Im looking into what it takes to open a gym. How did those who own a gym go about it? How much did you need to start off?

Oviously im aiming for the future.But any info any one might have, intersted to see what thughts you got!

I owned a gym for 6 years. Its a good living for one person, I don't recommend a partner unless you are 100% about him/her and the projected turnover is sufficient to sustain two. Make sure you put together a realistic business plan. It cost me around £25k to set up. That was taking a 4000 sq ft unit, empty, fitting it out with showers, both his and hers. A fully equiped gym, I found a small manufacturer in Manchester who made all my stuff to my spec, and I had d/bells fro 2.5 kg up to 50kg. Three olympic sets. I found the foundry that casts 20kg discs and had him make me 40. It was far cheaper than buying them retail. I had contacts in the building trade at the time so it kept all costs down as I got materials at trade. Its a matter of research, doing your homework, before ploughing ahead.
The all important factor is location, get that right and you could be on a winner, get it wrong and you will sink without trace. Ensure good parking facilities, night lights, if you have a ladies section, which I did, then ladies don't like walking out at night into pitch black.
So lots to consider.
If you want more specific advice pm me.

Cheers

Reaper.  

Thanks alot mate. Im going to be looking into this. Would make my dreams to open up a gym..and worcester could deff do with another! not spoilt for choice thats for sure.

Im 24 atm so hoping to save for a few more years and at the same time gather more intel into any plans that could surface.

great tips and apperiate it reaper. how come you stopped owning the gym? I was thinking if the property was right to complety seperate weights to cardio. Ie cardio being upstairs if possible or being blanked out from people grunting! puts alot of people off running with grunters behind them.

some decent loactions in worcester which ill keep an eye on. If it happpens you should pop along!
Im doing  A levels in health and saftey and buiness so hopefully might help a little. I work for my dad's company atm so see if he can lend any advice.

Few people say the punters all want more fittness gyms but i see bodybuilding on the increase. whats your views on that or any one else? deff going to look more into costs. i imagine 25k would take me a good 4 years to aim for which was what i was thinking..4-5 years and quicker if things were right..wont be jumping into anything .

my dream. shame i left it so late.

Yep deff my dream too and deff going to do everything i can to make it happen.

Atm i work for the nhs and my dad's company but god dam i cant stand this job. total beliver of you can do anything you want, and if some people can open a gym,hell why cant i?

Looking to join the police force when recruitment opens up in jan but main goal in life is a gym.. deff need out of engineering tho..

If you wait four or five years I would add 10% p.a. to your estimated costs, remember things go up in price !

I had personal issues that dictated I sell the gym, it was the right thing to do at the time. I loved it, loved owning it and would recommend it providing you go about it the right way.

I catered for both BB's and fitness atheletes. I would not restrict yourself to what type of clients you aim for. Keep the place clean, ensure the rules are obeyed by the members, for the benefit of all members, ie ensure weights are put away after use, wait your turn for the equipment, do not allow intimidation in the gym. Make it a friendly place people WANT to be in, be they a stockbroker or pipefitter.  
Its a big PR exercise at all times, you rely on custom, so you must be prepared to cater for all.

Good luck and I am sure if you are determined enough you will reach your goals.

Reaper.

not very knollagable about owning a gym but i do agree with reaper on all fronts and also want to add it will be alot harder in 5 years i would of thought. health and saftey is bad enough now canyou imagen how bad it will become in 5 years???

if it was me i would cater more for the exercise market rather than spit and sawdust bb gym. thats where the money is. all the old skool gyms i dreamed of training in when i was a lad are slowley but surely shutting down. riseing cost and lack of clients contrabuting factors.

Just to chip in,  I ran my own Gym for a couple of years  near Bristol...it was great fun and very rewarding, but hard work.

The thing you need to be aware of is location...my place was in a smallish town about 7 miles out of Bristol. I had a good core of trainers plus the usual 'get fit crowd' every new year, but what killed it for me was the fact that most of the town work in Bristol, and that most of them would rather train at a faceless fitness centre than a local Gym mainly because these places were on their way to or from work.

But if you can get yourself a property thats near to a large(ish) town, try to get into as many sports clubs etc. as possible rugby/football etc. maybe offer club discounts or specfic club nights in return for block memberships etc. Good local advertising is always useful too so don't forget to budget for that...sadly the days of 'if you build it they will come' are long gone...

I only had 2500sqtf of weights are abut this was split between freeweights and some decent quality machines. I picked up £40K worth of life fitness gear  ( selectorised machines) for less than £5K (its amazing what you can find on E-Bay) but I had no  real fitness area (aerobics etc) just a couple of treadmills and some heavy bags etc.

I guess my total investment would have been about £20K in late 2004.

After 2 years I was just about breaking even each month but in reality for the hours I was putting in it was too much, I decided to sell up before I lost too much cash...that said I would do it again (Maybe)

Its not a game to get into these days if you want to make a fortune...too much competition. But if it's in you, you need to give it a go...just make sure you do your research before you start spending money.

Good Luck

And if you do open up...post here It would be cool to come and take a look

i have been doing it for 10 years but these days its not as rewarding as it used to be, think long and hard before you put your money into one

are you sure its not as rewarding or is it that evey one else is earning more? and every thing cost twice what it did? feels like that to me.

there is loads of competition now and the average joe wants a state of the art gym for 1980's money!! a lot of people get intimidated when going into gyms and seem to want mothering when they are in there and want all flashing lights and tv monitors on the equipment, the spice boy types just want to do their hair in the mirror, train chest and arms and pout at the women but unfortunately thats where the money is and it costs you a small fortune to set a place like that up....... if you want a bodybuilding gym be prepared to work for every penny and every hour that god sends!! but that type of gym is sooooooo much better

i hear you, i trained at a gym called shapes in eltham south east london as a teenage trying to put weight on to join the army, it really was spit and sawdust but had an amazing vibe. the owner almost lived ther in shorts and t-shirt ready to help any little guys like me, unlike new gyms with a franchise manager who resides in an office only to leave 17 year old nuggets to give folk VERY doggy advice. i never had the aspreation to be well built as a teenager but training at shapes gave me the want to always look and feel strong. i know i'm no he-man but thats due to my lifestyle and past job but ive always had a keen intrest and i recon its down to those younger years seeing these huge guys do there thing in shapes with such panash.

shapes is gone now, not sure if its relocated or closed down but in this bubble gum generation i know where i'd put my money

I have been in the buisness of gym managment, design, development for over 18 years, not in England though.
Firstly you want a gym, and there may not be one to your liking in worcester, but how any people feel the same ??
You must get into researching what products people want or require, is there scope for the buisness to thrive ???.
After that if the project is still viable then you need a location and its all about convenience of location, location , location.
Its alot of work and you need to know how to run club from back to front incuding financial forcasting, profit loss accounts ect.
Many of the drgrees in club managment are at least 50% financial biased.