29 JUNE 2022
5 FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN OPENING YOUR GYM, PERSONAL TRAINING CENTRE, FITNESS BOUTIQUE
Alejandro Echevarria
Over the years we have seen a change taking place in the fitness industry.
Following a healthy lifestyle is becoming increasingly important, being the main goal for many people, rather than simply having a toned body. In either case, this proves to be beneficial for existing gyms and for those who want to open a new gym, small personal training centre, boutique fitness or rehabilitation centre.
The gym is becoming very important in many people’s lives. Many find that going to the gym relieves them of daily stress, others find that it helps to reduce anxiety, still others find that it improves sleep quality.
But to achieve true customer satisfaction, gyms will need to provide a variety of professional gym equipment coupled with connectivity and design, factors that are becoming increasingly important today.
Considering all the benefits that physical exercise can bring to health/wellness and coupled with the boom that the fitness sector has experienced in recent times, you might be thinking… What does it take to open my own gym?
Study your surroundings
There are several requirements that will be decisive when it comes to opening your gym. First, the regulations in your area. You will need to find out about the regulations and permits you need to open a sports facility in your city.
The exact location where you plan to set up your gym will also be of great importance in determining the profitability of the business. You will have to consider the level of affluence of people in the area, know the demographic data of the same, analyse your competition…
All this information can be cross-referenced with industry’s data. For example, in Spain, 9.3% of the population visits fitness centers, a figure that has decreased from ratios of 13.9%. With life getting back to normal, everything indicates that we will progressively climb back to the data we were working with before.
Use a financial formula that you are comfortable with
The budget you want to allocate is directly related to the type of gym you want to open, large or small, and the positioning you want to give to the project.
If you are worried about the initial outlay, there are leasing options to reduce the economic effort. This is a growing modality that allows you to have state-of-the-art fitness equipment, with scheduled maintenance and the possibility of adding or removing machines depending on the needs of your clients.
Define your gym equipment
One of the key points of a gymnasium is undoubtedly its equipment. However, there are limitations to this matter, such as the size of the facilities or the capital allocated to the project.
At BH Fitness we have wide experience in opening sports centres and advising gym managers. Therefore, we offer personalised advice tailored to each facility. It is possible to have a layout of machines on a 2D / 3D project. This allows us to plan the gym in the initial stages of the project, even when the premises are not ready, giving us valuable insights on the product selection and preferences for the professional cardio and strength fitness equipment.
Having a balanced environment in terms of cardio and strength equipment will be highly valued, especially by the most advanced users who want the most complete possible training
However, we must bear in mind that we should not be crowding the gym with machines and making the circulation of people in the gym oppressive.
Fitness machines as an additional design element
Both Movemia and Inertia ranges from BH Fitness can provide professionals in the industry with a wide range of equipment. Thanks to their design and technology, we have compact machines that help gyms equipped with BH Fitness to optimise the space.
Looking at professional fitness machines as an additional element to the design of your sports centre or gym is one of the factors to consider when choosing a fitness equipment supplier.
A unified style, with black colours, matt dark greys, minimalist design is on the rise as a trend in fitness machine design. No doubt that your future clients will take this into account when they first set their feet in your facilities.
Services and experiences
There are more and more possibilities offered by the integration of fitness machines with external apps, giving a plus in terms of immersive training of the guided sessions. This is the case of applications such as Spivi, a gamification system compatible with the Movemia range of BH Fitness indoor cycling. An alternative that increases user retention in these classes thanks to the gamified component.