Start up fitness facility

aesir22

Hi everyone,

So a bit of background first I think! I used to weigh 21 stone, smoked, drank, was basically a big mess. So I decided to change my lifestyle. Losy 6 stone (still going) and enrolled on a Bsc degree in Sport, Fitness and Exercise Instruction. I have always wanted to help people, and would love to open my own fitness facility. The degree I am doing covers business ventures in the final year. I want to open a facility in 3-4 years, a normal gym but with plenty of extra's geared toward the obese wanting to change their lifestyles. I'd considered things like residential weight loss camps, etc. I want something more than just a gym. Something that promotes wellbeing on the whole, so the addition of massage treatments/spa treatments, holistic therapies etc to try and get a broader clientele.

But I have no idea where to start! I have looked a lot online and find lots of people talking about business proposals but I'm not sure how to start one! I have someone to go into business with - my trainer has been looking to do this for years himself. As for finance...yikes! The start up costs I know will be huge for this kind of business. I am wanting my debt cleared within 4 years, then I would like to go into business - should tie in nicely with degree finishing! I won't have much to put toward the business money-wise - do you normally do a business proposal and meet with lenders?

So to sum it up, I'm wanting to know how I start a business proposal (so I know what I am working toward) and how to finance the venture. Thanks y'all!

motorguy

Thread on it over on pistonheads....

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=92&t=1240741&nmt=

Its very unlikely you will get anyone to lend a new business money so thats going to be tricky.

Perhaps of interest, i noticed in a nearby enterprise park to me, someone had taken a largish unit on and were running a 'gym' from it. They were doing lots of evening classes there, and because it was an enterprise park, their rental commitments were low and month by month.

Might be a low cost startup route for you and something you could do quite quickly?

aesir22

Thanks for that we figured we'd put 5k - 10k toward it and approach lenders. Thought that was one of the main uses of business loans?

Savvy_Sue

It's getting increasingly difficult to get business loans these days, and without security and / or a good track record (preferably both) ...

Some suggestions:

if there's any chance of doing any business / marketing modules earlier within your course, do them, whatever angle they're aimed at (managing a gym rather than setting one up, for example). It will give you transferable skills and information. Can you sit in on other lectures now? Make friends with the business students?

Have you ever worked in a gym? If not, get some experience there, as much and as varied as you can - behind the bar, cleaning, running classes, reception. You'll learn what mistakes NOT to make, at someone else's expense.

Gyms vary enormously in what they offer: some are very basic - equipment, showers, maybe staff if you're lucky. Others offer the range of services you mention - wellbeing, massage, spas etc. You have to consider why people would come to yours rather than any of the established ones, and how you reach the obese and persuade them that

your gym is (part of) the answer. I don't know how you do that, unless you get yourself onto the 'exercise on prescription' approved list, and I don't know how you'd do that.

It could be worth considering selling your services to an existing gym first, rather than going down the route of your own premises. If you're offering massage and spas, then you've GOT to have GOOD facilities, not just adequate. And that doesn't come cheap.

miduck

If you focus your offering on a certain group, in this case the obese, they will be your main clientele. There are three problems I can see with this:

* It will put others off. People won't want to tell others they are going to "the fat gym".
* It will put the obese people off, for the same reason as above. No fat person wants to be highlighted as such in a gym, they want to blend in with everyone else.
* Obese people that go to the gym will not be obese forever, and hence your market is massively diminished.

I would work more on projecting a message of "everyone is welcome".

motorguy

aesir22 wrote: »

Thanks for that we figured we'd put 5k - 10k toward it and approach lenders. Thought that was one of the main uses of business loans?

You would think so wouldnt you?

They will want the loan secured either against savings / property, something like that.

Banks are very risk averse and a brand new business with no trading record is a high risk.

lady_noluck

A good book I found to read is 'Dragons Den: Start your own Business' I borrowed mine from the library but it's usually on ebay/greenmetropolis.com pretty cheap.

somethingcorporate

How much do you think it will cost to start up a gym?

£5-10k is not much to start a new business, especially if you are going to leverage this with a lot of a banks money!

[Deleted User]

I used to run a gym - the fixed overheads are huge!!! Our equipment alone cost us £60k and that was before we started looked at rent, business loan repayments, staff (remember gyms are open 7 days a week/15 hours a day), huge electricity bills, business rates, insurance, PRS licences (will cost you £1000s per year), marketing, membership IT system etc. That's all before you start taking any money yourself. Think how many people you need paying you £30/£40 per month to make the books balance!

Notice i say i USED to run a gym