Every now again, I cross path’s with someone who reminds me of myself at the same period in my personal training career. Chris Bellette is not one of them – he is kicking my butt :-) He has been running his business for ONE YEAR and has put together a well-structured, lead generating, high converting, client retaining, tribe building machine of a business.
After my first year of running my personal training business (yes, way back in 1997), I think I was still trying to work out how to use skin-fold calipers. THIS GUY IS GOOD and seriously motivated, so settle in and enjoy the Chris Bellette story. I have a funny feeling it is not going to be the last time you see this face…..
Chris, tell me how you first got into personal training?
Well, I have always been an active guy. I have played representative basketball at a state and national level and I also spent time in the Army Reserves so staying in shape has been a massive part of my life. My first real job in the fitness industry came when I worked as a membership consultant at a few major gyms. Doing this taught me a great deal about sales, marketing and management.
I also made plenty of contacts with some great trainers and I suppose seeing what they did gave me a desire to get into personal training. I have a lot of buddies who were trainers too. My whole life kind of revolved around fitness and I guess starting out as a personal trainer was a way I could continue to do what I loved. So I did my Certificate 3 and 4 in Fitness, got insured, did my First Aid and then got registered with Fitness Australia.
Then from there, why did you want to go into business for yourself and how did you do it?
I actually decided that I wanted to have my own business before I got into the fitness industry. I knew I wanted to be a business owner, but I never really knew exactly what I wanted to do. I had read a stack of books like Rich Dad, Poor Dad from Robert Kiyosaki, Richest Man in Babylon from George S. Clason and The E-Myth from Michael E. Gerber. These books gave me a foundation in business thinking and I recommend them to anyone looking to start their own business. I discovered that it is impossible to become financially independent with a job. I learned that business is the only realistic way to wealth.
After I graduated from uni with a Bachelor of Human Movement Science I had lots of ideas, but I didn’t have a job lined up. It was smack bang in the middle of the Global Financial Crisis and there were no jobs available in my area. It was then that I then found out about the New Enterprise Initiative Scheme (NEIS). It basically trains up people just like me, who have a business idea but no job to go to and they help you to get it started. I got approved for the program and got some basic funding for the first 12 months. I also got a business mentor and small business management training too. It was the most awesome opportunity ever! With the help of NEIS, I was able to start my own business (Active Aussies) and I have never looked back!
That’s a great kick-start. From there, who were your target market, what service did you provide and how did you market your business?
When I launched Active Aussies I pretty much targeted everyone and I found myself signing up anyone who was interested. I thought it was better for me to target everyone and anyone at first. I did groups, 1-on-1’s, buddies and tried to get into older adults, kids and corporates too. I soon found out that by targeting everyone I was really targeting no-one at all. My approach was scattered and un-organised. I am still in the process of culling a few services and I really want to narrow down who our target market is. I think it’s definitely a work in progress at the moment, but I can see light at the end of the tunnel. I think a narrow and deep target market is key. I’m trying to steer Active Aussies towards a niche in the fitness industry and in the future our services should be refined and really reflect our niche position.
As for what we did for marketing Active Aussies. Well, I majored in marketing in uni so I knew that the best way was with an integrated marketing strategy. I aimed to create a marketing funnel from the earliest of stages so that I could maximise the chances of finding and bringing in new clients. Initially we did letter box drops, outreach at train stations and in the parks we train at, referral drives with members, we created a professionally designed website, worked on search engine optimisation, really tried to nail social media marketing and we worked with several local businesses.
I’ve never been afraid of talking to people and I love getting out and about chatting about my business – I’m my businesses biggest fan! I made sure I carried business cards and fliers everywhere I went and really worked hard trying to convert a high percentage of people I collected leads from. My efforts paid off. Active Aussies has been profitable ever since our launch and I think it all comes down to getting off my butt and doing something every day (AMEN – Rick).
As I get busier I don’t find the time to go street contacting as much anymore, but I love getting out when I can. I think it’s important to never rest on your laurels and to think that you’ve found enough clients. Because one day you are going to get hit with a bunch of clients who will leave you and to counter that you need a constant stream of incoming leads.
What were your biggest business challenge’s back then?
