Gym Entrepreneuer

[gr8whitetrukker]

Well yeah of course man. No one wants to own a crossfit gym..
Haha

Idk man
Boutique gyms are changing the face of fitness
Crossfit has their own audience and they charge big bucks for minimal investment
I think strength athletes, strongmen and BB's would do the same if they found value in it. If they sense they belonged. And im willing to cater toward these folks like me and you

 

[Eman]

Well u know its just an idea right now. Ive had ideas for a loooong time. Itll get more real once i put everything together. Its still a little while off and i got more to learn but at least for me the money side of things is finally coming together. Thats the hardest part

It'll be an interesting time to see what the economy does over the next few years... hard to say what'll happen. Could be good or it could get really bad. We'll see...

 

[Eman]

No one wants to own a crossfit gym..
Haha

I know you're probably kidding but... Crossfit gyms, in the right locations, are a killer business.

Small places usually, low equipment cost, no TV's everywhere, small fee paid to Crossfit corporate to bear the Crossfit logo, EXPENSIVE memberships per month... If I lived in a place for it, I'd love to own one and I've never had ANY interest in crossfit... just money.

The Economics of a CrossFit Gym

 

[gr8whitetrukker]

I know you're probably kidding but... Crossfit gyms, in the right locations, are a killer business.

Small places usually, low equipment cost, no TV's everywhere, small fee paid to Crossfit corporate to bear the Crossfit logo, EXPENSIVE memberships per month... If I lived in a place for it, I'd love to own one and I've never had ANY interest in crossfit... just money.

The Economics of a CrossFit Gym

People love gyms like CrossFit and Pure Barre because they’ve made fancy fitness a status symbol

 

[Sk8man101]

I know you're probably kidding but... Crossfit gyms, in the right locations, are a killer business.

Small places usually, low equipment cost, no TV's everywhere, small fee paid to Crossfit corporate to bear the Crossfit logo, EXPENSIVE memberships per month... If I lived in a place for it, I'd love to own one and I've never had ANY interest in crossfit... just money.

The Economics of a CrossFit Gym

I know that was my point to my first post, they make fucking bank but when I daydream about owning my own gym there is a sign inside that clearly says "no crossfit"

 

[Docd187123]

The problem you'll face without doing a $10/month gym is attracting members. $10/month gyms base their model on volume of members. By avoiding that you'll need to cater to a specific demographic, market towards them, and find an area where they're willing to travel to. Good luck.

 

[gr8whitetrukker]

The problem you'll face without doing a $10/month gym is attracting members. $10/month gyms base their model on volume of members. By avoiding that you'll need to cater to a specific demographic, market towards them, and find an area where they're willing to travel to. Good luck.

Thats what i plan to do
I think theres tremendous value in it
There will be even more value if i go out and win some shit to put more legitimacy to my brand

 

[weighted chinup]

Stack em high and sell it cheap.

Being able to sign-up for a gym online and pay for a years worth of membership or be billed monthly without having to walk into the actual gym will guarantee at least a few hundred memberships that have never even walked through the doors.

Don't go for the boutique gym bullshit, the success of this will depend entirely on where you live or what the people in your city are willing to pay.

To put it into perspective, my city opened up one of those a few years ago and the first couple years were absurdly busy. These days it's a lot quieter in comparison and they had to increase the cost of membership some months back. And this is in a pretty affluent area of SW Ontario, you probably know the city I'm talking about (not in the GTA).

And this isn't even a crazy expensive gym even though it's the same as the absurdly priced ones they have in the states. $27-29 bi-weekly is what it cost and based on their performance I wouldn't go down that road, at least not in my city. It's not dying or anything, but the $10 a month gym down the street has 300 memberships purchased online that have never even been used yet.

Easy money.

 

[Mr.B66]

The chain gyms have changed pricing forever. $10/ month is common place now days. I remember paying much much more than that 12 yrs ago.

Wow!!!! A new membership at my gym is 900$ a year with a 200$ joining fee. I think thats redic, but lucky for me my fee is frozen from my join date 22 years ago. I would pay 50$ a month for a gym that is as you describe. It would be worth it to not have to deal with people sitting on my towel and using my equip every time i get a drink. Nobody asks to work in anymore[emoji35]

 

[gr8whitetrukker]

Stack em high and sell it cheap.

Being able to sign-up for a gym online and pay for a years worth of membership or be billed monthly without having to walk into the actual gym will guarantee at least a few hundred memberships that have never even walked through the doors.

Don't go for the boutique gym bullshit, the success of this will depend entirely on where you live or what the people in your city are willing to pay.

To put it into perspective, my city opened up one of those a few years ago and the first couple years were absurdly busy. These days it's a lot quieter in comparison and they had to increase the cost of membership some months back. And this is in a pretty affluent area of SW Ontario, you probably know the city I'm talking about (not in the GTA).

And this isn't even a crazy expensive gym even though it's the same as the absurdly priced ones they have in the states. $27-29 bi-weekly is what it cost and based on their performance I wouldn't go down that road, at least not in my city. It's not dying or anything, but the $10 a month gym down the street has 300 memberships purchased online that have never even been used yet.

Easy money.

"The Hammer"?

 

[Docd187123]

Thats what i plan to do
I think theres tremendous value in it
There will be even more value if i go out and win some shit to put more legitimacy to my brand

That's part of the issue yea. Most of the successful specialized gyms have someone with a well known name. You could help yourself by doing some local and state competitions kind of get your name out there and network with some potential clients and their training partners/friends. The problem is like WC and I mentioned, you need the right locale for this. It's a lot harder than you might realize to find enough of a clientele base to support your business model.

