by Bedros Keuilian, founder and CEO of Fit Body Boot Camp
Hey there, this is Bedros Keuilian, founder and CEO of Fit Body Boot Camp. You may have heard that my company is the fastest growing franchise in the fitness world. I built this company from the ground up through sales and wise investments of my own money – no banks or investors involved. And I did it without spending a single penny on traditional marketing. Curious about how I did it? Well, I’m here to tell you just that and show you how you can build your own massively successful business.
The tips I’m about to give you aren’t in any particular order, and I have a reason for that. These tips should be part of your business operations always. There’s no time limit on them. These are all things that I still put into practice today. If you’re wondering which one comes “first” my answer is “all of them.” Start with whichever tip or tips you can implement right this moment and build from there.
1. Surround Yourself with the Right People.
This tip applies as much to your personal life as it does to your business, but for now I’ll stick with the business side of it.
When I say “surround” yourself with the right people, I mean surround. You need to have the right employees behind you and the right coaches and mentors in front of you. The way you get the right employees is by hiring for vision and energy first and skills second. Skills you can teach, and the best employees will teach themselves.
Finding coaches and mentors starts with your mindset. No matter how successful you are, remind yourself that you’re always coachable. Invest in books and coaching programs, and don’t be stingy about it either. I still spend quite a bit of money every year on coaching. My company wouldn’t be growing this fast if I didn’t.
2. Choose One Thing and Do It Better Than Anyone Else.
Fit Body Boot Camp offers 30-minute workout sessions and a system of accountability to produce dramatic weight loss results. Are we the only company that uses that format? Of course not – boot camp businesses are all over the place. Even big box gyms are starting to offer boot camps which are on the surface very similar to ours.
However, there is one crucial difference between my company and my competitors: my company only uses the boot camp model, and we pour all our time in energy into perfecting it. Other companies will offer boot camps alongside kickboxing, cross fit, athlete training, traditional gym memberships, etc. Because those other businesses spread their time and energy across all these different offerings, they aren’t especially great at any of them.
People are busier and more careful with their money than ever before. Whatever your industry, you need to understand that your customers want to pick that one solution that they can trust to give them maximum value. Whatever option they pick, they want the best version of it. Go deep, not wide. Find your niche and become the absolute best at it.
3. Study Direct Response Marketing.
Now here I’ll admit that there are maybe a few industries left where traditional marketing still works…but my gut tells me that most industries are a lot like the fitness industry in this regard. In the fitness industry, a business owner can spend a big chunk of change on a magazine ad and in return expect one or two lukewarm leads. Or, they can put that same amount of money into a Facebook ad leading to a sales page and expect ten or twenty times as many leads who are much warmer.
Pay attention that last sentence though: it’s not just a matter of throwing up a Facebook ad for exposure. You need to drive your prospect to a sales page that will convince them to take action and buy from you. This is called Direct Response Marketing, and it’s the very tool I used to build Fit Body Boot Camp from the ground up. Remember, my company has never spent a single penny on traditional advertising. Why would we, when we can get a bigger number of warmer leads for the same cost?
4. Marry the Suck Factor.
The Suck Factor is my name for everything that can and will go wrong in a business. Bad hires, price erosion, fickle clients – you name it. The only way to get around the Suck Factor is to embrace it. Use every challenge as an opportunity to sharpen your skills and become a stronger person. Fall in love with the Suck Factor and marry it.
Bedros Keuilian is the founder and CEO of the world’s fastest growing indoor fitness boot camp franchise, Fit Body Boot Camp. He’s also the fitness industry’s leading consultant for marketing, business systems and development. His blogs, products, books, and live events help tens of thousands of fitness professionals and business owners around the world build more robust and profitable systems.
