Opening My Own Gym

[FalconDE97]

Hey all,

Im soon planning to open my own gym in a small town I was born in Arkansas. Its a small town but I know I can get at least 300+ members. With 300 members paying $35 per month for membership that will be $10,500 per month the gym will bring in. But Im pretty sure I can get more than 300 members.

Any suggestions?

Falcon

 

[mikefear]

No contracts.. discounted prices for 3, 6 and 12 month memberships.. attentive staff, supplements sold barely above cost, clean lockerroom, plenty of freeweights, good operating hours (6am-midnight).. lots of mirrors, lots of TV's on mute, music thats not too loud, and no jazz/celine dion bullshit, more than one water fountain, deadlift platform, monolift, ghr, squat rack, powerrack .. also, let members bring a friend to train free on fridays..and give members a shirt when they sign up for 3+ months at a time

also, one free week added onto memberships for each new member they bring in is helpful.

edit: also, try to recruit the local powerlifting team to come in and train for free on saturday mornings or something like that, it'll help attract a unique clique to the gym and give it some credibility

 

[steelmass]

Determine your optimal target market and cater to their needs. Find the hole in the market that needs servicing and focus on attracting that market segment. If you are looking to make it a muscle head gym then don't go wild on the cardio - give the people what they want - but in a small gym don't try to satisfy every type of person - your gym will be much better if you specialize.

 

[FISHTALES]

No contracts.. discounted prices for 3, 6 and 12 month memberships.. attentive staff, supplements sold barely above cost, clean lockerroom, plenty of freeweights, good operating hours (6am-midnight).. lots of mirrors, lots of TV's on mute, music thats not too loud, and no jazz/celine dion bullshit, more than one water fountain, deadlift platform, monolift, ghr, squat rack, powerrack

there u go

 

[mikefear]

dont have gay rules about chalk being used, either..

 

[Prizz]

No contracts.. discounted prices for 3, 6 and 12 month memberships.. attentive staff, supplements sold barely above cost, clean lockerroom, plenty of freeweights, good operating hours (6am-midnight).. lots of mirrors, lots of TV's on mute, music thats not too loud, and no jazz/celine dion bullshit, more than one water fountain, deadlift platform, monolift, ghr, squat rack, powerrack .. also, let members bring a friend to train free on fridays..and give members a shirt when they sign up for 3+ months at a time

also, one free week added onto memberships for each new member they bring in is helpful.

edit: also, try to recruit the local powerlifting team to come in and train for free on saturday mornings or something like that, it'll help attract a unique clique to the gym and give it some credibility

DAMN MIKE>>>>> Where do you live bro? I wanna go into business with this guy..... Nice stuff there, I wish my gym were more like that....

rizz

 

[heavy_duty]

charge more than $35.00/month.
without going into detail, I supply gyms with certain things they require and they just don't pay their bills. Actually let me qualify this. I supply all types of companies including gyms and gyms are the worst at paying their bills just ask my collection agency.

ps. Have a clutter free spotless babysitting room with good clean toys and friendly staff.

pps. most gyms don't make any money and close down---well in Toronto Canada anyway. (population 6 million)

 

[MR Pink]

No contracts.. discounted prices for 3, 6 and 12 month memberships.. attentive staff, supplements sold barely above cost, clean lockerroom, plenty of freeweights, good operating hours (6am-midnight).. lots of mirrors, lots of TV's on mute, music thats not too loud, and no jazz/celine dion bullshit, more than one water fountain, deadlift platform, monolift, ghr, squat rack, powerrack .. also, let members bring a friend to train free on fridays..and give members a shirt when they sign up for 3+ months at a time

also, one free week added onto memberships for each new member they bring in is helpful.

edit: also, try to recruit the local powerlifting team to come in and train for free on saturday mornings or something like that, it'll help attract a unique clique to the gym and give it some credibility

Totally disagree ... If you have no contracts you won't have a steady and calculatable income what makes future investments and improvements harder (you want to keep your members happy with new things from time to time). And no need for discounted prices because it sounds like he is the only one in that town and people don't mind paying a little bit more for a good gym. 10.500 dollars a month isn't that much at all for a gym. I worked at a small gym that made 15-20.000 euro's a month with a little over 500 members and they had no money left at the end of the month. The gym was owned by someone with no sense of business but still.... The biggest % of the members will come from the recreational group and not the hardcore powerlifters and bodybuilders so you really have to keep them in mind to and not go by just what you want as a dedicated bodybuilder/powerlifter. With only 300+ members opening hours from 6-12 is to much you'll be paying employees to do nothing and the gym will look dead most of the time!

