Know-How Exchange : Strategy

I'm getting the sense that you work for the company that leases the space, and you're just trying to help this guy out. Is that close?

I think his approach is flawed. You've got maybe four components to the strategy you've outlined here:

The Price. This is apparently free.

The Position. As a convenience or service to parents who want to work out (not sure on this, but that's how I'm interpreting it)

The Targeted Segment: Obese children

The Promotion: Some public exposure but likely not very much.

I'm going to suggest you re-examine all of these. I'll go first:

1 The Price. He has to charge money. How much depends on things like the neighborhood demographics, competition and so on.

2 The Position. He needs to present this not as a kind of service but as a unique differentiator. Not a place to park the kids, but the only place parents and their kids can work out together, on the right equipment, with the right kind of trainers . . . etc.

3 The Segment. Woudln't want to say something stuipd here about what segments you should target without knowing more, but I'm at least very confident that obese children is not the optimal one. My knee jerk (biased?) response is girls who haven't outgrown hanging with Mom . . . 10-13? And then of course the Moms. You have to look into this

4 Promotion. Promotion is always the same story: you do what you can afford. If I'm close with the 10-13 thing, you now think about how to reach them and their parents. This one isn't diffuclt.

Since this owner has specialized kids equipment, that might become his public-speaking expertise rather than working with obesity.

Dear zonedinn,

Yes, this is an open forum and from time to time, and even
though they may not like it, questioners have to face some
strong opinions. Harsh or not, Phil's right.

And to echo Phil, your client doesn't need "clever", your client needs simplicity. Something along the lines of:

1. This is what I do (or can provide),
2. This is what I'll do for you,
3. This is what you need to do next.

From what you tell us it your client appears to be running more of a charity than a business. Before you figure out the right strategy for your client, you need to sit down with him and have a serious chat–something along the lines of "It's time to come to Jesus!"

If he's not charging people appropriately he'll go under regardless of his media attention.

Until he charges for his services (and gets paid for them) in advance he's never going to make any money.

For the media presentations he does, he also needs to have something else to sell: a book, a course—something to give him more credibility. In short, he needs an edge, an angle of some kind. Without this he's going to carry on wobbling along with or without your help.

I hope this helps.

Gary Bloomer
Wilmington, DE, USA

The good news is that your tenant has connected with families that need his services. The problem is in the pricing model for the children's program. Why not simply offer a monthly fee (like a gym) for families? The fee would allow anyone in the family (children and/or adults) to take classes/workout as often as they'd like.

Since we don't know the specifics about your tenant (if they're struggling in general, or simply trying to boost their kids program for additional revenue) nor their competition (are their kid gyms in the area? how successful is their program? what are the demographics of the area?) we can give you our wisdom for best practices to making the tenant's business into something "solid".

Apparently the parents only care if it doesn't cost them anything. I'm all for FREE if it draws in additional revenue. But nobody can make money on free....unless they're using a grant from the feds.

You might want to suggest he interview the parents and children and offer a sliding scale fee structure. If they have the ability to pay but won't you'll know where you stand.

I once did some work for a design company that was way underpricing their services. They weren't profitable. When they raised their prices to match the market, all customers left. Clearly, the willingness to lose money was their marketing advantage.

You might also find that it's the grandparents who are concerned about the kid's weight, not the parents. THey also might have time to excercise with the child

Michael

Pricing does seem to be the primary issue here, and people (adults) often don't value FREE.

Your client might look into talking to some people in the local schools (administration, PE, counseling, etc.), pediatricians, and the relevant social services groups. These people would have good information on the market potential and the parents’ ability to pay. He may possibly be able to develop a fee schedule by school or community.

Another route is to speak with the larger employers in the area to see if their insurance plans cover dependent wellness. Some people might be more open to paying the fees if it is subsidized by their insurance coverage.