Starting a gym...

[SoCAmuscle]

Has anyone ever looked into this on a serious level? Does anyone own their own? I am starting the process and think I already have some investors, but I need to put together a business plan and some projections.

Any suggestions?

 

[Scaggs]

Yea make sure the gym allows the use of chalk, free wieghts, and hardcore moves.

Build it and they will come.

Scaggs

 

[SoCAmuscle]

Thanks.

Ok,.. anyone have anything somewhat INTELLIGENT to say??

 

[gwl9dta4]

Has anyone ever looked into this on a serious level? Does anyone own their own? I am starting the process and think I already have some investors, but I need to put together a business plan and some projections.

Any suggestions?

I have. It's really not that complicated once you have all the money lined up. But that is the initial problem, the starting capital. Depending if you are looking at a co-ed facility or a female only club your buildout and equipment costs will differ dramatically. There is also the issue of finding the property with the right square footage and negotiating a good lease with built in escalators and sufficient free months and delayed payment options to get your business started. You may also as the landlord for buildout money for signing a long term lease. It get's complicated with setting up the computers and billing systems and collections agencys to go after memebers etc...

Then there is the issue of selling memberships and writing the contracts. Then there is the issue of how long of a contract term the state you live in will allow you to sell without a deposit. In NJ i think it's a 50,000 deposit required by the state to sell a 1 year membership. That is there to protect the consumer if you go out of business. There is tons more, ask me specifics and i will tell you what i can, otherwise i could write a book.

BTW: you may consider going with a Franchaise as they will get all the work done for you and give you MUCH better leverage when negotiating with a land lord.

 

[GNCMAN]

Thats some good info gwl9dta4. I'm looking into opening a tanning salon, I would really like to open a gym but you need too much money, I'm not their yet but will be someday.

 

[sausage]

its easier to buy a gym thats already set up by someone and there looking to sell this way you dont have to move all kinds of equipment in you can sell the shit you dont want and put new stuff in.

 

[Nogloveslars-Chargeback]

My GF and I looked into opening our own gym 2 years ago. We were going to buy some land and build ours due to the high lease prices. (I talked to 3 gym owners in the area that had theirs for sale but their prices were too high and were in strip centers with outrageous rents!) So we were going to open up a basic but fairly hardcore gym out in the country with no other competition in the vacinity with no deed restrictions and build our living area behind it. Unfortunately, we did not have the working capitol to continue for the first couple of years unless our customer base exploded dramatically from day one. Even with contacts for the build out, plumbing, equipment, and even tanning beds, I just didn't feel confortable with the Risk/Reward ratio and decided to look into other avenues.

 

[Nogloveslars-Chargeback]

So Bro I would suggest:

1) Take your time and if you end up buying an existing facility, take your Due Diligence seriously. Go over their books thoroughly. Many times a business will "gear" their books to make it look more enticeing to the buyer. Be careful.
2) Make sure you have good sales people in the front that can sell memberships. Most people that walk in will be wanting to "get in shape" so try to make it welcoming for them. Not intimidating.
3) Gauge your pricing on the competion in the area but be sure not to charge to little. Many new businesses make this mistake.
4)There are software packages you can buy to help you through all of your billing and record keeping issues for health clubs.
5) Probably the most important: Don't ever neglect marketing. You must consistently advertise your product to the public to keep new people coming through the door. The drop out rate of gym memberships each year can be staggering so to stay in the black, new memberships must be sold every month. From the beginning, set aside a reasonable amount of $ to advertise with every month and experiment to get the best return on your investment.

Try to negotiate prices on Everything if you can. Many times you can talk people down from their original quotes.

You might know a lot of this already but this is what I learned. If I had the capitol I would have moved forward. What a great business to be in!

Nogloves

 

[2wide]

Yes I do. And there are too many directions you can go if you get very serious please e mail and I will try to point you in the right direction.

2wide

 

[SmooThy5464]

Yea make sure the gym allows the use of chalk, free wieghts, and hardcore moves.

Build it and they will come.

Scaggs

i hear that i hate gyms that dont allow that there is a nice gym near me that says no boots no chalk no grunting after all that they might as well call it the YMCA...

