Opening a gym is a challenge that will lead to personal and professional fulfillment, beyond being a profitable venture, provided it is well-planned. To guarantee the success of the business, it is necessary to understand the market and its critical factors.
Having a prime location is crucial for a gym's success. And perhaps this is the underlying factor behind the apparent saturation of the fitness market in major cities: very few entrepreneurs manage to combine the attributes that define a good location.
The task is very difficult. Just look at how much logistics it involves:
– Choose and also research different alternative options.
– Study the limited area within a 6-8 minute drive radius around the premises where the gym will be set up.
– Examine the population density and verify the economic power of the population, in order to tailor your product to the budget of your service customers.
– Count the threats (premises where new gyms could be installed) and the opportunities (competitors with poor service quality).
– Compare the visibility of the premises, the ease of access and the natural barriers (such as rivers or fast-moving avenues) that may limit the area of economic activity of the gym.
– Find a property with ample parking (spaces needed for 10 percent of total service customers) so that everyone can park their vehicles comfortably and safely during peak hours.
And the cost remains to be seen: buying the perfect property raises the risk of the venture too much; renting requires long-term contracts (more than five years) and the occupancy cost should not be more than twenty percent of the total projected sales.
In response to this challenge, Shopping malls appear to be an excellent alternative option . For a gym, a location like this means a good location, high foot traffic, and ample parking.
For the shopping center, having a gym inside is a way to add value to its portfolio of services and differentiate itself from other centers, since traditional stores, which used to be fundamental for this type of business, now multiply the competition outside.
Even so, be very careful not to make mistakes.
Study the target audience profile of the chosen shopping center, identify their consumption patterns, and above all, critically analyze the implementation costs and the location of the gym within the shopping center: an end of a corridor, a basement, or secluded areas. shopping They are not advisable.
A rental cost above your budget and a bad location can make the project unfeasible.