Pitfalls of Owning A Gym!!!!!!!!!!

full_belly · Jan 29, 2005

Hey guys anyone here own a gym????????
Im working towards opening a gym in perth western australia, later this year., im workin blind, its all new to me. i used to own a retail nutritional store, and personal train, but this is a whole diff ballpark.
The concept is a corporate/ funvtional traing gym focusing on free weights and plate loaded machines, really would luv some help.

Pittbull™ · Jan 29, 2005

Bump

FB's a good friend of mine and has only moved to Perth in the last few weeks & is very serious about getting his gym going. If there's anyone in or near Perth that can give him some advice such as areas to locate, people in the industary for good training equipment etc
I'm sure he'd welcome any sugestions.

Thanks
Pittbull

jerrywear · Jan 29, 2005

i tryed to open the gym here in chicago,but its so many of them here,you need to have a lot of money to start doing this here,we have gyms like X-sport gym(big timers)ballys and on and on,whats realy bad here that they have good prices for membership and pt.so if you want to open the gym,you need to know where,age of the people around you whos going to go to your gym,how much they make,what you want to do in the gym(pt or you want to have a biger gym)how far gyms located around you,what they do,and on and on.
like i told you here in chicago sucks,and you need investors too,that helps a lot.
i wish you guys the best.

Coopie · Jan 29, 2005

I recently "silent-partnered" with a friend of mine who owns and manages a few gyms here in NYC. If you partner up with a reputable franchise, the entire system is basically "turn-key". They already have negotiated the best prices (and they already have drafted all the best practices) for you to follow.

Believe me, we researched it, the nationwide deals that they negotiate for supplements, drinks, even the equipment rental are so much cheaper than you as a small-business-owner could ever negotiate.

IMO, it's best to go with a franchise. Some are better than others, some offer more flexibility, some are more expensive. From what we've found, the expenses that the franchise cost are more than made up for by the savings of having the administrative, billing, human resources, insurance, etc. all taken care of for you. In manpower time alone - there's the savings!

Best of luck...

MikeS · Jan 29, 2005

There are books (search online) on starting a gym, and magazines (ex-Fitness
Management/Personal Training Professional) with FREE subscriptions which help you with ideas on running a gym.

full_belly · Jan 30, 2005

thanks for the input

i will chase some of those books, guys, thanks coopie, jerry, mike. ill post my progress, and will always appreciate input. thanks as always pitty.

bigdho · Jan 30, 2005

Hey bro look up a man named Thomas Plummer he is the best in his field. He teaches people how to own and operate a gym. I have a place here in Indiana its 7500 sq feet we have hi end equipment(free motion, hammer,nordic trak,cybex), body systems classes and a City blends juice bar. If I could tell you one thing it would be to NOT over estimate how many members your going to pull and to make sure your budget is spot on as far as up front costs and build out. I thought Id have 200+ members in the first 2 months, well I just broke 250 and its been 4 months. Not bad but not what I thought it wold be. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help out

Dwarfs-R-Us · Jan 30, 2005

In Oz we don't have the population for gyms on every corner, at least successful ones.
I suggest you start small and be prepared to work 15hrs a day.
Contact Craig @ www.winningphysique.com.au
he can give you a few pointers it is where I train and is adequate for my needs.
good luck.

MikeS · Jan 30, 2005

bigdho said:
Hey bro look up a man named Thomas Plummer he is the best in his field. He teaches people how to own and operate a gym. I have a place here in Indiana its 7500 sq feet we have hi end equipment(free motion, hammer,nordic trak,cybex), body systems classes and a City blends juice bar. If I could tell you one thing it would be to NOT over estimate how many members your going to pull and to make sure your budget is spot on as far as up front costs and build out. I thought Id have 200+ members in the first 2 months, well I just broke 250 and its been 4 months. Not bad but not what I thought it wold be. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help out

Yes Thomas Plummer is well know source of knowledge for gym careers.