[Hollidae]

I have my thinking about opening a gym, but i dont how or what? can someone point me in the right direction?

[Cellardude]

Originally Posted by Hollidae

I have my thinking about opening a gym, but i dont how or what? can someone point me in the right direction?

be careful when you open a gym. Just from seeing things go on, if you dont open in the right place your SCREWED!

The owner of my gym opened a few gyms. He couldnt keep up with the lease so he had to close them down. First gym was closed down because it wasnt a proper gym (it was down in a basement)

2nd one was closed due to the lease

3rd one was closed for the same reason.

A new one opened up. Not sure how this one is going to go down but it sure wont last long if you ask me. Going through 4 gyms is kinda retarded in 2 years. Make sure to open one in a proper location. With ANY business you look for location. No offense, but if you open a gym near a poor neighborhood with only mexicans living there your only going to be able to charge at most 20 bucks a month. Charge anymore and no one will come. Getting some nice equipement with proper staffing and organization is nice to have too. Just my imput as a member. (P.S I took advantage like CRAZY of the gym that charged 11 bucks a month! Thats what happens when you open a gym down in the projects) I only had to walk 5 blocks to get there. Saved me a ton of money

[BodyWizard]

I've been kicking this idea around, too: all the stuff I do (massage therapy, martial arts, yoga, lifting, training others) would really benefit from an actual facility, but I'm uninterested in drawing the gym-bunnies - too many people need real work, and all that overhead is geared toward memberships, not successes.

So: you really need to develop a sense of who you want to train in your place (general athletes, advanced athletes, the elderly, youths/teens, convalescents, bodybuilders, etc), what kinds of training you want to provide (aerobics, general fitness, free-weights, machines,, martial arts (or related), etc), what ancillary services (massage, yoga classes, pool, jaccuzi, etc) (and miscellaneous (juice in the fridge in back, or BYO or a smoothie bar? How many bathrooms? Showers? Lockers?).

From this, you can begin to build the kind of environment you want (in your head, at this stage), how much space you'll need, how much equipment, how many assistants you'll need, how much time you'll need to be there per day/week/month, how much you'll need to pay your people, how much utilities will run, the rent & build-out on the space.

Now, you can start on how many clients you'll need daily/weekly/monthly in order to keep the doors open, your help on-hand - and still pay yourself.

Did we talk about advertising? Promotions? Packages?

There's a lot to think about it. Thanks for bring up the subject!

[Rivet]

Originally Posted by BodyWizard

I've been kicking this idea around, too: all the stuff I do (massage therapy, martial arts, yoga, lifting, training others) would really benefit from an actual facility, but I'm uninterested in drawing the gym-bunnies - too many people need real work, and all that overhead is geared toward memberships, not successes.

OMG I wish my gym at Massage therapy. I have coverage for this. I think its time I get a script for Deep Tissue Massage.

Oh and Hello BodyWizard nice to see you posting

[BodyWizard]

good to see you're around still (again? board life so crazy!)