A marketing plan for a small gym

I will be opening a small business. It will be a gym called Maximize Yourself. It is a private business, this seemed fit because it is a new business and incase it fails, I will have limited liabilities. The Goal of any business would obviously be to make a profit, but to enjoy yourself whilst doing so is important.

The goal of enjoying is going to happen automatically because I love fitness training and being able to help others achieve their fitness goals makes it all worth the while. To jump start the business and start making quick profits, debts are required to be repaid, bank overdrafts will be paid as soon as possible to jump start the profit making process. The gym offers amazing services and products including, clothing, supplements, and protection gear and of course fitness training.

The gym will have 6 employees including 2 women and 4 men. The women will be mostly concerned with boxing and fitness training and the men focus more on the main gym room, boxing, and also rehabilitation done by myself. All employees are able to answer any questions that members might have, give tips on how to do exercises, and even offer nutritional plans to those of whom are looking to improve their diets.

The gym is located in Ryde because there are no other gyms in the area and it is a high traffic area. There is also a pool nearby and sporting clubs in Ryde making it an advantage because people would want to stay in shape and have nice bodies to show off. Also the fact that there are no competitors nearby makes it less of a hassle to have to constantly keep up with competitors. The gym is open 7 days a week, from 8 am to 8pm on Monday to Friday and 8 am to 6pm on Saturday and Sunday. Maximize yourself gives bonus offers whether it's free boxing and fitness training classes, or discounts for multiple members entering at once, discounts for people who refer others and of course for loyal long term members.

This business is all about, overcoming objectives using various strategies, achieving goals, helping people with their fitness goals, and enjoying a job at a gym. Because the gym is in the establishment stage it needs to build a reputation, and to do this we are giving special trial offers and also advertising via commercials and radio broadcasts, etc.

Business Description and Ownership

It will be a small business, it's called Maximize Yourself, it will be a Private Company because it is a new business and if it fails it will limited liabilities. The goals of the business will be to make a profit and to do this it will need to build a reputation, starting with ads like commercials showing free trial offers and deducted prices on equipment in the opening month to get some customers. It will be located in Ryde because there aren't many gyms there and it's a high traffic area. I will be the owner and start off with 6 employees that have personal training experience to help customers with training and they will ensure all equipment is in place and help with questions that members might have. Employees will rotate between jobs and I will manage financial statements like cash flow in and out of the business. The purpose of the business is to help people with physical goals whether it's building or losing weight and in doing this make profit. I will need to manage my funds for the equipment I will be buying with a loan and then repay them when I can.

Purpose of plan

Preventing failure and guiding a business to achieve it's goals is the main purpose of a business plan. By setting targets for the business a giving a design it enables it to evaluate its progress against identified reference points.

In order to have a clear direction with the business and a path for the future a well written business plan must be created. It can show how the business could perform in the future and the priorities that are set for the business.

The goals of Maximize yourself include:

Making a profit (Financial goal, short term/long term)

Satisfaction in work - self achievement (Personal goal)

Long term security - Financially (Financial goal, long term)

Sponsorship by supplement/ body fitness companies (Social goal)

Successful business (Personal goal/Financial goal, long term)

Increasing market share (Financial goal)

Help people achieve their physical goals (Personal goal/social goal)

According to the textbook a business plan outlines:

A description of the business (Name, address, organisation and management)

The business's goals

A market analysis - Customer needs and size of the market

The goods and/or services the business provides

The industry in which the business operates

Marketing/production/financial/employment relation strategies.

Situation Analysis

This is to make an analysis of the position of the business at the present time

SWOT analysis

Strengths

Great Locations

Brand new equipment

No bad perspectives of the business because it's new

Buildable reputation based on service

Good manager

Skilled and qualified Workers

Good use of technology

4 rooms (gym room, fitness training room, boxing room, rehabilitation room)

Great reputation (over 100 members)

New and updated equipment

Large rooms for easy transition between equipment and rooms

Weaknesses

Low amount of staff and therefore longer shifts

Still an expanding financial position

High costs required for quick profits

No reputation

Opportunities

Expanding to new locations

A growing market means more people will participate

Can attract more people due to it being a multigendered gym

Threats

Increased rent costs

Possible changes in governmental regulations.