 

[FalconDE97]

I was thinking that in Arkansas the land there is CHEAP! I can get a large "Gold's Gym" size building built there for only $160,000 and I could hire maybe 6 employees.....a fulltime aerobics instructor.....Ill have plenty of cardio on what I will call "the ladies rooms" and then the muscle heads will also have their area to lift anytime. Im thinking of also having a day care with a couple of small TVs for kids who might want to watch Barney or something while their parents work out or do aerobics....this town is indeed a gold mine waiting to be found.....NO GYM at all currently in this town where I was born....I live in Georgia now but will move back to Arkansas to do this. I know it will be EASY to get 300 members....so maybe Ill charge a flat fee of $45 per month, or if they add the aerobics to it, then it will be an additional $10 per month ($55 total per month for gym and aerobics) or if they want to do the gym, aerobics AND tanning then that will be a total of $75 per month for all three. And for those who do all 3.....they get free day care if they want or need it. What do you guys think?

Falcon

 

[botrx]

In order to make any money in the gym business, you continually need to attract new customers. It's all cash flow. You want a steady membership but your best income is from those that join for a while, quit and come back again. There are more of these than the hardcore gym rat that works out every day.
That's why you see all the successful gyms always trying to promote and sell new memberships. It's a tough business, but the good thing is that when you go out of business at least you have some killer home gym equipment.

 

[immortalis]

What city man? I have lived all over central arkansas, and currently still do.

 

[GymIntensity]

AR right here too.......


Oh and I really think it will take more than 160,000 to match the size of a Gold's Gym bro. I dont see how you can have a decent gym that pertains to the overall population without dropping a solid MIL.

 

[heavy_duty]

keep a lil air freshener over by the squat rack for the muscle heads who fart and shit on heavy leg day

and some barf buckets nearby too.

dont forget you have to pay a lot for advertising. I get fancy post cards from all the gyms in the mail every month, I'm in business too and I know that costs a lot.

plus:
heat
electric
phone lines (multiple)
insurance
water
yellow pages

I know you have thought of all this and not trying to insult your intelligence but all this shit usually costs a lot more than you first thought.

ANYWAY ---GO FOR IT--- else you'll never know.

If you have the up-front capital then go for it big time.

AND---->sell memberships while you're under construction <----that's super important!

 

[sparetire]

I was thinking that in Arkansas the land there is CHEAP! I can get a large "Gold's Gym" size building built there for only $160,000 and I could hire maybe 6 employees.....a fulltime aerobics instructor.....Ill have plenty of cardio on what I will call "the ladies rooms" and then the muscle heads will also have their area to lift anytime. Im thinking of also having a day care with a couple of small TVs for kids who might want to watch Barney or something while their parents work out or do aerobics....this town is indeed a gold mine waiting to be found.....NO GYM at all currently in this town where I was born....I live in Georgia now but will move back to Arkansas to do this. I know it will be EASY to get 300 members....so maybe Ill charge a flat fee of $45 per month, or if they add the aerobics to it, then it will be an additional $10 per month ($55 total per month for gym and aerobics) or if they want to do the gym, aerobics AND tanning then that will be a total of $75 per month for all three. And for those who do all 3.....they get free day care if they want or need it. What do you guys think?

Falcon

Nothing like a 24 hour gym bro.

 

[lanky]

keep a lil air freshener over by the squat rack for the muscle heads who fart and shit on heavy leg day

and some barf buckets nearby too.

dont forget you have to pay a lot for advertising. I get fancy post cards from all the gyms in the mail every month, I'm in business too and I know that costs a lot.

plus:
heat
electric
phone lines (multiple)
insurance
water
yellow pages

I know you have thought of all this and not trying to insult your intelligence but all this shit usually costs a lot more than you first thought.

ANYWAY ---GO FOR IT--- else you'll never know.

If you have the up-front capital then go for it big time.

