Do you want to start a new business and are wondering how much it costs to open a gym? In this article, we will explain how to open a gym and what costs you will have to face.
Fitness is a rapidly growing sector that does not experience downturns. Today, the wellness market is worth billions of euros thanks to modern consumers who are increasingly concerned with physical fitness, health, and quality of life. If you are a fitness and sports enthusiast and want to invest in this sector, opening a fitness center is a wise choice, provided you know everything about how to open a gym.
Today, fitness is an inexhaustible business, a sector in strong expansion that generates turnover and profits, and therefore offers great opportunities. However, it is not a sector suitable for everyone. Here’s why.
Opening a successful gym means not only varying the services to meet the current trends and the needs of the end user, but also having a solid business plan to analyze in detail the start-up and management costs.
The initial planning plays a crucial role as the careful observation of the market, competition, and target audience are the basis for starting a successful fitness center. In this phase, it will be essential to decide, first of all, what type of gym you want to open, as this decision directly influences the size, necessary equipment, and start-up and management costs.
How to open a gym: the planning phase
Opening a gym is not fundamentally prohibitive or overly difficult. On the contrary, it is a highly remunerative business for those who have the right strategy. Only in this way will it be possible to successfully tap into a portion of the huge profits that the fitness sector puts on the table today.
However, the lack of planning is the greatest enemy of success when it comes to starting a profitable fitness center. The first step is to have an adequate business plan. Paying maximum attention during the startup phase and thoroughly examining aspects such as market research, competition analysis, and target audience means laying the foundation for a fitness center that is destined to boom.
The planning phase is fundamental in determining the type of club you intend to open.
A general gym like many others in your city or a specialized center? Who will be the end user? The fitness enthusiast or the person who simply wants to move more? The lover of iron who loves to spend several hours in the weight room or the busy person who wants to get in shape in no time? The next step after answering all these questions is to identify an appropriate location.
How to open a gym: the location
The ideal environment is spacious, preferably on the ground floor, well-ventilated, and bright (better if equipped with large windows), away from other gyms, and in an area with a significant pool of users. Accessibility and parking are equally important.
A facility in the city center could attract a large number of people, however, if it is difficult to reach or does not guarantee parking spaces, it will be less appealing than a gym in the suburbs, which may be further away but much more accessible.
In addition to the strategic location of the gym, the size of the premises is also crucial. The larger the structure, the higher the costs for adaptation and setup: purchase or rental of equipment and monthly management expenses (rent for premises, utilities, staff, management systems).
In practice, how large should a gym be? A very simple fitness solution, without too many demands, requires about 350 square meters, but to start ultra-specialized centers 100-200 square meters may be sufficient.
How to open a gym : Equipment
The most significant expense that every gym owner must face is the gym equipment. Their cost, in fact, heavily impacts the initial investment. When choosing gym equipment, it is important to evaluate aspects such as: functionality, design and space occupied, quality of materials, safety, ease of use, accessories, maximum user capacity, and warranty.
All these characteristics directly affect the cost of the machines. Since each machine performs a specific function, choose the equipment that best meets the needs of your ideal user. You can decide whether to buy machines that only train some parts of the body or equipment suitable for a whole body workout. Carefully consider the versatility of the equipment.
For example, the Stand Up machines designed by TECA to train the entire body in an upright position, stimulate the muscles of the main districts and at the same time work in an important way on stability and posture.
Learn more about Stand Up https://tecafitness.com/it/teca-standup/
If your facility is not very spacious, the design of the machines becomes crucial. Ultra-compact equipment, in fact, will help you optimize even the smallest spaces. Another fundamental aspect is ease of use. The perfect equipment is intuitive, with few adjustments and is accessible to any type of user, regardless of height or weight.
The safety and comfort of the machines are equally important, as well as the quality of the materials. Always choose professional equipment, built with durable materials, safe and performing, easy to use, tested for intensive use, and ideally made in Italy.
Opening a gym : Costs
By the numbers, the costs of opening a gym can range from a minimum of 50,000 euros for very simple clubs or small specialist centers, to 2 million euros for very complex structures with a wide range of areas and activities.
If you don’t have much space or a million-dollar budget, but you don’t want to sacrifice quality, you can choose exclusive formats, such as those developed by TECA, and with a moderate investment, you can start an intelligent gym: complete, functional, versatile.
TECA’s gym business solutions are high-profitability business models and the most competitive available today on the market: contained investment, reduced spaces, compact equipment, functional circuits.
With TECA‘s functional training circuits and areas, you can create dedicated corners in a more traditional gym or choose a more exclusive format: a MicroGym, a more specialized center, such as DONNA, a women-only gym or a Metabolic gym.
Or a fully equipped pt studio with innovative isotonic machines as Isotonic and EasyTone lines by TECA. Choose a cutting-edge, innovative, and profitable fitness model for your gym, capable of guaranteeing you high, safe, and fast economic returns.
Discover all TECA gym business solutions here https://tecafitness.com/en/business-solutions/#MICRO