Competitors (Runyaway gym)

Competitor Analysis

Runyaway Gym

Strengths

Low prices

Many workers

A lot of equipment

Great reputation

Good finance

Trained employees

Qualified and experienced managers and workers

Weaknesses

Due to it being popular it has high membership costs

It's large reputation means that the Gym could be filled with members at certain times

Opportunities

Much easy chance of expanding to new locations

Large profit allows it to Buy out competitors

Threats

Competitors (Fitness First)

A lot of gyms are starting up

Loss of members due to high costs

Market Analysis

provides enough information to convince a lender or investor that the business has enough existing or potential customers to achieve a certain amount of sales even though there's competitors

Target Market and market research

The reason maximize yourself is located in Ride is because there aren't any gyms in that area, but there is sporting teams and swimming pools which will influence people to want to workout out, lose weight and get fit, to look and feel better and what better way then joining the gym and pursuing their goals . The businesses main focus is:

- Helping people achieve their physical goals with prices that wont burn a hole through their income.

- A place to socialise and possibly meet future husbands/wives and also to share tips and make new friends.

- Also teenagers will be a major topic, due to the fact that there is suddenly a revolution of mostly teenage boys wanting to get into shape a build muscles to show off to the girl in summer.

-Aged people, to keep their fitness levels up and maintain their dietary needs.

-Lastly, mothers, having to lose those stubborn few pounds to achieve the body they had before getting pregnant

Market Segmentation

The division of the total market into small segments based on the similar characteristics of a customer group.

This is a prediction of how many members the gym will have in the first 2 months, and their age range.

AGE

AMOUNT OF MEMBERS

10-15

5

16-18

15

19-26

44

26-35

19

36+

17

This is a prediction of what areas of the gym they will be doing

Age

Bodybuilding

Boxing

Body Fitness

Cardio/weight loss room

10-15

1

4

0

0

16-18

9

4

2

0

19-26

24

10

2

8

26-35

4

2

2

11

36+

1

5

1

10

Objectives and strategies

Objectives are specific goals. They need to be S.M.A.R.T which means they need to be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timed.

Key business functions

Operations:

The physical production of a good or the provision of a service. Since my business is a gym it is service based. This can be both an advantage and a disadvantage.

It's an advantage because:

-There isn't that extra hassle of having enough stock

-Making sure it's not over stocked

-Finding the latest new products to sell to appeal to consumers needs and compete with other businesses

-Having to constantly innovate into the business later on in the business life cycle.

This is a disadvantage because

-If what your providing isn't selling then you could always innovate new products into your business, but when it's service based there is no backup, therefore it means that your service must be so good that it will appeal to others and keep consumers interested

-It costs a lot more to replace equipment used for services as opposed to just replacing a product

-The fact that you cant actually advertise how good your service is as opposed to saying how good a product is in an advertisement.

Also having a good description of the good or service, including:

-Technology used

-Materials and equipment required

-Supplies used

Testing and evaluation expenses

The service the business will provide includes:

-From open till close, 7 days a week, at all hours, there will be personal trainers available throughout the gym answering any questions members might have and also helping out people with their workouts, and giving tips on how to maximize their time in the gym to get the best possible results and help them to achieve their goals fast.

-Personal trainers that will constantly give feedback to members and support them as they strive to achieve their goals.

-A range of knowledge ranging from bodybuilding and body fitness to fat burning and rehabilitation, also kickboxing will be taught by a former champion.

The businesses service will be amazing because all employees will have experiences of at least one of these categories and will be able to share experiences and accomplishments and help members do the same.

Objectives for the gym include reducing cost of merchandise like supplements, and gym gear, also lowering membership costs or giving free offers, a strategy to accomplish thisis to lower the prices but be aware of competitors prices so the business has a fighting chance, it's at a reasonable price, and it's still making profit. Another objective will be to improve quality of the service and the products sold, strategies involve researching about the new and latest product but for the sake of them being beneficial as opposed to them costing more then requiring members to pay more for products, also introducing new employees or exercise categories like yoga to attract a variety of consumers.

Marketing:

This involves finding out what consumers need and want and linking these to the businesses product/service. These may result in a new promotional campaign.

Appealing to consumers' needs and wants is one of the very daunting tasks of the establishment stage, because it requires finding out what the consumers want and being able to provide that with your business.

In terms of a gym, consumers want to be able to achieve their physical goals without getting ripped off, they want to be able to be able to get their money's worth, be in a comfortable, friendly and inviting environment that would make them want to continuing using the gym without the hassle of being in a crammed room that contains weights, bikes, boxing bags and boxing rings, and be able to navigate throughout the gym with ease.

In words this is easy, but being able to be a competitor on the market and show consumers just how good the gym is, will be a challenging task.

