The fitness industry is a great place to be. If you're sociable and enjoy a relaxed environment where you can help people improve themselves and make money, congratulations once you've learned the basics, its easy!
Firstly though, a word of warning. If you are new to business there are a hundred or more franchise and other similar companies queuing up to make money out of you. You can do it yourself, even though there is a whole industry out there telling you why you can't and why you should buy what they have to sell. Remember, importantly, they exist to make a profit out of something you could do yourself. If, of course you are reasonably smart. If not, you could be well on your way to losing a lot of money.
The truth is you don't need to approach a fitness franchise company to have a successful club. You do however need to obtain a significant amount of capital investment, and to do this you'll have to prove that you and your team are more than capable of following a very carefully crafted business plan.
Secondly, Fitness franchise companies make money from those who want to start a fitness club, but haven't taken the time to sit down with a professional advisor and do any business planning. The first thing to focus on is how to raise the money? A fitness franchise company will help with this, many will want a financial commitment up front for their time, which is only fair. However, you'd be very wise to find out how much this is and exactly what it is you are signing up to before moving forwards. You may have heard stories of fitness franchise companies charging fairly large sums of money to source fitness clubs and help raise finance. In some cases take a lot longer than is reasonably practicable. If you decide to use a fitness franchise company, you'd be wise to set a time limit clause in any agreement.
A fitness franchise company will try to find a club that is struggling and in a poor location. On your behalf (and with their eye firmly on their own profits) they will enter into negotiations with the owners by offering more than they think the club is worth, only at a later stage to substantially reduce the offer. In some cases, the club owner will be worn down and sell. At the front end this may seem great news if you are looking for a cheap health club, however the reality is often a little more detailed - Fitness clubs fail for many reasons.
Location is key, depending on where you open the club will depend on how much effort you have to put in. The wrong clientele won't want to pay a reasonable membership, they'll default on their payments, and they'll not take care in using the facility bought with your hard earned cash. If you like hard work and heartache, be our guest. It is much easier to offer a great service, have nice members that respect the club and want to keep coming back year after year. Retention is high, advertising costs are low and everybody wins.
Our advice? Do it yourself. Find a successful club with a well respected brand, and in a good location. Hire your own industry related advisor. Offer to pay a small fee up front and a larger one when the finance is secured. If you've already wasted your time visiting the high street banks, only to be turned down time after time you may come to realise what good value these a professional advisor can be. They'll have all the right contacts and they'll help you to find lenders who specialise in the fitness industry. Even if it costs you more up front, the right advice will pay for itself when you own your own successful business.
If you are fortunate to have sufficient capital of your own to invest you are a good proposition to a fitness franchise company. Don’t forget to ask yourself, how much more will I have to sell to pay for the convenience?
Fitness franchise companies rely on the fact that the uninitiated will fail to raise capital time after time. Without the right advice and resources you are vulnerable. Work smart and plan smart, get the right advice in advance and save yourself a fortune. If you find a successful club in the right area, try negotiating directly with the seller. A well run business may even offer guidance on a consultancy basis until you feel in control. Remember, buying a successful business that has proven processes and procedures in place can save a lot of time and money. All the hard work has been done, and if you decide to expand it’s going to be much easier to replicate the business elsewhere.
