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Gym and Fitness Center Business Plan [Sample Template]

Fitness and Gym Business

Are you about starting a gym or fitness center? If YES, here’s a complete sample gym or fitness center business plan template & feasibility report you can use for FREE.

Okay, so we have considered all the requirements for starting a gym/fitness center. We also took it further by analyzing and drafting a sample gym/fitness center marketing plan template backed up by actionable guerrilla marketing ideas for gym/fitness centers. So let’s proceed to the business planning section.

If you very much agree with the saying that goes ‘ health is wealth’, then you may also very well agree that one of the ways of staying healthy is by keeping fit and having a good BMI.

It is very important to not be complacent when the issue of staying fit comes to fore. This is one of the reasons why there has been the craze for fitness lately all over the globe. Those who are particular about staying fit know that it is a part of life

In the united states of America for instance; the rate at which folks get obese have continued to be an alarming thing. This is no thanks to the junk type of diet that these folks subject themselves to.

However, truth is that one can curb being obese and even totally eradicate those unwanted fats in the body by simply enrolling in a gym and eating healthy. This is one of the sole aims which those who are in the gym business try to pass across.

Starting a gym is a very interesting and profitable venture. This is because much more than wanting to help other people realize their weight goals, you also can keep and stay fit always. Below is a sample Gym business plan that you can effectively use to write yours.

A Sample Gym & Fitness Center Business Plan Template

Gym Business

1. Industry Overview

Gym business is gaining more grounds in recent times as it was in the 20th century. People are now more aware of the immeasurable benefits they stand to gain when they enroll in a gym. It is now obvious to a myriad of people that they can stay healthy, improve their lifestyle and live longer if they exercised regularly.

Statistics has it that there is a steady increase in the number of people that enroll in gyms and the fact that gym facilities is now closer to residential areas make this possible. In order words, with the increase in the number of people that enroll in gyms, comes the increase in the revenue generated by gyms.

Some people enroll in gyms not because they don’t have the money to purchase some of the basic gym equipment, but because exercising regularly requires discipline and that is part of what they stand to get when they enroll in a gym with an instructor at hand.

Loads of factors are responsible for the springing up of gyms in various locations in the United States of America; chief amongst them is the rise in the number of obese people. Being obese is a risk to one’s health, which is why obese people who thoroughly want to stay healthy and fit enroll in gyms that are close to them.

Different people visit gyms and fitness centers for various reasons. Some people register in the gym basically to shed some weight through proper exercising, whilst others go to the gym to train and increase their biceps (muscles) i.e. body building and other enroll in gym for cardio sessions et al.

Researchers, engineers, health and fitness experts are always improvising and inventing fitness equipment that can help people and gym owners achieve their aims.

Although gym equipment can be expensive, but the truth is that most of the equipment last longer if they are well utilized. Aside from the fact that they last longer, acquiring any gym equipment is an investment that is worth the while.

Starting a gym business in the United States of America is less stressful; it requires enough cash to equip the gym facility to meet the standard expected by gym users. As a matter of fact, building a swimming pool around the gym facility is one of the factors that could attract clients to enroll in gyms.

The gym industry is not going to go out of fashion anytime soon, but rather the number of people that enroll in gyms will continue to be on the increase and that of course will translate to more monies for gym owners.

2. Executive Summary

Fit as Fiddle Gym and Fitness Club is a company that is in the business of ensuring that people stay fit by exercising regularly and maintain healthy lifestyle. We are going to be located at 135 E John Carpenter 1400 Irving, Texas United States of America.

We are able to secure a standard facility along the road in the heart of the city. The facility for our gym and fitness club has a standard Olympic size swimming pool. We are going to services the whole of the community as well as visitors and travelers

Fit as Fiddle Gym and Fitness Club is going to become the number one family-focused gym and fitness in the whole of Irving, Texas, and we will work hard to build our facility to match the needs of the average family in Texas. Our gym facility has enough parking spaces to accommodate more than the numbers of customers we will accommodate per time.

Our facility will be equipped with modern technology, and we will install large TV screens close to cardiovascular equipment and treadmills, so as to help our clients stay entertained whilst they engage in their exercise.

