Why I Started a Business in a Saturated Industry

My primary motivation in leaving corporate America was to essentially work smarter, not harder.

Written by Lisa Peranzo for Smartrepreneur

When I left corporate America to enter the fitness industry full time, I never thought I would venture out of the structured training environment of a gym or studio.

I wanted to make the same amount of money I made in my corporate job working significantly less hours so I could have the flexibility in my schedule to have a family. All of course while doing something I loved.

Granted this decision was not met without hesitation from the people around me. The fitness industry as a whole is thriving, which can often be misconstrued as saturated. Logically there was no sense in making such a massive pivot into an industry where success is hard to come by, but I knew on an intuitive level that my passion for helping others would attract the clients who would benefit the most from my services.

In retrospect, that shift alone made me an entrepreneur. An entrepreneur in a busy industry, but an entrepreneur nonetheless. I was selling my capabilities and services to studios as well as gyms in order to be retained as an instructor for those entities, but I was not venturing out on my own in the truest entrepreneurial sense. My goal was to create time freedom for myself, because I craved having more time in my life that was not swallowed up by a traditional job.

While I created that balance I desired, the term entrepreneur still did not resonate with me. Realizing that I was an entrepreneur and realizing how I could expand my business was something that happened by accident. The more established I got in the fitness industry, the more people sought out my services outside of the traditional fitness environment. People began asking not only for workouts they could take on vacation with them or for virtual training after they moved, but they also began asking for more of my personal experience.

My audience wanted me to share my struggles as a Mom, they wanted to hear how I regained my strength after injuries, and they wanted to know the components of my daily life that gave me balance while still achieving my physical fitness goals.

It was from that demand from my community as well as my desire to serve mycommunity to the best of my ability that A Healthful Life® was born. Being an entrepreneur to me meant expanding my passion so I could serve my community while creating that life balance we all deserve.

When A Healthful Life® began its transition from a simple blog to a private coaching entity, I knew certain measures would have to be put in place to build a solid foundation for the business. Beyond establishing a website and creating content, I took additional steps to make sure I had a smoothly running business prior to obtaining clients.

These steps included:

• Increasing my liability insurance as a trainer to include an online business.

• Setting up invoicing and accounting services.

• Hiring a tax account.

• Hiring a business coach.

• Hiring a social media manager.

• Setting up business social media accounts.

While I was setting up all of these entities for my infrastructure, I also was creating content like a madwoman. In most cases, being a part of the creative process of our business is what an entrepreneur loves to do. We crave content production because giving our audience valuable content allows us to serve them more effectively. I knew when A Healthful Life® was in its transition from a blog to a business that my primary focus in creating a business in an industry that is already so overwhelmed that my primary motivation was not money or fame. My primary motivation was to be able to give my community everything they needed to look and feel their best from my personal experience as well as my professional knowledge.

At that point, it was a matter of expanding my network past my previously established community. In the thought of wanting to work smarter and not harder, I made sure to establish an ideal client, knowing that I would serve anyone who sought out help in my community but also knowing that having an ideal client would help me streamline what I was producing for my audience. I took that knowledge to find out what two social media outlets my ideal client favored so I could focus my networking efforts on outlets I knew my ideal client frequented. I also used as many free platforms as possible, to include social media platforms as well as platforms for automation and digital creation. I still use platforms like Planoly and Canva for my social media posts, but I also use the Notes application on my phone to write out posts and emails.

My drive to serve my community is what continues to propel me in this growing industry.

It is the underlying force behind everything I do, and what I turn to when I lose motivation. The loss of motivation is inevitable, because the ebbs and flows in a business are also inevitable. I have come to accept those times of ebbs and flow within my business as well as learned how to embrace those periods of lower energy. It is going to happen to all of us, but if you can have systems in place to keep your momentum consistent, then you will not have to stress about what to do during those periods. The reality of being an entrepreneur is that like any business, you are going to experience slow periods. However, when you are solely responsible for the financial outcome of your business, it is up to you to figure out how to keep showing up even when you would rather be doing other things. Pre-planning and batching content like posts that I can then turn into emails and blogs, as well as pre-planning video content has been a personal game changer for those times when my motivation is low. While it requires more work on the front end, I know that having that pre-planned content will save me time and energy during those slower, lower energy times. That gives me the time and space to do what I need to do personally to ensure that I can continue to show up in an authentic way for my audience.

Starting a business in any industry is not without pitfalls or frustrations. It will have slow and stagnant times, as well as times of abundance. While you ride those waves of emotions associated with starting and expanding a business, keep in mind that your passion for what you do and the community you serve is something you can always rely on to continue to drive you forward. Fall back on that passion frequently and make sure that you have a solid foundation to support you through times of growth and times of restructuring. Let that passion remind you of why you are doing what you are doing, why you took the leap to start your own business, and where you want that business to go. Then be patient (and maybe take some deep breaths), and remind yourself that the successful businesses were not ones that were built over night, but took time and effort as well as consistency.

Find Lisa Peranzo at https://www.ahealthfullife.org