Dave Coard has been running Boxfit since 1997, he provides circuit classes, personal training and group training to people in Bedfordshire.
In March 2020 when the pandemic started to escalate and we were placed into the first lockdown, he recognised that there would be a need to change and adapt his way of business. He already had a website and social media accounts, but his website had not been updated in years and his social media wasn’t updated regularly, his online presence was near enough non-existent.
As well as being able to continue running his business, Dave also wanted to offer something to the local community to help. And so we came up with a plan to revamp his social media accounts and create a brand new website. Then through his newly designed social media accounts he began offering free online fitness classes twice a week through lockdown to help the local community keep moving and stay positive.
The Website
Dave quickly realised that his website needed to enable people to easily book on and pay for sessions, along with providing the opportunity for an online community.
So, we created a fully functioning website linked to an app that people can download to their phone to book sessions easily and quickly. Through the app he also offers challenges that people can join and earn online badges.
The website and app also links to Zoom, so that he can set up recurring spin and circuit sessions online that will automatically set up Zoom sessions and send confirmations including a link to the booked session.
The app now has 82 active local members, who use it for booking and paying for sessions, getting updates on events and news related to Boxfit, taking part in challenges and generally being part of a community that can talk about similar interests and arrange group meetings and events. As face to face classes are being gradually reintroduced the app enables Dave to easily monitor numbers, facilitate contactless payments and collect any data that could be required through online forms.
Post Lockdown Preparations
After successfully launching a suite of online sessions, an online membership plan, recorded sessions and offering free sessions on social media, Dave had built a solid local following online and had to begin to prepare for coming out of lockdown. He decided to continue offering online classes along side gradually introducing some outdoor sessions and group personal training. These were easily adapted on the website due to the user-friendly functionality of Wix, which has helped throughout the ups and downs of lockdowns over the past year.
By constantly adapting and thinking outside the box, Dave has managed to thrive throughout lockdown and by continuing to offer some online sessions as well as face to face ones as we come out of lockdown, he is retaining those clients who are not quite ready to come back out into the world of mixing with others.
If you want to find out how your online tools can be better used to help boost your business this year please get in touch and I would be happy to help.