10 step to create a gym business plan

Whether you are planning to open a gym or box, or you already have one, a gym Business Plan is a key to success. Making a gym business plan will help you make better decisions and attract potential investors or partners to your business. In this article, we will try to understand why it is necessary to make a gym business plan and how we can carry it out.

 

What is a business plan for a gym or box?

A business plan is a way of putting your idea into a document and seeing if the pieces fit together to make it a profitable business. Despite what you’ll find on Google, we’re not going to teach you how to make a 100-page document that will collect dust on your shelf. We prefer to show you how to make a business plan for your gym or box, more quickly and simply, but above all, easy to read, modify when necessary, and follow.

 

Why do you need a gym business plan?

If you wonder why it is necessary to have a gym business plan, think of a house without foundations. Having a business plan is key in any business, as it is the reflection and the document that lays the foundations of what our company is going to be. But beyond that, it is the moment in which we reflect deeply on what we want and how we are going to do it, realising that something we thought about doing may be impossible to carry out or simply not such a good idea. If you still have doubts, these are the main benefits of writing a business plan for your gym or box:

• • It will help you see your whole business idea
  • It helps you to know if your income will be higher than your expenses.
  • It helps you to apply for financing from a bank or investment fund.
  • It helps you to have a path and follow it
  • It helps you pivot your business if things are not going well.
  • Did we say it helps you with financing?

 

How to write a gym business plan?

The easiest way to write a Business Plan is to make a Business Model Canvas. This is the first step before you start writing down in a document what will be the bulk of the gym business plan. Here what we are going to do is to reflect, have as many ideas as possible regarding each of the sections, and then go on with them or discard them. A Business Model Canvas is a big blackboard full of post-it notes. This board has a central column which is the value proposition. To your right will be the customers and how you connect and relate to them, and to your left will be the key partners, resources and activities you need to make your business work. To make it much easier for you to follow this Business Plan, we have created a Business Model Canvas template that you can download below. We recommend that you print it in A2 or A1 size, or draw it on a large whiteboard where you won’t run out of space to express all the ideas you have.    

Download your Business Model Canva here

 

10 steps to create a gym business plan.

If you are looking for a magic template where you enter four pieces of information and you have your Business Plan, I am sorry to tell you that it is impossible. And yes, we have just given you a template, but it is still a worksheet so that you can complete the Business Plan for your gym or box. To write a gym Business Plan, the most important thing is to think about the main points of your business strategy. Here are the key points you should add.

 

1. Executive summary: Why, how and who?

You are probably tired of hearing these three questions. But they are the basis of any business, idea, product or project. And we are sorry to tell you that they are not so easy to answer. To do so, you will have to ask yourself questions like:

• • • Why do you want to open a box?
    • How are you going to sell your service?
    • Is there something special that others don’t do?
    • Why you and not another box?
    • How are you going to communicate your value proposition?

 

2. Description of the business.

Once you have established point number one of this business plan, it is time to go deeper into the idea. In this part, you will have to investigate what your business model is going to be like, your value proposition, the legal structure… In other words, all the ins and outs of your business.

 

3. Market analysis

How are you going to know what to sell, how to differentiate yourself, if you don’t analyse the market? In the case of a box or gym, researching the local market is essential. In addition, you must also investigate current market trends: how your gym can be provide the existing demand, or how you can be a disruptive box or gym, someone who offers something different. This is undoubtedly a fundamental point in the business plan of your gym or box because it will help you to focus your value proposition.

 

4. Customer analysis

Who are your customers? We are sorry to say that you cannot answer “everybody”. You will have to focus on one type of customer, although this does not mean that you close the door to other types of customers. But focusing on one will help you to work much better on your business proposal. These are the most common customers in a box:  

• • • Regular clients: They go to 2 or 3 classes, they are looking to stay in shape..
    • Pros/Sporty Clients: They attend 4 or 5 classes a week and compete in a sport (OCR, Running, Triathlon).
    • Community Clients: They sign up for everything that is organised, whether it’s a dinner or a trip to the beach. Socialising is more important than training.
    • Seniors: clients of a certain age and with pathologies (injuries, arthrosis, diabetes).
    • Kids: from 5 to 18 years old.
    • Athletes: those who want to compete in official competitions. They mainly go to Open Box.
    • Adaptative users: those who have some physical or cognitive limitation.

 

5. Value proposition

In this section of the Business Plan for your gym or box, you will have to decide what things will bring value to each one of the types of clients you are going to have. You should look for at least three types of value proposition for each of them.

 

6. Sales and marketing.

How will you market your services and your box to get customers? In this section, you will have to go deeper into your marketing and sales strategy. Advertising, sponsorships, advertising mailings, local media… In short, everything that help you to attract more customers to your box.

 

7. Management

What partners, associates, and other services will you need? A box is not just about you and your management. You will have to think about the staff and partners to hire: coaches, management, sports management software, cleaning services… Even in this section you will have to think about additional services: nutrition, physiotherapy…

 

8. Key activities and resources

It is clear what activities you are going to offer in your box, but which ones? You will need to write them down in the Business Plan of your gym or box. In addition, you will have to take into account all the additional key resources. The hosting of your website, Wi-Fi, computers… All those services that are inherent to the activity. That is to say, without them you could not be offering classes.

 

9. Cost summary

In the previous section, we have seen necessary expenses for the activity in the form of resources. But you should not forget the rest of the expenses that you will have to face when opening your box or gym. Some of them are:

• • • Taxes
    • Supplies: water, electricity…
    • Opening licence
    • Building fees
    • Notary’s office
    • Real estate
    • Management
    • Furniture
    • Office equipment

 

10. Income sources

Something that is key to achieving financing is to complete your sources of income. A priori, it seems clear that we will resolve this point by saying that we will receive monthly payments from our members. But this will not be enough for a financial entity. You will have to demonstrate that you have several sources of income and that the main one, the members, is profitable in the short, medium and long term.

 

Now you are ready to write your gym Business Plan. However, we didn’t want to leave you with just these superficial notions. Therefore we have written a complete ebook to help you. In this ebook you will find help on how to complete each of the above points, and a few other ideas. Download it for free here: