In this article, you’ll find everything you need to know to craft a powerful mission statement for your gym or fitness company.
Invest a couple of hours into creating an inspiring mission statement and start reaping the numerous benefits today!
Let’s jump in!
What is a mission statement and why do you need one?
Your mission statement is a reflection of your company’s aims, values, and, above all, capabilities.
You need a mission statement because they’re the best way of adding value to your business quickly and effortlessly.
You need a mission statement because:
- It will help communicate the value you offer to your customers
- It will help your employees work toward the same goal
- It will keep you honest and not allow you to compromise on what your business stands behind
- It will help you hire the best employees for your business because you now know exactly what your business wants to accomplish
- It will eliminate noise and help you focus on the most important things like your customers
Before we get into what a powerful mission statement should sound like, let’s consider what it shouldn’t sound like.
Your mission statement shouldn’t be:
- Pretentious
- Complicated
- Wordy
- Untrue
- Misleading
Having a mission statement that ticks any of the above will backfire and do more harm than good.
Why? Because your customers will “smell” it from a mile away and lose respect for your company.
If you want to know more about mission statements in general, check out this article which is a part of my article series on how to create a working content marketing strategy.
Does your small local gym need a mission statement?
Regardless of the size of your business, you will reap the benefits of having a mission statement.
Small local gyms or fitness-related businesses will still benefit from having a customer-centric mission statement.
Just make sure you display it where it can be seen.
Having a mission statement that doesn’t get seen by anyone serves no purpose.
In my opinion, any size business should avoid having a corporate-sounding mission statement, especially small businesses.
Add a bit of flair to your mission statement and make it reflect your gym’s personality as well as what you can do for your customers.
There’s no need to embellish stuff or, even worse, lie to your customers – keep it honest and concise.
Benefits for gym chains and large companies in the fitness industry
Large businesses struggle to keep their employees on the same page working towards the same goals.
Here’s where a strong mission statement kicks in.
When employees know, understand, and act in accordance with the company mission statement, good things happen.
If you manage to succinctly convey the customer-centric approach of your company to your employees through a mission statement, there’s no excuse for poor customer support, for example.
Another huge benefit is that your mission statement can help inform decision-making and hiring processes in your company.
In other words, staying true to your company mission can serve as guidance to your every decision.
Too many big companies abandon their original missions as time goes by which usually poorly reflects their customer satisfaction and bottom line.
Naturally, it’s not enough to just have a great mission statement, it’s all about doing business in accordance with it.
How do you create a powerful fitness-related mission statement?
At this point, you know why you need a mission statement and what not to make your mission statement sound like.
Let’s arm you with a few guidelines on what a powerful fitness company mission statement should be like and some tools that can help you come up with one.
First of all, I’m a fan of company owners coming up with their mission statement on their own.
Nothing else will match that kind of passion and authenticity.
Remember, it’s actually a bad thing for a mission statement to sound too “corporate” so you won’t miss out on anything if you don’t hire someone to stuff it with the latest industry buzz words and empty platitudes.
Simply speak your truth and be customer-centric.
Tell your customers in plain words what they can expect to be treated like in your gym and live up to your promises.
It’s as simple as that.
Now, if you have writer’s block and don’t know where to start with, keep on reading because we’ll explore some of the best practices, templates, and mission statement generators that might be of use to you.
Mission statement best practices
These mission statement practices are universal.
Businesses of all sizes and industries will benefit from taking them into account.
A mission statement should be:
- Simple to understand
- Succinct
- Rooted in the present
- Customer-centric
- Problem-centric
- Humble, ego-free
- Inspirational in its authenticity
To expand on the last point, the idea is not to inspire by and embellishing things or even lying to customers in your statement but to inspire by telling the truth and being authentic.
Mission statement best practices also include tips like:
- Describe what you can do for your customers
- Create more than one while brain-storming
- Get second, third, or however many other opinions you need
- It’s OK to change a mission statement, nothing is set in stone
Mission statement templates
Templates can be very useful when you’re stuck and don’t know where to begin.
Keep in mind that you don’t have to stick to any template a 100%.
You can, and should, modify any template to best fit your use case and add flavor to it.
