Starting a gym can be complicated. Instinctively, launching a health club seems simple: equipment + passion = success, right? True, but gyms also involve people, liability, capital investments, promotions, regulations, and expenses. Juggling all this is where success is achieved. The following blog is a short overview of four of the most significant responsibilities affecting your new company. Below the blog, we’ve included helpful links for research and assistance. Four tasks every gym owner faces: Insurance coverageCapital equipment purchasesMarketing expensesEmployee management 1. Required insurance coverage: General liability Commercial propertyProfessional liabilityWorkers’ Comp Although the cost of insurance varies widely based on the size [...]
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If you’re ready to own a gym, it’s time to think about the best location. You'll be wise to research this one carefully as it can have a big impact on your long-term success. Here are some key ideas to help in landing the perfect spot to launch your new business. 1. Start the search for commercial space on the Internet LoopNet.com is a commercial real estate marketplace that allows you to identify available space easily and effectively. Whether you’re interested in leasing or buying space, this national aggregate for available commercial space allows you to narrow your search by neighborhood, [...]
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You’ve got the energy, ideas, and passion for your sport. But what about some solid facts about how to open your own club? This June, we’re going to help you learn what it takes to start a gym. Each week, we will cover an important step to your successful new business launch and provide some common sense advice from established gym owners. First, do you have a business plan? Why do I need a business plan? Too many small business owners open their first fitness center without creating a strong plan of action. A business plan is a written guideline [...]
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Gym Management Have you considered raising your gym membership rates yet? It’s a scary thought but the truth is inflation is running hot with no signs of cooling off. As a gym owner, you get the big picture: higher fuel prices, limited labor market, and costly commodities. This all adds up to less cash in the bank. And, even though you didn’t start a gym to make a fortune, that buffer between income and expenses — aka your profit margin — is the foundation of a well-run business. Profit is where growth, reinvestment, and risk-taking occur. In order to keep [...]
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Growth This summer, drive gym membership for college students by offering them a great deal on your awesome club. Last year, we wrote a blog urging gym owners to reach out to cooped-up college students tired of learning online and alone. Your gym would become their oasis – a place to meet friends, expend some energy, and prepare for a new year on campus. A refuge from a rough, COVID-crazy year. This year, the kids are back home for the summer and ready to hit an exercise class or two. Let’s look at some reasons it’s the perfect time to target this [...]
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Customer Stories Gym Insight's digital keytags fixes a big problem in the gym business — access theft. This innovative door access system reduces theft by making it nearly impossible for members to share gym keys. Read on to discover how this simple change made a big difference for gym owners just like you. Photo credit: Tangible Wellness ProFitness Greenville Mark Edwards, owner of ProFitness Greenville in Greenville, South Carolina, runs a gym and personal training studio. He is, as he likes to say, a “one-man show.” Despite having bought the fitness center at the end of 2020, business is thriving. Gym membership has tripled [...]
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Gym Management Netflix recently made headlines when it came clean on its subscription sharing problem. Too many users are slipping passwords to friends and family. To rectify this bottom-line problem, they are pivoting to new policies and trying to stem the leak. However, if sharing passwords can make a company the size of Netflix quake, imagine its impact on small, privately held gyms. For gym owners, the answer to account sharing lies in digital keytags, a QR-embedded phone app nimble enough to save money and build customer loyalty. Gym Insight’s digital keytags eliminate unauthorized users by providing a dynamic QR code [...]
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There's no time like the present to prepare for storms on the horizon. I'm reminded about this because one of the big boys has just arrived in town in a big way. The launch of Life Time Athletic into the local Las Vegas market has been a wake-up call, announced with all of the glitz and fanfare people expect of this town. I would like to use it as an example of how established local gyms can respond effectively to big-box corporate competition. The Las Vegas Athletic Club Value Proposition When the big national or multi-national brands move in, you [...]
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We invite you to test our newest product – digital keytags. If you've ever worried about customers sharing keys or have lost business because you can't get to the club in time, this key is for you. Gym Insight's newly released, app-based digital keytags are equipped with a QR code that can never be copied or shared. At the same time, members enjoy immediate, secure mobile access to your fitness center within minutes of sign-up. How does our digital keytag work? Customers download an app on their mobile phones. Embedded in the app is the digital keytag. Your member simply pulls [...]
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Read on for six simple and easy promos. 1. Spin & Win These table top spinners turn an everyday contest into a Wow! adventure. Pair it with video and the spinning wheel pulls in viewers on social media. In fact, the spinner can become a promotion all on its’ own. Consider inviting members to spin the wheel and win a free month, a club tee shirt, a family membership, or a gallon of gas. Then, post their happy responses with a call out for guest to come in and try their luck. With a little creativity, this promotional prop can [...]
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It’s on every gym owner’s mind – do I need to increase rates? With everything else going up, from paper towels to rubber gloves, it’s tough to say no. One gym owner decided to take the plunge. After six years in business, Chris Giumarra of Rosamond Health & Fitness in Rosamond, California, created a six-week, three-phase strategy for raising gym fees. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-va7RfCzBkU&t=1430s Phase One: Social media plan of attack for raising gym fees Giumarra chose to increase membership charges by $5 per month for both his “heroes” category and regular gym members. It would be his first rate hike since [...]
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As a gym owner, you’re a natural entrepreneur. Capable of weighing risks and making decisions. Yet, diversifying companies or running multiple gyms is a difficult leap — powering through even one gym can seem insurmountable. How can you run multiple gyms successfully? To answer this question, we turned to Troy Barnum, who owns two Total Fitness gyms and a successful ATV ecommerce store. He bought his first gym in 2011 after running other ventures. Here’s his key advice. For a full recount of our conversation, go to our “Gym Owners Podcast” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxZ2Q5ExbQ0 10 Tips for Running Multiple Gyms 1) Expect to work hard. Barnum puts [...]
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Many smaller fitness centers offer specialized services that justify a higher monthly rate. Yet, selling that price requires a more refined approach to customer managment than it would at a cut-rate gym. To figure out the details, we’ve interviewed a Muay Thai studio owner on what it takes to sell and manage high-dollar gym memberships. Read on to learn his four critical steps to managing high-dollar memberships. Step 1 — Sell value, not price Tampa Muay Thai membership is $145 per month. The 17-year-old fight gym sits in the heart of a growing medium-sized city and competes with other martial art studios. To [...]
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Gym Insight's management team has always been laser-focused on the success of its gym owners. That's why we started The Gym Owner’s Podcast on YouTube five years ago. We created the original podcast to provide our customers with easy access to software training videos. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GHsKOL5wZk&t=27s Yet, at the start of the pandemic in 2020, we decided to ramp up our content. Turns out, our amazing sales guy Anthony Pasquale enjoys chatting with customers – he loves talking shop with you guys. What can one business owner teach another? As a former gym owner himself, Anthony wondered: What’s going on in the fitness world today? [...]
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Powerlifter at Celli's Fitness Center is ready for next move Ryan Celli founded Celli’s Fitness Center in 2007 catering to strength athletes and power lifters. Since then, his privately owned gym has relocated, expanded, and added automated membership sign-up. Like many small gyms, he relies on technology to keep costs down. As he grew, he added cameras, a door controller, programable music, and a self-serve drink station along with a better gym management system. The investments allowed him to scale back hours and employ a staff of only his wife and son. However, he soon found well-placed technology returned more than [...]
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