New Gym Ownership Advice

JoeR

Free Member
May 1, 2020
3
1
Hiya

I would like to open my own gym, Could you please give me advice how to do this?

This is a tough market to get into, I've recently left a leisure management Role for one of the big providers. Happy for you to message me if I can be of any help.

Here's a few questions to get started

Do you currently work/run a gym? Have qualifications as this will be hands on especially at the start.

Are you looking at Franchising or a standalone set up?

What's your competition in the area?

Why would a customer come to you over the more established gyms?
 
Upvote 0

BMX90

Free Member
May 2, 2020
25
0
This is a tough market to get into, I've recently left a leisure management Role for one of the big providers. Happy for you to message me if I can be of any help.

Here's a few questions to get started

Do you currently work/run a gym? Have qualifications as this will be hands on especially at the start.

Are you looking at Franchising or a standalone set up?

What's your competition in the area?

Why would a customer come to you over the more established gyms?

If you could help I would be more then happy to message, thanks
 
Upvote 0

JEREMY HAWKE

Business Member
  • Business Listing
    Mar 4, 2008
    8,571
    1
    4,027
    EXETER DEVON
    www.jeremyhawkecourier.co.uk
    I think also that a gym need to have something behind it to push i.e. a person at the helm with a track record in getting results with people

    Even here in Devon there are private gyms but they compete with council owned gyms that offer more

    I do most of my training on the roads fields forest and hills but when I want to use a gym I just go to our council run gym
     
    Upvote 0

    JEREMY HAWKE

    Business Member
  • Business Listing
    Mar 4, 2008
    8,571
    1
    4,027
    EXETER DEVON
    www.jeremyhawkecourier.co.uk
    Am looking at it being a mma gym plus having equipment in there for people who don't wanna do the mma...

    That's a very good idea Boxing is what I like but most commercial boxing gyms always survive and I believe that MMA gyms have a similar success rate .
     
    Upvote 0

    JEREMY HAWKE

    Business Member
  • Business Listing
    Mar 4, 2008
    8,571
    1
    4,027
    EXETER DEVON
    www.jeremyhawkecourier.co.uk
    After this is all over, a lot of people will be looking to reduce costs. Gym memberships will be one of the first they get rid of.

    No the Instagram generation want to look good and they don't care how they pay for it
     
    Upvote 0

    STDFR33

    Free Member
    Aug 7, 2016
    4,823
    1,317
    Great.
    Why gyms manage to flourish in spite of that is a wonderful marketing strategy.

    Great comment when not taken with the rest of what I’ve said.

    Like most of your posts, they seem to live in an intelligence vacuum.

    For the avoidance of doubt, after all this is over, many, many people will have little disposable income to be paying for gym memberships.

    I don’t think now is the time to be investing money in a gym, or a lot of other bricks and mortar businesses for that matter.
     
    Upvote 0

    Mr D

    Free Member
    Feb 12, 2017
    28,925
    3,630
    Stirling
    Great comment when not taken with the rest of what I’ve said.

    Like most of your posts, they seem to live in an intelligence vacuum.

    For the avoidance of doubt, after all this is over, many, many people will have little disposable income to be paying for gym memberships.

    I don’t think now is the time to be investing money in a gym, or a lot of other bricks and mortar businesses for that matter.

    You could claim at any point in the past few decades that many people have little disposable income to be paying for gym memberships.
    Yet people did. Why is that?

    Perhaps they chose to spend some of their disposable income on the gym for some reason beyond you?

    Yes, millions are out of work. Yes, millions are on low income. Care to name a time in the past 50 years when that wasn't the case?
    There are also millions who do have disposable income. They can choose to spend it on whatever method of getting fit, keeping fit, losing weight etc that they utilise the gym for.

    Your flippant remark that people struggling for space to exercise at home should go out the door goes rather against their desire to use the gym.
    Do you even accept that people (other than you) choose to use a gym?
     
    Upvote 0
    I personally can't see gyms opening anytime soon, doesn't mean you can't get a good plan together.

    I wouldn't even worry about gym equipment prices at the minute, most is on lease anyway. If you haven't found what kind of gym you want to open, why are you looking at equipment?
    These big gyms for instance mainly have thousands of treadmills, cardio machines but hardly any weights, that's their target market. Opening a body building gym will have more weights than treadmills sure you get the picture.

    Regarding disposable income, people will still find the money for gym memberships and that's a good thing, exercise helps mental health! If people really can't afford it there is a scheme where you can get help from the doctors and the membership is pretty much free.
     
    Upvote 0

    Bob Morgan

    Free Member
    Apr 15, 2018
    2,219
    923
    Simple guide

    1) find a niche or segment whose needs aren’t being catered for

    2) set a price which enough customers are happy to pay (continually) and which makes a profit

    3) market it well.

    Sorted.
    A few years back, I had some Major Surgery. Before that, I loved to swim, but found it difficult when I returned, and ended-up with an Incisional Hernia - Back to 'Square-One!' My Doctor put me in touch with a Gym, and the Instructor 'Eased' me back in to things before I went back swimming.
    1. Rehabilitation was the Niche Market
    2. I was prepared to pay the price (One-2-One Short Sessions)
    3. Marketing via Medical Practitioner
    The whole process was quite 'Unsophisticated' - No Treadmills or other Fixed Equipment, Video etc., Just Loose Weights and a Lifting Bench!
     
    Upvote 0

    Hunnie

    Free Member
    Oct 19, 2011
    150
    40
    North East
    Hi, we are a dance school which we run from our own leasehold Studio. Yes, the school was running at weekends and a couple of weekday evenings, until we had to close because of government restrictions.
    But we had other groups using the space eg Karate, Pilates, Yoga, Slimming World, Adult tap, Belly dancing, among others. So they all helped with their contributions to hire the space.
    Perhaps the OP could do the same?
     
    Upvote 0
    things like mma you need people to train with mainly

    True but there are others you don’t. Just saying the gym industry may have changed. Also 1 PT could train potentially more online in one go than in one room.

    Take accountancy training, it used to be in a classroom of 10 - 20, now it is often at home where 1 lecturer can provide classes to a lot more students, saving a lot of cost and increasing profits.
     
    Upvote 0

    SillyBill

    Free Member
    Dec 11, 2019
    815
    2
    525
    Be cautious in a boom
    Be brave in a recession

    Brave but not stupid. A recession is also a key weapon in the arsenal of a capitalist economy to kill "excess" and to restore a new platform for future growth. My intuition may be mistaken but it "feels" like we've hit peak coffee shop, peak gym (and a few others not required to be mentioned). They're everywhere and a few perhaps ought to be killed off to give space to the ones left behind. I agree with being bold though.
     
    • Like
    Reactions: The Byre
    Upvote 0

    Latest Articles