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Old 02-28-2019, 06:05 PM   #1
chicken_hawk
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Exclamation So, don’t open a gym...

What’s up brothers and sisters? I know I ain’t been around much but the new gym was sucking the life out of me. I was contracting all day then I’d head to the gym and train then close at 9:00. It was too much when combined with losing money every month. I’m not looking for sympathy as it will pay off dividends one day and was my idea. But, currently I’m broke but I did scrape enough together to install a code lock for the door which allows me to leave sooner and skip Sunday altogether. So, that has been liberating.

We have around 40 members but need 70 to break even. All our members are awesome and are serious which is what you get when you cost more than all the competition. Zero dbags or hoes which is what we wanted as well. There is great energy and camaraderie at night which is so cool. Most people only use head phones for sets and then take them out to socialize. There is constant criticism and coaching between the members like you have never seen. It’s a truly unique environment . So, it is exactly what I wanted but growing slower than I expected. But, if I can hold the course we will be the only gym of our kind in the city. I suspect spring and some trouble at a few of our competitors to drive numbers up soon.

A few pieces of advice for entrepreneurs if I may. 1. Don’t count on any more than a small handful of friend, 3 or 4 at most. I like to think I’m not an ahole and only one of my friends is here. 2. Relates to number 1 and that is understand people’s true loyalty. I had the impression from others that they knew a lot of serious lifters. Turns out they were serious about chasing tail or getting addaboys for being the biggest guy so coming to our gym would mess with their motivation. 3. Listen to others, I was confident that this place would fill up fast cuz I thought it would be so cool to have a gym dedicated to the purity of lifting when in reality people where warning me about number 2. I thought nah, these guys will pay another fifteen bucks for an awesome gym . Wrong.

All that being said, once we fill up we will be “the gym” but it will be a grind to find the other 100 people who not only train with passion but are motivated by simply being their best.

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Old 02-28-2019, 06:14 PM   #2
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I am sorry to hear that bro. But it was completely predictable. I hope you can hang in there to slowly build a clientele that can support the place.

I am sure everyone nodded in agreement how all the purist would show up and they would be among them. It is easy to say that. Unless one finds a really unique niche that fills a need you have to understand why the other models worked. That is what people want.

Keep looking for ways to attract new blood. Did you try the radio idea? 2 for 1 or 50% off chick memberships? Brainstorm gimmicks and plays to get people in that front door. Good luck brother gym ownership is a tough road, if it wasn't we would all have a gym with our name on it.
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Old 02-28-2019, 06:21 PM   #3
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If you had some hoes you’d attract some douche bags, all of which bring $$ with them. Just saying. Many good men and women have tried your business model in controlling clientele and ended up here. Fact is you need the people you don’t want to pay for the place so there’s a place open for the people you do want.
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Old 02-28-2019, 07:08 PM   #4
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Damn sorry to hear that brother.
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Old 02-28-2019, 11:33 PM   #5
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If you had some hoes you’d attract some douche bags, all of which bring $$ with them. Just saying. Many good men and women have tried your business model in controlling clientele and ended up here. Fact is you need the people you don’t want to pay for the place so there’s a place open for the people you do want.
I agree 100%. Your business model sounds great but it's a hard niche. Just take a few dbags money to help you and the gym and they'll weed themselves out. Serious gyms run off the the ones who don't wanna put in work. But most of your dbags still pay monthly and work out twice a month.
Just something to think about
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Old 03-01-2019, 04:07 AM   #6
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Originally Posted by Darkness View Post
If you had some hoes you’d attract some douche bags, all of which bring $$ with them. Just saying. Many good men and women have tried your business model in controlling clientele and ended up here. Fact is you need the people you don’t want to pay for the place so there’s a place open for the people you do want.
Sounds silly but it's true...