We will work towards ensuring that we provide our clients /members with a daily program of exercise and diet that perfectly suit their lifestyle and also to help them achieve their desired results and to help them create lasting healthy habits that will last them for life.

One of our major goals of starting Fit as Fiddle Gym and Fitness Club is to encourage families in Irving, Texas, to cultivate the habit of regularly exercising and to stay healthy. Our gym facility is specifically designed and built to take care of adults and children, we have active childcare services for toddlers and we have a membership package that is highly discounted for families that enrolled in our gym.

We are quite aware that one of the reasons why some parents may not want to enroll in gyms is the reason that they may not have who to take care of their children whilst they are away in the gym.

Part of our strategies of encourage families to enroll in our gyms is to ensure that whenever these guardians come with children, their children will be well treated and entertained, so much so that they will be the ones reminding their parents to go to gym next time.

Fit as Fiddle Gym and Fitness Club will be open 24 hours in a day and seven days in a week, in order for us to be able to accommodate people with different time preference. This is why we have made provisions to recruit enough workers and to run shifts amongst our workforce. We will go out of our way to acquire standard cardiovascular and weight training equipment for our gym.

We will run a fitness club that will help members who want to lose weight to achieve their desire without little stress. We have a weight management consultant who will work with individual based on customized fitness and nutrition needs.

Fit as Fiddle Gym and Fitness Club is privately owned by the renowned health and fitness coach Arnold Quest and Family.

Arnold quest has well over 15 years of experience as a leading health and fitness coach in the United States of America. He wants to start Fit as Fiddle Gym and Fitness Club because of his desire to see families enroll in gym and exercise together.

3. Our Products and Services

Fit as Fiddles Gym and Fitness Club is in business to provide all round health and fitness services to the residence of Irving, Texas, which is why we have been able to put up a facility that can help us achieve the goal. We are optimistic that everyone who enrolled in our gym and fitness club will definitely derive huge value for their money. These are the services and amenities that will be made available to our clients;

  • Personal Training
  • Group Fitness Classes
  • Yoga Classes
  • Pilates (full body walkout)
  • Spinning Classes
  • Weight Management
  • Kinesis Station
  • Nutrition Counseling
  • Childcare / Daycare
  • Spa
  • Full Locker Room Services
  • Physical Therapy
  • Juice Bar
  • Internet Café
  • Sports shop (sale of sportswear, towel, shampoos et al)
  • Comprehensive fitness assessment
  • Full gym membership

4. Our Mission and Vision Statement

  • Our Vision is to contribute our quota to encourage families and residence in Irving, Texas, to engage in the regular exercising of their bodies, so as to enable them stay healthy.
  • The mission of Fit as Fiddle Gym and Fitness Club is to build a world class gym and fitness club in Irving, Texas, where residents can comfortably train for health and for fitness; a place where residents can connect whilst achieving their health goals.

Our Business Structure

Fit as Fiddle Gym and Fitness Club is in business to become the leading family gym facility in the whole of Irving, Texas, and we are fully aware that it will take the right facility, management and organization – structure to achieve our goal. We will ensure that we recruit only the best hands that can help us achieve all that we are set to achieve.

Our business will not be built only for the purpose of giving our members / customers value for their money, but also we will ensure that we make our work environment highly conducive for all our employees.

We will provide them with facilities that will help them stay motivated and deliver on their various tasks and goals et al. In view of that, we have made provisions for the following positions to be occupied by highly qualified and experienced staff;

  • Gym Manager (Owner)
  • Accountant / Cashier
  • Marketing Officer
  • Exercise Physiologists
  • Trainers (5)
  • Training Assistants (10)
  • Juice bar Manager
  • Childcare Assistant

5. Job Roles and Responsibilities

Manager (Owner):

  • Responsible for providing direction for the business
  • Creates, communicates, and implements the organization’s vision, mission, and overall direction – i.e. leading the development and implementation of the overall organization’s strategy.
  • Responsible for fixing prices and signing business deals
  • Responsible for recruitment
  • Responsible for payment of salaries
  • Responsible for signing checks and documents on behalf of the company
  • Evaluates the success of the organization
  • Responsible for managing the daily activities in the hotel
  • Ensures that the facility is in tip top shape and conducive enough to welcome customers
  • Interfaces with vendors
  • Prepares budget and reports for the organization
  • Responsible for Training and Development in the organization
  • Handles procurement
  • Defines job positions for recruitment and managing interviewing process
  • Carries out staff induction for new team members