 

[SoCAmuscle]

Re: Re: Starting a gym...

I have. It's really not that complicated once you have all the money lined up. But that is the initial problem, the starting capital. Depending if you are looking at a co-ed facility or a female only club your buildout and equipment costs will differ dramatically. There is also the issue of finding the property with the right square footage and negotiating a good lease with built in escalators and sufficient free months and delayed payment options to get your business started. You may also as the landlord for buildout money for signing a long term lease. It get's complicated with setting up the computers and billing systems and collections agencys to go after memebers etc...

Then there is the issue of selling memberships and writing the contracts. Then there is the issue of how long of a contract term the state you live in will allow you to sell without a deposit. In NJ i think it's a 50,000 deposit required by the state to sell a 1 year membership. That is there to protect the consumer if you go out of business. There is tons more, ask me specifics and i will tell you what i can, otherwise i could write a book.

BTW: you may consider going with a Franchaise as they will get all the work done for you and give you MUCH better leverage when negotiating with a land lord.

Nice feedback,.. I am in commercial real estate so the real estate portion isno problem at all.. Thanks!

 

[mikelong23]

sounds like fun and good luck to ya, but please make sure to have more than 100 lb dumbells, don't know about anyone else but that may piss me off more than anything else.

 

[liftsiron]

sausage its easier to buy a gym thats already set up by someone and there looking to sell this way you dont have to move all kinds of equipment in you can sell the shit you dont want and put new stuff in.

This is the way to go, for a few years I ran a personal training business out of a gym in my home town. The owners were very lazy and stupid, they let the place run down, and had a fucked up attitude. I approached one of my PT clients about buying the place. He looked from one end to the other and said "I think I will" he got shit rolling in less than a week. We brought the place cheap because the business was failing, even though the location is great, right across the road from a university. After buying the place we did a 400,000 dollar renovation and in six months our revenue is up more than four hundred percent over the previous owners.

 

[Delinquent]

This is the way to go, for a few years I ran a personal training business out of a gym in my home town. The owners were very lazy and stupid, they let the place run down, and had a fucked up attitude. I approached one of my PT clients about buying the place. He looked from one end to the other and said "I think I will" he got shit rolling in less than a week. We brought the place cheap because the business was failing, even though the location is great, right across the road from a university. After buying the place we did a 400,000 dollar renovation and in six months our revenue is up more than four hundred percent over the previous owners.

This is what I'm thinking about doing. My gym has the same problem with the owner. Plus the space below him is available so I want to purchase the entire building to expand the gym. I'm thinking about buying these 3 books:

Making Money in the Fitness Business
by Thomas Plummer, Jim Whiting (Illustrator), Ronale Tucker (Editor)


Acsm's Health/Fitness Facility Standards and Guidelines
by American College of Sports Medicine, James A. Peterson (Editor)


Small Club Start-up : A Personal Trainer's Guide
by Ron Fay


Anyone got any input on these

 

[Simply Swole]

I just opened my own gym. There is not another gym in town,
only health clubs.( no offense ). I've been open for 5 weeks now and have about 135 members. I opened it with intentions of being an old school hell hole dungeon. Then you realize you have to pay the bills. So it's a little nicer than I wanted, but there's chalk, hardcore music, dumbells up to 180 lbs, & I cater to my hardcore crowd.
Find a warehouse & dress it up a little. Carry a few supplements, & spend most of your money on equipment. There is enough of the hardcore crowd to support it.

 

[MoreBeefPlease]

location, location, location

i understand that all of us want hardcore gyms but the fact is there is far more money in general purpose fitness clubs.

i like simply swole's idea of catering to the hardcore.

 

[Simply Swole]

I opened my gym right smack dab between the other 2 health clubs in town & took all of their serious lifters. Alot of people said that was crazy as hell. But when you're hardcore you are just looking for a reason to leave those sorry ass places. One gym even offered to buy me out the second week we were open. They didn't like all the big guys leaving. We are what people want to look like. We are the little guys inspiration, the fat boys inspiration. Where we go ......... They will follow!

 

[gwl9dta4]

its easier to buy a gym thats already set up by someone and there looking to sell this way you dont have to move all kinds of equipment in you can sell the shit you dont want and put new stuff in.

