How your fitness center can become an essential business in your community.
Something that recently happened is that the Planet Fitness in Bakersfield, California has been declared as an essential business. They've been allowed to open with certain restrictions, while other groups still can't. Today, I just wanted to give you some information on how you can go and do this.
Now, one of the things I'd like to stress is this... That this isn't just "Hey, how do we get reopened?" This is also changing how we do things and look at them.
So again, the Planet Fitness is Bakersfield has been declared as an essential business, and what they've done is that they've joined the
Medical Fitness Association (MFA)
They're based in North Carolina, USA and they were first founded to provide industry standards for Hospital-Owned fitness centers. Then in 2005, they began allowing commercial fitness centers to join their organization. In California and other states, members of the MFA are considered essential healthcare services and can reopen during the pandemic as essential businesses.
Bob Boone, president of the MFA said a disclaimer that reopening isn't just as simple as joining the association. Members of the MFA have pledged to follow reopening guidelines set by the MFA and CDC. The MFA has created a much higher standard than what states are requiring because they don't just focus on reopening, it's about doing the right thing and making a shift on how we do things.
For example, MFA gyms must follow MFA guidelines, like having physician oversight, and measuring members health outcomes. And really what they're trying to do is creating the health center as an extension of a members health and fitness, and getting them results. Not just simply becoming a MFA member.
At the end of the day, we're trying to solve problems for our customer, provide solutions. Instead of just being a member of our gym, the customer is someone which we are looking out for to help get the results they're looking for.
So if you are interested in this,
check out their website. If there is a resurgence and your state has to shut down for any period of time, if you are a member of the MFA and doing the things that are required, you could stay open. Or moving forward, being apart of the MFA is a great organization to be apart of to create differentiation in your marketplace. You are not just an operation selling memberships and leasing space, you're trying to truly trying to make a difference in the community. So check it out,
here's their website.