Tips for setting up a fitness studio

Are you planning to open your fitness studio? Do you love spending your time researching on health and fitness? Are you a fitness freak yourself? Are you the one whose friends and family members always look up to for fitness-related advice? Like to develop a fitness regime? Good with handling a large team of people? Love socialising and getting in touch with the number of people? Then congratulations! You have chosen the right business option for yourself.

And now is the time to get into the nitty-gritty of this business. How to open a gym? How to make a budget? From where can I get all the needed advice and help? Do I need a manager or one can do all the management by himself? How to find the best trainers? What should be the name and what should be its marketing strategy? If you think you can handle all of this with love, then this article is a must-read. Because here, you can find all the answers and best plans for your new venture.

How the fitness industry is the most relevant option

Today people wanted to remain fit and healthy. Now fitness is not just a concern of old or middle-aged people but has become equally significant among youngsters and teenagers. The fitness trends like bodyweight training, water rower, health/wellness coaching HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training), yoga, power yoga, functional fitness training and personal training has contributed majorly in the rise of this industry.

From a business point of view, the fitness industry has proved its credibility over the years. Especially by having lower-level concentration, the lower business has become able to generate considerable profits. In 2016, small businesses generated almost 88 per cent of the profit and only 18 per cent of the revenue generated by the large studios.

Make a plan:

Are you ready to take on this new venture? Then, you should ask yourself all these important questions. Do you have love and passion for this field? Do you enjoy motivating people and keeping them fit? Because this business runs on the passion for learning new techniques and educating all the trainees about their health and fitness regime. Only this can prove your and your facility credibility. If you can help one client with his problems, then it means you have earned two to three more clients. In this way, the clients get multiplied. In a plan-making and decision-making process, you should first consider and count your abilities and disabilities. If your self-analysis depicts that the abilities are way stronger than weak points, then you are great to go!

Research your subject:

Secondly, research your subject, choose one area and make yourself and your facility a go-to place for that. Being all over the place is no doubt a good idea. But it costs you a lot, especially in dealing and having serious clients who are looking for long term partnerships when it comes to taking advice and proper guidance. Thirdly, target your audience and market. This is the most important step because it drives the whole nature of your business. If you are located in the most urbanised area, then you need to raise your level of investments. Mostly because being at the centre of the city you have to deal with the competition as there will be several other fitness centres at very close proximity.

Also, your audience is more educated and concerned about even the little details of their fitness regime, and if you are unable to satisfy their queries, they may end up choosing the other one. This is why, make location, audience and research your main integrals of designing a brand, name and marketing strategy. In this way, by exerting all your energy on the most focused points, you will be able to attract great customers. Make sure to get your fitness facility all the permits and licences. Otherwise, your facility will get heavy penalties and can be closed for some time. This can not only damage your investment but cost you heavily as reputation is concerned. No doubt, having a good reputation is the most integral feature of any business. Without that, you can not make long term work.

Start with choosing a name:

Choosing a name is a difficult part. But make sure your brand name is in sync with your business niche, environment, nature, theme and ideology. If your fitness facility is nutrition-focused, then try to go for some fresh and nutrition-related name such as Green, Be fit, Remain healthy, etc. On the other hand, if your facility is all about heavy exercises, body shaping and bodybuilding then go with little more bold and heavy names like Get active, Fitness Fanatics, Get Tough, Sweat Block, etc.

Breakdown your Budget:

According to an estimate, the fitness industry generated a total of 27 billion US dollar last year. This fact shows the importance and sudden burst the industry has experienced. This is a big reason to invest in this area. However, most of the people think that opening this business needs heavy investment. This is true in one place but if you have a passion for this work but a small amount is holding you back then try to look for easy business plans. Breakdown, your budget, go for renovation ideas that require less investment yet look more classy and stylish. Secondly, you must open your business account for all the work-related transactions and payments.

Thirdly, do a detailed budget breakdown and design all the short term and long term investments plans. If you think trainers are a bit costly, then go for hiring a trainer who is educated and well informed about his field. On the other hand, if you are thinking about hiring trainers, then make sure that they have certificates and needed licences for personal training. Only, in this way you can have credible and best trainers and avoid the fraud.

Define the brand:

After choosing a name and breaking down the budget, you need to define the brand. Defining brand involves choosing the niche, styling the facility, setting the parameters, create a message, design a logo, create a voice that speaks to its clientele, write a tagline, Create a template and standards for future marketing purposes.

Create a marketing strategy:

After all, now is the time to design a marketing strategy that can help in making your name prominent. Marketing platforms such as social media, print media and electronic media can play an important role. However, among all these marketing platforms, social media is the most significant one. Facebook and Instagram are the most regarded one. Their users are in millions and spread all around the globe. This is the best tool to reach your targeted audience by analysing their interests and needs. Because social media is the platform that makes any brand to get the clearest idea and set the trends accordingly. By devising a marketing strategy and creative campaigns, one can set the trends that will not only make the brand known but can make your business a hit in no time.

The marketing strategy should be following the brand name and nature. If your fitness facility is health-focused and wanted to educate the people about fitness then you need to run a campaign that spread awareness about health, share facts and figures, motivate people to get to know the root problems. Videos, gifs, posts, and blogs should be shared weekly that is just according to the marketing strategy.

Design attractive fitness packages:

Getting into a gym and taking out time to do daily exercise is not an easy option for a person to take. Joining a good gym requires a lot of budget and time to manage. If you are planning to open a high-end fitness facility, then make sure your fees are according to your niche market and targeted audience. Otherwise, you will not be able to make large in terms of number and long term relationships with your clientele.

Designing attractive fitness packages include giving multiple options in one fee. If someone is looking to have a personal trainer for himself, then make sure to offer him some side attraction like free protein juices or easy and relaxed timings.

If you are planning to open a fitness facility and making the investment in this sector, then you must make yourself familiar with all the procedures. Getting into just the basics of this business will not do any good to you. As several boring things are not only an integral of this business but are also the sensitive features that are needed to be cross-checked; otherwise, it can cost you heavily later in the process.

Conclusion

Conclusion of the whole process, make yourself prepare to spend a large chunk of your time in this field. It needs you to be constantly on your toes and indulge in exporting new tricks and techniques. Make sure you are not just following the trends but making it yourself too. 2020 is the year of fitness training that includes stylish wearables, diet making and routine management. So for once, what fitness considers to be a one hour job has now become a lifestyle.

• Prev
• Next