1. To “desired result” through “your product or service” so that our customers can “a pleasant notion or action.”
Example: Our mission is to help customers become healthier versions of themselves with our expert advice so that they can live more active and fulfilled lives.
2. To help “describe your customers” to “the desired result” by “doing your work.”
Example: To help our fellow neighbors become physically and mentally tougher by providing a friendly gym atmosphere and state-of-the-art gym equipment.
Mission statement generators
Mission statement generators are tools that can help you create your mission statement.
There are four different types of mission statement generators:
- Ones that ask key questions and craft your mission statement based on the answers
- Ones that break down a mission statement and let you fill in the key components yourself
- Ones that break down a mission statement and provide you with a lot of options for each of the components so you can stitch them up and create your statement
- Ones that generate completely random mission statements and throw them at you in hope that something sticks
I wrote an article where I listed the top 5 free mission statement generators.
Feel free to check it out to find more about all of them or continue reading here for the winner and runner-up.
Here are the best two generators I found:
- HoneyBook mission statement generator – get your mission statement by answering questions
- Whole Whale mission statement generator – fill in key components to craft your mission statement
My advice would be to draw inspiration from these tools and modify the statements they come up with to better reflect your gym or fitness-related business.
11 Gym and fitness mission statement examples
Absolute Fitness
Absolute Fitness exists for one reason, and that is to constantly challenge and lead our members to achieve the highest level of sustainable fitness you can reach.
Sean Burgess Fitness
To provide a personalised health and fitness service that unlocks every individual’s true potential so they can achieve their desired goals.
Bodyline Fitness
It is our aim to encourage people of all ages and abilities to get fit and improve their wellbeing by providing a well-equipped, supportive space where highly qualified and experienced health and fitness professionals can deliver their services.
Human Form Fitness
The Human Form exists for one reason – To provide a safe environment for our members to challenge themselves and attain the level of Health, Wellness and Vitality that is their birthright. Our coaches are passionate, committed, and will engage with members on all levels to assist them on their journey.
Castle Hill Fitness
Our mission is to PROVIDE a welcoming environment for the Austin community to improve their overall health. To EDUCATE our clients that overall health is more than just a fitness goal – it’s about community, variety, refueling, recovering, and challenging your mind and body. We EMPOWER our clients towards a greater quality of life with seasoned professionals, varied programs and disciplines, and conscious living principles all under one roof.
Aeon Fitness and Gymnastics
Our mission is to provide a unique atmosphere to enhance movement development through fitness and gymnastics for toddlers, children, teens, and families for a promotion of lifelong wellness.
California Family Fitness
Here at California Family Fitness our mission is to be California’s premier family fitness center, committed to providing members and employees of all ages a fun, friendly environment. We are committed to promoting a healthy lifestyle through convenient, clean locations, state-of-the-art equipment, programs, and fun activities that provide an exceptional and unique value to our community.
InForm Fitness
Maximize our clients’ strength, without compromising their health or risking injury. The InForm Fitness team will provide a no-nonsense, sustainable regimen of strength training enabling our clients to overcome barriers to health and fitness, and fulfill their physical potential throughout their lifetime.
Powerhouse Gym
Powerhouse Gym is the fastest growing gym licensing organization in the world. We are distinguished by our unsurpassed motivating atmosphere, knowledgeable staff and premier exercise equipment, which supports our members in meeting their individual fitness goals. We provide these with dedication to the highest quality of customer satisfaction delivered with a sense of friendliness, individual pride and company spirit. The strength of our heart-felt identity is utilized to inspire every person that steps foot into our gyms to better themselves.
Springville Health Fitness
Our mission is to provide a clean, friendly, professional environment in which our customers can learn to obtain, succeed and surpass their fitness goals. We want to allow our neighbors to come together for events that will enrich our quality of life and make us stronger as a community.
Rampage Fitness
To motivate and inspire members to achieve on-going results through a caring and committed team.
Conclusion
There you have it. Now you’re armed with everything you need to create a powerful gym and fitness mission statement. Don’t forget to create at least several iterations before you pick the final one, and don’t be shy about asking for a second opinion. I hope this article illuminated the topic for you and if you have any other questions, leave a comment below. I’ll do my best to help you out.