Any small gym owners here

[mattley23]

Hi all, i was just wondering if there are any gym/fitness centre owners on here?? If there is, how have you found running a gym, is the current climate effecting your business?

The reason i ask is a gym local to me has come up for sale, its a small gym with several dedicated rooms for cardio, weights, squash, therapy etc. Its an opportunity that interests me as ive been a competative sports person for over 20 years and have always thought about starting ym own club.

The thing that im not overly clear on is how gyms of this size are coping with the current financial climate so would appreciate any insider knowledge that might be available.

 

[RedEvo]

I'm visiting Barrow my home town for a week. Called the local DW and they have a deal which is 12 days for £12. The facilities are quite superb. I imagine it's hard to compete with this but there are always people looking for something exclusive. I guess that has to be the angle.

d

 

[Business1Solutions]

I would like to own a gym as well, but big brands are just taking over. Although, they are over charging so if your prices are reasonable it may work!

 

[Rasta Pickles]

I would like to own a gym as well, but big brands are just taking over. Although, they are over charging so if your prices are reasonable it may work!

And they're also skimping on routine maintenance if my experience of my Fitness First is anything to go by.

We don't go a month without the steam room not working......or the showers not working (hot water or, memorably on two occasions recently, no water at all).

 

[mattley23]

Mainatenance and development wont be a problem as i own a building company. It could be revamped and looking tip top at a very low cost as we could do all the work in house.

My main concern is if the economic climate is affecting businesses like these. I mean a gym membership is seen as a luxury when compared the other outgoings like bills, rent etc

 

[Liybpg]

well, I would think about it this way. If current owner couldn't sustain it, what could you do differently to turn it around? If you can't do anything then its probably a waste of time. If you think you can change it successfully (e.g. investment in equipment, marketing, costs etc), then you may think about acquiring it.
I don't know about the industry overall but Virgin in central London that I go to seems to be doing pretty well, charging about 100 quid a month (145 if no corporate discount)

 

[mattley23]

Yes there is definately things i could do to improve it like new classes and events, improvement of the building, offers, shows etc.

Its currently running at a profit, albeit a small profit, should know more when i see the last few years balance sheets

 

[Deleted member 61074]

My sister has a Curves Gym, not quite the same thing but she says at present she has more cancellations than signups. Most people are telling her they don't have the money for luxuries right now

 

[Mpg]

Find out what your local "branded" gyms are charging and charge 50%. Seems to work around here.

The other thing to think about is whether its a fitness gym or a bodybuilding gym. They can both work together BUT it may be better to lean towards one or the other.

Check out how popular Temple gym is down your way

 

[willitbe]

Yes, I am 4 ft 11" and I have a Gym....

 

[toddle2u]

google NuYuu gyms and James Caan. LA Fitness paid them £600k to take 4 of them off their hands and it still failed and these were £20 per month membership

 

[TSGMIMS]

Marketing side of things -

If you think you can buy, get the site revamped and marketed by the January 'New Years Resolution' period it would be the best time to launch.

Everyone signs up in January, you could get lots of new members from that and with your added classes and better service offer than the big fish you could easily retain that business all year.

Then you get the tone up for summer period, same theory as above to tide you over to the January boost again

 

[in1980]

This thread interests me - I'll be interested to hear how it pans out. There are so many different options for membership structures and so on - as you'll be aware - so it can be hard to predict how many people will take up what sorts of membership. If it was £30/month for everyone then you might know you need however many members per month to cover your costs, and however many to make a certain profit, and so on, but if you want to appeal to more people then I do like there to be other options, such as a few quid per session, one-off (this encourages people to try your gym as well), and some kind of 6 and/or 12-month discount when paid up-front.

Chain gyms do still charge huge amounts (with some kind of initial discount) but I don't know how well they're doing.

Someone mentioned being ready for January and this is dead right - after Christmas excess and new year's resolutions, you'll have some good new customers. You could do some deal based around a 6 month membership (8 months for the price of 6?), reminding them that they should "get fit for summer"! Most of them won't keep coming anyway.

eh, a lot of it all depends on the physical layout of the gym and what kind of atmosphere is possible there. I just like gyms and "physical culture" so I'll chip in if something comes to mind.

