Opened first business

[gregory]

So here we are, we opened doors for our ladies only fitness center. I built it from scratch and equipped it with free weights, cardio machines, pin selectorised machines, aerobics floor, bathrooms, childcare, sauna, massage room etc... We used a lot of nice maerials to make the place pleasing to the eye, stuff like making all the walls curvy instead of straight, we also used glass bricks on some walls to add effect. This place has to look nice and inviting so we went all out. So if can offer any assitance or answer questions on this industry or general business start up, let me know in this thread.


peace.


BTW: I am not a new member. Been here a long time but my old account is deactivated.

 

[bran987]

gregory

let me be the first to say congratulations!!!

you have already opened doors? are things going well? any members yet?

what kind of advertising/marketing do you have in place right now? what kind of budget are you working with for advertising?

what was your old username?

 

[gregory]

gregory

let me be the first to say congratulations!!!

you have already opened doors? are things going well? any members yet?

what kind of advertising/marketing do you have in place right now? what kind of budget are you working with for advertising?

what was your old username?

Hey, Thanks for the kind words.

We opened doors on July 1st. I have to tell you getting in with the town officials is very important, as they have the ability to make or break you in regards to stalling you with time and not giving you your permits, this is a HUGE part of starting a business and is overlooked by the great majority of people, they have ALL the power. It's funny really, because when i was leaving the corporate sector i was happy that i will no longer have to play politics (which i hate), but now, not only do i play them but i had to become an expert overnight, lol. So in short not only are the politics still here but now it's on a whole new level with WAY more at stake.

Overall we are doing OK. We just happened to open in the slowest month of the year for this industry and it's a little bit of a pain. We just cut all the flexible expenses for now to survive the next few months until this industry picks up in September and October. As far as the marketing goes there is some basic rules we follow. We do direct mail pieces and postcards along with magazines, periodicals, coupns and news paper. Also we arrange for paper reporters to do interviews with us and run editotials with pictures of our facility, this gives positive and free exposure. Then there are the open houses, ribbon cuttings with the town politicians, fire chiefs and police chiefs as well. After that you rely on word of mouth by giving your members excellent service. Oh and i almost forgot, we also do lead boxes. Those are little promotional boxes we place in other businesses for people to fill out and drop in little cards for prises like no initiation fees and banners help also. Our budget is a sensitive issue and i am sure you will understand. But it's all in the 10's of thousands.

Whew, and finally my old user name was GWL9DTA4.

 

[Razorguns]

I assume you must live in a small town if you have such political issues.

 

[georgie24]

good job! sell protien shakes for 6 bucks and make a killig

 

[gregory]

I assume you must live in a small town if you have such political issues.

Not really. Our demographics are 75,000 households at a 3 mile radius. But what i was referring to is thigs like inspections and so forth. A nit picking inspector whom you rub the wrong way will fail you for every small detail and easily hold up your openings. And the worst thing that can happen to a small business is for it to not be able to OPEN for business.

It get's worse in big towns. I have been through this is many towns and two states. It's all pretty much the same. The town people know the power they wield and it's just better business sense to have them like you, just my 2 cc's.

 

[MattTheSkywalker]

Congrats bro, good luck.

Solid advice on the permitting; I am running into that even with residential construction and I live in a city.

Good luck!

 

[gregory]

Congrats bro, good luck.

Solid advice on the permitting; I am running into that even with residential construction and I live in a city.

Good luck!

Yes it takes some patience. We just has the town Mayor leave. The thing is to pretend that the town people are just like the DMV workers, they can't get fired. So act like it's a popularity contest, bring coffee, talk them up by name and always smile. Do that long enough and all your permits will go right through, they'll bend over backwards to help you.

peace.

 

[beefybull]

Sounds like you have a great handle on the marketing aspects of your business. Did you read "Guerilla Marketing"?

What is your price per membership?

Supplements, Shakes/Drinks, etc. will definitely boost your profits.
Sell some Yohimburn.

