Getting Started with FitForge

FitForge helps you run memberships, billing, attendance, and engagement from one place — so the evening rush is not also your CRM, accounts book, and reminder system.

This guide is the practical order of setup. Do it once in the right sequence and the weekly playbooks (renewals, dues, walk-ins, inactive members) become possible. Skip the sequence and you will keep fighting empty lists and wrong dates.

Before you start

Have these ready:

• Gym name, logo (optional), and at least one branch address
• Your real plan names and prices (monthly, quarterly, yearly, couple, student — whatever you sell)
• A first batch of members: name, phone, plan, start/end or join date
• Who will own the desk day-to-day (manager or receptionist) versus who can discount and freeze (owner)

If plans only live in your head, write them down before you touch software. Clean plans beat fast imports.

1) Create your gym and a branch

• Add your gym name and optional logo.
• Confirm you have a default branch. Multi-branch owners should name branches the way staff actually say them (“Andheri,” “Wakad”) so reports stay readable.
• Invite only the people who need access. Night staff who only check in members do not need price-edit power.

A branch is not just an address. It is the unit for expiry lists, dues boards, and attendance reviews.

2) Create membership plans first

Create at least one live plan before you add members. Plans drive renewals, reminders, and overdue status.

For each plan, be explicit:

• Duration and price
• What “active” means at the door
• Whether freezes are allowed and who approves them

Avoid duplicate almost-identical plans (“Monthly,” “Monthly new,” “Monthly special”). Messy catalogs create messy renewals later.

Learn more in Membership plans and renewals and the broader gym membership software overview.

3) Add members (import or manual)

• Start with a first batch — active members first, then recent expiries if you still want them on a win-back list.
• Attach each member to a plan so billing and renewals are not manual memory.
• Fix phones and names as you go. Wrong numbers make WhatsApp reminders look like spam.

Do not wait for a perfect historical archive. Get today’s active roster clean enough to run a Monday expiry list.

4) Configure billing habits on day one

Software cannot fix unlogged cash by itself. Agree the desk rules while you set up:

• Every payment hits the member record the same hour
• Personal UPI still gets logged against the member
• Discounts and complimentary days need an owner

When you need to scale seats, branches, or add-ons later, use the in-app upgrade flow. For plan options and packaging, see FitForge pricing.

5) Enable QR attendance

• Turn on QR check-in once members exist with plans.
• Brief staff: familiar faces get the same check as new faces.
• Sample a handful of check-ins the first evening against plan status.

Attendance without plans is a visitor log. Attendance with plans is how you spot inactive members and stop expired walk-ins.

6) Connect WhatsApp for reminders

• Connect WhatsApp in Settings -> WhatsApp.
• Start with renewal and dues reminders — not every marketing idea at once.
• Keep humans for replies that need a decision: plan changes, disputes, “I already paid.”

Automation should remove the paste-fest, not remove ownership.

First-week checklist after setup

Use the first seven days to prove the system is alive:

1. Monday: produce an expiry list in under ten minutes.
2. Daily: dues visible in one place — not only in chat.
3. Evening: day-close cash/UPI vs logged receipts once.
4. Mid-week: review a short inactive list from visit data.
5. Friday: confirm reminders sent match people who actually expired or went overdue.

If any of those fail, fix data and permissions before you chase more features.

After setup: stop the usual leaks

Once members and plans are in, the work is keeping revenue from slipping at the desk:

• Stop losing gym renewals before expiry
• Collect overdue gym dues without chasing
• WhatsApp renewal reminders without staff chaos
• Stop expired members walking in
• Convert gym walk-in enquiries

Explore FitForge

• Membership plans and renewals
• Gym membership software
• See pricing