Four tips for crushing it when opening a gym
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1. Master Your Social Media to Open a Gym
Regardless of whether you love or hate social media, videos, posts, clicks, and likes are a necessary evil in today’s gym world. Unfortunately, running social media campaigns can easily turn into a time-consuming side gig.
Tips for running a social media campaign:
Start raw – Direct discussions with viewers are popular again. Invest in an easy-to-use video editing apps, to show off your gym and accent your passion.
Develop a social media plan – The easiest way to do this is by building a publishing calendar. If you outline a monthly/quarterly plan for posting a variety of social media posts, you’ll avoid the anxiety that comes with creating on the fly.
Acquire the old gym’s social media followers – If you bought a gym with a social media following, remember to bring them along to the new gym. Facebook offers a built-in merge tool. However, other platforms, including Instagram, do not. Instead, you’ll need to redirect followers and change usernames. This blog by Clearly Acquired provides a great step-by-step on merging social media accounts for business.
Lean into younger members – Tap into locals who follow Internet trends, and don’t be afraid to pay to produce your social media. Just be sure to always OK any final cuts or posts to ensure consistency and accuracy.
2. Seek Good Leasing Advice
New gym owners almost always lease their first locations. It frees capital and makes it easier to move. However, many new gym owners often make the mistake of signing complicated, expensive leases.We’ve produced a series of blogs on leases for gym owners. They are listed below for your convenience.
However, here’s a few key pieces of advice:
Retain a commercial real estate representative — The landowner is not on your side. A commercial real estate representative is, and will negotiate the best lease for your style of gym. Their fee is paid by the property owner or listing agent, so don’t skimp. They can help you ask for — and get — build-out concessions, free months of rent, and out of troublesome exclusivity clauses.
Study up on the difference between a Triple Net Lease and a Full Service Lease — One is cheaper than the other but could cost much more over time. Read and learn before signing any lease.
Know your worth — Gyms attract every age. Additionally, these fitness fans linger and spend money at other businesses in your plaza — two golden features for any property manager. Fitness is also a growing industry with a good reputation for paying its bills. Don’t let a big company intimidate you.
3. Buy Used Gym Equipment to Open a Gym
As tempting as it is to cut a check for all new gym equipment, buying well-maintained used equipment saves hundreds of thousands of dollars. Some estimates suggest it can cost upwards of $500,000 to buy all new gym equipment.
Sourcing resellers with great reputations can cut expenses to a third or less. Steve Harvalias, owner of SuperFitness Gym in Burlington, N.C., is one of Gym Insight’s longest-standing customers. His side business, SuperFitness New & Used Gym Equipment, sells fully refurbished used equipment to gyms across the country.
From Harvalias’ perspective, buying used equipment offers several advantages:
Saves on depreciation — As soon as the first member sits on the Smith machine, it’s considered used. Now, the next customer is using used equipment.
Easier to adapt to trends — When you buy used, you’re not married to a piece. If it stops being useful, you have not lost a ton of money after switching it out for a trendier piece.
Become debt-free faster — Buying equipment is the most expensive part of owning a gym. Used equipment allows you to pay off the equipment faster, thereby becoming profitable quicker.
4. Install Good Gym Software & Run a Presale.
New gym owners often trip up over what type of gym management software to buy. When you decide to open a gym, managing it well is the difference between knowing how much money is coming in and how much is going out. Installing the wrong gym management software can mean you never really know that number.
Often, gym owners just skip this step completely and go “pen and paper” instead. They worry gym management software may cost too much money or require too long of a contract.
That’s where we will toot our own horn. Gym Insight is among the most affordable gym software’s on the market. Additionally, we do not force you to sign a contract. Instead, we let our stellar, easy-to-use software do the talking.
Most gym software gives you control over membership, employee compensation, and gym access — three critical areas of fraud. But good gym software makes it easy to run your business efficiently, from anywhere, and lets you keep all the profits. Check out our fully integrated, cloud-based product today.
Second, we recommend installing gym software before opening your gym. This allows you to take advantage of presales. Presales are a creative way to build membership before doors open — providing much-needed emergency cash and a roster of first-day clients. A win-win for everyone!
Gym Insight on the Job!
About Gym Insight
We hope you enjoyed our blog and wish you the best as you open a gym.
We are a gym management software firm established in 2008. We custom write all our own software. What does that mean to you? It means no playing around with cumbersome third-party plug-ins or calling another company for repairs.
Additionally, our software fully integrates everything from our member management to our tablet-based sales tool. For example:
- Digital contracts are uploaded to accounts upon signing
- Digital keytag 24/7 door access allows clients to sign up for a membership online and let themselves into your gym immediately
- Extensive reporting capabilities give you strong strategy tools
- Employee management tools give you complete control
Ready to Open Your Gym with Confidence?
Gym Insight helps new gym owners manage memberships, access, employees, and revenue—all in one fully integrated platform, with no contracts and no third-party plug-ins.
Call 855-FOR-GYMS (855-367-4967)
Ask for Anthony, Natalia, or Angela
Additional Blog Resources:
How Can Gym Owners Extract the Best Lease Concessions?
Five Steps to Signing the Right Lease for Your New Gym — the First Time
Gym Owners: Here’s How to Flex Your Leasing Power
Avoid These Common Lease Mistakes: Expert Tips for Gym Owners