Sorry but you are worng. I speak from lot's of actual experience and this is how it works. Say a 10,000 square foot facility is what you want to open. You find the building, negotiate a kick ass deal with the landlord and have him contribute to your buildout costs. Then you do the standard thing and LEASE all your equipment with no money down. That way you get NEW equipment every 3-5 years. You do all your pre-sales and agressively sell long term memberships and in 5 years have a base or 3000 members on file. You total estomaled buildout costs for a co-ed facility of that size would be around 2-3 hundred thousand. OK?

Now Take that gym and try to sell it. You will EASILY pull in 500,000 for an established business with a contract based client base for the next 3 years. See my point? A well established business is WAY more expensive. Unless you are buying a on the verge of bancrupcy shit hole of a gym.

 

[Simply Swole]

It depends if you are in it for the money or the passion. Of course the money matters but I could not afford to open a 10,000 sq. ft.
gym. Mine is 6,000 ft. I wanted to do this because it was my dream to own a gym that was old school. Somewhere I could cut loose and train like a F#*!ing animal and so could everybody else!
There's nothing in the world like family this big. All Bros.
As long as the bills are paid I'm friggin beyond happy.

 

[Delinquent]

Sorry but you are worng. I speak from lot's of actual experience and this is how it works. Say a 10,000 square foot facility is what you want to open. You find the building, negotiate a kick ass deal with the landlord and have him contribute to your buildout costs. Then you do the standard thing and LEASE all your equipment with no money down. That way you get NEW equipment every 3-5 years. You do all your pre-sales and agressively sell long term memberships and in 5 years have a base or 3000 members on file. You total estomaled buildout costs for a co-ed facility of that size would be around 2-3 hundred thousand. OK?

Now Take that gym and try to sell it. You will EASILY pull in 500,000 for an established business with a contract based client base for the next 3 years. See my point? A well established business is WAY more expensive. Unless you are buying a on the verge of bancrupcy shit hole of a gym.

Damn never thought of that . That puts a damper in my plan

 

[nuh_mizer]

Anybody in Oregon want to start a gym?

 

[gwl9dta4]

It depends if you are in it for the money or the passion. Of course the money matters but I could not afford to open a 10,000 sq. ft.
gym. Mine is 6,000 ft. I wanted to do this because it was my dream to own a gym that was old school. Somewhere I could cut loose and train like a F#*!ing animal and so could everybody else!
There's nothing in the world like family this big. All Bros.
As long as the bills are paid I'm friggin beyond happy.

Well that is cool and a good reason to open a gym. BUT take my word for it, that many many many guys with the same dreams opened a gym and failed. You must remeber that running a gym is a Business FIRST AND FOREMOST. All the big bro's are a minority and as a business you MUST cater to the largest potential customer group. That would include a small mainstrean co-ed facility or a womens only club. That may not sound too appealing but from a business standpoint you can have a 3000 Square foot facility generate 5-10K per month, And THAT IS APPEALING.

 

[liftsiron]

Sorry but you are worng. I speak from lot's of actual experience and this is how it works. Say a 10,000 square foot facility is what you want to open. You find the building, negotiate a kick ass deal with the landlord and have him contribute to your buildout costs. Then you do the standard thing and LEASE all your equipment with no money down. That way you get NEW equipment every 3-5 years. You do all your pre-sales and agressively sell long money down. That way you get NEW equipment every 3-5 years. You do all your pre-sales and agressively sell long term memberships and in 5 years have a base or 3000 members on file. You total estomaled buildout costs for a co-ed facility of that size would be around 2-3 hundred thousand. OK? [/QUOT

What your talking here is a total wetdream. Have the landloard contribute to your buildout cost? Dream on. Lease with no money down, nice trick if you can do it. Selling long term memberships to a non existing is also eaiser said than done. But this was in Poland right?

 

[mike1107]

I'm really thinking about opening a gym in a few years wher I live...you must have THE good concept to attract people...but you have to find WHAT exactly is the tendancy and to adapt to it (here it's more fitness than hardcore bodybuilding)..

 

[gwl9dta4]

[/QUOT

What your talking here is a total wetdream. Have the landloard contribute to your buildout cost? Dream on. Lease with no money down, nice trick if you can do it. Selling long term memberships to a non existing is also eaiser said than done. But this was in Poland right?