 Training Instructors (5)

  • Creates training rosters for members
  • Assists members during exercise session
  • Guides members on how to make use of gym and fitness equipment

Marketing Officer (2)

  • Develops, executes and evaluates new plans for expanding increase sales
  • Documents all customer contact and information.
  • Represents the company in strategic meetings
  • Helps increase sales and growth for the company
  • Manages the company’s CRM system
  • Identifies, prioritizes, and reaches out to new partners, and business opportunities et al

Juice Bar Manager:

  • Interacts with customers, take orders for drinks
  • Plans and presents bar menu.
  • Mixes ingredients to prepare cocktails and other drinks.
  • Mixes drinks, cocktails and other bar beverages as ordered and in compliance with gym’s standard drink recipes.
  • Serves fruit juice to guests.
  • Assesses customers’ needs and preferences and make recommendations
  • Makes lists of supplies in conjunction with the management
  • Prepares inventory or purchase requisitions as needed to replenish supplies.
  • Ensures that the assigned juice bar area is fully equipped with tools and products needed for mixing beverages and serving guests.

Accountant / Cashier:

  • Handles all financial transaction on behalf of the company
  • Collects payment for drinks served and balance all receipts
  • Prepares financial report at the end of every working week
  • Interfaces with our bankers
  • Responsible for payment of tax, levies and utility bills
  • Handles any other duty as assigned by the manager

 Exercise Physiologist

  • Responsible for evaluating, researching, and provide advice on coaching.
  • Responsible for training
  • Engages in recovery practices in all areas of exercise and rehabilitation
  • Provides timely information and support on injury prevention, technique analysis, and nutrition.
  • Handles any other duty as assigned by the manager

Cleaners (3):

  • Responsible for cleaning in and around the gym facility
  • Cleans up after customers and clean work area.
  • Clears ashtrays as and when required.
  • Washes glassware and utensils after each use.
  • Maintains a clean working area by sweeping, vacuuming, dusting, cleaning of glass doors and windows, etc. if required.
  • Ensures that toiletries and supplies don’t run out of stock
  • Handles any other duty as assigned by the restaurant manager

6. SWOT Analysis

Fit as Fiddle Gym and Fitness Club is in business to help its clients achieve their health and fitness goals and at the same time to make profit.

We are aware that there is competition in the gym and fitness industry which is why we took out time to conduct an effective SWOT Analysis, as stated in our gym and fitness center marketing plan; before investing our hard earned money.

We know that if we get things right before starting our gym and fitness club, we will not have to struggle before attracting loyal clients and building our membership base to a level where we can easily breakeven. We hired the services of Mr. Emmanuel Bright, an HR and Business consultant to help us conduct SWOT analysis for our company and he did a pretty good job for us.

Here is a of the result we got from the SWOT analysis that was conducted on behalf of Fit as Fiddle Gym and Fitness Club, Irving, Texas;

  • Strength:

One of the obvious strength that will definitely stand as a plus for Fit as Fiddle Gym and Fitness Club is the fact that our facility is centrally located in a densely populated – residential area in Irving, Texas; our location is in fact one of our major strength.

We equally have a team of highly qualified professionals who will work with all our clients to achieve their aims or enrolling in our gym and lastly our membership package is one of the best that anybody living in Texas can get; it is cheap and affordable.

  • Weakness:

Having critically looked into our Business model, we were able to identify two major weaknesses. One is the fact that we are a new business and the second is the fact that we may not have the financial resources required to match up with existing gyms in Texas when it comes to acquiring latest gym equipment and generating the needed hypes that can drive traffic towards our facility.

  • Opportunities:

We are centrally located in one of the busiest areas in Irving, Texas, and we are open to all the available opportunities that the city has to offer. We also run a 24 hours, 7 days a week gym and fitness club; thus giving us the advantage to leverage on any available opportunity.