Are you personal training anyone (some gym owners do so b/c they are really into fitness)? Are you going to hire in-house PTs or let anyone PT?

 

[gregory]

Sounds like you have a great handle on the marketing aspects of your business. Did you read "Guerilla Marketing"?

What is your price per membership?

Supplements, Shakes/Drinks, etc. will definitely boost your profits.
Sell some Yohimburn.

Are you personal training anyone (some gym owners do so b/c they are really into fitness)? Are you going to hire in-house PTs or let anyone PT?

No i didn't read that book. I follow a multi angle approach to marketing. Our club's memebership proces vary from 19.99 to 49.99, with 29.95 being the most popular program, those are of course, monthly dues. They all start with 99 down. We will be adding supplement sales as well as clothing. Massage is coming as well, the room is almost ready. Our PT is handled myself as well as 2 other girls, so it's all in house.

BTW: next time you pay an initiation fee, remeber that it is that fee that helps pay 75% of the bills when a new gym opens. They are not bullshit, they literaly save the business.

 

[beefybull]

You should offer 1 year plans if possible. Some people will like not having to renew and you could cut them a small price break.

The most satisfying money you will make as a gym owner will be from members who pay for a 1 year membership, work out a few times in January, then never come back again.

If you decide to offer 1 yr memberships, market hard after Thanksgiving, during the holiday season, and the first few weeks of January.

Here are a few marketing/commercial ideas I thru together extremely quickly:
"A few Thanksgiving pounds got you bummed? Come on in..."
"What better gift to give for holidays than the gift of health"
For New Years, you just change it up a lil bit:
"A few extra pounds you gained over the holidays got you bummed? Stick to your New Years resolution and lose that weight!"

Those were just quick examples, you could probably do better if you took the time to expand on those ideas.

You could also try giving a local women's team or organization free access to your gym. This may get you free publicity, mention in a media/fan handbook, a free ad at a sports arena/stadium, or something similar. Even if the team refuses to do those types of things, they may give you merchandise or free tickets to events. At very least you can advertise the fact that "X Team" works out at your gym.

Co-promote with another business (for example, you could do an ad with local health food store, example radio spot: "after you've worked out and had a shake or smoothie at Jim's Gym (-lol dont know your biz name), you'll want to prepare a healthy meal for you or your family when you home. You can get all your favorite health foods at Mikes Health Mart". You both get an advertisement and get to split the cost. In addition, whenever someone in your gym wanted to know where to get things you may not sell, you could put them to "Mikes Health Mart" and in turn, when people came in wanting to know a good gym or where to work out, they could point people in your direction. You might also want to place circulars (flyers) in that store as part of the agreement.

Never forget that as a business you can still do something merchants did thousands of years ago...BARTER. A local gym I worked at for a while exchanges memberships for all kinds of stuff (oil changes at Jiffy Lube, etc.) A friend of mine was Asst. Manager at the Jiffy Lube and I guess they trade shit ALL the time. They do oil changes for pizza places on delivery cars in exchange for free pizzas & coupons, they've done stuff for donut places, all kinds of shit.

In theory, a membership costs you nothing to create, so if you can trade memberships here and there to others for goods that do have a concrete cost, you'll be making money in a different way.

 

[gregory]

Great solid advice. Thanks. I am currently actually using all those techiques, so that's how i know you're giving great advice. But as for the 1 year memberships, we went one step further and get as many members as we can for 36 months. This gives our business greater value and a more steady long term cash flow. It's a much harder sell, where you have to become a professional sales person, but it's worth it in the long run, for the poeple that are about to walk we bump down to 1 year and even 3 months. Hey, even 1 dollar is more then the zero we would get if they walked.

 

[vinylgroover]

I wish you every success gregory, i admire those who go out and have a go at their own business.

Gyms are a tough business to be in, but you sound like you've got a strong work ethic and a solid marketing/advertising plan behind you.

 

[Synpax]

Grats and good luck.

