Make no mistake about it, running a gym or fitness centre is not as easy as it looks.
It’s certainly not something everyone is cut out for, no matter how much people complain about the state of nearby facilities. You know who we’re talking about. The kind of people who visit gyms and can’t stop talking about how better theirs would be if they ever opened one.
What these people don’t realize is that, at the end of the day, running a gym or fitness center is a challenging business. And much like any other business start-up in any industry, this one comes with its own set of challenges and problems.
In this article, we’re going to discuss 3 of these challenges to help you overcome the initial stages of setting up a gym or fitness business.
Let’s begin.
1. Building A Client Base
The biggest challenge for new gym owners is building a client base and increasing membership.
The problem with the fitness industry is that it’s very hard to access new customer markets. Once you’ve gained initial batch of customers to start your operations, how are you going to diversify and expand?
This is especially troublesome in areas where there’s limited gym-going population. During the first few months of operation, you’ll capture most of the market (assuming your gym is genuinely good), but then gradually your membership numbers will cease growing and profits will start to stagnate.
Sure, you can spend a bit of money on advertising and try to get more people interested in your programs, but ultimately you’ll have to expand into other locations which is extremely costly and doesn’t come with any guarantees of success – especially if the new location already has a few established gyms.
The recent rise of specialist gyms has caused a similar problem. These are fitness centers which deal with only one kind of training/exercise – e.g. Boxing gyms, MMA gyms, CrossFit, etc.
Specialist gyms are slowly replacing facilities that cater to people with varying fitness needs because they can offer better training facilities and specific equipment for each kind of exercise.
You’ll need to address this problem when you’re preparing a business plan. Research the market thoroughly and figure out what’s in-demand around the vicinity where you want to open up. This makes it much easier for you to attract customers.
Solution: Find what you’re good at and stick to it. It’s a lot easier to find clients for your gym if you know who to market to.
2. Building A Team
After you’ve managed to establish yourself and get the gym up and running, it’s time to start hiring a team.
This sounds like a fairly simple task, but you’ll soon find that it’s incredibly difficult to find qualified trainers in this industry; it’s even tougher to keep them working for long periods of time.
This problem is escalated further by the fact that YouTube and rest of the Internet has made it incredibly easy for trainers to acquire fitness certifications. Anyone can take a few online courses and register themselves as a “personal trainer” but that doesn’t guarantee their expertise.
Ideally, we’d recommend that you hire trainers last and instead fill out positions that will make your day-to-day much easier. If you find that administrative duties are taking up too much of your time and you can’t give enough attention to your clients, that’s probably the best place to start the hiring process.
It’s far less expensive to hire someone willing to do administrative duties well than it is to find someone who’ll be able to train people the way you’d like.
Aside from an administrative expert, you should also hire the following professionals:
- A lawyer who’ll manage the legal side of things (dealing with insurance, filling out yearly taxes, etc.)
- A social media manager who can help you establish a presence on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram
- Security guards in case your neighborhood isn’t safe
Solution: Don’t start hiring employees until you’re financially ready for it. Always begin hiring for the administration first.
3. Finding A Suitable Location
A gym’s location can make or break the business.
A central location which is easily accessible can make up for a lot of other factors lacking in your fitness entity – like bad quality equipment, average trainers, etc. – but no amount of incentives will bring customers to your gym if it’s located too far away from your customers.
You’ll also need to think about the size of the facility.
Too small, and everything will start to feeling cramped. As a fitness trainer, you know how uncomfortable it can be if there isn’t enough space in a gym.
Too large, and you’ll be paying for space that isn’t utilized well. Yes, it does make it easier to expand as your clientele starts to grow, but until then you’ll be burdened by overhead costs.
Another problem is the lease/rent/buy dilemma.
We covered this topic extensively in our guide on how to start your own gym or fitness centre, but the decision generally comes down to how much capital you have and what kind of spaces are available around your vicinity.
As a general rule, it’s usually better to buy your own place if you can since this gives you complete freedom over the design, and you won’t ever need to worry about eviction notices.
However, buying property means you’ll need to have very deep pockets. It can cost anywhere between $50,000 and $200,000 to start a new gym.
On the other hand, renting is much cheaper since you won’t have to pay anything up front (there’s usually a small security fee but the amount is negligible compared to the price of the actual building) and you’ll likely find a place closer to city center.
The problems with going down this route are that you’ll have limited freedom of choices, there’s a constant fear that you might get evicted, and you’ll be paying a monthly cost that will hold back your profits for a long time.
Solution: Research the market thoroughly and talk to other gym owners/fitness trainers. They’ll give you invaluable advice.
End Note
Starting a new gym comes with its own unique set of business challenges, but it’s something you can easily overcome, if you prepare well in advance.
When you’re starting out, make sure you talk to other gym owners in your locality and elsewhere. Since they have already experienced what you'll be facing now, they can give you a lot of useful tips and tricks that will help you get your business off the ground.
In case you’d like to ask anything from us, feel free to let us know in the comment section below.
Recommended Reads:
A Guide On Starting Your Own Gym Or Fitness Centre
Things To Consider Before Starting Your Own Gym
How Much Does It Cost To Start A New Gym
A Step-by-step Guide To Making A Business Plan