  • Threat:

Some of the threats that are likely going to confront Fit as Fiddle Gym and Fitness Club is unfavorable government policies, demographic/social factors, downturn in the economy which is likely going to affect consumers spending and lastly, the emergence of new competitors within the same location where our gym and fitness club is located.

7. MARKET ANALYSIS

  • Market Trends

The trend in the gym and fitness industry is such that if a gym is well positioned in a residential area or a place where people can easily access without much stress, there is the likelihood that the gym will enjoy high patronage. Just like in other business venture, the owner of gyms and fitness clubs are always looking for ways to increase their market share; they go as far as signing deals with high schools and also offer home services.

What they do is that they offer pro bono services for a period of time, and then thereafter introduce a fee gradually and before too long they would have successfully converted some of the people that benefited from their pro bono services to loyal members.

It is common trend that as gyms grow, it becomes necessary for them to develop new service offerings or install new facilities that will help them attract more people.

Little wonder some gyms now have juice bars within their facility to encourage people towards healthy drinking. In order words, it is very important for gyms to continue to improvise if they want to grow their business and generate their target revenues.

8. Our Target Market

The target market for gyms cuts across people of different walks of life. The fact that people register in gyms and fitness clubs for various reasons makes marketing the business interesting. The target market for gym and fitness centers can be categorized into three various groups.

The first group is the people who are looking towards shedding some weight through proper exercising and under the guidance of a qualified instructor.

The other group of people are those who are interested in building their biceps (body building), and the last group of people are those who just want to enroll for cardio sessions under the watchful eyes of a qualified trainer. These sessions are a combination of light weights, treadmills and bikes.

Fit as Fiddle Gym and Fitness Club will work towards providing services, facilities and environment that will help us reach out to our target market. These are the category of people that we intend marketing our gym and fitness club to;

  • Corporate Executives
  • Business People
  • Household
  • Sportsmen and Sportswomen
  • Schools
  • Young Couples

Our Competitive Advantage

Fit as Fiddle Gym and Fitness Club is centrally located in a densely populated – residential area in Irving, Texas; this is obviously going to give us an edge amongst our competitors.

We equally have a team of highly qualified professionals who will work with all our clients to achieve their aims or enrolling in our gym and lastly our membership package is one of the best that anybody living in Texas can get; it is cheap and affordable.

We can confidently say that the location of our gym will definitely count as a positive for us amongst any competitor that might start a gym and fitness business in same location where ours is located. We will continue to work hard to ensure continuous improvement in our facility and service delivery. As a matter of fact, our services will be second to none in Texas.

9. SALES AND MARKETING STRATEGY

  • Sources of Income

Fit as Fiddle Gym and Fitness Club will generate income from the following service offerings;

  • Personal Training
  • Group Fitness Classes
  • Yoga Classes
  • Pilates (full body walkout)
  • Spinning Classes
  • Weight Management
  • Kinesis Station
  • Nutrition Counseling
  • Childcare/Daycare
  • Spa
  • Full Locker Room Services
  • Physical Therapy
  • Juice Bar
  • Internet Café
  • Sports shop (sale of sportswear, towel, shampoos et al)
  • Comprehensive fitness assessment
  • Full gym membership

10. Sales Forecast

It is important to state that our sales forecast is based on the data gathered during our feasibility studies and also some of the assumptions readily available on the field. It would be hard to create a sales forecast with a newly opened business like gym and fitness club. This is simply because the statistics that will be provided will be on a short term basis.

Experts said that usually a business should be in operation for at least one year before they can generate the statistics that will be need to help in accurate forecasting; statistics should be at least one year old in order to show the trends and pattern in consumer spending.

We expect to register a minimum of 1,000 active members within our fits year of operations and then in subsequent year we will grow our membership. Below are the sales projection for Fit as Fiddle Gym and Fitness Club, it is based on the location of our facility and the services and products that we will be offering to our clients (members);

  • First Year-: $200,000
  • Second Year-: $450,000
  • Third Year-: $700,000

N.B: This projection is done based on what is obtainable in the industry and with the assumption that there won’t be any major competitor offering same additional services as we do within 4.5 miles radius from our gym facility.

  • Marketing Strategy and Sales Strategy

Our marketing strategies will be directed towards achieving specific objectives that support the strategic goals of the organization.

