When Aida took over Bodywise Boutique Wellness, she was buying a business with limited membership, outdated facilities and significant operational challenges. After investing £45,000 of her savings into the gym, she spent the first 18 months taking only a minimum salary.
With support from Fitness Marketing Agency and one-to-one business coaching, Aida transformed the business model, introduced small-group personal training, strengthened her financial management and reached a combined owner compensation and net profit margin of more than 33%.
The Challenge
Aida’s journey into gym ownership was far from straightforward.
She purchased the gym for £45,000 after initially teaching yoga there. At the time, the business had around 120 to 145 open-gym members paying approximately £25 per month, with limited assets and significant work required to improve the facility.
Aida and her husband used their savings to purchase the business, with no loans involved. She then spent the early years working extremely hard to keep the business moving.
“When I took the gym over, I didn’t pay myself at all for 18 months.”
The business was also facing increasing competition. A Gym Group opened nearby, followed by another leisure facility, making it difficult for an independent gym to compete on equipment and price.
At the same time, Bodywise Boutique Wellness offered multiple services and membership options, including open gym, yoga and Pilates. Aida eventually recognised that the business needed a clearer direction.
As she later reflected, “There must be something I’m not doing.”
The Strategy
Moving Beyond Open Gym
One of the major strategic changes was shifting the business towards small-group personal training.
Rather than trying to compete with larger gyms on equipment and price, Aida began developing a more personalised model that could provide greater value to clients.
The transition wasn’t immediate. Initially, small-group training operated alongside the open-gym model, with a dedicated area for coaching. Over time, however, the business began prioritising small-group personal training.
This allowed Bodywise Boutique Wellness to simplify its offering and create a clearer proposition for prospective clients.
Improving Pricing And Packaging
Pricing was another important step.
One early campaign increased the full membership price from £58 to £77. Aida was nervous about the change, but the campaign generated leads and sales.
“I thought, I’m going to be ill.”
Despite her concerns, the campaign performed well. Aida handled the sales herself and closed 10 people over one weekend.
The approach combined targeted marketing with a clearer offer and higher price point, rather than relying on volume at a lower membership price.
Focusing Оn Тhe Numbers
Financial management became another central part of the strategy.
Aida began working one-to-one with Nikki Segall of the Fitness Business Development Academy, reviewing the business’s financials, team, business model and marketing.
The process involved regularly consolidating information from QuickBooks, the CRM and other business data into spreadsheets. This gave Aida a clearer view of where the business stood, helped identify gaps, and established the next actions required.
“Now we can say, I know that I have a meeting with Nikki. I need to do my homework.”
This gave Aida greater visibility over the business’s performance and helped her make decisions based on the numbers rather than simply working harder.
Making Better Use Of The Facility
The strategy also extended beyond memberships.
During COVID, Aida identified underused space within the facility and converted former changing rooms into treatment rooms. These were subsequently rented to independent practitioners.
The business now has 21 independent therapists working from the building, alongside hairdressers and other practitioners.
This helped turn previously underused space into additional revenue-generating areas.
The approach reflects a broader focus on monetisation: looking at the space, resources and time available within the business and asking whether they were being used effectively.
Building the Right Team and Leadership
As the business grew, Aida also began changing the way she operated as an owner.
Rather than trying to personally manage everything, the focus shifted towards processes, team structure, and leadership.
Today, she has six people on payroll and continues to develop her leadership skills with support from her coach.
The goal is no longer simply to keep the business running. It is to build a team and systems that allow the business to operate without everything depending on Aida.
The Results
The transformation has delivered measurable changes across Bodywise Boutique Wellness.
The business now has around 270 total clients, including 102 active clients using the small-group personal training model. Small-group sessions have grown from an initial couple of sessions per day to approximately three morning sessions, three evening sessions and additional afternoon sessions.
Aida says the small-group sessions are now pretty much fully booked.
The business also has 21 independent therapists renting space within the building and six people on payroll.
Financially, Aida has moved from taking a minimum salary to receiving a consistent salary and having greater financial security. Within approximately 18 months of beginning the coaching work, the business reached its target of 33% combined owner compensation and net profit and has since remained above that level.
She has also been able to take more time away from the gym, including having Sundays away from the facility.
Perhaps most importantly, the business has moved from a model that depended heavily on Aida’s personal effort towards one built around clearer services, financial visibility, team development and profitability.
“I Don’t Know Everything”
One of the biggest changes for Aida was recognising that she didn’t have to figure everything out herself.
“I always thought, oh, I need to do everything myself, I can do it all myself.”
Over time, she learned to bring in specialists and trust their expertise.
“Then you admit that actually, I don’t know everything. I don’t know everything. I need a marketing agency that understands what they do and just let them deal with that and trust them.”
That mindset shift became an important part of the transformation, allowing Aida to focus on becoming a better leader while specialists supported the areas where she needed additional expertise.
What’s Next?
Bodywise Boutique Wellness is continuing to develop its small-group personal training model.
Aida’s goal is to continue increasing the number of small-group sessions and gradually reduce the space dedicated to open gym as the business evolves.
She is also continuing to work with Nikki on becoming a stronger leader and developing her team.
The next phase is therefore less about simply working harder and more about building the systems, leadership and team structure required to support the next stage of growth.
A More Sustainable Business Model
Aida’s journey with Bodywise Boutique Wellness demonstrates how changing the business model, improving financial visibility and investing in the right support can create meaningful change for a gym owner.
What began as a business with limited membership, significant competition and a model heavily dependent on Aida’s own time has evolved into a more focused operation with a growing small-group personal training offering, additional revenue streams, a larger team and stronger profitability.
For Aida, the transformation has been about more than increasing revenue. It has been about creating a business that gives her greater financial security, more freedom and a clearer path for future growth.
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