AND---->sell memberships while you're under construction <----that's super important!

very accurate statements regarding the hidden costs of opening a small business

 

[chazk]

I live in Tampa and over the years I have watched small pop owned gyms go under, Lifestyles,Ballies ,extream fitness, really put the damper on the small guys.
Next to Tampa is a town called Brandon Lots of small gyms used to be open along highway 60 . Later this year a LA fitness 100,000 sqft mega gym the size of a fucking walmart super center us being built its gonna stomp out the rest of the gyms I know it. Some fuckers will drive past a K-mart 10 miles to save 50 cents at a Wal-mart down the road.

BUt I have noticed the hard core gyms like power house in tampa still holds the hard core body builders .I just cant figure out how they stay in bussiness.the owner must do it for the love of bodybuilding sure as hell is not the money ,Becuase Golds and lifestyles gets all that.They get the money from the fat asses that sighn up every year the first wek after new years and never return.

So just rember if you open a gym some one else will want to open one also and dont pick a area where a big gym will take over.

 

[MorganKane]

I was thinking that in Arkansas the land there is CHEAP! I can get a large "Gold's Gym" size building built there for only $160,000 and I could hire maybe 6 employees.....a fulltime aerobics instructor.....Ill have plenty of cardio on what I will call "the ladies rooms" and then the muscle heads will also have their area to lift anytime. Im thinking of also having a day care with a couple of small TVs for kids who might want to watch Barney or something while their parents work out or do aerobics....this town is indeed a gold mine waiting to be found.....NO GYM at all currently in this town where I was born....I live in Georgia now but will move back to Arkansas to do this. I know it will be EASY to get 300 members....so maybe Ill charge a flat fee of $45 per month, or if they add the aerobics to it, then it will be an additional $10 per month ($55 total per month for gym and aerobics) or if they want to do the gym, aerobics AND tanning then that will be a total of $75 per month for all three. And for those who do all 3.....they get free day care if they want or need it. What do you guys think?

Falcon

I know that with only 10K income a month you will be out of business pretty soon with what you list above.

If you think 10k is realistic then forget about it.
You need to make much more then that.
Work your business plan and you will see that really quick.

By the way, the money is not made from muscle heads.
Figure out who your main target area (the one that makes you the most money) are then build around that.

Starting your own business is a pain in the ass and most go out of business pretty quick. I think its over 80% that goes out of biz because of cash flow.
Been running my own for the last 10 years and you have no idea how many times I wish that I worked for someone else.

Not to discurage you but make sure you are ready for this and have the cash flow you need. If not you will fail.

Good luck..

 

[newbiebynature]

put a refrigerator next to the desk with bottled waters and RTD protein shakes and isopure and shit like that...youd be surpirsed how many people pay 1.50 at my gym for water cuz their too lazy to bring it from home (im guilty of this a few time)

 

[plurmurphy]

good ideas!

 

[X Man]

lets face it ur nest customer ares the donators....i.e. 40+ year old women like my mother who sign up to hit the gym as their new years resolution...go there for a month...then dont go the rest of the year. those are ur main money getters not the meat heads that are there everyday.... youve gotta accomadate both to make money

 

[Wrongun]

Construct a business plan and you will see what your running costs will be and from there you can calculate minimum revenue required and see if its viable

Good luck

Wrongun!

 

[bigmodean]

keep a lil air freshener over by the squat rack for the muscle heads who fart and shit on heavy leg day

and some barf buckets nearby too.

dont forget you have to pay a lot for advertising. I get fancy post cards from all the gyms in the mail every month, I'm in business too and I know that costs a lot.

plus:
heat
electric
phone lines (multiple)
insurance
water
yellow pages

I know you have thought of all this and not trying to insult your intelligence but all this shit usually costs a lot more than you first thought.

ANYWAY ---GO FOR IT--- else you'll never know.

If you have the up-front capital then go for it big time.

AND---->sell memberships while you're under construction <----that's super important!

Payroll
Taxes
Accounting
Legal Council
Cost of operation misc items(shit paper,cleaner,towel-linen service,brushes/mops,etc)
Janitorial service-daily(cutie at front desk wont want to scrub shitters/showers)
Unforseen repairs(plumbing,equipment failure,electrical,vandalism)
Working 7 days a week
Getting calls at all hours of day and night
and #1,you have to care about EVERYTHING more than your employees,cause they wont give a shit if you dont,and if they are there more than you,they will think they know more than you.(=lost profit)
Have you ever done inventories,tax audits,employee scouting/hiring/training,quarterly taxes,monthly taxes,taxes-taxes-taxes?

