforms the business overnight.

But often the greatest improvements come from a series of smaller, intelligent operational changes.

Improving your sales conversion by 3%. Reducing attrition by 3%. Increasing class attendance slightly. Extending average length of stay by one month. Improving onboarding completion rates. Increasing referral generation. Reducing wasted ad spend. Improving PT penetration.

Individually, none of these seem dramatic.

Together, they can fundamentally transform profitability.

And importantly, many of these changes require more thought than money.

This is something I believe our industry still struggles with. Too many operators make decisions based primarily on personal preference, emotional attachment or intuition rather than what the data is actually telling them.

I have seen clubs with a very clear niche audience refuse to evolve despite the numbers strongly suggesting a different focus would create significantly stronger commercial performance. I have seen operators insist on continuing strategies that are visibly underperforming because emotionally they remain attached to the idea behind them.

The problem is that businesses do not survive on ideology. They survive on outcomes.

That does not mean data should completely replace instinct or creativity. Far from it. Some of the best operators combine strong intuition with strong analytical thinking. But intuition should be tested against evidence, not replace it.

The strongest businesses understand:

• What is happening
• Why it is happening
• Which numbers matter most
• Which behaviours influence those numbers

And once you understand that, improvement becomes far easier because you stop guessing.

One of the biggest misconceptions within business is that success comes from massive breakthroughs. In reality, success is more often the result of small improvements repeated consistently over time.

Better systems. Better consistency. Better onboarding. Better communication. Better tracking. Better accountability. Better operational discipline.

Small changes.

Compounding results.

Just like Moneyball.

Just like Team Sky.

And just like the strongest businesses in every industry.

Gyms - Who Is Your Real Competition?

 

Who Is Your Real Competition?

Here’s something every gym owner needs to stop and think about.

Who is your competition?

Because it’s probably not who you think it is.

It’s not the local leisure centre.
It’s not the budget gym down the road.
It’s not the boutique studio or the bootcamp in the park.

Yes, they compete for the same audience…

…but only a very small part of it.

Roughly 15–20% of the population actively engages with gyms and structured fitness.

That means the vast majority of people are choosing something else.

And that’s your real competition.

The sofa.
The TV.
The dog walk.
The pub.

Comfort. Habit. Routine.

That’s what you’re up against.

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The Problem We’ve Created

As an industry, we’ve spent years fighting over the same people.

Running offers.
Dropping prices.
Trying to outdo each other.

All focused on the minority who already train.

But if we’re honest…

we haven’t done enough to attract the people who don’t.

Because for many of them, the gym simply isn’t appealing.

It feels intimidating.
It feels unfamiliar.
It feels like something “other people” do.

So they choose what’s easy. What’s comfortable. What they know.

And we lose them before they even consider walking through the door.

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If You Want Growth, You Have to Create Change

If your real competition is comfort and habit…

Then your job isn’t just to sell memberships.

It’s to give people a reason to change their behaviour.

And that’s not easy.

You are asking someone to:

Step into an unfamiliar environment
Do something they may not enjoy (yet)
Feel uncomfortable before they feel confident

That requires more than a good offer.

It requires understanding.

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So What Do We Actually Need to Do?

We need to start thinking differently.

Not just about how we sell…

…but about how we remove barriers.

We need to ask better questions.

Why don’t people enjoy fitness?
What actually makes a gym feel intimidating?
Are we designing environments for beginners… or for experienced users?

Is our marketing speaking to people who don’t train… or just those who already do?

Are we educating people… or assuming they already understand?

Are we building relationships with local health professionals, GPs and community groups?

Are we visible in the community… or just waiting for people to find us?

Are we creating ways for people to try fitness without fear or pressure?

Because if we don’t address these questions…

we will keep getting the same results.

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The Shift That Needs to Happen

We need to stop thinking like gyms.

And start thinking like behaviour change businesses.

Because that’s what we are.

We’re not just selling access to equipment.

We’re helping people change how they live.

And that means:

Making environments more welcoming
Simplifying the first steps
Providing real support from day one
Creating genuine community, not just talking about it
Meeting people where they are, not where we want them to be

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The Opportunity Right in Front of You

The biggest growth opportunity in this industry isn’t stealing members from another gym.

It’s bringing in people who have never stepped foot in one.

People who don’t see themselves as “gym people”.

Yet.

If you can connect with them…
Support them…
And give them a reason to start…

You’re not just gaining a member.

