When it comes to starting a fitness center or gym business from scratch, you need to think about many things. The foremost one that we always have in mind is about what all things we need to do to run a successful business.
If we look at the growth of this industry, Statistics says it has grown from $87.2 billion in 2017 to $94 billion in 2018. Globally, this industry is said to be experiencing an 8.7% growth rate.
Why starting a Health & Fitness Gym is a profitable business in 2024?
Starting a gym and fitness center can turn to be a profitable business in 2024, but like any other business, it needs sheer dedication. You need to have the right business idea, choose the right industry niche, have the money to spend, as well as, get the best people to work for you. Based on a report, there are 210,000 health clubs located around the world. This itself shows how influential gyms and fitness centers are when it comes to offering better health to people.
If we just look at the statistics in the US, currently, there are 60.87 million members at health and fitness centers.
Challenges that you will face in gym and fitness center business
Just like in any other business, you will face a number of challenges when you are running a gym and fitness center. Some of the key challenges have been explained below:
Staffing
One of the main challenges that a gym and a fitness center owner face is to find staff that are dedicated and passionate about what they do. Trainers and teams play a very crucial role in maintaining the name of the brand in attracting customers. They are the ones who motivate people to come in daily and put in efforts to stay fit and healthy.
You need to set aside enough budget when it comes to hiring staff. Going for low-quality trainers for a lesser amount to have more number of trainers can negatively impact the brand. So take your time and hire staff and trainers patiently one after the other.
Equipment
When you are setting up a new gym, you need to buy all the equipment that are necessary. This means you will have to spend a large amount of money. Again, if you are running a gym, you will have to keep some cash ready to be spent on maintaining the equipment. If you fail to take care of them, they will end up in the junkyard before they actually should be. In order to make sure no customers are hurt, you need to buy quality parts and accessories.
All such tasks are mean spending money and more money. So if you are low on budget, then you will have to wait for some more time to run your gym in a full-fledged manner.
Competition
Indeed, yours will not be the only gym which will be present in the area. This means you will be facing competition against your competitors. In order to stay ahead of such competition, you need to offer services and facilities which are not provided everywhere. In short, you need to be unique in what you do and how you do. You need to follow the industry standards and latest trends to stay ahead of everyone.
You need to hire expert trainers, experienced dieticians, quality equipment, better facilities, etc. Now all such things come at a cost, and you need to be ready enough to spend money on such business needs.
Permits & Certifications
In order to run your health & fitness gym business, you need to take licenses and permits from the local and state authorities. Whether to go for the State or local authorities will depend on the place you choose to run your business. You will need all these permits and licenses to run your gym. This is important because failing to have them can get you heavy penalties.
The best way to accomplish this is to visit the state or local authorities and let them know about your business venture and directly ask for advice.
Management
Smoothly managing your business is very important when you are all set and running. The future of your business will be bright when you have the right staff working with you. They will take care of their roles in a responsible way, leaving you with less stress and worries.
This will let you concentrate more on improving the business processes and the system, working on analytics to spot the potential issues before they actually surface and overall keep an eye on the business. When you stay alert, you will be able to take care of your business in the right manner.
Marketing
When you are all set to start a gym and fitness center, very few numbers of people may know about it. This means during the initial months; you will have very limited inquiries. You must boost the number of leads or customers towards your gym by opting for effective marketing campaigns. Failing to do so will increase financial stress on your business and it can get into losses in no time.
You can put up ad boards, use social media platforms, offer a yearly package for slashed rates, etc. to boost the income of your gym and fitness center.
Things to Consider while Starting a Gym Business
Identify Your Niche
There are several fitness niches in the market to make your choice. To be sure what kind of niche you would like to go ahead with, explore the ones explained below:
Traditional Gym
- Traditional gyms are focused on offering different options for workout within the space. It includes personal training, fitness classes, and equipment for cardio and strength training.
- They even offer some additional services for an extra fee.
- Some of such centers even offer additional facilities like sauna, massage, steam rooms, tanning, childcare, and others.
Specialty Fitness Center
- Such kind of fitness center mainly follows a said specialty. Now, this can be anything like cycling, yoga, aerobics, pilates, dance, and so on.
- Based on changing levels, complexity, and intensity, such centers offer a wide range of class options over the week.
- Such fitness centers seem to be more expensive due to the availability of quality instructors, intimate design and boutique experience.
- Such centers have certified instructors with experience in a specific niche.
- They even offer memberships or monthly packages.
Wellness & Medical Fitness Center
- Such kinds of fitness centers offer medical services and physical therapy to clients who are trying to recover from injuries and want to avoid any kind of health issues.
- Such kind of centers comes with skilled and experienced staff who keep on tracking and measuring the progress of the people.
- In most of the cases, such places are recommended to the clients by a doctor or a hospital.
- Along with the offering of group fitness classes, such a place even offers services of mental and physical wellness.
Location
Once you have decided which niche you plan to follow for your health & fitness gym business, it is time you think about the space. The kind of niche you choose will help you decide how much space you will need to run it. You should also decide the number of clients you are planning to serve at your center and this will help you decide the location for the gym and fitness center based on your requirements.
Again, you should be asking a few numbers of questions to yourself like –
- Whether you need access to parking?
- Is the place directly visible to the people?
- Is the place located on a busy road?
No doubt, many believe that finding the prime location for your gym is very important to attract your clients. For the same, they are ready to pay more just to make sure that the place is easily spotted.
Rates
It is essential that you determine the prices of your services and you need to do that first by choosing your services in the first place. You need to put in some effort to get some solid demographic information about the income groups and age of the people who lives within a specific range of your target area. You should also collect the latest fitness trends and come up with programs which can attract more people towards you. Now, based on the findings and newly designed services, you can develop a pricing structure that will cover all the expenses that you have put forth and combine it with the reward that you plan to give to the members who stay with you for a longer time.