I am no know it all,but my family has been successful in business for over 30 years,and i am the GM of 1 of there businesses,and owning a bussiness is usually a fucking headache,though worth it,the delusions of grandure wear off really quick when reality sets in,your exausted,bills are due,you have worked 18 out of 19 days, employee issues arise,and you have to fight through it all,but IF you do,thats where it pays off,and not neccesarily in cash.
I am just trying to help by shedding the light of experience on this for you,I am all about the American Dream,but you should stash your down payment,get a few jobs managing business/gyms,and see if you are really cut out for it,take what you learn and make your own ideas better,and if not,you will rationalize much better when your dick aint hard,alot less harm done,move on......you will still have your money,a shirt on your back,and a decent reputation......those numbers you posted are all "pie in the sky"as well,you could have more,or alot less,thats reality.

 

[ur2insecure]

No contracts.. discounted prices for 3, 6 and 12 month memberships.. attentive staff, supplements sold barely above cost, clean lockerroom, plenty of freeweights, good operating hours (6am-midnight).. lots of mirrors, lots of TV's on mute, music thats not too loud, and no jazz/celine dion bullshit, more than one water fountain, deadlift platform, monolift, ghr, squat rack, powerrack .. also, let members bring a friend to train free on fridays..and give members a shirt when they sign up for 3+ months at a time

also, one free week added onto memberships for each new member they bring in is helpful.

edit: also, try to recruit the local powerlifting team to come in and train for free on saturday mornings or something like that, it'll help attract a unique clique to the gym and give it some credibility

I'd sign up to a gym like this, good advice

 

[heavy_duty]

Very good post.

Payroll
Taxes
Accounting
Legal Council
Cost of operation misc items(shit paper,cleaner,towel-linen service,brushes/mops,etc)
Janitorial service-daily(cutie at front desk wont want to scrub shitters/showers)
Unforseen repairs(plumbing,equipment failure,electrical,vandalism)
Working 7 days a week
Getting calls at all hours of day and night
and #1,you have to care about EVERYTHING more than your employees,cause they wont give a shit if you dont,and if they are there more than you,they will think they know more than you.(=lost profit)
Have you ever done inventories,tax audits,employee scouting/hiring/training,quarterly taxes,monthly taxes,taxes-taxes-taxes?

I am no know it all,but my family has been successful in business for over 30 years,and i am the GM of 1 of there businesses,and owning a bussiness is usually a fucking headache,though worth it,the delusions of grandure wear off really quick when reality sets in,your exausted,bills are due,you have worked 18 out of 19 days, employee issues arise,and you have to fight through it all,but IF you do,thats where it pays off,and not neccesarily in cash.
I am just trying to help by shedding the light of experience on this for you,I am all about the American Dream,but you should stash your down payment,get a few jobs managing business/gyms,and see if you are really cut out for it,take what you learn and make your own ideas better,and if not,you will rationalize much better when your dick aint hard,alot less harm done,move on......you will still have your money,a shirt on your back,and a decent reputation......those numbers you posted are all "pie in the sky"as well,you could have more,or alot less,thats reality.

 

[Quadsweep]

No contracts.. discounted prices for 3, 6 and 12 month memberships.. attentive staff, supplements sold barely above cost, clean lockerroom, plenty of freeweights, good operating hours (6am-midnight).. lots of mirrors, lots of TV's on mute, music thats not too loud, and no jazz/celine dion bullshit, more than one water fountain, deadlift platform, monolift, ghr, squat rack, powerrack .. also, let members bring a friend to train free on fridays..and give members a shirt when they sign up for 3+ months at a time

also, one free week added onto memberships for each new member they bring in is helpful.

edit: also, try to recruit the local powerlifting team to come in and train for free on saturday mornings or something like that, it'll help attract a unique clique to the gym and give it some credibility

I have opened two already, one closed...one is running. Do not over spend. Get refurbished epuipment when possible. They paint it and pad it for you. Replace parts that wear. Consider a keyless entry and a security system...save your life and sleep and sanity...ever been in a gym 16 hrs a day 6-7 days a week? Many of mikefear's suggestions are good but do not get to hard core. I am telling you women is where the money is, 35+ women. Charge trainers if they exist there to train there clients at your place. do not rape them, 20% up to $500 per month. Give them kick backs for selling supps. Write a letter about your biz opening to the community and submitt to local paper. They often put it in their biz section. Be up on codes and buildout costs. That is what fucked me on my first one...building cost over runs. Keep building rent reasonable but a shitty location and you are dead. Location, location,location. Try to get 6 month free rent from time of opening to ramp up. They often will put it at the end of lease as a 25% increase the two years when you are estabilished.

