Unique recurring revenue streams for fitness centres

5 min read

While everyone understands the benefits of offering fitness centre attendees the opportunity to enter long-term contracts, relying solely on this recurring income model can mean your business is missing out on significant Unique recurring revenue streams for your fitness centre revenue potential.

Fitness centre memberships are a popular purchase among health-conscious Australians, and can provide many advantages to business owners. As an ongoing revenue stream, hard contracts ensure that payments will continue to roll in for as long as a customer is willing to commit.

However, once your centre has taken on a certain number of clients, it can become difficult to increase revenue without stretching your resources too thinly. Fortunately, there are alternative cash flow management solutions when considering ways to boost your business’s income.

In particular, the following three recurring revenue models can easily be integrated into your fitness centre operations.


Consumables

While you may believe that a fitness centre is primarily a place for clients to use your equipment and services, the decision to sell consumables is also an option.

If a member arrives at your centre with the intent to work out but has forgotten their towel, water bottle or headphones, offering these products at the front counter can pull in a steady source of income.

This potential revenue stream may not offer recurring benefits, however, as purchases are typically one-off payments. Fortunately, the instances of clients requiring these consumables should remain frequent enough to sustain a regular income.


Sunk-money consumables

Most fitness centres offer scheduled classes and training to members, which can create an ideal platform for a sunk-money consumable revenue stream.

For example, you could consider developing classes that require the use of weights, bands or mats that can be purchased from you for members to use at the gym or at home.

/p>Alternatively, allowing members to rent the necessary equipment on a weekly or monthly basis by signing up to a paperless direct debit solution will provide you with an ongoing income. This will also give clients the flexibility to change equipment or classes as their fitness levels improve.

Another option under this recurring revenue model is to provide members with specialised services, such as heart-rate monitoring and diet analysis. Consider partnering with a local healthcare provider or dietician to offer meal plans, medical assistance and other potential consumables to your patrons.


Retainer services model

While most members will be happy to sign up for hard contracts over monthly or yearly periods, some clients may not want to commit to specific time frames. Fortunately, these individuals can still offer your business a sustainable income stream through the retainer services revenue model.

In particular, instead of providing the client with a contract based on a specified time period, consider offering memberships based on the number of classes or visits. This way, individuals can invest in and experience your services before making a firm commitment to a monthly or yearly contract.

Furthermore, this model is ideal for fitness centres that offer customised training sessions, as these classes can usually be offered as an extra feature on contracts – bringing in additional income on top of contracted rates.

Finally, these per-class contracts can be offered not only as customer benefits for potential members and existing clients, but also as gifts for customers’ friends, family and other recipients. You could even consider selling these session-based memberships as gift cards or offering them as prizes and incentives to loyal members.

Rather than surviving on traditional revenue streams, alternative sources of income are available for any fitness centre, regardless of size or shape. To make the most of these unique revenue models, invest in direct debit services and other eCommerce payment solutions.