I had my studio for a few years. It's different from owning a gym in a lot of ways but in a lot of ways it's not. Of course it's gonna start slow. Patient is the key if money will allow. Once established, you pretty much have a system going for you. This is when it's important not to get greedy and keep trying to improve the gym every way possible to keep that system going. Hang in there brother. Current members should help spread the words. Keep finding ways to market yourself. Sometimes you may have to bend the "serious lifters only" a little bit. Always keep the front door opened bc there will always be a back door. While searching for more members, keep what you have happy. Don't let them know your frustrations or worrisome. Keep the energy flowing in that place. Good luck brother. Pray about it...
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Old 03-01-2019, 06:00 AM   #7
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It takes time small businesses in general lose money the first year, but gyms especially. Sell some supplements that helps bring in extra money.
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Old 03-01-2019, 09:12 AM   #8
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[SIZE="6"]You need guys like me. I pay my monthly dues but hardly ever use the gym. I prefer home. But its impossible for me to do legs at home. So maybe one day a week. But I pay every month. And while I'm very serious about my training, I do enjoy chasing the little gym hoes and going back to their places to take a shower or two.
Just being honest.[ /SIZE]
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Old 03-02-2019, 11:29 AM   #9
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I am sorry to hear that bro. But it was completely predictable. I hope you can hang in there to slowly build a clientele that can support the place.

I am sure everyone nodded in agreement how all the purist would show up and they would be among them. It is easy to say that. Unless one finds a really unique niche that fills a need you have to understand why the other models worked. That is what people want.

Keep looking for ways to attract new blood. Did you try the radio idea? 2 for 1 or 50% off chick memberships? Brainstorm gimmicks and plays to get people in that front door. Good luck brother gym ownership is a tough road, if it wasn't we would all have a gym with our name on it.
Well, you're right and if I wasn't over confident I would have too. But, we are halfway to breaking even and it will just take time. I'm not going to run gimmicks however as I don't want to compromise the quality of members we have. I know it would be a quick fix but I will suffer it out. I need to maintain our uniqueness. We are different in many ways and that is our selling point. Our rep is impeccable we just need to hold fast. Like you said it was predictable.

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Old 03-02-2019, 11:38 AM   #10
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If you had some hoes you’d attract some douche bags, all of which bring $$ with them. Just saying. Many good men and women have tried your business model in controlling clientele and ended up here. Fact is you need the people you don’t want to pay for the place so there’s a place open for the people you do want.
You are so right. But CrossFit gyms do it all the time. And that is the model we followed to a degree. I am taking full responsibility for being ignorant of how slow it would be. But, I do believe in the two ways to motivate people. You can manipulate thru pricing and gimmicks or inspire thru getting people to get behind your cause. Apple and Harley are examples of the latter and every other gym is an example of the former. So while tempting I am choosing to be stubborn.

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Old 03-02-2019, 11:39 AM   #11
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I agree 100%. Your business model sounds great but it's a hard niche. Just take a few dbags money to help you and the gym and they'll weed themselves out. Serious gyms run off the the ones who don't wanna put in work. But most of your dbags still pay monthly and work out twice a month.
Just something to think about
Ha ha, that is the problem. Our members show up every day!

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Old 03-02-2019, 11:46 AM   #12
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Sounds silly but it's true...



I had my studio for a few years. It's different from owning a gym in a lot of ways but in a lot of ways it's not. Of course it's gonna start slow. Patient is the key if money will allow. Once established, you pretty much have a system going for you. This is when it's important not to get greedy and keep trying to improve the gym every way possible to keep that system going. Hang in there brother. Current members should help spread the words. Keep finding ways to market yourself. Sometimes you may have to bend the "serious lifters only" a little bit. Always keep the front door opened bc there will always be a back door. While searching for more members, keep what you have happy. Don't let them know your frustrations or worrisome. Keep the energy flowing in that place. Good luck brother. Pray about it...
Man, I caught myself complaining to members last week because of my frustrations. I told myself no more even with my close friends. I will put on a positive attitude and share that with my members. Again, I now see my arrogance and know it will take time. I just had higher expectations of my friends and their friends.

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Old 03-02-2019, 11:47 AM   #13
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It takes time small businesses in general lose money the first year, but gyms especially. Sell some supplements that helps bring in extra money.
We actually just started looking into supplements. Have any suggestions?

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Old 03-02-2019, 11:49 AM   #14
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[SIZE="6"]You need guys like me. I pay my monthly dues but hardly ever use the gym. I prefer home. But its impossible for me to do legs at home. So maybe one day a week. But I pay every month. And while I'm very serious about my training, I do enjoy chasing the little gym hoes and going back to their places to take a shower or two.
Just being honest.[ /SIZE]
We are definitely low of girls. We have a few but they ain't hoes LOL. So maybe I'll go down to Hooters and hand out some free memberships.

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Old 03-02-2019, 10:50 PM   #15
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Good for you for seeing it through your way. Most will close the doors before they can pull that off.

The bright side is once you get to the membership level you need your shrinkage will be much less than the average gym. Serious lifters will stay put year after year.
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