How to open your own fitness club in seven steps

Over the past year and a half, many new fitness clubs have appeared in the Russian Federation. They are often opened by former fitness instructors. Networks are being restructured and the industry is rapidly transforming. How to open your club in the new conditions?

Very often, investors who enter fitness projects for the first time believe that starting a business in this area begins with the layout of the premises or with a consultation with a coach on the internal organization of the club. This is fundamentally the wrong approach. Fitness is a complex b2c business, in which it is worth starting from the demand and interests of the client. It is impossible to engage in planning and zoning without analyzing the potential of the existing market. First of all, you need to understand how many people at the proposed location are ready to train regularly and pay a certain amount of money for services.

The penetration rate (number of people consuming fitness services) is around 3% on average across the country. Depending on the region, this figure varies: in Moscow - 10-14%, in cities with a population of over a million - from 6 to 8%. For example, you realized that potentially 10,000 people could be engaged in fitness within the boundaries of your chosen location. From this figure, it is necessary to subtract the clients of competitors - for example, there are two fitness clubs on the territory, one of which serves 2 thousand people, and the second - 3 thousand. Accordingly, 5 thousand potential buyers of your services remain on the free market.

In the calculations, keep in mind that during the design and construction of the club, the balance of power in the market may change - for sure, someone else besides you will want to start at the same location. Of course, service penetration is increasing all the time thanks to social networks, word of mouth and other channels. However, the market is not growing as fast as competitors are opening up.

When you launch a project, you need to understand not only the potential number of people who want to work, but also their characteristics, including the level of solvency. Without analyzing the market potential, you run the risk of finding yourself in a situation where, for example, you open a 1,000 sq.m. gym. m in a location where 70% of service consumers are women. This audience, in addition to pumping muscles in the gym, needs group programs with stretching complexes, swimming pool and spa treatments, but they often do not get them. As a result, the hall is empty, and the investment does not pay off.

The next step is to form a product portfolio based on the collected analytical data: