Gym Pro – Test Marketing Your Product

Time to get some inside information from a successful entrepreneur.

Seriously put down the barbell, get out of your handstand and take off your boxing gloves.  Get comfortable and read this one from top to bottom.

I am so excited to tell you about Aleks Sotirovski the creator of Gympro software for Personal Trainers.  He gives you an inside look on how he got started and what he has done to stay successful.

If you are on the software side of the fitness business this will give you insight on how to launch a successful product.  If you are personal trainer it will tell you about an awesome product you should be using.  If you own a facility Aleks has some amazing insight on how you can become more successful in your bussiness also.  Yeah it basically covers everyone….

Hey Aleks what is your fitness and software back ground?

Most of my fitness background is related to martial arts – I started training karate when I was 6 years old. At 18 I made my first international appearance for New Zealand at the World University Games and it was this same year that I enrolled at university to study computer science. In 2005 I graduated, and started working as a web developer a few weeks later. At this very same time I was also preparing for the Commonwealth Karate champs being held in NZ that year. It was in preparation for this competition that I had to properly start working out with a personal trainer as I needed to put on some weight to move up in the heavyweight division. I had to pack on some efficient muscle mass without losing any of my speed. I quickly saw the benefits of incorporating weight training and learned a lot from working out with a trainer. Having a dedicated conditioning coach opened up my eyes to the “gym” world and how necessary it is in top-level sport. Since that time I’ve continued to workout with various trainers, most of who have been friends, and in July this year I was part of the gold winning team at the Commonwealth karate championships held in Australia. I’ve been looking to expand my skill set lately and give my body something different so I’ve been looking into either trying out Crossfit or learning some brazilian jiu jitsu. I’ve recently moved to Australia, so I’m on the lookout for some gyms. Throughout this time, and even today I still work with websites every day so I’m very glad to have found a crossroad between two passions.

That is a cool story.  It sounds like you found a good balance between two fields.  How did you come up with the idea for Gympro?

It started with a normal conversation between a friend of mine who was a personal trainer. I wanted to learn more about the operations side of things when running a Personal Training business – creating a workout for someone is one thing but keeping track of 20 people’s progress requires some organization. At the same time I did some research about personal trainer software tools online – I found a few, however, after consulting with a few personal trainers, the feedback I got was that they were either too complex or did not meet their needs or add value to their service. What they wanted was an online system that was simple and easy to use, while also providing them with value-adding features to track client progress and manage their business. Being a developer and also having a passion for fitness I just started to put the system together – no planning, no timeline or any idea for a final product (in hindsight this can be a good recipe for disaster/timewasting). After a few trainers liked what they saw I decided to make it into a full product. I just kept continuously finding out more about a personal trainers requirements and tried to incorporate them in Gympro in the simplest way possible. It started off with just a workout module but as I’ve received end user feedback I kept refining the system. Even to this day, I’m still very open to user feedback and tweaking features to improve their function, although I’m desperately trying to avoid feature bloat.

I am sure it is a constant battle to try and keep it simple, but have all the features people want.  Looks like you are doing a great job though.  Is this your first software product?

Yes it is. Between implementing new features and providing support I don’t have too much time for any other products. I do take on other temporary freelance website projects but Gympro is the main focus. I really had no idea how time consuming running an online product can be when I started, particularly as I place priority on support services and listening to the users by updating the system according to feedback. This project was just as much about learning and creative freedom as it is for the finished product and business side of things… these things have a way of sucking you in though.

I am sure it is time consuming, but having something that combines both your passions is priceless. What were your start up costs?

To get the very first version up I believe only about $300 for design costs. After deciding to release it and picking out a name I wanted to make it look very easy on the eye, streamlined and modern. I spoke to Scott Brown, a good designer I knew from work and he did a bunch of pages for me(check out Scott’s showcase site HERE). My workplace at the time let me host the site for free, actually they still do (thank you Blackpepper.co.nz). That was basically it to get the site launched which was all I needed to get a few members on-board in the next few months.

So cool, your computer science back ground really paid off.  It is great you spent some money on design.  I know sometimes programmers just over look this and think they can do it.  I think getting a designers perspective is a must do. The biggest obstacle you had to overcome when starting? and how you worked around or over it?