An objective of the business will be to increase the number of members of the gym by 5 percent in the first year. Strategies to achieve this objective will include trial offers and deducted prices, also special offers that include discounts on equipment and classes to get new members and allow them to experience the gym and potentially keep them as members and possibly have them refer other people to the gym.

The main strategy is to find what the consumers want and being able to provide it, also giving people a reason to joining your gym as opposed to going to another gm which will be a competitor. To do this the gym will be for both male and female and for all ages. Other objectives include increased market share which also allows the business to have a chance against competitors and last of course increased profits by 10 % in 12 months.

Strategies to achieve this include introducing new products that appeal to consumer demand like the latest supplements or the newest workout machine; this will potentially get more members and also extend current members' membership.

Marketing strategies must be consistent, the following must be taken into consideration:

-Position: Knowing consumers perspective on your product/service and being apply to use this information to improve your business

-Price: Set prices, how it was determined and how it is compared to competitors.

-Place: Available distribution methods must be assessed

Accounting and finance:

Provides the financial information needed for sound and viable decision-making.

All small businesses must have the following to function properly and also to keep track of money.

Financial requirements are needed; new businesses must have a clear idea of the amount of funds they will need. This could come from debt financing or the original owners equity, keeping track of the businesses budget and cash flow is crucial because it lets the owner know what areas are making profit and which areas are slowing the increase in profit.

To keep track of these, businesses use a range of tools such as financial forecasting which tells the owner whether or not they can afford to produce the product or provide the service, this helps with a gym because it helps to show which products are selling, and whether or not the quality of their service is good based on the amount of members that they have or the amount of members the have ended their membership.

Also there's financial records, this is good for small businesses so they can keep track of their finances, they will need to have, revenue statements (Income, profit and loss of the gym), cash flow statements (the money coming into and going out of the gym), balance sheets and budgets.

Also theres breakeven: A planning tool that can be used to forecast how much of the product must be produced, or the service must be provided to cover costs of product and cost of paying employees to cover costs and make a profit.

Lastly, financial controls are needed, which is having controls in place to ensure the business stays on track. These controls allow corrective action to be taken and without controls, the businesses ability to succeed start to be questioned.

Objectives include reducing debts, that being said reducing the bank overdraft for all the equipment and land that was bought from $35000 to $25000 after 6 months, strategies for this to be done include getting more members to make profit and to do this, the gym will need to be advertised and show special offers to get consumers attention. Another objective includes increases profits by 10 % in the next 12 months by advertising more to make more money, also by continuing to sell products and providing services.

Employment Relations:

Due to such easy access to technology and raw materials, a businesses staff has become a valuable asset. The gym has an excellent range of staff hand picked by the owner due to their experience and the fact that they did a personal training course, or completed a course for the area of the gym they are working in.

A challenge for the owner is keeping the employees interested in the job, this can be bother an easy or hard task depending on whether or not they like the job to start with.

Objectives include increasing the pay of the employees. Even though the business is still starting out, a rise in pay should still occur because there won't be much members at first and it'll make it easy for the employees to get bored of their jobs. Also rewards and bonuses will be given to employees who deserve it. 10% increase in employees pay in 12 months. A strategy to achieve this will be to possibly cut back the owners pay for a while or by advertising more to sell more products and get more members to make more money to be able to pay the employees.

The numbers of staff, and the skills they contain have a large impact on strategic goals, the employment relations of the gym has objectives such as: Ensuring that the employees understand what their job is and whats expected, ensuring a healthy and safe environment, measuring and evaluating their perfomances. Strategies to achieve them include buying fresh new equipment and products, training the employees for a few weeks, keeping track of employee achievements.

Job Description

Must have a resume showing all recent achievements. Most have completed a personal training course or have certificates in the area they wish to work in. Also at least 3 years experience of the job. Also a medical check is needed to ensure that there is no injuries that will affect the employee on the job.

Staffing requirements

Rostering is the process of allocating particular staff to complete particular duties.