You’re changing a life.

And building a far more sustainable business in the process.

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A Final Thought

Your competition isn’t just down the road.

It’s on the sofa.
It’s in the pub.
It’s in the habits people choose every single day.

If you want to win…

You need to give people a reason to choose something different.

We’re Fighting Over the Same Members – And Missing the Bigger Opportunity

I attended the LFX event this week, and one message stood out above everything else.

The 83%.

Only around 17% of the population currently engages with gyms and fitness facilities. That means the vast majority of people… don’t.

And the real question is not how do we compete better for the 17%.

It’s this:

How do we reach the other 83%?

Because for years, we’ve been stuck fighting over the same people.

The same members.
The same demographics.
The same marginal gains.

And in doing so, we’ve unintentionally created a battleground within our own industry.

Competing on price.
Competing on offers.
Competing on who can shout the loudest.

All while ignoring the biggest growth opportunity sitting right in front of us.

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Have We Built Barriers Without Realising?

If we’re honest with ourselves, we have to ask a difficult question.

Have we actually made it harder for the majority of people to engage with fitness?

Because when you step back and look at it objectively, there are clear barriers that exist across the sector.

Many facilities and programmes are intimidating.
Walk into a lot of gyms for the first time and it’s not hard to feel out of place.

Our marketing is often aimed at people who already train.
We speak to those who already understand the benefits, the language and the environment.

We focus heavily on price and offers.
But very little on outcomes, support and long-term change.

We invest in great technology.
But how much of it genuinely benefits the majority of members?

And perhaps most importantly…

Our onboarding and ongoing support is simply not good enough.

Most clubs would struggle to clearly identify a member’s goals, track their progress and proactively support them through their journey.

We assume people will figure it out.

But most don’t.

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Community… or Just a Word We Like to Use?

“Community” has become one of the most overused words in the industry.

And in some clubs, it absolutely exists.

But if we’re honest, in many cases it’s limited to small pockets of highly engaged members.

The confident ones.
The regulars.
The people who already feel comfortable.

What about everyone else?

The quieter members.
The unsure ones.
The people who come in, do their session and leave without speaking to anyone.

That’s not a community.

That’s a missed opportunity.

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Are We Doing Enough to Bring People In?

Here’s another uncomfortable truth.

In many cases, we expect people to come to us.

We wait for enquiries.
We wait for sign-ups.
We wait for interest.

But what about the people who need us to reach them first?

The public sector has long been involved in outreach work, engaging communities directly and breaking down barriers to participation.

Why isn’t the private sector doing more of this?

“It’s not our job” isn’t good enough anymore.

If we want to grow the market, we have to go and find it.

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The Industry Problem No One Wants to Address

We don’t operate as a single sector.

We operate as competitors.

Constant offers.
Constant discounting.
Very little collaboration.

And in doing so, we limit our own growth.

Imagine a different approach.

Clubs still competing, but also working together to grow participation.

To educate.
To promote the value of fitness.
To make it more accessible.

If we moved engagement from 17% to 25%… or even 30%…

The opportunity for every operator would be enormous.

More members.
More revenue.
More impact.

Without needing to take from each other.

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Where Change Actually Needs to Start

There is also a wider structural issue.

We often look to central government, the NHS or national strategies to drive change.

But the reality is, that’s too big. Too slow. Too complex.

Real change happens locally.

Through local government.
Through community partnerships.
Through operators working together within regions.

We need a more coordinated approach to health and fitness that includes both the public and private sector.

Right now, that simply doesn’t exist in a meaningful way.

And it should.

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The Opportunity in Front of Us

The fitness industry does incredible work.

We change lives.
We improve health.
We build confidence.
We create environments people genuinely enjoy being part of.

But we’re still only reaching a fraction of the population.

The future of this industry isn’t about getting better at selling to the 17%.

It’s about becoming more accessible, more supportive and more relevant to the 83%.

That means:

Better onboarding
Better support
More inclusive environments
Clearer messaging
More collaboration
More outreach

And ultimately, a shift in mindset.

Because growth won’t come from fighting harder over the same people.

It will come from bringing new people in.

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A Final Thought

If we get this right, the impact goes far beyond business.

We improve public health.
We reduce pressure on healthcare systems.
We create stronger communities.

And yes, we build more successful, more sustainable businesses.

17% is not good enough.

We can do better.

The question is… are we ready to change how we think in order to get there?