Business Ideas | Small Business Ideas: Women Fitness Center

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Women Fitness Center | Business Ideas

A health club (also known as a fitness club, fitness center, health spa, and commonly referred to as a gym) is a place which houses exercise equipment for the purpose of physical exercise. More people are trying to lead healthier lives, which includes getting in more exercise. Those who do not own or have access to fitness equipment often purchase a membership at a gym or fitness center. Many types of fitness centers that cater to different types of customers, from pregnant women to professional body builders. If you want to open a fitness center business, you need to do several things to ensure the success of your venture.

Levels of services and offerings

Most newer health clubs offer group exercise classes that are conducted by certified fitness instructors. Many types of group exercise classes exist, but generally these include classes based on aerobics, cycling (spin cycle), boxing or martial arts, high intensity training, step, regular and hot yoga, Pilates, muscle training, and self-defense classes such as Maga and Brazilian Jujitsu. Health clubs with swimming pools often offer aqua aerobics classes. The instructors often must gain certification in order to teach these classes and ensure participant safety.

Health clubs offer many services, and as a result the monthly membership prices can vary greatly. A recent study of American clubs found that the monthly cost of membership ranged from US$15 per month at basic chain clubs that offer limited amenities to over US$200 per month at spa-oriented clubs that cater to families and to those seeking social activities in addition to a workout .[citation needed] In addition, some clubs - such as many local YMCAs - offer per-use punch-cards or one-time fees for those seeking to use the club on an as-needed basis.

Costs can vary through the purchase of a higher-level membership, such as a Founders or a Life membership. Such memberships often have a high up-front cost but a lower monthly rate, making them potentially beneficial to those who use the club frequently and hold their memberships for years.

Personal training

Most health clubs employ personal trainers who are accessible to members for training/fitness/nutrition/health advice and consultation. Personal trainers can devise a customized fitness routine, sometimes including a nutrition plan, to help clients achieve their goals. They can also monitor and train with members. More often than not, access to personal trainers involves an additional hourly fee.

Instruction of Women Fitness Center

Step 1

Target a niche for your fitness center to differentiate your business from the larger, national chains. For instance, you can open a Pilates and yoga center, a gym for women, a group fitness center, free weight gym, athletic training gym or family fitness center.

Step 2

Write a business plan, including details about your niche; analysis of competing local fitness centers; three-year expense budget and profit projections; marketing and public relations plans.

Step 3

Become a certified fitness instructor, or hire individuals with such qualifications. Even if you will not be training customers yourself, you should still learn basic CPR, in the event one of your clients needs help.

Step 4

Obtain the business permits needed in your area to run a service business, such as a fictitious name certificate (DBA), Employer Identification Number or state tax identification number. If you will be retailing products, you may also need a resale permit, or sales tax and use permit from your state.

Step 5

Buy or lease a space for your fitness center. The amount of space you need will depend upon your niche and the amount of equipment you plan to buy.

Step 6

Purchase equipment for your fitness center. Buying package deals from equipment manufacturers can save money, as well as buying quality, used equipment from personal trainers that are retiring, or gyms that are going out of business.

Step 7

Get liability insurance to protect your business in the event a customer becomes injured while using your facilities. Though having your clients sign a liability waiver is a way to take precaution, insurance will come into play if someone decides to take legal action after an accident.

Step 8

Offer incentives for customers to patronize your fitness center. For instance, you can offer free or discounted child care service, free towels for use during workouts, complimentary water, guest passes and security, if you plan to be open during late-night and early-morning hours.

Step 9

Market your fitness center. Launch a promotional website, sponsor a fitness event or health fair, host discounted classes for seniors or youth, send news releases to local media outlets or open social networking accounts.

Reference

Fitness Center Business

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Easy Tips and Ideas to Start Business

Although anyone can start a business, many people fail because of a bad product or improper research. If you want to start your own business, you can improve your chances for success before you even begin. In order to make your business successful, start strong and make sure that your idea will hold out for the long haul.

Have a Good Product

Ensure that you plan to sell something useful. Although you may think that your product is important or special, that doesn't mean the general public will agree. Ask friends, family and strangers what they think of your product. If they don't seem that interested, ask them why. With their suggestions, you can either improve the product or scrap the idea completely. According to Brad Sugars of Entrepreneur magazine, most small businesses fail because they sold a product that didn't have an adequate market. This also applies to small businesses that provide a service. A lawn-care business might be useful for part of the year in a northern state, but it is in-demand year-round in the south. Consider whether people will actually want to use your service and get constructive advice from those not afraid to give their opinion.

Research Local Businesses

Research local companies before starting up your own business. This will not only give you an idea of the amount of competition you will have, but it will also help you price your product or service. If you're looking to start a wedding photography business, you may find during your research that the market is over-saturated in your area. If not over-saturated, you should contact each business and ask them for a price list. Alter your prices so you can stay competitive with the competition in town. Researching similar local businesses will also help you decide where to locate your business location. Try not to start up a store or office close to another business of your type. If your small business is located away from similar business types, this will cause locals to choose you over businesses that are farther away from where they live.

Get Professional Advice

You may know someone who has started their own successful business. Ask him for advice and listen to his stories of how he started his company. You may gain useful advice on the good and bad ways to start a business. Local entrepreneurs can also introduce you to local product providers or advertisers that you may not have met without their help. Accept any advice with open arms, especially if the advice is coming from someone successful in the area.

How to Calculate Business Start Up Costs

Starting a business in no easy endeavor. It takes a great deal of research, perseverance and hard work. While sweat equity will make your small business more successful, you will most likely need real capital to get the business started. Before you start raising capital and/or investing your own funds, the first thing you need to do is determine the total start-up costs.

Step 1

Determine your costs of sales. For most small businesses this means inventory, the cost of raw materials, manufacturing equipment, shipping, packaging, and warehousing. However, not all businesses sell products. In this case, the cost of sales is primarily the direct labor involved in making the sale. For example, to open a small shoe business entails purchasing enough inventory ($10,000) to stock the store.

Step 2

Determine professional fees. Planning your business structure, i.e., limited liability corporation or general partnership, means hiring an attorney. There may also be the need to pay an attorney for help with establishing trademarks, copyrights, and patents. In this scenario, that puts total professional fees at an estimated $20,000.

Step 3

Determine technology costs. Technology can greatly reduce the cost of labor for small business if used effectively. Most small businesses require computers, printers, cell phones, website development, Internet access, software applications, information security, data storage, and outsourced information technology (IT) consulting. If the cost of technology is $10,000 to start, add an additional $5,000 a year for maintenance (hint: maintenance is not included in start-up costs).

Step 4

Determine administrative costs. This varies with business types and may include items such as business insurance, office supplies, product packaging, parking, rent, express shipping, desks, chairs, fax machines, phones, or anything else necessary to operate the business daily. A good estimate for start-up administrative costs would be $5,000 for the first six months.

Step 5

Determine initial sales and marketing costs. Now that you have your product, you need to let folks know about it. Sales and marketing costs generally include marketing materials for presentations, printing stationery, business cards, advertising, trade show events, and public relations. These initial sales and marketing costs can add up to $3,000.

Step 6

Determine the wages and benefits needed to secure a staff. This includes employee salaries, benefits, workers compensation, and payroll taxes. Let's put the cost of wages and benefits estimated at $20,000 for the first three months of business.

Step 7

Add all costs associated with starting the business for a total. Be sure to only include business start-up costs that will be incurred in the first three to six months of operations. For this example, the calculation is: $10,000 + $20,000 + $10,000 + $5,000 + $3,000 + $20,000 = $68,000.

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