Employees:

- Steph Greensburg - Personal trainer (Completed personal fitness course)

- Penelope Chaaya - Personal Trainer, boxer (Body Fitness course)

- Tim Stevens Personal Trainer, bodybuilder ( Personal training course, 5 years

experience)

- Alex Dagher Personal Trainer, Boxing (3 Year personal training course)

-Simon Rassy Former boxing champion (degree in personal training)

- Charles Chaaya (Boss) Personal Trainer, Physiotherapist, Rehabilitation doctor (degree in personal training, 4 year course of physiotherapist, 3 year course on body fitness)

ROSTER Example: 1 hour break

Day

(8am-2pm)

Area

(3pm-8pm) 6pm on Saturday and sunday

Area

Monday

Charles Chaaya

Steph

Penelope

Gym room

Boxing Room

Rehabilitation room

Charles Chaaya

Steph

Penelope

Gym room

Boxing/cardio

Fitness training

Tuesday

Alex

Tim

Simon

Cardio/fitness

Gym room

Boxing

Alex

Tim

Simon

Cardio/fitness

Gym room

Boxing

Wednesday

Steph

Alex

Charles

Cardio/fitness

Gym room

Rehabilitation

Steph

Alex

Charles

Cardio/fitness

Boxing

Gym room

Thursday

Steph

Tim

Penelope

Cardio/fitness

Gym room

Boxing

Steph

Tim

Penelope

Cardio/fitness

Gym room

Boxing

Friday

Charles

Simon

Alex

Rehabilitation

Boxing

Gym room

Charles

Simon

Alex

Gym room

Cardio/fitness

Fitness training

Saturday

Steph

Penelope

Tim

Cardio/fitness

Boxing

Gym room

Steph

Penelope

Tim

Cardio/fitness

Boxing

Gym room

Sunday

Charles

Simon

Alex

Rehabilitation

Boxing

Gym room

Charles

Simon

Alex

Rehabilitation

Boxing

Gym room

Price / Promotion

The pricing of Maximize yourself will be based on whether it is an affordable amount, and whether or not it beat competitor pricing. There will be promotions of cheaper trial offers to let people try out the gym and see whether they like it or not. There will be free trials for boxing classes and body fitness classes to also attract a wide range of consumers. Also bonuses included free boxing or body fitness lessons with 3+ month memberships, this will also be to gain members. Apart from profit being a main goal, it is important to have an environment where people don't feel trapped in a maze and can move around freely, and these offers will allow the consumers o discover just how good the gym is. There must be a distinguish between maximize yourself and other gyms, that being, and amazing service and of course amazing prices.

Ways of Promoting the gym include:

- A commercial

-Social networking sites

-Radio

-Door to door sales informing residents of the cheap offers

-Discounts for referrals

-bonuses for long term members

Membership Fees

Single visits: $5.00 per person

1 week pass: $20.00

1 month membership: $55.00

3 months membership: $140.00

6 months membership: $240.00

12 months membership: $400.00

OR free boxing/Body fitness classes: membership cost+$15.00

Classes will be posted on a timetable hung up in the gym:

Boxing:

1 Class: $8

1 Month: $55

Body Fitness

1 Class: $5

1 Month: $35

Supplement Prices

"MUSCLE MASS" Protein bucket: 1kg: $30, 2kg: $50, 4kg: $80

Creatine Powder: $30

Fat burner supplement: $40

Bulk Building supplements: $60+ depending on product.

Products:

"Bodybuilder" and "100% Natural" shirts: $15 each

Training Singlets: $10 (Different Colours)

Gloves for weights: $20 (different colours)

Belt for weights: $40 (different colours)

Product

Due to Maximize yourself being a new gym it is obvious that it will have new top notch products, including trademark brands which are easily bought due to a friend of the owners being a seller of them giving him discounted prices. Due to the spacious layout of the gym the equipment will be spread accordingly allowing free movement without bunching into equipment and interrupting others during their workouts.

Obvious products will be sold such as supplements, shirt, singlet's, gloves and belts. The products of course vary in size to suit different sized customers and the maximize yourself logo will be on the lower back of the shirts/singlet's and imprinted on the belts and gloves.

Place

How and where the product is distributed. Maximize Yourself did not create the supplements they are going to sell. Although everything else is owned by the business and they are all made by a retailer then send to the business when stock is ordered. Only Maximize yourself will be able to sell the equipment due to it being exclusive distribution.

Description of the product/service

Even though Maximize Yourself is service based it sells many great products. Services include the following: The gym area, this is where all the main equipment is, this room is mostly used for bodybuilding and contain all the weights and machines that assist with bodybuilding, there will always be a personal trainer in there helping people with their weight training and giving out advice/ answering questions. Also the other trained staff who run boxing classes and fitness training class simultaneously are expertly trained and will give you your money's worth. Whether that's to learn how to defend yourself, lose weight or get fitter, they'll supply the help.