Quadsweep

 

[shape]

Payroll
Taxes
Accounting
Legal Council
Cost of operation misc items(shit paper,cleaner,towel-linen service,brushes/mops,etc)
Janitorial service-daily(cutie at front desk wont want to scrub shitters/showers)
Unforseen repairs(plumbing,equipment failure,electrical,vandalism)
Working 7 days a week
Getting calls at all hours of day and night
and #1,you have to care about EVERYTHING more than your employees,cause they wont give a shit if you dont,and if they are there more than you,they will think they know more than you.(=lost profit)
Have you ever done inventories,tax audits,employee scouting/hiring/training,quarterly taxes,monthly taxes,taxes-taxes-taxes?

I am no know it all,but my family has been successful in business for over 30 years,and i am the GM of 1 of there businesses,and owning a bussiness is usually a fucking headache,though worth it,the delusions of grandure wear off really quick when reality sets in,your exausted,bills are due,you have worked 18 out of 19 days, employee issues arise,and you have to fight through it all,but IF you do,thats where it pays off,and not neccesarily in cash.
I am just trying to help by shedding the light of experience on this for you,I am all about the American Dream,but you should stash your down payment,get a few jobs managing business/gyms,and see if you are really cut out for it,take what you learn and make your own ideas better,and if not,you will rationalize much better when your dick aint hard,alot less harm done,move on......you will still have your money,a shirt on your back,and a decent reputation......those numbers you posted are all "pie in the sky"as well,you could have more,or alot less,thats reality.

finally someone posting reality--i too am the CEO of my own company albeit--it took me seven years to make money--i am now fairly set--but havent had a vaca in seven years--i work practically seven days a week 14 hours a day--but to me its worth it--i set a clear career path and goals for myself when i was just out of school and stuck to it no matter what--there were times were i had to roll pennies to eat and probably got kicked out of 10 apartments for paying late---your own business can make you alot of friends but can also make you alot of enemies--depending on the type of business--its usually takes a ruthless, f everyone type of person to really succeed.

first off my friend an extremely well thought out and prepared business plan id always needed--no disrespect but its very apparent you have no idea what you are talking about 160k for a Golds Gym type building??? what does that mean??? do you even have an idea of square footage, zoning required, variances required for a gym in your area--land costs, design and permit costs, construction costs???? anything??? alot of cardio you say--do you have any idea what commercial grade cardio costs? i could go on here for hours--but i think you get the idea--remember most small businesses fail--most!!! asking the questions you are already---you are bound to fail before you even start--again no disrespect but the steroid discussion forum is not the place for a business lesson

 

[stuck]

Couple of things stick out to me. The building is cheap, there is no gym, but you think you can charge $45/mo. These are red flags, imo. If buildings are so cheap, why are there no businesses there already? If there's no gym, has there been one there before? If square footage is so cheap, what's the average local income? Can the local population handle a $45/mo fee? Any colleges nearby you can do deals with?

Before you do anything, find your location then contact the chamber of commerce. They should be able to give you a breakdown of the local demographics.

If you dont have contracts or don't charge any upfront fee, you'll be relying solely on your own capital to start off. You're in the hole from day 1.

I hate to bring up Bally's, but the old way they did memberships made sense. The monthly recurring member fee was based on how much you put down up front. If someone puts down $100, it lowers their monthly by $10/yr. They save $20 the first year and you get some cash outlay upfront to defray your initial costs. If someone doesn't want to put anything down, that's fine too, just charge them a larger monthly. It'd give you a good balance between upfront money and recurring fees.

Agreed on the used equipment. A guy I know started a gym in town here and he was getting barely used treadmills for 30% of their cost when new. Gyms open and close all the time, there's a ton of used equipment in great condition floating around.

But, above all, you have to understand your target market. My area is full of 30-40something parents with younger kids. The gym has an area for parents to drop the yongest kids off, summer conditioning programs for older kids, and even a room with smaller nautilus equipment geared to 10-14 year olds. As a result, during lunchtime and 5pm the 50 treadmills and 3 fitness rooms are packed every day.

