Starting your own fitness studio may seem like a lofty dream, but it’s an absolutely attainable goal. It’s far from easy to get things going, but reaching your end goal of helping people achieve their desired level of fitness is inherently rewarding. If you have the passion to succeed in the fitness industry, you’ve already met half the battle. The other half comes in making careful decisions and watching them materialize into the fitness studio you’ve always wanted.

Understand Your Vision

How do you intend to help people get fit? There are tons of simple gyms that pop up all over the place, and these business models work for people who intend to open multiple locations and aggressively market them with a large budget. You have the ability to break the mold. You need to consider what makes your fitness vision different from all of the others. Do you want to combine yoga and high intensity interval training? You have the freedom to do that. When you believe in your vision, it’s easier to actualize.

Brand Yourself

Once you’ve developed a clear vision, it’s time to brand yourself. Branding is a lot more involved than deciding what it is you want to do – it’s making other people recognize and remember that message. This is the part where you pick names and colors and logos. You create your website and your professional social media profiles. Your branding is what will give your audience an impression of who you are, allowing them to connect with you. Unique branding will help you stay competitive, which is of the utmost importance for small businesses.

Find the Right Location

When you’re starting a business, you probably don’t have a lot of capital to throw around on a location. You don’t need to have the biggest, fanciest building to start off with. There are plenty of successful boutique fitness studios that utilize one large room to its fullest potential. When you’re checking Gumtree for places that will work with your budget, don’t just view these places for what they are. View them for what you can turn them into with great stylistic choices and personalized touches.

Hire the Right People

You probably won’t be able to hit the ground running with a staff of 20 people. You might be able to hire 5, and you need to make sure those 5 people will be your rock stars. Choosing the best candidates can sometimes be difficult, especially when you’re working with a low starting budget. The most important thing to look for is a candidate with a unique skillset who will be able to apply it to your vision. Double duty employees are also a great choice – your front desk person can also be your social media manager.

Invest Wisely

You won’t be able to start in the place where you want to end up. You’ll have to keep some cash set aside in the event of an emergency, and you’ll need to be able to make payroll at the end of the week while you’re still establishing yourself. Try purchasing multifunctional pieces of fitness equipment that will allow you to do the most while spending the least. As you become more financially secure, start investing in dedicated pieces of equipment. What you lack in equipment you can always make up for in enthusiasm.

No matter how you decide to approach opening your own fitness studio, make sure you give it your all. It’s the unfortunate reality that half of all new businesses won’t succeed, and you don’t want your lack of success to be directly related to your conformity. The more original you are, the more memorable you will be. It’s your dream, and you should do it the way you want to.