When you are wondering how to run a successful gym, you’ll have a long list of hopes and dreams and a working operating budget. It might feel overwhelming to you as you wonder where to start. Remember that a gym is a place that many people go to to meet personal goals, get away from the every day, blow off steam, and create their own success stories. To run a successful gym, you have to want people to go there. There are many ways that you can make this place exciting for them so that they keep coming back over and over again. Be a part of their dream and learn how to run a successful gym right here.
Invest in New Tech
With smartwatches and smartphones, Fitbit, and other devices now standard tools for today’s active enthusiasts, your gym needs to up the ante. You have to give them even more reasons to come to your gym, and tech investment is key today. If you want to learn how to run a successful gym, put technology into your budget first. This will open the doors to increase your profits and experience more turnover for memberships.
At the same time, you will become part of creating workouts and experiences for your members that will help them to become successful too. Bring technology into the gym in a way that makes working out a little bit easier and more accessible. Gym equipment has been electronic for a long time, but today’s gym equipment can standardize the workout experience for members who want to keep coming back for more.
You may want to invest in a computer IT services department for the gym. You don’t want to have an experience where the customer is coming into broken machines or devices that are down. Build a gym that your customers can rely on every time they walk through the doors.
A few new things that gym goers are experiencing at modernized gyms today include smart scales, virtual reality machines and devices, and online coaching. Create a universal gym experience for everybody regardless of their skill or athletic level. A smart call can help them determine their basal metabolic rate and body fat percentage, and even help them calculate their BMI or body mass index. Tools like this in a gym are an affordable way to get them to keep coming back.
Virtual reality and AI technology or machine learning is a new trend that is making waves in the world of tech. In the gym industry, some brands are creating simulated experiences to provide personal training, real-time coaching, or even a spin class where the athlete is the only one who is present. Consider this investment when you are learning how to run a successful gym.
Upgrade Your HVAC
The ambiance of your gym is what will keep them coming back. You want to have an HVAC system that is up-to-date, in good working condition, and creates the ambiance that your members will need. When you are making your list of how to run a successful gym, spend a lot of time on the HVAC ambiance of the building itself. You want one that will comply with all local regulations and standards but also have an indoor air quality (IAQ) index that meets the needs of your members.
This component of running a successful gym has become even more important since the COVID-19 pandemic where germs spread like wildfire and caused fatalities. You want an HVAC system that makes for a safe environment for your members. Today, many gym goers are expecting this after spending years in isolation not being able to meet this basic need in their lives.
Have a list of AC companies at the ready when you have an air conditioning system, and invest in regular AC repair and maintenance. You want to create conditions that are ideal temperatures, not hot or cold. When you have ideal temperatures and humidity indexes in the home, you will have a gym that people will find inviting and comfortable to be in. Countless studies have been performed to test the impact of temperature ambiance on athletic performance for successful gyms. It’s not an ideal, an ideal ambiance and temperature in a gym will keep them coming back for more.
The American College of Sports Medicine notes that a space that is maintained at 68 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit is ideal for a gym environment. You also need to maintain a space that is low in humidity as your members will be losing body water regularly, and for almost every moment that you are there. Higher temperatures than that will cause your members to suffer with their workouts, and they will notice it. Some will get upset about it and not ever come back.
Oxygen levels are important as well. If you have an additional operating budget to spend, consider bringing in an oxygen bar to your gym. This will become a marketable element of your gym that will bring the athletes in. You want a gym that stands out from the rest. A component like this will do it.
Remodel Your Bathrooms
When you are learning how to run a successful gym, you have to pay special importance to the bathrooms. Having commercial plumbers on your roster isn’t enough. The bathroom is a more important part of a successful gym than the exercise equipment to some people. People will be getting dressed and undressed around strangers here. A good bathroom could make or break your gym.
In your bathroom, include elements that make the space inviting. Remodel them so that they are comfortable, enhance security and privacy, and will make people want to spend time there. You may want to include sitting rooms in your bathroom with beautiful and comfortable furniture where members can read the paper or watch the news before or after their workout or gym class. Remodel your bathroom so that your gym becomes a place people want to go to and socialize in for long periods of time.
