Lloyd,

Thanks for the feedback on the Vitality 1200.  I have family members who would benefit from a therapy machine but I was also hoping that I would be able to train on it.  Please let me know if you think it will function as a reasonable training machine at the higher settings.  Or whether a HyperVibe or some other premium speed pivotal would be better for me for training.  

Better yet, tell me that you are in discussions with someone who plans to open a VibraTrain studio in Toronto, Canada.

I see that you are and will remain incorrigible. From my perspective, you harm the "industry" more than any other.
And something else: In this forum you complain again and again to people that others have led to bankruptcy. But on the other hand you choose people as new studio owners who have already led a company in the bankruptcy and with its many creditors.

Thank you Lloyd for a wonderful website.  I also found your instructional videos to be really helpful.

I have an opportunity to both try and buy a used Vitality 1200 "Jet Vibe."  I see that Vitality4life is on the black list but I am wondering if you or any of the members of this forum have any thoughts about this particular machine which I believe is a medium energy lineal.  

Thanks so much.

Mike, do we speak about your first years around 2008 – during the vibration training hype here in New Zealand? Unfortunately the number of people who do vibration training has decreased by the years, because with the bad management and closure of more than 18 studios in New Zealand there were too less studios around. And during the last years (and ongoing) only Vibra-Train and a few Gyms have offered vibration training to the customers.  And so a great strength training tool is nearly unknown in our country. That’s a shame! And so I think it is nearly impossible to be so successful again with a vibration training studio (Gyms have the same problem – less and less customers, more and more closures worldwide). I had three business loan applications for a vibration studio on my desk in the last 7 months. And I learned that a realistic number is an income of $150 to $400 per 10h/day (15 to 40 customers – depends from the studio location). In the “books” I have seen that the business owners could be happy if the earn $50 on same days.

Apart from the numbers I think we gain a really problem here: If people eat more and more and move less and less then New Zealand will have an enormous number of overweight people with a metabolic syndrome in 2020. So maybe it’s time to wake them up and do a little bit “marketing”. I know Lloyd (and his followers) hates all the marketing people. But to teach people the benefits of training you have to think outside the box. Luckily the Vibra-Train machines are strong enough to hold overweight people. But has it to come to that? Do we really want to spend our tax for the treatment of preventable diseases only? So Lloyd, jump over your shadow and stop hacking at your competitors. Be better than this and do something for the community. Inform people about all the benefits, create a new vibration training hype and convince the couch-potatoes to leave their sofas!

Jackie

In our first two years we were constantly seeing 80 to 90 people a day 5 days a week, Our origanal price was 12 dollars a session.

The hours we put in is something committed passionate business owners do. Thought thats what successful business owners do any way.

I love the idea of an "anti-gym movement" and "punishing the bad guys."

John T. Weatherly

Please can someone tell me how you work out what is low speed and what is medium spread. I've got a Crazy fit Medicarn vibration plate plus 1500w. It goes up to a speed of 99. So would low be between 20 and 40 and medium be 50

Grae

I knew that deal site is new so results might be limited - I’m guessing they do emails to individuals and promote the site in print and online.  And I did know we were giving them free publicity even if the site wasn’t actually linked here.  I don’t believe in “Test Mode”

What I don’t understand is that no-one from the existing customer base bought a voucher for themselves or as a Christmas gift for friends or family.  And it seems no-one suggested to friends to buy one – after all, it was a 50% off deal and open to everyone.

and? make your vibratrain-we-are-the-best-dance and be happy! maybe you haven’t notice that the daily deal site has just started 2 weeks ago and hasn’t sold a deal so far. it’s just in the test mode. but there is a very great thing because you found the deal and showed them up here. thank you for doing that great advertising for free!

An update on the Daily Deal (for Power Plate lessons at Power Studio) that I wrote about at the beginning of this discussion: The deal has ended after 5 Days with ZERO vouchers sold.

Did none of the faithful attendees have friends to buy one for?  

Di, if there is no way to buy a Vibra-Train Studio, why has Wayne been trying to sell his studio on Trade Me (I know, listing 527913560 was removed a few hours ago)? http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:pet6uyf5VrYJ:www.trademe.co.nz/business-farming-industry/businesses-for-sale/other/auction-527913560.htm+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=de

Regarding your calculation: To know that you sell deals on GrabeOne for $3.50 and less a session or to sell sessions for $5 and then to calculate with $10 a session is a kind of self-deception.

@ “You seem to know so much Jackie, so you no doubt know that the full price is $15 a visit  ($10 without anti-cellulite massage)”. à This information came from you Di (15.11.12, 10:22): “11x   supervised vibration training sessions - $100 (that’s just a little over $9 a session). Sessions take around 15 minutes.”

