Buying a gym...

Gearheadz-r-us
Steroidfreakz Hardcore Gym
We-do-steroids.

Just to name a few...lol...j/k bro

Body2see may work. Make sure you don't just focus towards the hard core gym-goers, because most of your money will be made from the occasional lifters or the men and women trying to "get back into it". You don't want to intimidate them, because they'll just join curves for a few months then quit instead of joining your gym for a few months. lol.

More like Bodies2See

I got a name right here for you! Check this out, "The Body Shop"! Good, right what do you think? That's a winner if I have ever heard of one. That's the one, I should get a stinking royalty!

yea, i agree with biggerstronger, dont make it to hardcore like he said, even though it would be sweet, i was thinkin about opening up a 24 hr gym after i graduated college, not sure yet, but def. good luck on it bro.

The name wont matter much if you have naked chicks handing out the towels.

Is this gym going to be in the New England area?

Where is it going to be? What group of people are you going to gear it toward? Why is it selling in the first place? I think your screename is a good name, but you need to make sure you can make money off of it first. I bought a gym a couple of years ago from an old lady in a small town in the US. It went well for awhile, but pretty soon I lost business because I tried to cater to the wrong type of client. I tried to make the gym a place where hardcore lifters could come as well as regulars just wanting to get in shape and women. This would've worked if I had enough space, but I didn't. So evaluate what you have and what you want to do with it before you make a purchase. It's also a good idea to come up with a good business plan. This has been my experience.

BiggerStronger said:

Gearheadz-r-us
Steroidfreakz Hardcore Gym
We-do-steroids.

Just to name a few...lol...j/k bro

Body2see may work. Make sure you don't just focus towards the hard core gym-goers, because most of your money will be made from the occasional lifters or the men and women trying to "get back into it". You don't want to intimidate them, because they'll just join curves for a few months then quit instead of joining your gym for a few months. lol.

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I like those names LOL

Where is it going to be?

you can also take advantage of tax writeoff's with a business that could make it a little more worthwhile. It's hard to start your own gym these days with all the big named places out there.

BiggerStronger said:

It's hard to start your own gym these days with all the big named places out there.

Click to expand...

Thats definitely true where Im at. The local gym I go to had changed owners at least 4 times in the year or 2 Ive been there. :dizzy:

I owned a gym for several years and never could make a profit. I would usually end up losing about $1500 to $2000 a month. I just could not compete with the large "fitness centers" in my area. They had the capital to constantly upgrade their facility and purchase new lines of exercise equipment where I did not. I had to run the gym practically by myself (my girlfriend helped a little). I would get there at 7:00am and finally leave at about 3:00am. after cleaning up and putting back weights. I never could get most to pick up after themselves. While I owned it I added tanning and supplement sales. I finally ending up making money by selling supplements on the internet and that became quite lucrative for a while. But this was back in 1995 when there was very little competition on the internet. Now with the competition on the internet and government restriction of supplements you can not make a profit now. Just make sure you weigh all the options - competition in the area, your capital resources and your time commitment. Definately try to develop a business plan. There should be some resources in your area (university or college business programs or small business programs) to help you develop a business plan. If you decide to give it a try I wish you all the success in your endevor!

Bro, my gym in Mississippi is mostly the normal gearheads too. But after they mentioned that they were getting rid of their steamroom, then there was much talk about going to another gym. So they kept it. If you can, get a steamroom in the locker room. also new equipment attracts me 2 a gym, i dont like to work out on crappy beat up equipment. if you live near a college then offer college discounts because they can workout for free at their school but if your gym is worth paying it then they will. My college gym sucks. basketball leagues give great cardio workout and is a fast way to make fast money. it was like $375 for a team of 10 or $45.00 a person. Teams provide their own jerseys. Have like three seasons a year. thats alot of cash!