 

[paridhm]

I was thinking that in Arkansas the land there is CHEAP! I can get a large "Gold's Gym" size building built there for only $160,000 and I could hire maybe 6 employees.....a fulltime aerobics instructor.....Ill have plenty of cardio on what I will call "the ladies rooms" and then the muscle heads will also have their area to lift anytime. Im thinking of also having a day care with a couple of small TVs for kids who might want to watch Barney or something while their parents work out or do aerobics....this town is indeed a gold mine waiting to be found.....NO GYM at all currently in this town where I was born....I live in Georgia now but will move back to Arkansas to do this. I know it will be EASY to get 300 members....so maybe Ill charge a flat fee of $45 per month, or if they add the aerobics to it, then it will be an additional $10 per month ($55 total per month for gym and aerobics) or if they want to do the gym, aerobics AND tanning then that will be a total of $75 per month for all three. And for those who do all 3.....they get free day care if they want or need it. What do you guys think?

Falcon

$45.00 dollars a month in a small town is too much. Keep in mind that your business is one in which the customers need to utilize willpower to come in and train. Willpower is something most don't utilize nowadays. Most people want thing right now (instant gratification). Couple that with the problem of a higher monthly fee; I don't think you will stay in business very long. The advice chazk gave about putting your gym away from a big place where a large gym can move in close is an excellent idea as well. I suggest you follow the business model of Golds and other large gyms which is to focus on the masses. That gives you a much higher probability of maximizing your profit potential.

 

[bigboi1]

I am very good firends with the local gym in my hometown. The most important thing that he did to improve business was to hire a person full time to telemarket. He started with local businesses offering special rates to their employees...the kicker was that some of the bigger companies would automatically deduct the fees from their paychecks and send the money stright to him. After that he started calliing individual people. As a side note the guy that they hired was a great salesman. I think that he could sell icecubes to eskimos. He didnt take no for an answer but was not the kind of person that you could hang up on...he was a very likeable guy, said that his goal was to just get them to take a tour of the gym. When people did show up he was knowledgeable about training and diet and he also looked the part.

The only complaint that people had was that they had to sign a 1 year contract. When the owner approved a 6 month contract the telemarketer had some bargining room and he was able to recover some of the people who first refused.

just some ideas

BB.

 

[BigCracker]

Totally disagree ... If you have no contracts you won't have a steady and calculatable income what makes future investments and improvements harder (you want to keep your members happy with new things from time to time). And no need for discounted prices because it sounds like he is the only one in that town and people don't mind paying a little bit more for a good gym. 10.500 dollars a month isn't that much at all for a gym. I worked at a small gym that made 15-20.000 euro's a month with a little over 500 members and they had no money left at the end of the month. The gym was owned by someone with no sense of business but still.... The biggest % of the members will come from the recreational group and not the hardcore powerlifters and bodybuilders so you really have to keep them in mind to and not go by just what you want as a dedicated bodybuilder/powerlifter. With only 300+ members opening hours from 6-12 is to much you'll be paying employees to do nothing and the gym will look dead most of the time!

I agree w/ his disagreement 150%. This type of gym's targert market is bodybuilders thatr bounce from gym to gym every couple months. They buy supplements from wholesalers instead of the pro shop's retail priced products, they piss all over the toilet seats in the locker room, and they scare away the avg lifters because they're intimidated. The best gym member is the one that pays every month but never works out-thus contracts are a necessary evil. Nobody likes to admit to themselves that they'll never achieve their fitness goals, so by making them sign contracts the more likely they'll renew every year whether they use the facility or not.

Unexpected expenses will include cxompanies like BMG that charge you for playing the radio, big electric bills if you have tanning, plumbers to fix the stuffed up toilets, handyman to service and maintain equipment, liability insurance, renters insurance, zoning fees, city taxes, state taxes, advertising, etc. I also would recommend paying for rights to a franchise name because product recognition will generate biz. Last I heard you could use the Powerhouse Gym Logo above your gym for about $36,000/yr or $3000/month and they were one of the least expensive ones.

If you want to make a living, I'd pick an industry other than the already saturated fitness market. Even if you're the only gym in your area you're competing with infomercials like Core and Soloflex, etc. Most small businesses fail within the 1st 2 yrs and getting a loan for one is nearly impossible for this reason. I won't even get into the problems dealing with no show $6/hr employees and internal theft. I could sit here and type for an hour all of the things that would set you up for success, but there's still no guarantees you'll be successful. Look at it like this, if your town had a decent fitness market, a major fitness chain would already be located every few square miles.

