Is owning a (hardcore) gym a viable business?

[crazyquik]

So, I am, more or less, your average 'working professional'. Today I realized that all the local gyms really suck for the type of stuff that myself, a few of my friends, and like 80-100% of this forum like.

The last gym I went to only have one squat rack. Where are you supposed to do your curls?

Is starting a "real" gym (more like a weightroom) a viable/profitable business? One that is mostly free weights and squat racks? Have heavy chains, plyo boxes, etc. Maybe have a back lot with some strongman-like stuff (tire flip, etc).

Finding a location would be easy here. Buying a lot of freeweights . . . not sure about that. Shipping would be a beeotch. It seems like half the gyms around are fly-by-night places so maybe I could wait until one of them closed out.

It seems like a lot of start-up costs and a very narrow, limited client base. But, maybe there are actually a lot of serious lifters and strength athletes that would join because they couldn't care less about juice bars and 2 different cardio decks, and 4 different types of machines for every movement.

 

[calveless wonder]

let me put this simply;

No

 

[calveless wonder]

High startup costs
significant fixed monthly costs
Low profit margins
significant competition
large client turnover

it's an awful business venture unless you're a huge corporation that can put up hundreds of locations

 

[-SD-]

unless youre Golds gym then no.

and everything cw said

just run the numbers and you will find out just how many people it takes to pay you a fee over and over again each and every month to cover all your costs and still try to make a profit of some kind.

 

[ExtraMile]

only tip i can think of would be start small and build up, you dont have to jump straight into a massive gym full of equipment...

also buy second hand stuff, if its a little worn and used it should just make it look more hardcore lol

 

[-SD-]

only tip i can think of would be start small and build up, you dont have to jump straight into a massive gym full of equipment...

also buy second hand stuff, if its a little worn and used it should just make it look more hardcore lol

if hes too small no one will join. its a catch 22. gotta have sufficient space and equipment to draw members in, but all that costs a lot of money. cant get around the large initial investment for something like a gym.

 

[crazyquik]

It didn't seem like a good idea, but I thought I would bounce it off a few people here.

It really is a catch-22; you can't start too small, or then only 3 ppl would be able to work out at one time. OTOH, having 20 squat racks right out of the gate probably wouldn't work either.

Unless you found a bankrupt gym that was clearancing all their DBs and freeweights . . .

 

[canadianhitman]

I'd only do it if the area doesn't already have a gym but is large enough to need one, and it's highly unlikely a chain gym will come in and split the pot within the next 10 years or so. Because when that happens, you're toast. It's a very risky business because of the high initial startup cost of equipment and the ongoing high rent because of the square footage required. You pretty much need a monopoly over 30000 people minimum to make a healthy profit.

 

[the.gladiator1987]

dont let anyone tell u u can or cant start it lol you can if you TRULY want to. but it might take awhile, and you might lose money the first time, or first couple times, but u can d onething you set ur mind too broski

 

[-SD-]

dont let anyone tell u u can or cant start it lol you can if you TRULY want to. but it might take awhile, and you might lose money the first time, or first couple times, but u can d onething you set ur mind too broski

the problem with starting a gym is you cant just sort of "try it out". you are either all in with the big enough lease space and equipment and facilities, or you arent going to have a chance. Its not like apricot seeds where you can start small on ebay and scale it up once you start making some sales.