Services you can provide in your gym
- Personal training
- Customized diet plan
- Medical monitoring
- Body screening
What is the Expense of Running a Health & Fitness Gym?
Rent
Based on the location you choose for your health & fitness gym and its size, the cost to rent the place will vary. You need to find a space where you can arrange all your equipment and weights as well as find some free space for yoga and cardio exercises. You also need to offer other facilities like sauna, locker room and showers. Before you zero on a place, it would be wise enough that you compare prices around and get the best deal.
Staff
Based on the number of members you are planning to serve, you will need the right amount of staff at your location. This can include personal trainers, yoga experts, aerobic experts, cleaning staff, office management staff, etc. Based on the importance of the role and expertise, the cost of managing such a team will vary. In the beginning, you can start by a minimum number of staff and then increase the strength as the demand increases and business expands.
Utilities
There are some utility services which you need to satisfy to keep the space running. A regular supply of water and an uninterrupted electricity supply can be on the top of everything else. You cannot compromise on the need to take a shower or ensuring to keep the air conditioner running always. All such utilities come at a cost.
Remodeling the Space
To accommodate all the members at a space and offer them better services, you must remodel the space based on the preferences. It includes remodeling the flooring, fixing equipment, leaving enough space for exercises and aerobics, changing the ambiance of the space for yoga and meditation sessions, etc. All such changes cost money and it means you should be ready to spend thousands of dollars for sure.
Equipment
Your costing may vary depending on the kind of the equipment you want to buy and the kind of the price they come with. Just keep in mind that building a fully equipped commercial gym space can cost you around $50,000. Take your time and look for equipment everywhere so as to get the best deal. You should also seek a discount when you are buying equipment in bulk.
Routine Maintenance
You need to conduct regular maintenance of your gym. This can include maintaining the equipment, buying new towels, mats, protein shakes, and bars; regular shower cleaning, locker rooms, exercise area, etc. Such things will altogether add up to the costs that you need to spend on the space to keep it running great as always.
Overall Management
Taking care of the day-to-day activities of the gym and the fitness center is very important. If you are not able to do that on a regular basis, you will need to find someone who does that for you. Hiring such a person means you will have to spend money in the form of a salary.
Marketing & Advertising
No one will know you exist; still, you plan to shout out loud. This is where you need the right marketing techniques for your business. This can be done by opting for some traditional ways like signboards to some digital campaigns on social media. You should be ready to keep aside a few thousand dollars to spend on such activities. This is very important to reach your potential clients.
Build Your Own GYM & Fitness center Website & Mobile app
As we know this is the era of digital transformation everything we are getting online or near me. Developing your gym or fitness center website helps you to grow your business online and local people finds you very easily. even so many gym trainers and famous fitness experts also creating a workout, nutrition and diet apps, and fitness activity tracking apps.
How to Make your Gym & Fitness Center Business More Profitable?
Improving the gym business is a big struggle and a huge challenge for many. You can work towards improving your business by taking one step at a time. So definitely consider the following steps to boost the revenue of your gym business:
Look at your offerings
Just like any other business, running a health & fitness gym is a business too. In case you offer a high membership rate, you will see a decline in the number of members if you are offering so many promotions and offers. You should either go ahead and offer many classes or should include promotions during specific days of the year.
You can even attract customers and improve their experience at your gym by providing healthy snacks or apparel with great offers.
Work towards improving customer service
When you are dealing with different aspects of your gym, you may find it hard to deal with customers properly. Say, for example, when you are signing up a new member, or you are taking care of administrative tasks, then it will not be easy for you to offer the best customer service. Now this will reflect negatively for your business. So you should instead try to memorize the names of the members and greet them with a smile every day. This way, they will feel that you value them and with the time you will be able to develop a friendly relation too.
Work on your marketing efforts
You need to consider improving your marketing efforts if you want to see more number of people visiting your gym. In case you are not active on social media platforms like Twitter or Facebook, it is time you start being on one. You need to come up with a page that represents your business and use it as a medium to reach many and more. Keep on answering frequently asked questions, offer health tips and add in high-quality content.
Install a gym management system
This is definitely one of the main steps that you should be taking towards the improvement of your gym business. In the current business scenario, having custom software for your gym business is inevitable. You need to offer a check-in facility to the customers by building a database of members just like any other client-centered services out there. Such a ready to go gym software system should offer some important modules like:
Staffing solutions
Like any other business, you need to have a module in your software system which takes care of staff. Their personal details, official information, attendance, shift timings, etc.
Online payment
Today most of the businesses prefer offering different payment options to the members. They let them use an e-wallet, credit/debit cards and other payment methods, which can ease off the process of payment without actually having to carry cash. You should consider using the same for your gym and fitness center too.
Accounting and finance
The ease of managing all your monetary transactions on the system will keep everything clear. You will be able to look back at them whenever you want.
Diet & Nutrition App
You can offer additional support to the health and fitness of your members by coming up with a Diet & Nutrition App development. Such an app will help the members to make healthy choices with their meals. It will offer meal suggestions and the desired time to take them. It will alert the members whenever they skip a meal or make an unhealthy choice. Some of such apps also help track calorie count as well as a number of glasses of water a person consumed in a day.
Health and fitness are essential in this fast-moving world. For the same reason, the importance of a health & fitness gym or a fitness center is more. For a business to flourish, you need to understand its scope, challenges, and benefits you can gain from it. Every business is about making money and understanding key factors will help you get ahead. Moreover, by implementing the Latest Website and mobile app development solution, you will be able to ease your journey to success.
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