50 Ways To Make Money In The Fitness Industry

Wondering how to make money in the fitness industry? There are lots of creative ways to generate an income or boost existing revenue. Whether you’re a fitness professional, gym operator, online business owner, or just looking for inspiration, you’ll find new ideas here.

In this article, we share 50 proven ways to make money in the fitness industry, whether you’re just starting or want to diversify existing revenue streams.

We’re a specialist fitness marketing agency with 15+ years of industry experience, so we know first-hand what works (and what doesn’t!). We’ve helped gym operators and online fitness businesses to make more money by increasing sales revenue. But we’ve got lots of other practical ideas to share beyond that…

How to Make Money in the Fitness Industry

If you’re passionate about health and fitness, then you might be wondering how to monetize your interest. What are the best ways to earn an income while doing something you love?

Or maybe you’re entrepreneurial and want to tap into the business potential of the fitness sector. It’s growing at over 7% per year, with segments like online training and workout apps exploding even faster. So, what are the options?

There are lots of ways to make money in the fitness industry, from running a boutique studio or training clients online to selling gym equipment or becoming an influencer. Here are 50 proven money-making ideas in the health and fitness sector…

1. Providing one-to-one personal training
2. Operating a gym, health club, or boutique fitness studio
3. Organising fitness holidays or retreats
4. Inventing fitness equipment and selling patents
5. Small group personal training
6. Developing fitness apps
7. Selling fitness supplements
8. Franchising your existing club or class concept
9. Health and fitness blogging
10. Leading awesome group exercise classes
11. Designing workout gear
12. Creating fitness subscription boxes
13. Selling fitness equipment to gyms or consumers
14. Running online fitness courses or workout programs
15. Reselling fitness watches and trackers
16. Earning commission as a fitness affiliate
17. Working in gym membership sales
18. Becoming a fitness influencer
19. Launching an e-commerce store that sells fitness products
20. Book-keeping for fitness professionals
21. Hosting an online membership community for niche fitness enthusiasts like triathletes
22. Running fitness seminars or workshops
23. Selling juices or smoothies
24. Fitness business coaching and consulting
25. Designing stylish workout posters and selling them online
26. Creating fitness and workout planners, journals, or food diaries
27. Selling online meal plans based on fitness goals
28. Becoming a master trainer for big fitness brands
29. Officiating sports events
30. Selling gym membership software
31. Tutoring in biology
32. Fitness modelling
33. Freelance writing fitness articles
34. Getting paid to speak at fitness expos and conventions
35. Creating sponsored fitness content
36. Selling fitness photography
37. Reselling used fitness equipment
38. Creating workout music and playlists to sell online
39. Combining two sports into one new class (e.g. surf yoga)
40. Managing social media for fitness brands
41. Leading a running club
42. Fitness equipment maintenance and servicing
43. Crafting unique gifts for fitness fans
44. Selling digital ebooks about fitness topics
45. Creating a range of water bottles, gym towels, or other merchandise
46. Fitness product arbitrage through Amazon FBA 
47. Reselling vintage gym gear from second-hand shops and eBay
48. Creating healthy recipe books
49. Selling lockers to gym studios
50. Creating a health and fitness podcast with advertising slots

The Most Profitable Way To Make Money In Fitness

As you can see, there are lots of creative ways to make money in the fitness industry beyond just personal training and running a gym.

Selling products to fitness businesses (like equipment, lockers, and software for health clubs) is one of the most profitable avenues. With a business-to-business (B2B) model you don’t need as many customers because the deals are worth a lot more money.

To make $5000 with coaching or gym memberships, you’d need 100 customers at $50 each. But with B2B, one customer alone can be worth $5000.

Here are some examples of business-to-consumer (B2C) and B2B fitness brands so you can see how they differ…

• B2C – this is where you sell your offering to the individual people who will be using your wares e.g. Peloton, GymShark, Runkeeper.
• B2B – is where you sell to other businesses operating in the fitness industry e.g. Precor, Matrix, MindBody.

Whatever your experience and fitness interests, there are ways that you can monetize them. And if you’re ready to take the next step, then we have resources that can help…

Ways To Increase Fitness Revenue

If you’re looking for ways to make MORE money in the fitness industry rather than new revenue streams, then we’ve also got you covered. There are essentially two options…

1. Increase the volume of sales – by attracting new customers, selling more products to existing customers, or getting them to buy more frequently.
2. Increase the value of sales – by raising your prices, upselling extras, or increasing the average purchase amount using bundles.

Focusing on these two areas is crucial for any business to succeed. There are also practical steps you can take that’ll gradually increase your income over time. These include…

• Improving your sales skills
• Asking for a pay rise
• Optimising your sales funnel
• Increasing prices
• Trying out new marketing ideas

We’re planning to create a new article that focuses solely on this topic soon so join our email newsletter to get notified when it launches.

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