But I can't help but wonder - how can you be a 'womens only' fitness center? Isn't that a violation of both federal and state law, and possibly the municipal law?

 

[beefybull]

Great solid advice. Thanks. I am currently actually using all those techiques, so that's how i know you're giving great advice

You're welcome bro, keep us updated on the business.

 

[easy]

Grats and good luck.

But I can't help but wonder - how can you be a 'womens only' fitness center? Isn't that a violation of both federal and state law, and possibly the municipal law?

I don't think so. There is a franchise where I live called CURVES that is womens only. Don't know the ins and outs but I do know they don't let men in.

 

[beastboy]

Womens only gyms are popping up everywhere and seem to be very successful....Curves is everywhere, and IMO is waste and are screwing these ladies over...I'll admit that any excercise is better than none, but I think they are taking advantage of the lack of knowledge that most of the women that work out there possess.

My wife works out at a women's only gym and it has a ton of members....has great classes....diversified....great day care...and great rates. My wife pay $20 a month....includes unlimited tanning and day care and classes.......the one thing I notice about her gym is the rewards their long time members get......unlike most gyms, the owners know who is there everyday and is dedicated...and will pay whatever to continue. Obviously the price my wife pays is not much, so in turn tells me it is volume driven. Get enough members to pay the pills....and anything above that prints money.

 

[natedogg03]

Just wondering if your located in MA?

 

[gregory]

No, we are on the east coast of the US.

Check out our website

http://www.loagreenbrook.com

 

[brunette]

^hey that looks very professional and tempting, shame 'tis not here, it's a very untapped market over here.

i would be very interested in a ladies only gym

 

[tuc biscuit]

^hey that looks very professional and tempting, shame 'tis not here, it's a very untapped market over here.

i would be very interested in a ladies only gym

there is one near me and it does well, a lot of gyms have womens only areas though, depends what you want

 

[brunette]

^^^ yeah, there's some near me too, but they are dodgy, dingy, and tacky.

by NO means a Holmes Place, L.A. Fitness, or a FitnessFirst at all.

 

[gregory]

^^^ yeah, there's some near me too, but they are dodgy, dingy, and tacky.

by NO means a Holmes Place, L.A. Fitness, or a FitnessFirst at all.

Right on. We worked very hard to make this fitness center CLASSY. When you look at the website it has shots of our location. We used curved walls and a lot of glass brick to add a nice effect. We want women to feel at home, and not at a generic GYM.

Thanks for the kind words to all. Anyone in the are stop in for a free trial and a free PT session.

 

[Razorguns]

you know what you sholud do?

open up a nail / waxing / beauty salon right next to it.

there are tons of them in la. Staffed by mainly asians. And there's always TONS of women go there to get stuff done. And if a GYM IS RIGHT NEXT TO IT -- bingo, 2 birds with one stone. Offer discounts to each. Gym holders get 5% off, and vice versa. Maybe an addition to the gym. Kinda like how my 24 hour fitness has a cafe inside, and a message shop in the back.

I think the revenues from the nail / threading / beauty salon wuld be pretty lucrative seeing as how many are popping up here in LA. And labour is dirt cheap of course!

 

[gregory]

you know what you sholud do?

open up a nail / waxing / beauty salon right next to it.

there are tons of them in la. Staffed by mainly asians. And there's always TONS of women go there to get stuff done. And if a GYM IS RIGHT NEXT TO IT -- bingo, 2 birds with one stone. Offer discounts to each. Gym holders get 5% off, and vice versa. Maybe an addition to the gym. Kinda like how my 24 hour fitness has a cafe inside, and a message shop in the back.

I think the revenues from the nail / threading / beauty salon wuld be pretty lucrative seeing as how many are popping up here in LA. And labour is dirt cheap of course!

Very true, very true. However we opened up here because there is a huge salon right next door to us, they have up to 40 hair dressers there on the weekends. So this should slowly start to work in our favor, hopefully.