A gym business in one way or another is decidedly part of show business. Making the client feel good and look good is very much a part of the endeavor. The gym is typically placed within the hospitality industry.
According to Oxford Dictionary, hospitality stands for a “friendly and liberal reception of guests or strangers”. Indeed, the chief endeavor of the gym is to be friendly and helpful in terms of fitness services, offer desirable work out atmosphere and food as tangible products, and clean rest rooms and spacious corridors for comfort. The concept of a gym was one of “temporary abode”; a place to burn those excess body fats. The business domain of the gyms appeared to be a fusion, an amalgam between the hospitality industry and show business.
The General Manager of a gm must know the basics of managing gyms. Management is characterized of the process of leading and directing all or part of an organization through the deployment and manipulation of resources. Functionally, it is an action of measuring a quantity on a regular basis and of adjusting same initial plan and as the action taken to reach the gym’s goals. From this perspective, five functions of management are identified. These functions are planning, organizing, leading, coordinating, and controlling. As the general manager of the gym, he or she constitutes these five functions.
Strategic planning is one specific type of planning. In the strategic plan, the present status of the gym business can be identified, future plans can be formulated and strategies to be able to accomplish the future plans can also be identified. With the gym’s problem, strategic planning can be used in order to identify possible strategies and make necessary changes.
On the other hand, organizing is establishing the internal organizational structure of the gym business. The focus is on division, coordination, and control of tasks and the flow of information within the gym. Moreover, managers distribute responsibility and authority to job holders in this function of management. In order for the gym to have organized functions, the General Manager should have good organizing skills. It should be realized what organization style the gym needs. To be more specialized, the gym should decentralize the management making each division more accountable for their actions.
Leading includes setting direction for the gym, groups and individuals and also influence people to follow that direction. Leading function establishes strategic direction such as vision, values, mission and /or goals and championing methods of gym performance management to pursue that direction. A leadership skill is very significant in a gym in order for it to run smoothly.
Lastly, controlling is a four-step process of establishing performance standards based on the gym’s objectives, measuring and reporting actual performance, comparing the two, and taking corrective or preventive action as necessary. Moreover, it includes checking the gym’s systems, processes and structures to reach effectively and efficiently reach goals and objectives. This includes ongoing collection of feedback, and monitoring and adjustment of systems, processes and structures accordingly.