Start a Gym Business - Download as PDF

							Climbing Gym Business Planning
            Start Up and Beyond
                     Presented by
   Jerad Wells, Director of Sales and Business Development
             Candie Fisher, Director of Marketing


        2010 Climbing Wall Summit
                     May 15, 2010
Agenda
• Business Planning

• Demographics

• Offerings

• Beyond Start Up
Stages of business plan
development
 Early Phase    Mid Phase      Late Phase      Beyond Start
Development    Development    Development          Up



  Proof of                    Finalizing the     Ongoing
  Concept      Fleshing Out   Business Plan      Review,
                                               Measurement
                                               and Revision
An effective business plan is
• Simple
• Easy to read
• Objective, realistic and honest
• Visually pleasing and professional
An effective business plan will
• Define whether the business is right for you
• Create an initial path to follow as you develop and grow
  your business
• Help you evaluate where you
  want to be in 1 year, 5 years
  and further down the road,
  including exit strategies
• Create a benchmark to
  evaluate successes failures
  and measure progress over
  time
Things to avoid
• Unsubstantiated assumptions and
  errors in data extrapolation
• Lack of understanding of complete
  climbing operations
• Poor production quality
• Unrealistic launch timeline
• Proposing guaranteed ROI or
  business profitability
• Not having a strategy for maintaining
  business confidentiality
Stages of business plan
development
 Early Phase    Mid Phase      Late Phase      Beyond Start
Development    Development    Development          Up



  Proof of                    Finalizing the     Ongoing
  Concept      Fleshing Out   Business Plan      Review,
                                               Measurement
                                               and Revision
Proof of concept
                   • Who is your
                     customer?
                   • Who is your
                     competition?
                   • What will you
                     do to serve your
                     customer better
                     than your
                     competition
                     does?
Potential customer base
Populations                Market Research
• Existing Climbers        • Population size
• Non-climbers             • Fitness factor
   – Fitness-oriented
                           • Other
   – Outdoor enthusiasts     demographics
   – Youth                   – Age
   – College students        – Income
   – Women                   – Distance
Competition
Types                 Market Research
• Existing climbing   • Who currently attracts
  gyms                  your target audience?

• Existing fitness    • What amenities do they
                        offer?
  facilities
                      • What is their pricing
• Driving distance      strategy?
                      • How busy are they
                        during peak and off peak
                        hours?
Offerings
Types                               Market Research
•   Membership and day pass
                                    •   Which of these are
•   Classes and programming             important to your target
•   Auto Belays                         audiences?
•   Guiding services                •   Which of these are offered
•   Retail/food                         by your competition?
•   Day care                        •   How much will a customer
•   Fitness and cardio equipment        pay?
•   Yoga and conditioning classes   •   Will these attract more
•   Education                           customers?
                                    •   How will these differentiate
                                        you from the competition?
Offerings
Membership Revenue
• Focus on generating ongoing
  monthly membership
• Proximity is key – maximum
  drive radius of 45 minutes
• More affluent demographic will
  yield much better results
• Age demographics between
  16-49 will be your largest
  market
Offerings
Guest Pass/Punch Card Revenues
•   Introduce first time climbers to your
    gym offerings
•   Open up the participant distance
•   Larger drive distances are ok (up to 2
    hours)
•   More affluent demographic will yield
    much better results
•   Age demographics between 16-49
    will be your largest market
Offerings
            Adult Instruction/Programming
            • Colleges, universities, trade
              schools, etc. will fuel
              programming and open up
              repetitive class options
            • Larger drive distances are ok (up
              to 2 hours)
            • More affluent demographic will
              yield much better results
            • Age demographics between 16-
              49 will be your largest market
Offerings
Kid Instruction/Programming
•   Birthday programs, youth camps,
    day-care can be major revenue
    generators
•   Large family demographics will rule
•   Age demographics between 5-16
    will be your largest market
•   Larger drive distances are ok for
    birthday parties, camps and
    programs
•   YMCAs, schools, etc. will fuel
    programming
Offerings
Retail/Food Offerings
• Smaller ROI opportunity so research carefully
  before investing or partner with an existing local
  vendor to limit risk
• Difficult to complete with other committed
  outdoor retailers – consider a partnership
• If no local outlets, good opportunity to provide
  basic equipment and help drive membership
  growth
Beyond Start Up

                  • Attract new
                    climbers
DEMOGRAPHICS
                  • Retain existing
                    climbers
 OFFERINGS
                  • Increase
                    revenue per
                    climber
Beyond Start Up
Ongoing Marketing Tools and Tactics

• Build your list
• Capitalize on
  community
• Be different
• React quickly
Beyond Start Up
Ongoing Marketing Tools and Tactics


                        Build your list
                        • Email marketing
                        • Mailings
Beyond Start Up
Ongoing Marketing Tools and Tactics

Capitalize on community
• Social media
• Website/Blog
• Comps
• Print media
• Local community
Beyond Start Up
Ongoing Marketing Tools and Tactics

Be different
• What will you do to serve your customer
  better than your competition does?
• How do you get your customer to keep
  coming back?
Beyond Start Up
Ongoing Marketing Tools and Tactics

React quickly
• Take advantage of low and no-cost ways
  to communicate with your existing
  customer base and potential customers
• Don’t wait until you have a problem
More Information
Jerad Wells
Director of Sales
Eldorado Climbing Walls
303-447-0512
jeradw@eldowalls.com

www.eldowalls.com