 

[gr8whitetrukker]

That's part of the issue yea. Most of the successful specialized gyms have someone with a well known name. You could help yourself by doing some local and state competitions kind of get your name out there and network with some potential clients and their training partners/friends. The problem is like WC and I mentioned, you need the right locale for this. It's a lot harder than you might realize to find enough of a clientele base to support your business model.

Its in the plans

 

[Kakarot]

That's part of the issue yea. Most of the successful specialized gyms have someone with a well known name. You could help yourself by doing some local and state competitions kind of get your name out there and network with some potential clients and their training partners/friends. The problem is like WC and I mentioned, you need the right locale for this. It's a lot harder than you might realize to find enough of a clientele base to support your business model.

Could always become a social media whore start living on YouTube. I bet a 600lb+ front squat would go viral pretty quick.

 

[gr8whitetrukker]

Could always become a social media whore start living on YouTube. I bet a 600lb+ front squat would go viral pretty quick.

Maybe ill write a fuckin book
A good friend suggested i should start up social media and juice my wheels off
He said it would only work If i pretended i actually LIKED people
Thats a big step

 

[Kakarot]

Maybe ill write a fuckin book
A good friend suggested i should start up social media and juice my wheels off
He said it would only work If i pretended i actually LIKED people
Thats a big step

Na theirs plenty of people out there that like people. Just be yourself, bark at strangers, always piss in the neighbors yard, you know shit like that.

 

[Sk8man101]

There a 'female' competitors gym in my towns the chick than owns it get's all these girls jacked on PEDs and then goes and hits some easy shows and brings home like 1st 2nd and 3rd.
Drums up a lot of business.

 

[Senorman]

In 3-4 yrs that should be about 50k. I think thats good to start.

I dont know what id need for a down but im looking to have full control over my destiny as a sole owner. I realize ill need a written biz plan for the bank and i will have to answer tough questions because they are all about return on investment.

The most realistic option for financing would be pulling equity out of your home if you indeed have equity in a home. Another option would be to finance the equipment from the manufacturer/wholesaler. Banks aren't going to get too excited about loaning $$ based on a business plan. Banks loan based on assets. Also, the more savings you bring to the table, the better. You do not want to be over-leveraged even if you are able to obtain financing. You'd be setting yourself up to have too big of a hole to dig out from. PM me if you want some free tax advice on the matter once you get closer.

 

[RodgerThat]

Although the business I started had minimal overhead we did find a niche market that wasn't being directly catered to. Lots of people were half committed to making it a business but they still tried to provide for the general market too which is what screwed them out when I came in. I did partner but the only reason I did was because it wasn't something I passionately wanted to do and the partner was my brother. It was a means to an end for business and although I only dabble in it now my brother has made good money doing it for over 5 years now.
(Not a gym business it's in the demolition side of construction)

For gym business, I go to a very good gym but the problem we have is the general public and although there is slightly north of 1k members there is only just shy of 200 active members and <20 that are serious lifters. The serious lifters don't make the gym much money, the 100 active members are able to keep the doors open and the members that don't show up is what makes up for the owner driving a Range Rover. I've talked with the owner a lot and he said the best thing he ever did was sponsor sports teams. He did it so that every sports team pays a mere fraction of what a training session costs so 5 bucks a head but you get 20 kids on a team together going to a gym doing agility training that's 100 bucks per team have 4 teams a night and that keeps your doors open for certain.

The only way I find your business model really works is by having a gym with two fronts, one for the sport side and the parents who sign up for memberships while they wait in the waiting room for their kids to finish their session and another area separated that has old iron equipment with the rustic feel. Bumper plates on one half of the gym and new shiny equipment and the other half completely Arnold era style

 

[mudbutt22]

The problem with it is there just aren't all that many guys like us. Your radius of potential clientele is maybe 10 miles I think your max memberships would probably be in the 100 range. 100 memberships at 70 per month is only 7 grand a month. Factor in utilities, rent an employee or two and there isn't much meat on the bone.

I've done absolutely no research on the subject but there are no boutique gyms where I live. Even competitive bodybuilders use LA fitness. I'd say gym I've used has maybe 20-25 guys that I would consider "serious" and maybe half of them would be willing to pay a premium price for a membership.

I am in the Midwest though- land of the fattys. I'm sure you get more juiceheads up in the northeast and out west so I suppose it also depends on your location.

Now if you could get a YouTube channel or some shit that got some traction that would spread out your radius.

I've always wanted to open a gym too but the last small gym I was a member of changed ownership 3 times in three years. I just think the margins on a gym suck.

Gyms make money on the people that DONT use them. Everyone would use yours.

 

[Just Fish]

I intend on putting my stamp on my brand and i wont go in to too much here. But it will be unique and not easily duplicated. Im looking to target the serious crowd. A place where PL, strongmen and BB's go to train. Not for the office nazis or ppl who have mediocre goals in mind. A serious place to be for serious ppl. I havent seen too many places that offer that. Id like to be the first in my area

The reason you don't see those places is because that is a very small percentage of a population. Most places like that don't survive. How can you compete with these 10/15$ a month gyms? The powerhouse in my area only survived a few years and they were pretty much what you are talking about. That was my favorite gym ever. I worked out there in my early twenties and made epic gains