what areas in need of a budget gym

trainer7

Hi Everybody

I was just wondering what areas inthe dublin region do you think could benifit from a budget low cost gym.

Any suggestions for this would be appreciated

longhalloween

I think he's looking to open a gym, somewhere with the least competition probably.

trainer7

longhalloween wrote: »

I think he's looking to open a gym, somewhere with the least competition probably.

Hi
Its not the competition im worried about its an area that needs the service, looking at setting up a budget gym

Any suggestions would be great

riveratom

Grand Canal Dock / Ringsend area? There are a couple of gyms round there but they are mid-priced, definitely not budget.

BraziliaNZ

Artane

neil_hosey

riveratom wrote: »

Grand Canal Dock / Ringsend area? There are a couple of gyms round there but they are mid-priced, definitely not budget.

pearse street area would be better.

therse budget gym in irishtown/ringsend

riveratom

neil_hosey wrote: »

pearse street area would be better.

therse budget gym in irishtown/ringsend

Grand Canal is pretty much Pearse St area

Which gym is that in Irishtown / Ringsend?

Dathai

neil_hosey wrote: »

pearse street area would be better.

therse budget gym in irishtown/ringsend

Trinity's Gym and the Markievicz gym are on / around Pearse Street.

The latter being quite reasonable IIRC (pay as you go as well). Trinity's fees are ~400 a year I think, which definitely isn't reasonable

neil_hosey

Dathai wrote: »

Trinity's Gym and the Markievicz gym are on / around Pearse Street.

The latter being quite reasonable IIRC (pay as you go as well). Trinity's fees are ~400 a year I think, which definitely isn't reasonable

trinity gym is packed all the time, markievicz has laods of machines but not much weights as far as i remember.

neither are great choices, was looking to join trinity for 400, and mark for 300. Neither worth it

Danye

trainer7 wrote: »

Hi Everybody

I was just wondering what areas inthe dublin region do you think could benifit from a budget low cost gym.

Any suggestions for this would be appreciated

Drimnagh! It's in desperate need of a gym!

cavedave

What would the area need?

I would guess

1. High population density



2. Particularly among those that would use a budget gym? Who is that?

3 lack of a gym there in the area.

4. Cheap to rent

trainer7

cavedave wrote: »

What would the area need?

I would guess

1. High population density



2. Particularly among those that would use a budget gym? Who is that?

3 lack of a gym there in the area.

4. Cheap to rent

Huge help guys thanks so much, still struggling to go city centre or highly dence suburbs, suburbs competition is huge
Should be fun

Zamboni

D14, D16 and D24
Tallaght, Templeogue, Rathfarnham, Knocklyon, Ballinteer, Ballyboden.
There is nothing budget in those areas outside of sports clubs and the closest budget set up is Ben Dunnes Carlisle in Terenure/Kimmage.

You should specify what type of gym you are setting up?
I am guessing you are not trying to compete with Ben Dunne.

Lombardo86

Zamboni wrote: »

D14, D16 and D24
Tallaght, Templeogue, Rathfarnham, Knocklyon, Ballinteer, Ballyboden.
There is nothing budget in those areas outside of sports clubs and the closest budget set up is Ben Dunnes Carlisle in Terenure/Kimmage.

You should specify what type of gym you are setting up?
I am guessing you are not trying to compete with Ben Dunne.

Absolutely spot on with these areas. Although with Ben Dunne so close i would recommend a 'proper' gym.. not necessarily with 800 machines but one with a focus on perhaps free weights, classes, not just a conveyor belt of membership like the ben dunne gyms. Maybe a no nonsense gym too, no pool etc just the necessary equipment to get a decent workout (emphasis on amount of equipment - need to ensure people aren't waiting for benches, racks etc

Just my two cents

Hanley

Why budget gym versus targeted facility?

Have you the finances in place for it (300k+ off the top of my head)?

Do you run a successful business now?

What's the break even point of the new venture?

All stuff i'd be considering ahead of a location, but location suggestions sound about right. Good luck with it if you go ahead.

RobAMerc

Lombardo86 wrote: »

Absolutely spot on with these areas. Although with Ben Dunne so close i would recommend a 'proper' gym.. not necessarily with 800 machines but one with a focus on perhaps free weights, classes, not just a conveyor belt of membership like the ben dunne gyms. Maybe a no nonsense gym too, no pool etc just the necessary equipment to get a decent workout (emphasis on amount of equipment - need to ensure people aren't waiting for benches, racks etc

Just my two cents

I think this is more of a what we would like to have rather than whats a viable business option.
A heck of a lot of folk would not go near a gym like that in a million years unless they were going there to meet a PT.

