Launching a PT Studio
Starting your own personal training (PT) studio can be a highly rewarding venture. It offers the freedom to design a space tailored to your training philosophy, control over your schedule, and the opportunity to build a unique brand. However, the journey from concept to opening involves meticulous planning and strategic decisions. Here’s a guide which covers aspects that will help you launch a successful PT studio.
Knowing Your Audience
Understanding your audience is key to a successful PT studio. Consider who you'll be training and their specific fitness needs. Tailor your equipment selection to match these needs, ensuring you have the right tools to provide effective training sessions. Don't go too big on kit from day one, you can always add to this over time.
Choosing an Appropriate- Sized Gym
The size of your gym is crucial and depends on several factors. Will you be offering private PT sessions, group classes, or renting the space out to the public? The answer to these questions will dictate the ideal size for your studio. Some of the nicest and most successful PT studios we've built are somewhere between 40sqm and 100sqm.
Crunching the Numbers
Calculate your expenses, including rent and equipment investment. Determine how many paying members you need to cover these costs and, ultimately how many members you'll need to make a healthy profit. Additionally, if your space allows, consider renting it out to other personal trainers to boost your earnings and offset expenses.
So what else do you need to consider when it comes to PT studio space?
Logistics:
Where will your customers park? How will they get in? What if they need the toilet or want to shower? Do you need to be there or can they let themselves in whilst you are on your way? There are various practical considerations above and beyond building a badass gym.
Website/app:
It's important to make sure your website is as user-friendly as possible and clearly describes your services and how to book in with you. Perhaps you'd benefit from an app to help customers book in, increasing your earnings but more importantly reducing the amount of admin for you.
Building your brand:
In today's world, you need to not only crush it in the gym, but you need to be visible on socials too. So for your social media, consider what platform your ideal clients spend the most time on. Think about what your followers will find inspiring and interesting - this could be transformations, exercise demos or nutrition tips and post on a regular basis to keep your followers engaged. The more value you add, the more you'll pick up new clients. Your studio will be a reflection of your personal brand, and having a space where you can shoot more content will do you wonders.
Explore finance options:
Starting a studio is an investment, if you can self-fund then that's great. But you may also want to consider if it's worth looking at finance. We work with an excellent finance company that specialises in gym equipment funding, for orders over £10,000 this is a good option to reduce the upfront overheads. You can be looking at no upfront investment with monthly repayments under what you currently pay other gyms in rent!
Get yourself a proper gym equipment partner:
We love working with PTs to launch their first-ever studios. We love turning a pipeline dream into reality, we don't just supply kit, we are in this for the long hall. There are a number of first-time PT studios that we have helped launch only a few years ago who now opening up, third, fourth and fifth units. At Recharge we don't just want to sell you some excellent gym kit, we want to work with you to ensure your business is a success.