When looking to start a fitness boot camp business the budget is one of the determining factors in the ability to open a business. The ability to find financing when you have a small initial budget can be difficult. This article will give you options for opening a fitness boot camp on a shoe string budget. Also it will discuss ways that you can find additional financing for your business.
Find a franchise
One of the biggest ways to save money when opening a fitness boot camp is to franchise. There are a few reasons that franchises help to save money when opening a business:
- 1. Assistance with real estate
Most Franchisors will assist in the location of real estate. Sometimes this is through real estate counseling. Other times the franchisor will provide support by assigning their real estate agent to assist you.
- 2. Assist with equipment fees
Partnering with a franchise is a great idea if you don’t have a lot of startup capital because of their discounted buying power. Most franchisors provide access to their purchasing accounts. This can lead to a discount on leasing fees or purchasing costs.
- 3. Can provide access to financing
Some franchisors provide access to financing assistance. They either provide this support with loans or by deferring the initial costs into a payment that goes along with the franchise fee. This financial support provided by the franchisor can be invaluable to those trying to open a fitness boot camp business on a shoe string budget.
- 4. Cuts the cost of marketing
The best reason to partner with a franchise is that it can drastically reduce the cost of marketing. Marketing is one of the quickest ways to build rapid membership in a fitness boot camp. The reason that partnering with a franchise can cut the costs of marketing is because they provide top quality marketing at a standard fee.
A good boot camp franchise will allow you to set your own marketing budget and will fit the marketing within that budget. Some of the best marketing strategies provided by franchisors include pay-per-click advertising in which the boot camp only pays per lead generated, rather than for the service.
Lease rather than buy
When starting your fitness boot camp business it is the best idea is to lease equipment rather than to buy the equipment. It is far cheaper on the initial costs to lease the fitness equipment than to purchase it outright. Another benefit that leasing the fitness equipment provides is the ability to upgrade without having to sell the old equipment. This means that the boot camp you have started can consistently have new equipment, which increases the appeal it may have to customers.
Start Small
While the ultimate goal for your fitness boot camp may be to host classes of 50 people with two or three trainers this is not the space that you want for the startup phase of your boot camp. The best thing to look for when leasing a space is whether or not it is something that can accommodate a reasonable size class multiple times a day.
If your class maximum is 20 because of the space you have then you only need to purchase equipment for 20 people and 1-3 extras in case something breaks. Do not lease a ton of extra equipment as it will only sit in the corner waiting for the day that you get a bigger building.
Starting small also ensures that you provide the best service to the clients you have. When starting a fitness boot camp business it is important to realize how much people expect you to cater to them. Your ability to provide top notch training will be one of the best assets when you start to think about expansion.
Keep it simple
We all know that the adjustable dumb bells are very fancy. They are fun to use and add a sleek appeal to a fitness boot camp. They are also less useful. A set of dumb bells that goes from 5lb -25lb costs about the same as adjustable dumb bells but instead of one set you are actually getting 5 sets of paired weights. This is far more useful to a fitness boot camp considering that multiple people at differing levels of ability are going to need weights at the same time. Also remembering that not many people will need higher weights for a boot camp class can cut down on the equipment leasing or purchasing costs.
Use cash as often as possible
While buy now pay later may be a way to save money, using credit cards to start a fitness boot camp business is not smart. The reason that it will save you money and be less expensive is because of the lack of interest. Also there are some businesses that offer discounts when items are paid for in full, so asking never hurts. This is especially true of things like furniture and bulk supplies.
Where to go if you simply don’t have the startup capital you need
Unfortunately sometimes you will need to gain access to additional funding before you are able to start your fitness boot camp business. There are three places that you can check out in order to see if you qualify for additional money
The Small Business Association offers both loans and grants to qualifying applicants. They may also be able to assist with additional ideas on how to save money when starting your boot camp. Franchisors may offer financial assistance if you do not have the funds for the entire initial investment. It is something that should be discussed with the franchisor up front if you need additional capital. Finally your local bank may be able to assist you in finding capital for your fitness boot camp business. Remember when finding additional sources of capital to avoid high interest credit cards. They set you up for failure as high repayment will take away from your future profits.