If you are spending the kinda capital Hanley suggests is necessary, you'll need to be getting punters through the door.
While specialised gyms might be nice to have in your area - people will travel for them, being the handiest one around might just not be enough.

Lombardo86

RobAMerc wrote: »

I think this is more of a what we would like to have rather than whats a viable business option.
A heck of a lot of folk would not go near a gym like that in a million years unless they were going there to meet a PT.

If you are spending the kinda capital Hanley suggests is necessary, you'll need to be getting punters through the door.
While specialised gyms might be nice to have in your area - people will travel for them, being the handiest one around might just not be enough.

I kind of agree with you here.. i didn't actually mean it as a personal preference, i meant it in a way that would make him stand out from the crowd. Like you said people are willing to travel in general if they are getting what they want.

If the OP can't compete with Ben Dunne (I don't think he can unless he has serious cash) then in terms of the budget market i think he will need to be budget, but in a different area and i was just suggesting that this could be a budget 'proper' gym.

Fully understand where you are coming from but that wasn't my intention. I just think if you go up against the big boy (Ben Dunne) then you may get burned. So try something different!

Hanley

Yup, and it's worth remembering Ben Dunne has the wherewithal to enter a price war and win. If you're going budget as your only competitive point, he can go lower and run you out of the market. It's nothing to one of his gyms to operate below cost for a while if needed.

The Davestator

Hanley wrote: »

Yup, and it's worth remembering Ben Dunne has the wherewithal to enter a price war and win. If you're going budget as your only competitive point, he can go lower and run you out of the market. It's nothing to one of his gyms to operate below cost for a while if needed.

Great point. Most of his gyms run at a loss and are propped up by the bigger ones. I know this industry and I know the accounts and it's very difficult to make decent money. You can pay yourself a decent wage but with insurance etc so high you won't be rich.

I'd be less concerned with population density and more concerned with doing some good market and demographic research. No point in having 10,000 poor students on your doorstep!

Hanley

The Davestator wrote: »

Great point. Most of his gyms run at a loss and are propped up by the bigger ones. I know this industry and I know the accounts and it's very difficult to make decent money. You can pay yourself a decent wage but with insurance etc so high you won't be rich.

I'd be less concerned with population density and more concerned with doing some good market and demographic research. No point in having 10,000 poor students on your doorstep!

Strong agree. Even the insurance on my place is manky.

Back when I was an accountant I saw the accounts for a big player in the Dublin gym market and they make for grim reading. You really need profitable clubs to support the non-profitable ones.

I've been saying it since before TF closed, but there's no room in the middle. You're either bargain basement (Ben Dunne), high price (Westwood) or specialised (CF, Raw, BFit4Life etc) or you're dead.

There's a couple of gyms that don't fit that description doing well, but it's thanks to phenomenal service and a high level of customer care.

CIARAN_BOYLE

Zamboni wrote: »

D14, D16 and D24
Tallaght, Templeogue, Rathfarnham, Knocklyon, Ballinteer, Ballyboden.
There is nothing budget in those areas outside of sports clubs and the closest budget set up is Ben Dunnes Carlisle in Terenure/Kimmage.

You should specify what type of gym you are setting up?
I am guessing you are not trying to compete with Ben Dunne.

A budget gym in Tallaght closed up shop because they weren't brining in the money needed about five years ago.

It was a large room upstairs from one of the shops on main street, they had a dozen different machines, a couple of punching bags and a rack or two of free weights and they charged €20 a month or less for an annual membership.

PhoenixParker

I had an idea a while ago that this location might make an excellent gym*

I have no capital myself and no interest in running a gym, but the idea was basically that you could tie it into the Phoenix park.

People could use the lockers and showers in your gym, but run in the park, maybe you'd rent bikes (or store bikes for people who own them), you could have instructors taking people on runs in the park too, maybe link up with bootcamp. Before or after their run they could do stretches, weights, warm ups, cool downs a bit of cross training in the gym facility. Maybe have a physio, a coffee shop, all that sort of thing. You could also facilitate people meeting up with other people with the same exercise goals.

A lot of people already exercise in the area already and it's convenient for public transport.
You'd probably need to sort parking but I think there's some scope around the back of the building, and there's the Ashling next door. (do a deal on a number of car parking spaces vs access to the gym for their guests)

Whether you could attract people who already use the park to pay a bit for the showers/lockers and extra facilities I don't know.
(I also haven't walked past the building in ages, but I assume it's still for rent)