just my 2 cents

Yo, my gym is okay, I don't need a steam room, a pool or any other thing besides iron. But the fancy machines and shit attract the polar bears-big fat hairy white guys that always spend hours in the gym and never do any fucking work! They pay the bills, you have your personal trainers with people who don't know how to workout or just have money to burn and don't want to workout alone-usually the yuppies and house wives. They do have a training school-that seems to be their main pull of capitol. All these friggin' kids in sports in one of the richest counties in the country and their parents pay top dollar to have them learn how to run better and get faster. They train some pro-guys too, or have them endorse the place. If you can't get that you have to have a yuppie attraction like rachaquett ball, olympic pool, message center. I love it thought-80 cars in the lot, I have to park down the street, walk in and the place is a ghost town. Everyone is watching the friggin' kids go through boot camp. I the biggest dude in there a lot because I am one of the only ones working out. That's a good feeling. But anyway the actual memberships just people working out will only bring in enough to break even, you have to have something to attract the out of shape person because their not just going to want to lift heavy ass weights and go home.

I would also like to add that when I owned my gym that my gas & electric bills were out of sight and here in the Midwest they are jumping the gas like 70% this year versus last year. Make sure that you check with your local gas & electric company any figures that they may have on the location and to figure any increases on your expected consumption. Also the main advantage the fitness centers had here was the ability to bring in the women and were the women go the men will follow! LOL! Even though most people hate membership contracts (with the ability to automatically withdrawl the membership dues from a checking account) they are a must in the business. About 95% of the people that join will only stick with it a few months at the most and then they are gone. Of course the best time of the year is after Jan. 1st when people make New Years resolutions to get in shape. Late Spring to early fall is the worst time to get new members. Again, best of luck!

You might want to look into running a couple of businesses out of the same building if you have the size. The more you can offer then better chance you have of making a profit. Also, depending on where you live you might think about catering to a specific type of client. I know of a guy that bought a gym last year and catered specifically to powerlifters. He would let anyone work out, but it wasn't like a Balleys or a 24HR Fitness...the equipment was functional, but not necessiarly brand new and top of the line. And he had the ability to kick anyone out anytime he wanted to if he felt they weren't in there to workout. He didn't want it becoming a social hangout. This ran off some of the clients that would come in just to socialize, but they probably would've left anyway when the gym down the street got new, nicer stuff. It also brought in a ton of the hardcore lifters from the area. They like it because it's not a place where people stare at you if you grunt, yell, hit the weights on the floor (deadlifts), etc... He also brought in some special equipment like bands for bench, equipment for a farmers walk, stones, etc... It has worked out well for him so far, but it might not for you. Just a thought.

Spiderman has a darn good point in terms of secondary businesses. Perhaps supps or tanning or protein smoothies/health snacks. All of these are simply ways to leverage a bit more money from the situation.

I ran a small business that was a money loser for a few years. It sucked - you work hard and you literally can't get ahead and you have no money to expand. We were able to relocate and make it profitable, but it still sucked.

The flip side is if you can purchase the business for less than the cost of the equipment, you might be in a good position to make it work even if you have to relocate things. If they want to sell, you could get a good price.

Lets play dodgeball!

Well listen Docwill and Spyder basically said what I did, although plifter sounds the most credible because he is for sure. Even Franchise supported firms loose revinue in area but remain open either for hopes of turning around or pride. Location is key, you have to have a few attractions like a circus freak show, pools, steam, advanced training, extra space-that turns the profit, other half breaks even. But not to worry. Even people who own a business and turn profit often do not show it because who wants to pay all that tax money? So for all you know places doing poorly could be making someone rich. I would go for it though, be creative, put your own pizzaz into it and its your pride and joy and good through bad times owning a business can be just as euphoric as making a profit. Good for the body and soul!

Money problems is why innovation in the gym industry was so neccesary......It's why they began selling supplements and tanning services. To be successful in the gym business you have to think outside the box and sell things to increase the profit margin. Be creative.

In chicago where I live there is a hardcore gym that specializes in the hardcore only.......Guys that just wanna get big........They sell weight gainers, creatine and basically anything that would appeal to a guy that wants to get big.......The biggest selling point is the massive trainers and the hot fitness chicks that work there.

The trainers create enthusiasm and results for the clients in a no bullshit atmosphere and the clients buy everything the trainer recommends.......it's one of the very few successful gyms ive seen and theres nothing flashy about the place......it looks like someones basement with a bunch of free weights and some machines on a concrete floor.