Please keep in mind I've been a biz owner since '92 and I've seen more gyms open and shut down in under a year than you have probably trained at in your life. Most of the ones that failed had the best of intentions in the beginning, just like you. Then they realized there was a lot more to owning a gym than just being a jolly gym owner that the members like to shoot the shit with daily.

 

[glennds]

pps. most gyms don't make any money and close down---well in Toronto Canada anyway. (population 6 million)

i been going to the same gym for ten years now. was originally gold's and owner changed franchises to worlds.

in all this time he has never raised his rates. been paying $300/yr for ten years. wonder how he does it. someone told me owner makes most money from day passes.

 

[FalconDE97]

Interesting Glennds.....the gym I go to now is a small one and only has about 130 members...most of whom pay $40 per month. Then you have about 30% of those 130 members also paying an extra $35 a month for tanning and such.

But I forgot about the "day passes." They usually charge $7 per day for a one day workout. I've really been praying about doing this. Its something I may indeed be ignorant about as of now, but Im learning. Im not going to do it until I have developed the smarts to do it. And when I say "Gold's Gym size building for $160,000", Im talking about one of those steel buildings. A local Golds here in GA moved from a large expensive brick building to a typical large church size steel building. Much cheeper and accomplishes the same goal.

But, if $10,000 per month income isnt enough, what would be?

Nick

 

[chazk]

160,000$ with a 30 year fixed 8% is around 1600$

1600$ mortgage
250$ electric
100$ phone lines
150$ water
200$ a month in insurance for liabilty
1500$ a month for the 75,000$ loan for equipment
1500$ a month to pay one person 8$ a hour 8 hours a day 6 days a week.

thats 6 k alone not to mention .permits and licenses to run your bussiness,bathroom supplies,cards and keys,all the shit people steal .

I think at 10k a month youll make like 2000$ a month if your lucky to make anything at all .So your gonna invest your life into making a lousey 500$ a week .You need to shoot for 30k a month min.This means more equipment more employees more toliet paper all kinda ashit.
when the gym is headed down the tubes you'll prob end keeping juice in the back room and selling it to the local rats to make a few bucks.

 

[glennds]

Interesting Glennds.....the gym I go to now is a small one and only has about 130 members...most of whom pay $40 per month. Then you have about 30% of those 130 members also paying an extra $35 a month for tanning and such.

But I forgot about the "day passes." They usually charge $7 per day for a one day workout. I've really been praying about doing this. Its something I may indeed be ignorant about as of now, but Im learning. Im not going to do it until I have developed the smarts to do it. And when I say "Gold's Gym size building for $160,000", Im talking about one of those steel buildings. A local Golds here in GA moved from a large expensive brick building to a typical large church size steel building. Much cheeper and accomplishes the same goal.

But, if $10,000 per month income isnt enough, what would be?

Nick

good luck nick. sounds like big old investment. i own a business i started from scratch, an insurance office. took about 8 years before i started making a good living. now i am making an excellent income so was worth the hardship. of course we dont have the huge initial investment a gym owner would have.

nick to make a business a success means a lot of trial and error, learning as you go along. it is great you are doing research but you will inevitably be hit with unexpected obstacles: increases in utilities, insurance, cost of equipment, major repairs, turnover in employees, changes in customer tastes, competition, etc. (staffing can be the WORST part of the business, employees can be a fuckin' pain in the ass).

i think you should make the leap and be willing to work hard and accept you may not become rich right away. be patient...stick it out. if your gym is good, people will find it.

i agree with whoever posted about not trying to be all things to all people. my gym is kinda hardcore and that is why i chose it. dont want a gym that is all jazzercise and cardio and nautilus machines.

word of caution: once you become successful you gotta learn how not to be trapped by your business. having a life outside of your work will become important to you.

 

[FalconDE97]

160,000$ with a 30 year fixed 8% is around 1600$

1600$ mortgage
250$ electric
100$ phone lines
150$ water
200$ a month in insurance for liabilty
1500$ a month for the 75,000$ loan for equipment
1500$ a month to pay one person 8$ a hour 8 hours a day 6 days a week.

thats 6 k alone not to mention .permits and licenses to run your bussiness,bathroom supplies,cards and keys,all the shit people steal .