Definitely time. Between a full time job and training there was little time left for anything. At one point I think I got a week off work to get ahead a little bit. The workaround was basically focusing on just the essentials, which was the plan all along but I still had to trim some initial functionality down. And for version 1 it was fine, I still kept getting feedback & the system was still providing good enough value.

Many people struggle with time, it is hard to keep up.  Did you have any help? How big is the staff running gym pro?

It’s officially myself on the company record but I do have a good network of professionals that I work with on a contract basis. The coding and support is mostly done by me although lately I have enlisted the help of another programmer to take care of the mobile app side of things, which should be launched soon. Things like marketing, copy writing and organization are also done by people who have been with me from day one with this project and know everything that’s going on so they love to be involved in it anyway – most of them are friends and just love what Gympro stands for. (Related to this, we are releasing a Gympro manifesto very soon to highlight our principles and values)

It is great to have a network.  It sounds like you are making some great use out of yours.  The mobile app and the gym pro manifesto should will be great.  Looking forward to seeing those. How many users do you have on Gympro now?

I wouldn’t want to reveal exact numbers but I am happy with Gympro’s loyal member base at this time. I’d like to emphasis “loyal” because I feel that’s more important than if I just gave you some number from our database. I also feel this product is still quite young in terms of all the things I’ve received feedback on and that should be implemented. The main focus is always to develop the product itself, marketing and user numbers are secondary. Right from the onset I think there was this unspoken idea that this product isn’t going for the mass market. Instead it attracts a certain kind of trainer, a professional that cares about focus, clarity and simplicity and providing an exceptional fitness service to their client base. And I like it that way – I enjoy having professional opinionated people use my software, otherwise I’d just add on every little feature I can think of just to accommodate for every trainer out there.

I could not agree more.  I think your focus on building loyalty is spot on.  I hope my readers realize how that can relate to their gym, software product and clients. How do you market Gympro? referrals, seo, or advertising? what has worked best for you?

I prefer getting in touch with trainers directly, whether this is over email or approaching them personally. I always try to approach it from a learning perspective instead of straight out marketing. I do want to let them know about this cool software we have for dedicated fitness professionals but it’s more of a conversation and me getting feedback than selling. And I find this direct approach and word of mouth is the most effective – it seems to find the people that understand the Gympro approach. I have however dabbled in placing ads on fitness related sites, google ads and also Facebook ads. Usually it’s been mostly to test out a certain page change or a tag line though.

Once again priceless advice.  I know if I was a trainer and the owner/creator of a software product called me to have a conversation I would want to use their product.  Crazy good advice thank you Aleks.  Do you have any other great advice for someone who is starting a software product in the fitness field?

I would like to be more original in this answer but one of the first things that comes to mind is a quote I heard recently from Eric Ries, who said something along the lines of “success in entrepreneurship should be denominated in knowledge and not code…” – meaning anybody can hack together a system in a few weeks if they really wanted. But whether your software product is successful ultimately comes down to your knowledge of the problem you’re solving, the customer and the market. So I would say build version 1 in the shortest time possible (this is a discussion by itself altogether too) and then go out and just talk to some people about it. Get them to use it, try to get a feel for what they’re thinking and feeling, not just what they’re saying. Gain knowledge as early as you can about your customer. The worst thing you can do is spend 6 months – 1 year writing something just because you think somebody else might like it, which so many developers do, just because they like hacking code and creating something. Don’t assume, get to intimately know you potential users.

This last piece of advice is golden.  This relates to all start ups.  Too many times people build things because they want them or they like the idea.  “go out and just talk to some people about it.”  People often miss this crucial step or are to attached to their idea.  Whew this interview is chalk full of good information, insight and action steps.

Aleks thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to answer a few questions.  I really appreciate it.  So many great tips.

Full disclosure I am in no way associated with Aleks/Gym Pro. I do not get any kick back if you do or do not use his product.  With that said, if you are a trainer you have to try this product!

Step One click this link : Gympro.

Step Two: click try it for free (seriously you can try it for free)

Step Three: add your clients

The cost is nothing for what you get.  The value of features pays for itself alone.  Not to mention how successful and professional you will look to your clients.

The best part about it is if you do not like it or want a new feature you know the founder is open to suggestions and capable of making changes.

When you try it be sure to post about it in the comments below!