CMG Small Business Strong Features RVA Life Fitness
RVA Life Fitness is a personal training and small group training business that also provides online fitness programming. The company started out offering one-on-one personal training in a private personal training studio for clients looking for a highly personalized workout experience without the big box gym.
How has their business shifted as a result of the COVID-19 crisis?
Their business has shifted from mostly in person to 100% virtual training in response to the COVID-19 crisis. Out of necessity and public safety, the physical location of RVA Life Fitness closed down on March 24, 2020 and overnight all training went virtual. During this time, some clients have taken time away from training while they adapt to their new challenges of working from home and homeschooling their children. Some clients have suffered layoffs and other financial hardships and have discontinued training for the time being as a result of the crisis. Other clients have continued working with them from the comfort and safety of their homes through virtual personal training.
What has RVA Life Fitness done to be innovative and creative in order for their business to survive this economic crisis?
Innovation and creativity has been the key to surviving this economic crisis for them. The decision to pivot to a virtual platform was a tough one but definitely necessary to survive. RVA Life Fitness immediately started researching what other trainers were doing to survive in a new-found virtual environment. Unfortunately, there was not a lot of information out there in late March so they researched the best virtual meeting platforms available for free or a relatively low cost. They signed up for a Zoom account despite never using Zoom before and practiced using the software before implementing it with clients. As they started the transition to using Zoom, some clients were hesitant to use that platform so they added in FaceTime and Google Hangouts as additional options. They later contacted a company to add a portal to their website that would allow them to send at home workouts to clients that preferred training on their own but wanted direction on proper form for exercises and formatting of workouts.
How can you support this small business during this time?
The community support has been great from clients and friends that have reached out for virtual training, workout plans, and gift cards. The community can continue to help by signing up for training or by emailing RVA Life Fitness to purchase customized gift cards for in-person training when they are able to resume post COVID-19. For more information about RVA Life Fitness, visit their website at www.rvalifefitness.com.
CreativeMktGroup is known for supporting the growth and success of small businesses and organizations in Richmond, VA and throughout the world. As a result of the COVID-19 crisis, CreativeMktGroup has developed a campaign called Small Business Strong. Every day, we will feature and promote a small business and/or organization and how it supports the livelihood of others. If you would like CreativeMktGroup to feature your story, please contact hello@creativemktgroup.com.