Repair Your Roof
A good roof is a staple when it comes to learning how to run a successful gym. If you own any building, you need to have a roof strategy. A bad roof could not only shut you down for a few days if you have a crisis, but it will also turn people away. Gym-goers have schedules and plans, strategies, and goals. One day away from the gym due to a problem they can not control makes them rethink their entire strategy. If you have a leaky roof one day, you are going to lose money that is coming in the door, and going out the door.
When you are looking at roof strategies, remember that material is the roof consideration that will solve all of your roof issues down the road. A good roof should last you up to 20 years. But, if you have a commercial metal roof, you may never have to replace or repair it in your lifetime. If you have the budget for a roof of these kinds of materials, a metal roof is the ideal choice to have.
That said, they are also the most expensive kind of roof. Build a roof that can last at least 20 years. Ensure your contractors inspect and maintain it at least twice a year. This is not a problem that you want to surprise you, as the expense could flatten your entire annual operating budget. For roof repair with a successful gym, get on it early and regularly, and you minimize your risk of nasty surprises and angry members.
Add Security Features
Security features are an important component of any good gym model. Members are coming into the gym and bringing their valuables, car keys, telephones, and other personal items and leaving them unattended for long periods of time. Your members are going to have a lot of trust in you, and a high expectation of security and privacy. If you want to show them you know how to run a successful gym, install elements like a video surveillance system that will show them this is something you care about.
At the same time, you have to be wary of when and where those systems are being used. Your gym members will also expect privacy as part of their security objectives. Having a security team on site will help your members feel secure when they are coming to your gym for several hours every week.
You don’t need to make a significant investment here. It could pay off in more gym memberships if you do. Keep local locksmith services on hand to do contracting work for lockers and private spaces where members keep their valuables.
Maintain Your Parking Lot
Good free parking is an attractive component of any successful gym. When you are showing that you know how to run a successful gym, you want to offer free parking. That is a basic minimum.
Gym members do not want to build parking fees on top of their membership. Build the cost into their membership subtly so that they won’t be upset about your fees.
Invest in paving companies to make sure that the parking lot is safe and free of problems that will cause issues with vehicles on site.
You also may want to make this space more inviting overall. Add some landscaping, benches, and iconic athletic inspirational models or sculptures to your parking lot so that people know where they are arriving every day. Your curb appeal could be what makes them sign the dotted line for their new membership. Put thought into every inch of your space.
Host Fun Events
A gym is a place where people socialize as much as they go to compete against others and themselves. In a world that is post-pandemic, people are even more concerned about finding places where they blend in, can make or meet friends, and feel like they belong to something. Going out and having fun, no matter what or where that is, is more important to people now than it ever has been. Bring events into your gym experience and watch your membership soar.
Use event catering services that will meet the dietary needs of all of your members. You can do several things with this. Add philanthropy or charity fundraising to your events, and you give them even more reason to sign up.
You may also want to work with members themselves who have causes or companies that they want to showcase in an event on your property. Your events don’t need to be athletic. Offer events in a place for the athletes to relax and enjoy a fun space.
Sell Refreshments
Everyone wants something nice to eat and drink after a big workout. For athletes or members that are at your gym every day, they may come to depend on good smoothies the second their cardio class is done. Or, the woman who wants to have lunch with the girls after a gym class may enjoy a refreshment stand with her friends after spin day as well. Food and drink are basic components of life for members and can be part of how you learn how to run a successful gym.
You might be surprised by the profits you turn here as well. Do some research and find good companies to partner with that can sell food and drink your members will want. Add daily specials. Have unique drinks that are good for them that they can’t find anywhere else. This could be an operating budget boom for you.
When you want to know how to run a successful gym, you need to be keeping your members in mind. They are coming to your gym to bring their dreams and their goals to life. They may just need to lose a few pounds after a baby or may be pursuing a gold medal in their country. You may never know. Create a space they can call a home away from home, and they will never stop coming back for more.
