Indulging in regular physical activities is known to boost the strength of your muscles and enhance your endurance. People all over the world hit the gym for different reasons. It could be to enhance the size of their muscles, build their bodies, or burn excessive fat from their body systems. Ladies hit the gym mostly because they want to lose weight or have their body shapes more enhanced. Going to the gym for exercise is a practice around the world and usually, there are fitness centers with equipment and machines where people visit to get fit.
For some people in very cold regions, going to the gym isn’t only to get fit but also to get warmed up by the heat their bodies produce during those exercises. Setting up a fitness center in regions like that will fetch you some good money because it will always be patronized. In a country like Canada, you could have temperatures of up to 26 Fahrenheit which is extremely cold. There could even be snow as thick as a foot during the winter. This makes it quite difficult to walk, making your leg muscles tired in the process. This is where a gym comes in. Starting a gym in Canada is rewarding but there could be common challenges which you will need to keep in mind. Let us have a look at some of them.
Choosing the right business model
One of the problems people encounter in the fitness industry especially when they want to start their own fitness center is the myriad number of gym business models there are to choose from. Usually, you should be adopting one model but it may be difficult to choose which to adopt since you may not know the preferences of the people in the location you wish to set up in. If you get the choice of gym equipment wrong, you may not have the number of customers you are looking at, and this could lead to wastage of resources. As a starting point, you will need to define the core values of your business because buying the right gym equipment matters a lot in building a sustainable gym business.
Income generation
Starting a gym could be anywhere between $15,000 to about $70,000 depending on the size of the gym. However, no matter the size you are going for, you need to know that a lot more money will be going out than will be coming in. What comes in from membership fees after opening the gym pales in comparison with expenses like rent, electricity, insurance, and equipment salaries. The best way to atone for the huge costs is by driving pre-sales memberships before the doors are open. It will also be the perfect way to market your business to the local community.
Building a network
When you want to start a business that is not some innovation from you, you have to reach out and build a network with business owners in the same niche. No one is an island and if you don’t mix in, you may not know what you are about to do wrong. In Canada, especially during the winter, people hardly come out to indulge in social activities because of the harsh weather so you may have to search online to see who else does a gym business around you. It may be difficult to arrange a meeting but if all you can get is some online collaboration, it is better than no loaf at all. By building a network of mentors and collaborators, you can even think out your own ideas.
The location problem
Setting up a gym is not just a regular business in which the location of industry is taken as not necessary. You need to know where to set up to have a good chance of getting revenue in return. Getting a good location requires that you find out if there are other fitness centers where you want to set up. It may not be prudent to set up in an area where another gym is located, especially if it is a bigger one than yours, or one that is already popular in that area. It is not like a grocery store that will always make sales no matter how many of them are within a small area. Apart from not setting up very close to another gym which is already popular in an area, you also need to make sure you are situated where your target market can easily access you.
Final Word
To get more oxygen and nutrients to your tissues and help your cardiovascular system work more efficiently, you need to do regular fitness activities. Hitting the gym helps your heart and lung health improve, thereby giving you more energy to tackle daily chores. Setting up a gym is a contribution towards supporting this healthy living. The first year of running any business is usually a learning curve. There will always be challenges and it is better to prepare for them by building the right network. If you look into the future, you will understand just why you should never give up.
