I think the best route is to open up a small gym orientated to the serious lifter. Now you probably won't make a lot if money but if you do it right and for the right reasons like love of the sport. I think you'll find happiness. It won't take a lot of money compared to trying to open a huge gym but you'll find happiness.
I know me personally I'd much rather workout at a small hole in the wall gym compared to a big gym where I have little crossfit wannabes asking me stupid questions.
Headphones in leave me the fuck alone.
Phoe, the unfortunate reality is that those small hardcore gyms are folding one after another, all over the country. There's always going to be a few here and there, but the hardcore lifting community just isn't what it used to be. The people that keep gyms in business in this economy are actually women. Anyone that doesn't cater to the female demographic, is frankly, just waiting to go out of business.
People want the same convenience in their gym that they get from everything else in their life. They want one stop "fitness shopping." Convenience is the new must-have accessory in this world. They want to go to one place to get everything that they need to "get in shape". They want Pilates and yoga, weights and cardio machines, tanning, sunless tanning, child care, a supplement store, and everything else that you've ever seen in a gym, all under the same roof. It's all about convenience. And then they want it all for $10, cuz that's what Planet Fatness charges.
The fitness industry is in the middle of a race to zero, and ultimately everyone is losing because of it. It's going to do what it does to every industry, cause a massive divide and put 65% of the industry out of business. The $10 a month Planet Fatnesses of the world will be fine because they have numbers on their side. It's cheap and affordable even to the dregs of society. They're going to continue to profit just by virtue of having 15,000 paying meme red per location, half of which forgot they have a membership but haven't noticed the $10 charge on their bank statement every month.
The part of the industry that suffers and fails the most is the "middle class" if u will. The gyms that offer a decent amount of services for $25-50 a month. Those are the ones that get decimated in the race to zero. They can't compete with the cheaper gyms on price so they'll never have the vast number of paying members that are necessary to survive. Obviously there will be a few that make it, but not many. They're operating on too tight of a budget every month, and just a few unexpected maintenance issues coupled with losing members to the $10 gyms will ultimately put most of them out of business.
The other gyms that have the chance to thrive are the high end gyms. They survive on the fact that a certain percentage of the population always feels like they're better than the rest and they want to show it, even when they go to the gym. They want to be insulated from the dregs of society, and just by price alone their gym membership allows that. They also want the best facilities, the nicest equipment, the best trainers, the most number of different classes, and just generally have higher expectations than the rest of the gym going public. Their standards and expectations are high, and with that comes higher costs on the gym owners end.
The numbers are not on their side either, though. The high end gyms are already folding in many places. There are just only so many people willing to pay a premium price for a gym membership, regardless of how much disposable income they have. I think the unfortunate trend is going toward turning the gym into even more of a social scene. Keep people there longer, even if they're not working out. Have lounges where they can relax and chat with people, have full service restaurants where they can eat and drink, free wifi. The longer someone stays in your building, the more money they're going to spend. Do whatever it takes to keep them there, because there's no limit to the number of other places they can go to spend their disposable income. Restaurants, bars, sports venues, theaters. You're not just competing against other gyms, you're competing against all of these other places that people can go to waste time and spend money.
It's all about disposable income. No one HAS to go to the gym. Everyone SHOULD. But no one has to. You are fighting for a share of people's disposable income. It's your job to give them a reason to spend it with you instead of everywhere else. And people want more for their dollar now than ever before. It's a constant battle. And you're fighting with so many more businesses than you thought you were.