I think at 10k a month youll make like 2000$ a month if your lucky to make anything at all .So your gonna invest your life into making a lousey 500$ a week .You need to shoot for 30k a month min.This means more equipment more employees more toliet paper all kinda ashit.
when the gym is headed down the tubes you'll prob end keeping juice in the back room and selling it to the local rats to make a few bucks.

I hear ya. Amazingly enough, I havent even touched roids since mid 2003. But for some reason, Im even stronger now than I was at my strongest point while on steroids. I kinda made it a mental thing.....I just tried to rep 225 on bench press once per week, and tried to increase by 1 rep per week. When I first started I wasnt on steroids....I began by doing 225lbs 15 times, and Ive been going up ever since...now Im up to 28 reps on 225. I do plan on doing another cycle soon, but Im becoming a big believe that natural workouts can work also. But hey, if it werent for roids, my arms wouldnt be no where near the size they are.

Falcon

 

[heavy_duty]

Dont forget to "waive the initiaiton fee" and then be sure to throw in the free body fat composition and fitness test

 

[Sassy69]

Some thoughts - if your location is a small town w/ no current gym - are they clambering for it or are they doing just fine w/o it? Like they said above - KNOW YOUR MARKET! Find the need & fill it. A fantastic Gold's Gym opened up in my home town, Duluth, MN - a town of 80,000 about 5 yrs ago. It closed 3 yrs ago. There were a couple smaller gyms & a small 24-hr franchise (not 24 Fitness.. smaller ones) and that apparently put Gold's straight out of business.

My brother opened a branch of that same franchise (Anytime Fitness) in a burb of Minneapolis - its about 3K sq ft, very nice eqpt, 24 key access. The franchise helped him w/ his biz plan and all that - you can't guess your monthly income until you determine your fixed costs and then look at your income opportunity - which in this case is new members every month. One of the big wins my brother got was hiring the head trainer at the local "high end" gym - this guy is really enthusiastic and has a very productive training program.

Then assuming you get the whole place up & running -- you would need to continue tapping the mkt for new people. One of the things my brother is doing, since he's got a 24 hr gym, is hitting the local fire dept, health care / emergency worker companies to work out corporate deals w/ them to leverage his gym's 24 hr access as availability to their weird schedules. Right there he's got a niche market. Another one is the rehab people -- locate a chiropractor or two and work out a deal w/ them so they can have a trained rehab person or they themselves can set up programs and refer their clients to your facility for rehab training.

Another part of my brother's plan is to eventually open up more franchises. So he's not putting it all into this one gym -- its a money venture for him.

Oh yea, just remember - one of his biggest ongoing issues is the sales thing. You gotta have GOOD sales people. If you hire kids or "trainers in training" or something, they may not be real into the sales part of it -- and these are the people who are supposed to be helping you get the new memberships every month. If you don't get them, then you go under. And along w/ teh sales aspect, he also has to deal w/ the usual complaints that go w/ people & their memberships.

 

[glennds]

great post sassy.

 

[jacshelb]

I run a small retail business that I make my living on. The key things of importance to me are: Keep overhead as low as possible (in other words work smart with your money, make sure not to just throw money at problems- efficiency), find creative ways to bring in new customers- example: I was dirt poor and couldn't afford proper advertising for my shop. My business was located right on the local highway, but it takes a lot to get people to stop in the middle of a busy highway. So, I hand built a 13 foot tall fiberglass statue waving toward the road. The month after my statue was finished I had more than doubled my income and by continuing to adapt in other creative ways, I now finally earn a respectable income with my little store. Also, like others have said, find your niche and scratch it! In a lot of ways all businesses are selling ideas as much as service or product. For me it is about carrying products that spark people's imaginations and appeal to their sense of fantasy: i.e. they buy a sword at my shop because they want to feel like they are Conan- that's why a cheap sword can sell for the price of a great piece of quality kitchenware though it's "real" value isn't nearly as much. For a gym it can be more about "attitude", a cool overall look that makes people feel the same way they do when they go to a trendy night club- like going to your gym will make them cooler than they are.

I feel like I'm rambling a bit, but those are my ideas on it anyway. Best of luck!


Jacob

 

[mikefear]

Some people will just break even as a way of supplying a good gym.. not everyone is in it to make a billion dollars.. maybe falcon wants to help out some pl'ers and bb'ers