Where. To. Begin.
I honestly have no clue… but I’ll give it my best shot. It is sometimes hard to put things such as feelings, emotions, worries, doubts and fears into words.
Almost 2 months have passed already since we had to close the gym. Those two months have both flown by… and felt like the longest two months i’ve ever experienced.
I think the key for me so far has been to keep busy. Everyone is different, but I for one need something to do… something to look forward to completing… something to keep my hands (and mind) busy and active. I took the first 2-3 weeks to paint the entire inside of my moms house, every room. After there was no more painting to do, I did some work out in the yard creating a stone walkway and patio. I bought a new guitar and started taking some youtube lessons. I am fortunate enough that I still get to go to the gym to workout (the only perk of owning the gym at the time being!). I personally am unable to motivate myself to workout at home… too many distractions and not enough space.
While keeping busy with projects, that certainly doesn’t mean I haven’t had ample time to think about all things Fitness Fusion. Where we are now, what the future holds, how it is all going to look going forward. In the 5 years since taking ownership, I had been working toward a goal membership number… which we finally hit in late 2019/early 2020. Numbers were good, memberships were at an all time high, trainers were getting and keeping lots of clients, life was good!!
Then BAM
...pandemic...
You guys know me, I try to be open and honest with everything. I don’t want to be mysterious, I want to be straightforward and easily understood. I thought Fitness Fusion was recession-proof. After all, everybody needs to keep up with their health and fitness even when the economy declines! Unless you’re forced shut.
Never in a million years (or 34) did I think this could or would ever happen. And just like that, the future became uncertain. Fitness Fusion WILL survive… but I just don’t know what it will look like. It is impossible to know! Anybody that tells you they know what is going to happen going forward, is guessing… plain and simple. Numbers will be down, some members won’t feel comfortable coming back, we may need to put more strict regulations on class sizes or the amount of people allowed in the building at any one time, we may not be able to utilize many of the workout formats we have in the past, WHO KNOWS what else… certainly not me.
Am I worried about how this will affect the gym financially in the weeks and months and years to come? Absolutely. The uncertainty of it all is very scary. I am trying to take it one day at a time and not worry too much about the unknown… but I'm finding that harder and harder to do as time goes on. A mere 30% reduction in membership base would mean that the gym is no longer profitable at current trainer pay rates and hours (neither of which will be cut, I promise you). I am quite confident that eventually business will be back up to where it was, where we need it… but how long will that be and how much of a financial impact will that have? Impossible to say.
In the meantime, there have been programs aimed at helping small businesses everywhere… but as with all things that are rushed out… they’re far from perfect! The PPP (payroll protection program) wasn’t an option because we have independent contractors. The EIDL (Economic Injury Disaster Loan) with up to $10,000 as a forgivable grant ended up being only $1,000 per employee (again… independent contractors, not employees). So Fitness Fusion was in a grey area, along with millions of other small businesses im sure. I am lucky enough to be able to collect unemployment for the time being, as are the trainers. I am forever grateful to the members who elected to keep their membership active through this time, which has allowed me to cover the business expenses and to keep it from going under without taking out a large loan (with interest of course!), so THANK YOU x1000!
I am very pleased that in the meantime we have been able to provide quality workouts for everyone at home, and live Zoom workouts every day of the week. That is entirely due to the continued dedication of our amazing trainers at Fitness Fusion. We didn’t miss a beat, and started offering online and live workouts the VERY SAME week we were forced to close! Of course, I would LOVE to see more of your smiling faces on there when we do it live! If you haven’t tried it yet, join us it's definitely better than going at it alone! Our equipment rental program went great and a lot of members took me up on the offer to rent weights FREE of charge to assist with their home workouts. We have been in contact with every single member to check in and see how they’re doing and if they need anything or if there is anything we can help with.
Looking forward…
Apparently gym’s are in “phase 1” of reopening, which is good news! But we still have to wait and see what procedural rules will be in place. I am sceptical that May 18th will be the date we can get back to it, and believe that will likely be extended again… but you never know! When we can finally get back, Personal Training will definitely be able to start right away. We will have to wait for more guidance as far as the classes go. We will do everything by the books, 100%. (one more thing - just incase you weren’t aware, our trainers are offering Personal Training via Zoom during this! If you’re interested just let us know:)
No matter what the reopening looks like, we are truly looking forward to being back in ANY capacity. I am hopeful that eventually everything will be as it was before this hit us. We miss the entire Fitness Fusion Family SO MUCH, and can’t wait to see you all again soon.
We will adapt. We will overcome. We will succeed. We will GET FUSED!
Brian Lepine
Fitness Fusion
413-977-3938