Finding finances to grow the business was probably my biggest challenge back then because I really didn’t have too much to put down on the table at first. I was after all a uni graduate. I was deep in debt and just got married so finances were pretty tight. NEIS helped a bit and got rid of the squeeze, but in the end I just used little tricks to save money in every situation I could. I became a barter-holic and fell in love with contra deals.
I designed my website, logo, got my bookkeeping done, flyers, business cards and had babysitters for clients kids all hooked up using bartering. I would train them for free in exchange for their services. I think I have saved somewhere between $4,000-5,000 by bartering. I also like to use guerrilla marketing strategies involving little or no money. I’m no expert by any means but I love learning from gurus like Jay Conrad Levinson, Brad Sugars and Seth Godin.
My next biggest challenge was trying to overcome the isolation I felt as an independent small business owner. Working outside of a big chain gym so I made a concerted effort to network with as many trainers and business owners that I could. I would carry business cards and swap ideas whenever I met another trainer or business owner. I hired a Personal Training Business Coach and I joined a networking group for Sydney Fitness Professionals. I also networked with other awesome and successful fitness business owners on Facebook and Twitter and have gotten to know a few really awesome people in my area. Doing this has helped me feel continued confidence in not only my personal training skills but also as a small business owner.
You have a great website, are an active blogger and have a great social media presence. Can you expand on this a little and how it has helped your business?
Thanks :o) Active Aussies has several connection points where clients and potential clients can interact with each other and with the business. We use Facebook a lot, a blog, YouTube and Twitter. I send out a weekly email newsletter to my clients and put updates on our Active Aussies Facebook page. I sync our Facebook, YouTube and Twitter accounts to each other, so when one is updated the other ones are too. That has helped us to increase our visibility across a number of different social media platforms.
Facebook allows us to put up photos, notes, articles, videos and links that our clients and potential clients might be interested in. Our clients really enjoy the links to articles and videos we put up on Facebook and Twitter. We get a lot of people commenting and viewing our page and it really builds a great community. I make sure to add every new client as a friend on Facebook and invite them to join our Active Aussies page. Our weekly blog articles focus on our core beliefs and every article relates to something we believe strongly in.
What is your biggest business challenge right now in your business?
Now that I am super busy with heaps of awesome clients, I think my biggest challenge is trying to systematise everything. I need to create systems so that as I expand I can get some other trainers on board who match the Active Aussies brand mentality. It’s just a matter of transferring everything that I do out of my head and onto paper in the form of an operations manual. It’s a work in progress and it’s pretty time consuming, but I know that if I stick with it then it will pay dividends for sure.
Where do you and your business want to be in 5 years from now and how do you plan on getting there?
I really see Active Aussies as a multi-site operation. I’d love to meet great trainers who are looking to create a passive income for themselves and who will like to work with me to help the Active Aussies brand grow. Personally, one of my goals is to own my own home. I am currently saving for my first home and my goal is to use Active Aussies as the vehicle to earn that much needed house deposit. I also want Active Aussies to be a stable business with a successful financial track record so that banks will love me enough to loan me some money!
So I have several reasons I want Active Aussies to succeed, but most of all, I really enjoy helping people make fitness a part of their life. I love my job and I really hope to continue helping people and no matter what happens to the business financially, I really want to help people. To me, that is the biggest measure of success – how many people have I helped. I like to ask myself the question, who have I helped today? It keeps me on track and I know that if I focus on that then success in other areas will follow.
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Great stuff Chris! As you can see, Chris is another example of action paying huge dividends. He had a goal and nothing was going to stand in his way. Not lack of education, not lack of finance, not lack of experience – he has overcome all of those hurdles and has now built up a massive reputation as the best personal trainer in Wahroonga and is rapidly expanding over the Upper North Shore of Sydney.
If you have a question for Chris about anything he has mentioned in his interview, post it up as a comment below.
Cheers
Rick :-)
About the author: Rick Watson is the surfing, swearing personal training business guy who tells it like it is. He blogs, coaches, writes books, runs an online community and holds live workshops for personal trainers but most of all he is a father and husband (with a healthy respect for road trips). If you like what you read, subscribe to blog here and get your weekly dose of goodness delivered straight to your inbox.
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Nice article. Excellent site.
Thanks Jon – glad you are enjoying it :-)