And no, I’m not involved in that industry. I’m on the other side of the business – I proof the business plans and loan applications for the sport and recreation industry. So maybe I know a little bit about that industry and the numbers behind. And I found a lot of interesting and helpful information here.
So let’s go back to work, time is money on my side and passion is all on yours.

By my calculations using $10 a visit it’s about 46 people a day over 6 days over 52 weeks.

You seem to know so much Jackie, so you no doubt know that the full price is $15 a visit  ($10 without anti-cellulite massage). Only Some studios have reduced that to $10 and Mike says he charges some people $5 now.  Mike did say that turnover was in his first year! Not that I have any problem with his figures as the studio I’m at has 9 machines and there are many times when all nine are in use. We also do long hours and 7 days a week. (as you’ve pointed out, that’s the owner’s choice). Oh, and we have people who pay nothing at all - they have life threatening conditions and Vibra-Train gift them their sessions.

You may not be able to figure Vibra-Train’s success financially - I even tend to agree that working out the money as you have shows its not always a high income business. It does work well over time and depending on core expenses like location rent. I’ve definitely looked at all of this and more - way back when I was interested in a PowerPlate studio that was for sale. I didn’t proceed far with that, too many problems with both the machines and location.

You’ve left off any extra products that some studios have - tanning, sauna; and others. Not a core part of Vibra-Train but no different to PowerPlate having body wraps or whatever the latest is.  PowerPlate studios all closed down, even the Head Office (oh and that has a doozy story about it’s demise but you can ask other about that). Vibra-Train’s oldest studios are still working.

You say - FROM YOUR EXPERIENCE a vibration training studio can earn...

So, you have more involvement in this industry than simply as a client/customer?

For the information of anyone reading this: There’s no way you’d get to buy a Vibra-Train studio. The process is by application, not buying, and most applicants are are turned down. I’ve observed this.

Hi Mike, no, the $36,000 was the calculated yearly wage for one staff member (or like Lloyd wrote for the operating owner of the studio) – for 60h a week. From my experience you can earn between $53,000 and $135,000 with a vibration studio (brand-independent) a year; dependent on location and the number of machines you own. If your session price is between $5 and $10 and you have earned $144,000 in your first year, then you have sold around 19,200 sessions. Let’s calculate again: 19,200 paid + only 300 free (first) session per year = 19,500. If the studio is open 10h a day and 6 days a week we have a total of 3,120 opening hours – that means you had more than 62 customers every single day, more than 6 customers every single hour? If that would be the case I would quit my job and would buy a Vibra Train vibration studio next week.

Jackie

One more thing, you think you only make $36,000 a year in this business? How did you come to that conclusion? We turned over 4 times that amount in the first year of business.

Jackie you seem to be missing the whole point about this industry… Yes it is a business and yes you do want to make a profit, but for that to happen….

1: You need the right Machine…..Seen every other company collapse except Vibra-train, yes some studios have closed which had more to do the people running them and passion, this business is like all others, without passion it won’t survive.

2: You need the right Programmes to match…..We went down the track of changing programmes for each individual, doesn’t work!! To time consuming, people can’t remember what to do, and you lose passion trying to come up with new ideas to keep people interested. King poses are proven to be the effective ones, why do you think vibro-gym studios stole Lloyds programme when they used to be around.

3: You need the right person with enough passion….Passionate about this industry and passionate about helping people even at their own expense sometimes, I get far more satisfaction sponsoring clients for free that have a medical condition or are obese or too poor to afford even $5.

I am sorry you had a bad experience with Vibra-Train, one thing a good trainer should do is read the individual and if they can’t hold a certain pose we can change things to suit, that’s the great thing about side handle bars.

I have been in this industry for 6 years and have helped set up people all over the world, so have seen a lot.

My take on power plate is they are the most dishonest company that ever existed, hence the reason they are very much broke around the globe today, it was only a matter of time before KARMA kicked them in the arse for ripping off so many people.

We have always only charged $5-$10 a session and turned a very healthy profit from the day our doors opened, you can try and analyse this and analyse, that but at the end of the day experience counts over what someone thinks it does or does not cost to run this successfully.

If you think power plate is that good with their flashy advertising Bull Sh#*ting everybody about qualified this and qualified that, think about this one basic fundamental thing when it comes to true vibration training….

Vibration Training is all about the involuntary contraction of the muscle, for this to work you have to remain relaxed in a static position, why the hell do power plate instructors make you jump around the place like an idiot then??