Equipment inside the gym

Bench press x 2 - $500

Power racks - $800

Rubber floors- $1000 per square metre

Rubber mats x 8 -$100

Cable equipment (For all muscles)

45 degree leg press - $400

45 degree back extension - $200

Dip / pull up assist machine - $200

Medicine balls x 6 - $120

Set of Dumbbells- $1500

Fitness step x 4 - $360

Barbell set (10kg - 70kg) - $2500

Smith Machine x 2 - $3000

Rowing machines x 3 - $2000

Treadmills x 3 - $4000

Exercise bikes x 12 - $5000

Boxing bags x 5 - $600

Boxing ring - $3000

Helmets x 20 - $800

Boxing gloves x 20 pairs - $600

Personal Trainers

- Steph Greensburg - Personal trainer (Completed personal fitness course)

- Penelope Cruz - Personal Trainer, boxer (Body Fitness course)

- Tim Stevens Personal Trainer, bodybuilder ( Personal training course, 5 years

experience)

- Alex Dagher Personal Trainer, Boxing (3 Year personal training course)

-Simon Rassy Former boxing champion (degree in personal training)

- Charles Chaaya (Boss) Personal Trainer, Physiotherapist, Rehabilitation doctor (degree in personal training, 4 year course of physiotherapist, 3 year course on body fitness)

Classes

Boxing

See instructors for details

Fitness training

See instructors for details

Boxing Class

Learn how to fight and defend yourself with our top notch boxing instructors.

Fitness training

Intensive cardio, bodyweight training like pushups, dips, squats, lunges, abdominal circuits.

Opening hours

Monday - Friday: 8am - 8pm

Saturday - Sunday: 8am - 6pm

Front Counter

Drinks

Singlets

Shirts

Supplements

Gloves

Belt

Boxing gloves

Wrist pads

Maximize yourself offers great discounts like:

Free trials

Discounts for loyal members

More people=less you pay

Financial Forecasts

Balance Sheet

Maximize Yourself Pty Ltd

Current assets

Cash $10000

Accounts Receivable $20000

Inventory $30000

TOTAL $60000

Non-Current assets

Equipment $150,000

Land $250,000

Building/Property $100,000

TOTAL $500 000

Other Current Assets

Good Will $100,000

TOTAL assets: $660 000

Current Liabilities

Overdraft $80 000

Accounts Payable $30 000

TOTAL $110 000

Non Current Liabilities

Mortgage $600,000

TOTAL $600 000

Owners Equity

Shareholders funds $167,000

Capital $80,000

Retained Profits $40,000

Total Liabilities + Equity

$997 000

Liquidity = Current Assets .

Current Liabilities

=$60000 = 0.55

$110,000

Cash Flow Statement

Cash flow from operating activities

Receipts from customers

Payments to Suppliers and Employees

Net cash provided by operating activities

$120000

($110 000)

$10 000

Cash Flow from investing Activities

Payment for Property, plant and equipment

Net cash provided by investing activities

($50000)

($50000)

Cash Flow from Financing Activities

Repayment of borrowing

Net cash provided by financing activities

Net increase (decrease) in cash held

Cash at beginning of year

$40000

$40000

($5000)

$(20000)

Cash at end of year

($25000)

Critically review the plan and process

In all honesty, I actually enjoyed doing the assignment, sure it was EXTREMELY long but it involves me being creative and actually doing an assignment about a topic I like for once. I must admit, if it wasn't for my plan and help from the business teachers I would've had no clue what I was doing.

Now that I think of it, I regret not setting out my plan correctly, I left to much of the report if not ALL of it for the last due date, this left me with a mess load of work, plus the fact that I didn't manage my time and ended up having to do more than half the assignment in the last two days.

I regret not asking as many questions in class. It was startling having a different teach teaching the subject after having Mrs Jones for so long but I eventually adjusted. I was disappointed in my slow progression and poor time management skills, and having assignments for other subjects just made it all the more less motivating in proceeding to complete this assignment.

One of my worst flaws is my short attention span, something as little as seeing an item on my desk would cause me to stop and daydream, also knowing that I was one click away from face book and msn. On top of all these distraction is my MAJOR distraction! My Xbox 360, my mentality was always, play now, do business later, "Im so good at this game, I can't just stop playing now im 'owning'" is what I always said to myself, even whilst making progress I thought about getting off the computer and going to play.

Another factor was friends, there's always someone to have a discussion with, and of course anything to get out of doing work right?

Overall I believed I achieved what I planned to and was glad due to the relief of completing such a detailed assignment. I believe a few more lessons dedicated to actually explaining the assignment might've motivated me to have completed some work sooner. Although Im g