Does anyone here own a gym?

[forged71]

I joined the military at 17 right before desert storm no kids that I knew of at the time so all my income went into a saving account, I was a member of 5th group so I never was in one place long enough to spend anything money or set roots and had no one at the time (wife ) to spend it for me until 2000 took a desk job and finished my education. As far as the building it was my old high school gymnasium 30000 square foot all brick building and metal girder construction locker rooms, showers, offices, already there...2500$ cash this was the deal of a lifetime the school closed in 1996 in 1998 a construction company bought it and turned it into an apartment complex they had no need for the old gymnasium and had a silent auction. I just for fun put as start bid of 2500 and a max bid 7000. I was one of 3 bidders. All I had to do to it was sand blast the exterior, change out the plumbing (lead), and drywall and paint. I put maybe 7 more grand in it. Opened in early 1999. when I retired from the military in 05 I started a private practice and just bounce back and fourth. Don't let this fool you though the industry can be a bitch. My insurance is what burns my ass its out crazy. The best thing to do in my opinion is to find a decent size maybe 5000 square to start and open a small 24 hour satellite gym. There's one around they way from me it does good business from what I hear another secret I allow auto bank draft from their bank not the private companies that auto charge people they have a very bad reputation of screwing people or allow them to pay month to month. Now I don't recomend this to start only after they have been members for 1 year. I don't charge enrollment fees either cause really what are doing, filling out some paper work. Right now my rates are 30 for singles, 40 for couples, 50 for families. I have tanning for 15 more unlimited and the juice bar thing don't do it waste of time the overhead is sick. If anything I put in 3 vending machine and have various drink muscle milk etc. and barter bro!!!!! I barter my gym for the athletic gear from a local screen printing shop, my supplements from a local nutrition store and what ever else I can.

Peace, Forged

 

[trenerific]

I have years of experience with gym ownership and what not. Use the same principles you would for buying a piece of land. Location, location location, plus get that rent down. These days you can find spaces for cheap and sap up the equipment cheap. Most places, nobody cares what equipment you got as long as it looks good and works. After you got the location and rent locked down get some young trainers in there and penetrate your small client base for as much PT as you can. Suck every dollar out of your trainers that you can.

 

[benaziza]

hi
i have few question for the guys who used to own gyms , do you have pay any kind of tax ? a gym owner in massachussets told me that he used tp pay tax for the irs every 3 months or so , another question , do i need any kind of license to open a gym ? by the way i live in new york state , thanks in advance.

 

[swm1972]

Anyone that is self employed or owns a business where they aren't on a "payroll" have to submit quarterly income tax estimates based on what their withholdings will be. They don't let you just hold that money all year long and then pay for it at the end. They want it now. If you do wait until the end of the year and owe more then $1000 you are penalized and charged interest.

 

[mich29]

great advice in this thread

 

[swole79]

Anyone have any experience or any idea how much you can make on a typical anytime fitness type facility in a year? I just started looking into them. They are similar to what the gentleman above said. Usually about 4000 ft and they average between 700-800 members. I was on a conference call the other day with some of their people and they have people in place to do studies to help you select a location and negotiate the best terms on your lease. 2 VERY important factors in success. But they are very low overhead, almost like a key club but not totally.

 

[rockyourroll]

Anyone have any experience or any idea how much you can make on a typical anytime fitness type facility in a year? I just started looking into them. They are similar to what the gentleman above said. Usually about 4000 ft and they average between 700-800 members. I was on a conference call the other day with some of their people and they have people in place to do studies to help you select a location and negotiate the best terms on your lease. 2 VERY important factors in success. But they are very low overhead, almost like a key club but not totally.

I was a manager of an Anytime Fitness a few years ago. The owners (2 of them) at the time had owned it for about 5 years. They sold it about 6 months after I started working there and neither one took a salary the entire time. I think they made about $50k each on the sale...at best. One worked @ the gym full-time so paid herself essentially 10k a year.

Did you hear that they average 700-800 members from a Franchisee rep? Because that seems very high. I say it seems high because there are internal forums where people get badges for having over 500 members. There weren't an overwhelming number of badges.

We had about 300 members and were located in one of the wealthiest Minneapolis suburbs with a population of about 60k. There was a fair amount of competition but there is competition everywhere. Great location with a ton of street traffic.

Overhead depends a lot on your location. Good location = high rent. The equipment required for the gym is not cheap. If I were to buy an AF I would definitely buy an existing one that is already profitable in a growing city. Building one from scratch - while potentially profitable upon selling it - requires a lot of money.

 

[Joanna80]

I believe the lease on the premises is one of the biggest expenses on top of your taxes and of course the equipment (whether you choose to buy or lease it). Gyms can make money but you need a lot of upfront capital (or at least be prepared to borrow heavily) to get it off the ground.

 

[stevesmi]

I am opening up a gym myself soon. I will be a co-owner.. the trick is putting up a little money only and keeping members. thats why gyms obsess over contracts, most people who join gyms end up quitting.. starting a new gym is very difficult because you have to get members from other gyms and that is tough since they are already under contract.

 

[Gorilla-Pharma]

Steve if you have any questions I may answer please pm or email me. I am just over a year open and pushing 500 members...I was profitable in first 2 months, I am currently looking to remodel another larger building I own. Key is marketing and atmosphere....me and my wife present a face, friend, and family atmosphere...that's why I am a fitness club rather then gym!