 

[TotalWebSolutions]

Hi Mattley,

If you are looking to set up a gym we do work with a company called ClubWise who provide a comprehensive CMS and payment solution especially for gyms/fitness centres. You can use the system by itself or you could incorporate it with our EcomMerchant payment gateway to also collect credit/debit card payments via a website. If you contact them tell him Simon at Total Web Solutions sent you.

Thanks,

Simon

 

[garyk]

A few years back now granted but I used to go to a gym where the owner one year decided to slash membership fees if you paid for a year in advance and it worked well. Of course as proven by failures mentioned cheaper doesnt guarantee success. I'd also agree with comments regarding fitness first, I used to be a member of our local one for quite some time and the maintenance was poor, showers not always hot, pool often closed, pi$$ poor really.

 

[mattley23]

Well ive requested the company accounts and see how their balace sheet looks. The gym is fully kitted out with cardio machines, fitness equipment and weights etc that come with the business, it has around 400 members.

Its a very interesting opportunity as i see a massive opportunity to intorduce classes in various differnt areas like fitness, martial arts, yoga etc that could boost revenue.

 

[GaryF]

I used to be at Fitness First, I started my payments including September, and had issues wth them.

My gym now is £28 a month off peak, which apprently is cheap.They try to con you out of money in other ways which take too much explaining. Also, before you join you don't really realise how crap the facilities are.

It's actually great education joining a gym before starting one.

Gyms are like banks these days, they're not genuine.

 

[Liybpg]

I like my Virgin gym, I think they are excellent. Why do you expect to pay pennies per month and get a superb service?

 

[Naughty Vend]

I like my Virgin gym, I think they are excellent. Why do you expect to pay pennies per month and get a superb service?

The OP was asking about gymnasiums for 'little people' not 'Virgins', saying that I have never seen a four foot Nun never mind one that works out...

 

[Castlefit]

its not really the price you should be worried about but the quality of service and knowledge available when you get in there..
its all well and good having all singing all dancing equipment , but if you are greeted by a spotty faced teenage fresh out of college, who promises to transform you in 8 weeks its a bit off putting!!!
Personally i would look at the smaller gyms instead of the big commercial ones as they tend to go the extra mile as its their own business, but most of all have a wealth of knowledge when it comes to transforming you... because lets face it we all go to the gym to look good and feel fit... but most of all vanity!!

 

[Independent Trader]

My knowledge of small single site Gyms is that they tend to appeal to the specialist type of market, namely body builders or wannabes.

A gym I attended that changed hands several times only appeared to become successful when a local body builder took it over and it also appeared that he made most of his money in the supply of the specialist "supplements"

If you are aiming at the general fitness market you will find it hard to compete with the "safe" Fitness First type set ups.

 

[johnbeau]

I have done some work with local gyms and one of the best ways to increase sales is selling supplements, clothes etc and if it's a family gym try and do a deal with a local crèche

 

[Castlefit]

I make more money selling nutritional products than i do on door sales, but you have to do your research or you can be left with a lot of stock on the shelves if you get it wrong!

 

[mrhubby]

I would say GO FOR IT. Good local gyms offering what the clients want to use in the way of equipment and classes will always do well.

Also suggest a good bar/cafe area will increase money coming in.

Flexible membership types is always a good thing too.

If funding is an issue could discuss options with you, just pm me and we can chat.

Dont let 2011 pass by without giving it a go...life can be all too short

All the best

Richard

 

[ClaireL]

Hi

As youve already mentioned classes such as yoga, dance classes if you have the room and a new type of fitness class is Zumba a type of samba,salsa fitness class that alot of women are going mad for!

Good luck!

Claire

 

[thetime22]

Put it this way I'm a LA Fitness member and hate my gym. If i saw a gym across the road that was offering a better deal I would defect. I don't care about how many brances a gym has, if theres one down the road and it's cheap i'm all for it.

 

[cholland]

I've recently joined a small local gym which is around the standard monthly price but they dont tie you into a 12 month contract....which is a big selling point...