By Alan Shaw, Co-Founder and Head Coach of Rhapsody Fitness in Charleston, SC
Welcome to Box Building! Follow Rhapsody Fitness Co-Founders Alan Shaw and Trinity Wheeler as they continue to build one of the fastest growing gyms in South Carolina. Answer the hard questions, explore various approaches, dive into strategy and share lessons learned that go far beyond fitness to be universal across entrepreneurship and startups.
The right customers will set a tone for your community and attract like minded people with similar value sets and motivations.
When you first start your business, you see all money as green and want nothing more than a full parking lot. This awesomely vulnerable position can leave you scrambling to usher any warm body in the door.
I remember that feeling, but encourage you not to succumb to the temptation. I have come to appreciate over the years that the wrong customer is never worth it, and the right customer will pay off in spades.
At Rhapsody Fitness, we are a community for anyone, not everyone. Welcoming all lifestyles, backgrounds and fitness levels (for anyone), our members are distinct in their character, which aligns with our core values of being hungry, humble and happy (not everyone).
We know who we are, we know who we want to attract, and we know what we want to accomplish together. I am certain that focusing on the right customer from the start helped us become one of the fastest growing gyms in South Carolina.
If this doesn’t motivate you to be selective about who you draw to your business, then here are 4 reasons to stay the course on your clientele.
WHO THEY ARE
- The wrong customer will cost you. Whether it’s in dollars invested, emotional widgets wasted, or efforts siphoned in the wrong direction, as they say, having a bad egg will spoil the bunch.
- Like attracts like. One of the basic laws of attraction, the right customers will set a tone for your community and attract like minded people with similar value sets and motivations. This rule is especially prevalent and proven in close-knit communities like ours that are staples across the health and fitness space.
- Having a strong sense of self and knowing your right customer makes having hard conversations and cutting losses much easier. You’ll know when you’re looking at a square-peg-round-hole scenario and won’t get stuck trying to make it work.
- Knowing your ideal customer makes the competition less scary. At Rhapsody, we’re surrounded by other gyms, trainers and fitness facilities, but I don’t lose a wink of sleep over it. I’m confident in our uniques and that they will speak to the unique people I want to be part of Rhapsody.
Know thyself and know thy customer. If you do that, I am certain the cars will come and your parking lot will be full of all the right people for you and your business before you know it.
Follow Box Building on Rhapsody News or visit Rhapsody Fitness online to learn more.
