Part 5: Your Facility
When opening a Crossfit box, your training facility will probably be your largest expense. There are many things you’ll want to consider when renting or buying a gym because it could make or break your success.
Things to consider:
- Renting vs. Buying: This is one of the most important things to think about when opening a Crossfit box. Buying a box could trap you in a place that is unsuccessful and is costly to operate. Renting a place could mean you’re throwing away money at a great place where the rent just keeps getting higher and higher. You’ll need to do your homework on this and calculate the costs. Take this part extremely serious.
- Location: Where is your box going to be located? Is there a large enough population to get a good amount of members? Is it easy to get to? Is there a good street view of your facility? Is there enough parking? Are the demographics of the people in the area conductive to your business? Is there too much competition in the area? Is there room to expand? These are some good questions you should answer before getting a facility.
- Size: What is the right size for a facility? A huge facility is going to be costly to run, but it might be necessary if you start to expand. You don’t want to have to stop taking on members because there’s not enough room. But then again, maybe you want that tight knit group. Be clear on how many members you’d need to have to afford and and plan for expansion.
- Remodeling Costs: Is the facility going to be too costly to transform into a gym? You’re probably going to have to do some construction and it might be worthwhile to get a basic estimate. Think about things like offices, bathrooms, locker rooms, showers, etc.
- Operational Costs: You need to be clear on your budget. How much money do you have to start up and know how many members you will need to break even. If you need to make more money you could either raise your rates or get more members. Location is going to be a major variable here. A facility in Manhattan is going to be a lot more than a place in upstate New York. But then again, you stand to get many more members in Manhattan.
The most important thing is to know the numbers. I can’t stress it enough.
Good luck with starting your new box.
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