My gym concept(s)

spaceboyted

Hey guys. I would appreciate your feedback on these ideas for a gym.

1) Instead of a fixed monthly contract that means you pay for the gym whether you go or not, I thought about offering a points system instead. How it would work is that you buy a set number of points in advance like 100, 500 or 1000 with ten points equalling a days use in the gym. Members would buy them in advance and then use them as they wish, that way they aren't penalised for the one month they don't really go, offering more flexibility. Different price points will be offered with more points being allocated per £1 spent the more you pay up in advance.

2) Another approach I had was to have no sign up fee or contract like the above. However people go on a pay as you go basis. Now, I know this isn't new. The twist is that the price you pay for each day decreases incrementally the more days you go during the month (for e.g. day 1 £4, day 2 £3.60...). The best part about this concept is that you can give out loads of free cards to people who would officially be members and they can go when they choose (without committing to a months use or any other type of contract).

3) A third idea which isn't mine, I read about it somewhere on Google was to offer a monthly membership that started out at the maximum monthly fee. The more the person used the gym that month, the less they pay on a monthly basis. The idea behind this is that it generates customer loyalty in that your members will only be those that use the gym reguarly (which will reduce the 40% new customers a gym has to generate year on year). I am a little sceptical about this idea working in real life because the ratio of members use to gym capacity may make it unviable (typically it is 10:1 on memebers to capacity). Also there should be better ways to retain customers than harming your main revenue stream.

I look forward to your feedback and feel free to be critical

Thanks

crazyguy

Why not put it forward on Dragons Den

InsideInsurance

Probably would call it "credits" for the first option.... to tie in with peak rate memberships you should probably also vary the points required for access subject to the time of day/ day of week in addition to the bulk buy.

The sliding scale of membership fees is an interesting concept but I dont know how the normal gym membership profit model works.... is it better to have people that pay membership but never come or to have people that come fairly frequently (thus increase the need for machines/ servicing etc) but spend some additional money in the bar/ vending machines etc?

A sliding scale could encourage people to attend more frequently but potentially you are just shooting yourself in the foot with reducing your incoming with no benefit.

spaceboyted

Gyms love it when people still pay monthly fees and never show up...effectively they are getting money for nothing. There will always be those members but you can't build a sustainable business just on this notion because eventually that person who never shows will eventually cancel their direct debit (like I did 2 days ago).

As for the sliding scale idea, I meant to say that it would eventually level out to about £2 a day for instance. Don't hold me to the costings, this is just a theoretical example. If you add up all the daily rates to get to the £2 price level, it adds up to more than you think. £4 + £3.60 + £3.20 + £2.80 + £2.40 + £2 = £18

or: £4 + £3.80 + £3.60 + £3.40 + £3.20 + £3 + £2.80 + £2.60 + £2.40 + £2.20 + £2 = £33

DevilsAdvocate1

I am one of those people who like the idea of being a member of a gym but the commitment puts me off. So I really like the sound of your ideas.

A gym near me recently did a promotion where you could buy just 3 months worth of membership, which I thought was a good idea. I am more likely to go for 3 months rather than a year as I worry that if I don't like it I have lost a lot of money.

BargainGalore

One of the Dragons ones a gym company Duncan Bannatyne

crazyguy wrote: »

Why not put it forward on Dragons Den

Bigmoney2

If people want PAYG most local council leisure centres have this facility already.

sammyjones

I think these are good ideas, its been in the news in the past few weeks how its unlawful for gyms to charge a membership whether the members go or not. these kind of systems will be the future of gyms i believe. speaking from experience as i myself joined a gym.. never attended..and can cancelled the direct debit

tinktay84

I recently took a 3 month gyme membership which cost more per month than a 12 month but as others have said, 3 months you know you can do...12 months will be 9 months unused.

We also have payg options and a 'buy 10 visits option'