When I started my studies, I also began working at Matrix Fitness to gain practical experience and fund my degree. In Germany, most gyms are part of larger franchises, which makes it challenging to gain insight into their inner workings. However, I was fortunate that Patrick, the owner of a small privately-owned gym, was seeking to expand his team at the time.
During the next 3.5 years Patrick taught me a lot about managing a small business, working in the service industry, making decisions as a boss, managing a team and so much more. Of course, I also learned a great deal about living a healthy lifestyle and the benefits of fitness training and good nutrition.
Let me share some of the Key lessons
Do what you believe in: The biggest project we underwent at Matrix Fitness was the complete restructuring of our product and training concept. Our goal was to become a personal training studio focusing on 1:1 and 1:4 training sessions. To realize that change, we had to make many tough decisions and practically reinvent the whole business. However, we thought it was worth it because that way we could offer a service we truly believed in.
There will be challenges: Managing and building a business comes with its own set of challenges. We always did our best to predict potential pitfalls, but it’s impossible to predict everything in advance. Corona was a great example of that. We never imagined having to close down for almost half a year, nor did we predict the long-lasting effects and change in mentality afterward. So it’s not worth worrying about every minute detail. Instead, take care of the flashing warning signs and trust yourself to deal with the challenges whenever they may come.
What is it like to work in the service sector
First, let me clarify that I don’t think working in a gym is comparable to working in retail. As a trainer, you get to know people quite well, so there’s a lot less pointless conflict. I think the best thing about working in this industry was seeing the impact your work had on the life of the person you train. It’s fulfilling to see progress, reach milestones, and help people do things they couldn’t do a month ago. That feeling also contributed to the birth of this site.
What skills did I pick up during this time?
Building Business Websites: I built both websites for the business. The first one replaced the outdated previous homepage with a modern business page. The second one was for rebranding to a personal training studio. I spent a lot of time researching and learning about the important attributes of a good business site. Of course, building those sites came with its own set of challenges. I honestly think both turned out great, and the positive customer feedback gave me the confidence to take on bigger projects like this in the future. However, now I would do some things differently.
Marketing and Negotiation: Marketing and negotiation are crucial for success in any field. Effectively communicating the value of the product or service and negotiating with potential clients is the foundation of any business. Learning these skills took (a long) time and effort, but I’m confident that working in a gym gave me a good basis to extend these skills into my own business.
Communication Skills: Clear expression of ideas is a crucial aspect of effective communication that can make a significant difference in achieving the desired outcome. Another crucial element of communication is active listening. Learning how to listen with intent and empathy is essential to better understand others’ perspectives and needs. This, in turn, enables me to find solutions for the underlying problem and provide a service that actually offers value.
Stand for what you belief and be honest: Sales often gets a bad reputation for being dishonest and using tricks to get customers to buy. And this may be true for some companies. But, sales should be about understanding the customer’s needs and finding solutions that work for them. Using sales tricks can actually hinder salespeople, particularly beginners. In my experience, there are two important principles to follow:
- Only sell products that you believe in. If you can’t stand behind what you’re selling, you won’t be doing yourself or your customers any favors.
- Be honest and curious. If you don’t think your product is the right fit for someone, tell them and ask for their input. The potential client is painting a picture of rainbows and unicorns while talking about a problem? Then tell him about it and get to the base of his situation.
What are some challenges I faced?
Getting out of your comfort zone:
As an introverted person, working with people for 8 hours a day was initially challenging. During the first month of my job, I was so exhausted that all I wanted to do was go straight to bed. However, stepping out of my comfort zone was necessary to learn something new, and I’m glad I did it.
Being really interested wont last you forever:
I love learning about food and nutrition. And helping people achieve their fitness goals is a very fulfilling and fun job. Yet, I knew that something was missing. It took me a long time to figure out what that was. I did love the job and the things that came with it, but it wasn’t where I could find my purpose. However, I don’t regret working in that field because it was a valuable experience and gave me clarity for what I want to do.
Dealing with COVID-19:
The last few years have been a continues challenge for many small businesses. Corona combined with our rebranding project, reduced our member count by a unfathomable amount. We essentially had to start from scratch, both in building a new member base and in our approach on customer generation. But as challenging as this situation has been, it was also an amazing opportunity to learn!
There are rainy days:
Life has its up and downs and that is also true for any job you do. Even doing work you love won’t protect you from the occasional rainy day. And that’s okay. I remember beating myself up for having an unmotivated day or just trying to get through the day so I can enjoy the weekend. We all have that, and that is nothing to be ashamed about. Even now, I occasionally need to take a step back and remind myself why I’m doing this project to keep me motivated and optimistic.
Here is the full version of the site I build
The idea of the site was to tell the full story of our product with 5 videos. While also showing which problems we can fix and what potential customers can expect from our service.
