It’s surprising to hear how many new gym owners jump straight into the process of starting their own facility without giving a second thought to how they’re going to manage their finances.
Let’s not forget that, at the end of the day, a new gym is a business venture first and foremost, and so it naturally comes with all the challenges you’d face in a start-up in any other industry. The only difference here is that you’re selling a service instead of a product and the target market is very specific.
In our post on why you should prepare a business plan for your new gym, we discussed the importance of getting your finances in order before you ask an investor for money.
The easiest way to do this is by asking a financial advisor for help.
A good financial advisor will not only assess the viability of your business plans, they’ll also have the expertise and experience to help you make the most out of your initial investment.
Here are 5 reasons you should hire a financial advisor for your new gym:
1. Manage Your Investment
Your new gym will cost anywhere between £10,000 and £100,000 depending on the location, size of the space, equipment, and the staff that you choose.
In most cases this investment will come directly from your savings, so it makes sense to have the money managed by a professional if you don’t want to end up on the streets in your first year of business. (Keep in mind that 90% of all start-ups fail. You’ll need all the help you can get to end up in the successful 10%.)
The first thing a professional advisor will do is help you highlight your priorities. There’s no use spending excessive amounts of money on accessories to add opulence to your gym if you can’t keep your operational costs under control.
This is a common mistake new gym owners tend to make. They end up spending so much money on useless things that they struggle to keep up with their monthly expenses when business is slow.
2. Less Stress
Another great benefit of having a professional around is that they’ll take responsibility for managing an entire aspect of your business, meaning you’ll have less to worry about.
As a new gym owner, you’ll end up performing multiple roles all at once, including acting as a trainer for your clients, looking after the equipment, meeting with investors on a regular basis, and more.
Hiring someone to manage your finances means you’re no longer burdened by decisions that would take up too much valuable time.
3. Future Growth
Your dreams of establishing a fitness enterprise that can challenge the likes of Gold’s Gym will never come to light if you don’t make smart investment choices.
The biggest problem with managing your own finances is that it’s very easy for your decisions to get affected by emotions. You might rush into something that harms your business in the long run simply because you were overwhelmed with your emotions.
A financial advisor, however, will have a more neutral, professional view of things which is necessary when dealing with large sums of money.
He/she will also give your business the clarity and focus required to ensure business growth is sustainable and stable.
4. Cost Savings
One of the biggest reasons for hiring a professional financial advisor is that he/she will help you save a lot of money.
There’s a common misconception in small business industry that hiring professional advisors represents an additional expense that should be avoided at all costs.
However, this is quite far away from reality.
Yes, hiring an advisor will mean that there’s an additional cost coming out of your monthly expenses, but they’ll also help you optimise your cash flow and avoid financial mistakes that would otherwise have sunk the business.
5. Secure Retirement
As much as you might hate to think about it, there will come a time when you’ll need to hand over your business operations to someone else. It could be because you’re too old/weak to carry out the business anymore, or because you got an offer to sell the gym that you couldn’t refuse.
It’s extremely important that you prepare for this day as best you can.
Your financial advisor will help make you make all the necessary arrangements so that a portion of your earnings from the gym go towards a retirement fund.
Conclusion
A lot of gym owners avoid hiring financial advisors in an attempt to reduce their expenses. This is clearly the wrong ideology.
The right financial advisor will save you time and money, as well as take a lot of stress off your shoulders owning to their specialized expertise and many years of experience.