The truth is that all that we do will be geared towards creating new market channels, increasing sales and increase our market share. We will leverage on improving on our services and facility to ensure that we win new clients and retain old members.

At Fit as Fiddle Gym and Fitness Club, our marketing strategies will be consistent throughout the marketing mix and we will take into consideration product improvement, promotion, and price. As part of our sales and marketing strategies, we will pay attention to the promotion of our gym so as to attract people to enroll and become members of our gym.

Our unique selling proposition is that we are well positioned and people can easily access our facility, our prices are affordable and we have a complete package for families. Parts of the marketing and sales strategies that we will adopt are;

  1. Open our gym and fitness club with a big party in the neighborhood.
  2. Advertise our gym and fitness club on national dailies, local TV stations and local radio station
  3. Promote our gym and fitness club online via our official website and all available social media platforms
  4. Continuously Improve the performance of our brands
  5. Hire the services of experts to make our brands the first choice for people in Irving, Texas
  6. Deliver consistent customer experiences to all our members; making our first impression count positively to those making use of our gym facility for the first time
  7. Make use of attractive hand bills to create awareness and also to give direction to our gym and fitness club
  8. Adopt direct mailing coupon marketing approach
  9. Position our signage / flexi banners at strategic places
  10. Create a loyalty plan that will enable us reward our consistent members especially those that registered as a family.
  11. Engage on road shows within our neighborhood to create awareness for our gym and fitness club.

11. Publicity and Advertising Strategy

Fit as Fiddle Gym and Fitness Club is in Irving for serious business, which is why we have identified key platforms that will enable us achieve our goal of promoting and advertising our business so as to attract the crop of people that we designed our business for.

We have been able to enter into alliance with key stakeholders in Irving, Texas to help us use their good will to promote our business.

We will ensure that we leverage on all conventional and non – conventional publicity and advertising technique to promote our gym and fitness club. Here are the platforms we intend leveraging on to promote and advertise Sean and Sharon Hotel, Las Vegas;

  1. Encourage our loyal members to help us use Word of Mouth mode of advertisement (referrals)
  2. Advertise our gym and fitness club in sports magazines, local newspaper, local TV stations and local radio station
  3. Promote our gym and fitness club online via our official website
  4. List our gym and fitness club on local directories (yellow pages)
  5. Sponsor relevant community sport events
  6. Leverage on the internet and social media platforms like; Instagram, Facebook , twitter, et al to promote our brand
  7. Install our Bill Boards on strategic locations
  8. Direct coupon mailing approach to introduce our gym and fitness club to residence
  9. Engage in road show from time to time to create awareness of our gym and fitness club in the residential areas around our facility
  10. Distribute our fliers and handbills in target areas

12. Our Pricing Strategy

Our pricing system is going to be based on what is obtainable in the industry, we don’t intend to charge more (except for premium and customized services) and we don’t intend to charge less than what our competitors charge their members in Irving, TX.

Be that as it may, we have put plans in place to offer discount services once in a while and also to reward our loyal customers especially when they refer clients to us or when they register as a family. The prices of our services will be same as what is obtainable in the United States’ open market.

  • Payment Options

Our payment policy is all inclusive because we are quite aware that different people prefer different payment options as it suits them. Here are the payment options that will be available to clients who want to make payment / register for our gym program;

  • Payment by cash
  • Payment by check
  • Payment via Point of Sale (POS) Machine
  • Payment via online bank transfer (online payment portal)
  • Payment via Mobile money

In view of the above, we have chosen banking platforms that will help us achieve our payment plans without any difficulty. These are the types of exercise equipment that we will make available in our gym and fitness center;

  • Resistance bands
  • Weight machines
  • Flexion machines
  • Pull-up bars
  • Wall bars
  • Weight training
  • Elliptical trainer
  • Street Strider (elliptical cross trainer on wheels)
  • Exercise machine
  • Dumbbell
  • Kettle bell
  • Exercise
  • Fitness (biology)
  • Treadmills
  • Hojo undō
  • Pull-up bar
  • Medicine balls
  • Boxing Gear
  • Gym flooring
  • Barbells
  • Cable Attachments
  • Weight plates
  • Benches
  • Wearable items as proper footgear, gloves, and hydration packs.
  • Filing Cabinets
  • Notice board
  • Employee Uniform

