| Lifting
weights is the easy part of this fitness center business plan.
Making it financially viable is a whole lot harder.
KEY CONSIDERATION
Business acumen is absolutely
critical to the funding success of a new fitness club. Your
extensive knowledge of the business, from the perspective of all
potential clients, is also critical.
STRONGEST ADVANTAGE
A lot of the equipment that you
need to start can be leased, or might even be used. It's nice to
have nice, shiny new stuff -- but a strong financial projection
will get you further.
STRONGEST DISADVANTAGE
A lot of people think they know
the fitness club business because they know what their peers
think. They may know the 20s-30s market, or the martial arts
market, or even the "older" market. It is a rare entrepreneur
who can pull the disparate elements of a number of these markets
together -- and that is what is needed for real success.
OVERCOMING THE DISADVANTAGE
WITH YOUR FITNESS CENTER BUSINESS PLAN
Focus your efforts on a defined
clientele base.
Curves has done a masterful job
of defining its clientele base: busy women. Many others seem to
focus memberships on how much people in their area can pay.
There's everything from the $20 per month to hundreds of dollars
per month.
If this is your first health
club, focus the business plan on a defined niche. Simply put:
who lives in the area where you plan on opening? Or conversely,
if you want to reach the 20s-30s professional, do enough of them
live in the area you are going to be? Do they have a gym of any
kind already accessible to them, such as in their apartments or
condos?
And approach the competition
issue very honestly. A given area can only support so many
fitness clubs. No matter how good yours is going to be, the
competition can chip away at your profits very easily.
Prove that you have the
marketing background and skill to make the store successful.
Hit the decks running with a
full blown marketing plan ready. More than anything else, this
is what will demonstrate to the lender/investor that you have
what it takes to successfully operate a health club.
Devote a minimum of 5-8 pages
of your sample business plan for a fitness club to setting out
your marketing plan.
Identify your core members.
Identify the number of your
core members in your immediate area.
Have some initial ads or
promotions developed to demonstrate your skill in this area.
If you have any celebrity
endorsements, flaunt it.
Base your projections of valid,
provable statistics. No pie in the sky here -- it just won't
fly.
OTHER PLUSSES FROM YOUR
SAMPLE FITNESS CENTER BUSINESS PLAN
This is a business that demands
a broad spectrum of knowledge and experience, from health
department regulations to parking and signage issues. There is
no on the job training. If you are going to successfully operate
a fitness club, know your stuff before ever approaching a lender
or investor.
A fitness center business plan
can provide the outline. But you need to dig for the local rules
and regs that will affect your business. Prove that you have
done so, and that your business plan takes these rules and regs
into consideration.
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
FOR YOUR FITNESS CENTER BUSINESS PLAN AND YOUR FITNESS CLUB
MARKETING PLAN
If you are locating in a retail
center, contact the owner/manager of the retail center for
demographic information. Also go to your city or county planning
department where you can get traffic counts and information on
housing and construction in that area.
For statistical information
for a marketing plan for a fitness club, go to
BizMiner.
At the home page, look on the
bottom of the page. You will see "Fitness and Sports" as a
general industry. Click on that.
From the drop down menu on the next screen, choose "Fitness &
exercise facilities"
From the drop down menu on the
next screen, choose "Exercise facilities"
There are a number of specific
types of fitness clubs that you can choose from:
- Physical fitness facilities
- Physical fitness clubs with
training equipment
- Athletic club and
gymnasiums, membership
- Health club
- Spas
- Exercise facilities
- Aerobic dance and exercise
classes
- Exercise salon
There are Financial Analyses
and Marketing Research for each of these types of fitness clubs.
Each is different. Choose the one that is closest to the type of
health club you are planning. Study the information closely --
this is what your lender/investor will use to see if your
projections are reasonable.
Note: BizMiner has reports
available for a wide range of sports related businesses, such as
- Bowling centers
- Handball courts
- Squash club
- Billiard parlor
- Bicycle rental
- Skating rink
- Archery lanes
- Skeet shooting facility
If you have a different type of
sports club in mind, simply key in the name of the type you are
looking for in the Search Box on the home page of BizMiner.
Be sure to look in the left
hand column of that page for VIEW ALL REPORTS, then AREA
DEMOGRAPHICS which is compiled from US Census statistics. You
will find a wealth of information on your area, with age, income
level, housing type, educational level, etc. -- everything you
need to target your membership base.
YOUR LIKELY LENDER/INVESTOR
The
SBA
is probably your best bet.
If, however, you are planning
on regional or national expansion, or if this is NOT your first
facility, check out appropriate venture capital groups in your
area. And be sure to check out the newest development in venture
capital:
venture lending.
YOUR ONLINE PRESENCE
Odds are that you will want to
promote your business online. New members, as well as
lenders/investors, want to see what you can do. So strut your
stuff. See the
best web host for more information on my preferred web host.
YOUR FITNESS CENTER BUSINESS
PLAN
Fitness clubs are not easy to
fund because so many potential owners just don't have the
experience to make it successful. If you do indeed have the
experience, you are head and shoulders above the others. And
with a great business plan in your pocket, you've got it made.
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