No sir this is in the USA. You Americans have excellent business tactics with many tricks in where one hand shakes the other. Contributions forBuildout costs are VERY real, VERY. It all depends on your skills and a kicks ass indesputable business plan with good financial backing. Long term memeberships are also easy to sell IF you have a professional salesman. Trust me that a good gym is first and foremost a Business. You must be agressive. I know 7000 Square foot gyms generating 30,000 monthly and the owner is more then happy. I know what i am talking about guys, i am NOT making stuff up everything i said is a FACT. I have been around businesses since i was born, it's whole different world of possibilities. Anything is possible.

 

[SoCAmuscle]

No sir this is in the USA. You Americans have excellent business tactics with many tricks in where one hand shakes the other. Contributions forBuildout costs are VERY real, VERY. It all depends on your skills and a kicks ass indesputable business plan with good financial backing. Long term memeberships are also easy to sell IF you have a professional salesman. Trust me that a good gym is first and foremost a Business. You must be agressive. I know 7000 Square foot gyms generating 30,000 monthly and the owner is more then happy. I know what i am talking about guys, i am NOT making stuff up everything i said is a FACT. I have been around businesses since i was born, it's whole different world of possibilities. Anything is possible.

It all depends on how horny the Landlord is for the tenant. I am in the business and work for the largest commercial real estate company in the world. There was a scenario here in town where the Landlord wanted Bally's so badly that they were going to give $80,000 towards improvements. Granted, this was a 20 year lease and a somewhat distressed retail center with a failry high vacancy rate. This a not typical! The typical retail scenario is pretty much "as is", unless there is a good finacial statement or personal guarantee on the line. The Landlord 'might' amortize some improvements at this point....

 

[gwl9dta4]

It all depends on how horny the Landlord is for the tenant. I am in the business and work for the largest commercial real estate company in the world. There was a scenario here in town where the Landlord wanted Bally's so badly that they were going to give $80,000 towards improvements. Granted, this was a 20 year lease and a somewhat distressed retail center with a failry high vacancy rate. This a not typical! The typical retail scenario is pretty much "as is", unless there is a good finacial statement or personal guarantee on the line. The Landlord 'might' amortize some improvements at this point....

Right on. It's all in how you bait the landlord. Having good backing, and excellent business plan and a slightly distresses stip mall location can all equal good potential for free money. Landlords LOVE 10-20 year leases. And after all why not?

 

[liftsiron]

gwl9dta4 I realize what you are saying and I see the possibilites that it can work and beyond a doubt has many times. But I still believe that in you can find gym in a good location that is failing because of poor management, you got it made. We bought such a gym this past April, I had one investor, actually he put up all the money. The selling price for the gym was 485k, we ended up buying it for 345k. We put around 400k into renovations, and already the business is estimated at better than 1 mil. And we are breaking the 30k a month sales barrier each month already. We do a huge supplement trade, supps are our number one source of income, followed by gym membership. You see I'm in a smaller city so some things work a little differantly than in a large city. Peace bro. Also we were able to pay for everything in full without any loans.

 

[PatBateman]

^

 

[George Spellwin]

I finished my article on how to Find a Gym, the top 10 things to look for. Thanks for your help. Here's a link to the article "Find a Gym"!

 

[iron asylum]

Has anyone ever looked into this on a serious level? Does anyone own their own? I am starting the process and think I already have some investors, but I need to put together a business plan and some projections.

Any suggestions?

Someone I know pretty closely is opening up a gym within a few months that is catering towards hardcore and powerlifting. there is nothing like this in the area and we are hoping to pull from all the existing health spas in the area. I can't stand my gym and we know there are others in the surounding areas looking for a real hardcore gym. Dumbells will be going up to 200 and it will be mostly freeweight type stuff. We will be building platforms for the powerlifters. There will be chalk, hardcore music, crush grips, chains, etc. The lease is signed and construction will be starting in a week or so. Hopefully this thing will be off the ground by June. I have to be vague about it until it's closer to fruition as to not let the other gyms in the area know about it yet. It's gonna be phefuckinominal!!