What it takes to own a gym?

[Shibby]

I am wanting to know what it takes to own a gym. One like a worlds gym or an Older fashioned gold's. Basically a clean shack style gym. Not a bally's or 24 hour type. What kind of capital do you need, etc.

[Curls4dGirls]

I've got a ton of data on this subject, and I am opening a gym from the floor up right now. Are you interested in buying an existing facility or opening a new facility?

[Shibby]

Well, I don't know. I didn't know where to start looking for info. I of course would prefer from the ground up, but since I'm not looking at having a bunch of studios or anything like that. I was more looking for something easier to run and have low cost membership fees. I was looking for something along the lines of freeweight area, machine and hammerstrength area and a good side cardio room.

[Stonecold54]

the problem with a gym in my opinion is you have a lot of retards out there who want stupid shit in a gym...like all the new wave stuff (if you put a "stability ball" in it I will kick your ass :) ). its rough trying to please everyone all the time and it costs a lot in overhead. I would have a hammerstrength line, a complete set of nice dumbells...free weights obviously, a few nice smith machines...and some quality cable machines (nautilus probably) . cardio equioment...but to me the most important thing in a gym is to MAINTAIN the equipment and have a competent floor staff to help people and clean things. just from what I typed you are looking at probably close to 50000, :)....but that is just an estimate.

[Shibby]

You're thinkinkg pretty much what I'm thinking. I'm not looking to please everyone or make a "catchy" place. I just want one that you can go to get a great workout and I can have low membership costs. Also like you said, I want to only have to maintain the gym equipement. Not make sure the steam room works, or the a/c in the group X studio is working, or the tanning beds have new light bulbs... I just want equipment. I would probably want a large open space for things like jump rope, or what ever someone might want to do...

[babyblues]

Besides, if they really want the fluff and nonsense they can go to PlanetPowderpuff.

[ROCKETW19]

I am wanting to know what it takes to own a gym. One like a worlds gym or an Older fashioned gold's. Basically a clean shack style gym. Not a bally's or 24 hour type. What kind of capital do you need, etc.

thats gonna be hard to get the membership prices down unless you own the land. your gonna need alot of people payin! the rent alone here in cali will kill ya you need all the fluff to get more income comming in! good luck bro.

[dot1]

Take whatever figure you have in your head and double it. I own a Swim, Tennis and Fitness club. Insurance will run over $15,000, plus workmans comp, debt service, electric and water etc etc. Steam rooms are expensive, think dry sauna, I have both. Most franchises you have to have a certain net worth, at 500k plus liquid assets (cash). You can search the internet and find existing clubs for sale. Good Luck with your future venture.

[lxorl]

on a side note... if your going for a "real" gym.... then play that angle...... promote it as a real gym with only the necessities..... of course there are those who want all the new gadgets.... but there are plenty of established exercisers that know all the new wave shit is just a gimmic.

if you build it they will come!

[Control]

I've always wanted to own a hardcore gym. One with mostly free weights where hardcore bodybuilders come to lift. The kind of place where there's lifting chalk and sweat all over the floor. That was what the gym I used to lift at 10 years ago was like. What I found out was that the insurance is what really costs you. You have dumbasses that drop a dumbbell on their foot and want to sue you....

[Curls4dGirls]

Shibby ... what SC, Control, and you are referring to is called a weight box. Starting a gym from the ground up is much more expensive than buying an existing facility. The major cost of a ground up is the architectural build out of the facility ... shower area, cardio deck, water fountains, flooring (mats), mirrors (for SC to flex in), and brining everything up to code for that type of facility (the fire marshall just got us good).

Here are some of the operating costs of a gym:

Janitorial
Insurance
Electric
Telephone
Gas
Water
Sewage
Building lease
equipment lease (be sure to lease, not buy - except free weights)
marketing
accounting
legal
Insurance
Staff (sales, front desk clerk, mgmt)

[Shibby]

lol, did you put insurance twice on purpose? Why should someone lease the equipment and not buy it?

[Curls4dGirls]

lol ... insurance actually doesn't hurt that bad ... definitely less than $1500 per month. A facility that I've done work with here in Atlanta (a weight box like you're describing) pays only $800 a month for insurance. Their total operating expenses are around $55 K for a 35K sq ft facility with about 2000 active members. The lease is the biggest single expense at about $15k per month. Second biggest is wages.

You should lease equipment (cardio equip, selectorize machines, hammer strength, etc) because the cost to purchase that equipment is extremely high. The lease basically amounts to a low interest rate loan from the equipment companies, so there's no reason not to lease.

[Shibby]

Thanks for all the info. It's gave me a lot to start looking at. This is something quite a few years down the road if it happens. Still got to get my wife through undergrad and grad school.

[Curls4dGirls]

cool. good luck.