Looking to start a gym.

[Evasive]

Hey, im a gym buff, 17 years old, going 5-6 times a week for about 3 hours each day. Recently me and my buddy have been going in and out of conversation for several months now about the idea of starting our own gym, Luckly my father is a respected, weathly business man and has already knows that im am looking into starting my own business someday and has offered me a loan to start in whichever direction i desire, not that i'd be starting this gym at 17 but probably around 23 as I am to busy with junior football at the time, and want to take business studys in post-secondary. Now what im asking is for opinions on what you would like to see in a gym, I've had the idea of having a resturant attached to it that was family-friendly but also had pre-packaged meals for those that didn't have the time to spare instead of buying shitty food at a mcdonalds or something. Anyways once again if you could give any suggestions on what you wish your gym had, that would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Kyle

[Encrypted]

Nowa days it seems like all of the popular workout places are huge.. with pools, restraunts basketball courts.. etc. Basically facilities with everything in one place.. many people like yourself enjoy spending all day at these places.. going to the spa and whatnot.

[Evasive]

true enough thanks for the tip man

[DerekS]

I'm a simple person, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but truthfully, I'm not interested in a gym with all the fluff.

With fluff comes high cost. I work out at home because the thought of spending $50-75/mo just isn't feasible. There are affordable gyms near me, but their equipment sucks (like no free weights, just Nautilus style equipment.)

If you can strike a balance between amenities and price, I think you can have a winner. I have a cheap bench at home that I do incline and flat bench on (it declines, but I risk paralyzing myself because of the positioning.) I use dumbbells because they take up minimal space, and I like the added effort of balancing them. I wish I had access to more cumbersome equipment (like a Smith Press), but as I said- I'm a cheap bastard.

I think a pool is essential, because it's a great means of exercise, but maybe cutting out the other stuff will allow you to have first class amenities but at a cut-rate price.

Or, offer varying levels of membership, with limited access to the fluffier stuff if you have a basic membership. I'm just not sure if the extra amenities would make your overhead so high that you couldn't offer more basic memberships or not.

Just my .02

[jplata]

I've had the idea of having a resturant attached to it that was family-friendly but also had pre-packaged meals for those that didn't have the time to spare instead of buying shitty food at a mcdonalds or something.

This is a great idea. Coming up with a realistic healthy menu plan, prepackaging it, and allowing customers to pick them up at the gym is a great idea I think, as long as its affordable too.

They of course, have plans like this already you can get through the mail, but I think customers would be more willing to do it picked up at their gym, not to mention you'd be catering to your target market already...

I think gyms also could use 'better' classes. And maybe this is only from my own experience, but I feel most gyms have the same routine classes...cycling, abs, steps, boxing, yoga etc... where's power-lifting or even just general weight training? What about a class based on the training they did for '300' (movie)? What about a nutrition based class - that goes along with what you have in your restaurant / food-plan?

A gym is an interesting idea, lots of competition usually...but it could work if you make the experience uniquely valuable while still being competitively priced.

[onetruth7797]

i plan on opening a gym in the next 2-3 years and i have already talked about having a subway attached to it. good things.

[Evasive]

What about a class based on the training they did for '300' (movie)?

Funny you should mention this my football trainer is a huge fan of this movie and puts us through spartan training, so this wouldn't be a long shot to offer

[pacificfame]

I personally work out at my local YMCA. However, in my city the franchise Anytime Fitness has become very successful, and they are popping up all over.

I know a lot of my friends who use to work out at the YMCA now switched to Anytime Fitness. They offer 24/7 access and have decent rates and great equipment. The YMCA offers the pool, running track, racket ball courts, basketballs gyms etc... yet I have seen a lot people flock to Anytime Fitness.

For me I just enjoy working out at the YMCA, however I rarely use any other features the YMCA offers. I believe this was the same for a lot of people I knew who switched to Anytime Fitness.

[DerekS]

I think offering classes and specialized training is a good idea. Obviously, lots of gyms offer classes, but if your product is unique, you're selling technique and knowledge which should be low overhead and high margin.

What would be cool would be to offer some sort of ancient warrior training or something like that. Kind of like the 300 training, but perhaps teaching techniques that real ancient Greek Hoplites trained with (or Romans, or Mongols, or Huns, or whatever.) Stuff like that isn't readily available, and shouldn't be too hard to offer provided you do your research.

[myfayt]

The gyms keep closing down here, they open for about 6 - 12 months and shut down because of Golds Gym and ACAC. There is no market share for them. Yes if you charge much less than these companies, you still won't have enough business to survive. Move to a place with no commercial gym and you should do well.

[Tri-Thunder]

With all of the other franchises out there, you're going to need to really seperate yourself from the competition. Maybe if you have a MMA theme and offer sparring? Or a boot camp type atmosphere to really push people? Just seems like the 24 hr gyms are in every strip mall and it's going to be hard to break into that market. Best of luck.

Jim

[mainframe562]

I'm a gym buff myself and have thought about starting my own gym but with insurance costs my dreams went away. But another thought that you just mentioned is the fact that after the gym there's nothing healthy to eat but Subway or El Pollo Loco. I like to eat chicken for the protein and its hard looking for places like these. I would think a fast food health bar would be a good idea where i can order a number 1 and know that its healthy and good for the muscles.

[evolvingentrepreneur]

Think niche so you can charge a premium: personal training only, members only, executives only, sports specific, men's only, women's only, senior's only, teens and 20-something gym rats only. Great idea to integrate a cafe that offers heat up at home meals to go...don't try to operate this yourself though...bring in the most successful restaurant operator in your area and charge him a percentage of his revenues. Think healthy cooking classes, supplements, seminars, and bootcamps (big dollars here). Make your facility known for being pristine with phenomenal bend over backwards service...again, to support your premium pricing model.