13. Startup Expenditure (Budget)

This is the key areas where we will spend our start – up capital on;

  • The Total Fee for Registering the Business in Irving, Texas: $750.
  • Legal expenses for obtaining licenses and permits: $1,500.
  • Marketing promotion expenses (8,000 flyers at $0.04 per copy) for the total amount of $10,000.
  • Cost for hiring Consultant – $5,000.
  • Insurance (general liability, workers’ compensation and property casualty) coverage at a total premium – $30,800.
  • Cost of accounting software, CRM software and Payroll Software – $3,000
  • Cost for leasing facility for the gym: $80,000.
  • Cost for facility remodeling – $50,000.
  • Other start-up expenses including stationery – $1000
  • Phone and utility deposits – $3,500
  • Operational cost for the first 3 months (salaries of employees, payments of bills et al) – $40,000
  • The cost for Start-up inventory – $15,000
  • Storage hardware (bins, utensil rack, shelves, glasses et al) – $1,720
  • Cost for acquiring gym equipment$200,000
  • The cost for the purchase of furniture and gadgets (Computers, Printers, Telephone, TVs, Sound System, tables and chairs et al): $4,000.
  • The cost of Launching a Website: $600
  • The cost for our grand opening party: $1,500
  • Miscellaneous: $5,000

We would need an estimate of $3.6 million to successfully launch our gym and fitness club in Irwin, Texas. It is important to state that the testing and evaluating expenses would be high because of the large amount of equipment needed to start up a gym and also the sophistication of the technology used in gyms. Also, the supplies would cost a bit more because of the regular demand for it.

Generating Funding/Startup Capital for Fit as Fiddle Gym and Fitness Club

Fit as Fiddle Gym and Fitness Club is a family business and it will be financed by the owner who is also the gym manager. These are the areas where we intend sourcing for fund for Fit as Fiddle Gym and Fitness Club;

  • Generate part of the start – up capital from personal savings and sale of his stocks
  • Generate part of the start – up capital from family members and friends (soft loans and gifts et al)
  • Generate a larger chunk of the startup capital from the banks (loan facility).

14. Sustainability and Expansion Strategy

We are in business to make profits and to build a popular gym and fitness brand in Irvin, Texas, hence we must do all it takes to grow the business and to ensure that the business survives generation after generation.

Part of the plans we have put in place to sustain our business is to ensure that we continue to deliver quality services, acquire latest gym and fitness equipment and improvise on better and cheaper packages four members and intended members.

Our workers will sure continue to enjoy working with us because we will deliberately make it our work environment very conducive and accommodating.

Furthermore, we are quite aware that our customers are key components to the growth and survival of our business hence we are going to continuously engage them to give us ideas on how to serve them better. We will not waste time in diversifying our services; expand our product and service offerings once the need arises.

Check List / Milestone

  • Business Name Availability Check:>Completed
  • Business Registration: Completed
  • Opening of Corporate Bank Accounts: Completed
  • Securing Point of Sales (POS) Machines: Completed
  • Opening Mobile Money Accounts: Completed
  • Opening Online Payment Platforms: Completed
  • Application and Obtaining Tax Payer’s ID: In Progress
  • Application for business license and permit: Completed
  • Purchase of Insurance for the Business: Completed
  • Acquiring facility and remodeling the facility: In Progress
  • Conducting Feasibility Studies: Completed
  • Generating capital from family members: Completed
  • Applications for Loan from the bank: In Progress
  • writing of business plan: Completed
  • Drafting of Employee’s Handbook: Completed
  • Drafting of Contract Documents and other relevant Legal Documents: In Progress
  • Design of The Company’s Logo: Completed
  • Graphic Designs and Printing of Packaging Marketing / Promotional Materials: In Progress
  • Recruitment of employees: In Progress
  • Purchase of the Needed gym and fitness equipment, electronic appliances, office appliances and suppliers: In progress
  • Creating Official Website for the Company: Completed
  • Creating Awareness for the business both online and in the neighborhood: In Progress
  • Health and Safety and Fire Safety Arrangement (License): Secured
  • Opening party / launching party planning: In Progress