Vlog 12: How to build a boutique fitness studio 

Awww thanks so much, I appreciate you saying that!!! ☺️🙏🙏... best of luck on your gym! If you have any questions, I’m happy to help 😊

Haha that’s so sweet Nicole, what a great comment 😊😊😋 I really appreciate it, thank you and thanks for watching!! 😊😊

Congratulations 🎊🎉 I wish you much success! I’m working on the same thing. I just registered my business name.

Hey there! That's sweet, thanks so much!! ... what named you chose for your business? :)

Awesome Mike, thanks a lot, I appreciate that! Best of luck to you on your boutique studio, please share some pics when you finish ... maybe make a video like this too! :) The best advice I can give you is just stick to it, there were some major speed bumps the entire process, don’t let that discourage you, just keep at it and it’ll all workout! I know you will do great 💪 Thanks for the comment!

Good for you Jalina!!! It's a difficult business, but so rewarding, it's totally worth it! :) I really wish you best in your building process! Please reach out if you need any advice, I'm always happy to help :D

Thanks a lot, I appreciate that!! 😊🙏💪💪

I am a personal trainer based in South Africa 🇿🇦 own my own fitness studio, I am looking for someone to talk to regard the business and I see you as someone I can consider as a mentor, any chance we can share ideas 💡?

@@ntsekiemajoro4173 you bet my friend, I’m happy to help! I have a lot of insight, Let’s hop on a call. Please write down what questions you have, and how I can help you specifically.

Thanks Akram, you're the man, I really appreciate it!! :)

Hey thanks a lot, I really appreciate that!! 😊😊🙏💪

Haha thanks a lot, appreciate that! 💪😊

Your place still going? May we get an update?

Thanks so much, I really appreciate that!!!! :) Watch the latest vlogs and you could see how its turning out! :)

Thaaaaanks Erin!!! That's really sweet of you to say! I'm glad you liked it!! :)

Thanks a lot Thom, I'm glad you liked it! :)

Aww thanks so much Greta, that’s nice of you to say!! I appreciate it 😊😊🙏

We'd love to see you if you're ever in Seattle, here is a link you could use for a free workout ☺ academyathletics.sites.zenplanner.com/freeTrial.cfm

thanks a lot!! I really appreciate that :)

Thanks so much Victor, I appreciate that! Have a great day 😊😊💪

@@LionelBalland you are trully an inspiration!

Victor Urena you’re so nice victor, thank you, I really appreciate it! 😊🙏🙏

@@LionelBalland you are an inspiration! God bless you

Victor Urena really appreciate it my friend! Bless you and hope All is well in Costa Rica! 😊💪

Hey Jacob, thanks for reaching out! So yes the window graphics really made a huge difference, definitely makes the space look more professional and it added a cool aesthetic to the business without too much cost. What you would search for is simply “window graphics” or retail window graphics. The actual product is called a vinyl window decal. These are pretty common and lots of different businesses can do them for you, typically it’s a printing shop or a sign shop. The place I used is called AlphaGraphics in Seattle www.alphagraphicsseattle.com, but a quick Google search in your area will give you shops that are close to you that could do it. You can also use national retailers like Signs.com, SpeedPro.com, or fastsigns.com. One recommendation I might suggest is that if you are looking to do a picture graphic like I have above my office, I had them place it on the inside of the windows as opposed to the outside, because they would last longer and are less likely to get damaged by the elements. A gym right down the street from us has them on the outside of their windows and they are all wrinkled and rolled up on the edges, looks pretty bad. Best of luck to you and let me know if you need any other advice, always happy to help! :)

Hi danny, unfortunately yes. That's how it works, which was a good lesson for me to learn. When I built this was during the real estate boom in Seattle, it is right when amazon moved in. All the permits were backed up like crazy, all the contractors had more work than they could handle, all the projects to work on were multi million dollar projects and there was less than 1% of commercial real estate available in our area. it was the Wild West out here!!! It was the worst time ever to do this, haha :) So when you sign for your lease you should always negotiate free rent, buildings want you in there and it is for multiple years, so it is customary to negotiate some free time for your build out. Always ask for more than you need, try double what you need and then you negotiate down to what you were really aiming for. I asked for a free year, which was ridiculous and I knew I wouldn't get, but because of that I was able to get 6 months free. Unfortunately the permit process during this time in Seattle took all that free time away from me, but it did totally save me from having to pay the rent which would of screwed me right at the start. Sorry for the long answer, let me know if you have any other questions :)

Hey there thanks for the message, I really appreciate it! As far as finding a location, I had a commercial real estate agent helping me, but you can also find places available on loopnet.com. As far as the damage for the full business, planning, design, equipment, and build out, it was pretty substantial. About $250k, but the place was completely empty when I built it, it was a full build out. I learned a lot in the process, and I might not do the same thing again. What you learn when opening one of these businesses is that you charge the same price no matter how nice or ugly your gym is. having a beautiful gym is great and people love it, but it doesn’t mean that it’s going to bring in more income. the most efficient way to do this Levern, would be to buy someone else’s gym that’s already made. there are so many fitness business owners looking to get out, it is a tough business if you don’t know what you’re doing. You can literally reach out to owners and see if they would consider selling. Then, after you guys agree on a price, tell them you’ll pay them through a down payment, but then pay the rest through seller financing, which is just making a monthly payment off the profit that the gym makes. This is a little arbitrage where you can get into a fully built gym for 10k probably. This is a really smart way to do it and probably what I would recommend as opposed to building your own. Building your own is great if you have the dream, but realize it’s pretty darn expensive by the end. if you get into a place for very cheap, it’s just such a great way to get ahead right off the bat, you’ll have a higher change of success with more capitol in your pocket. You can actually do this for any business, but it works best on gym businesses, because so many owners aren’t successful, and will do anything to get out of their lease. if you ever need help, reach out anytime :)

@@LionelBalland thanks so much for this in-depth insight. This potentially saved me a massive headache and tens of thousands of dollars. My mission is to improve the mental health of men battling substance abuse and depression all while getting into the best shape of their life. The market is showing more women are engaged in fitness studios and gym memberships overall but im led by purpose before profit. I could truly use some guidance on going about this and becoming a successful studio owner, as I feel it is definitely a purpose I’ve been called to fulfill. As an individual that was once on the rode to suicide due to abusing substances, which destroyed my mental health, I stand for the men that are alone out there battling their own mental problems with vices by building a community of men that support one another and push one another to become the absolute healthiest and best version of themselves for themselves and their family. Where they step into a life free of addiction and depression.

Hey Jay thanks a lot for your comment! You saved this for two years, I love that man, thanks for sharing with me! 😊😊 … so I actually got funding by selling my house. It’s tough man this is a challenging business, getting a loan and having investors it’s hard to do right off the bat, I would always advise you to start small and build up as you progress and feel ready to. A good idea could be to maybe rent out space until your client base gets too big and then at which point you are forced to move up to a bigger space. The fitness industry is challenging and it’s hard to make it, things have definitely changed now because of Covid as well. If you ever want to chat, I can see where you’re at and where you want to be and give you some advice, I have a lot of insight from the experience I’ve gotten. If you have other questions let me know. I appreciate the comment my friend, hope you have a great day 😉💪

@@LionelBalland hey Lionel! Thanks for the reply! Okay so I'm going with what you said, I'm starting small. So I took a step back and a friend and I are going partners on everything. We are starting with a decent size building and have equipment put in but now adding to the building to make it bigger. It's not fancy but it's looking good. After the addition is put on we want to get members in and clients, we can have a capacity of 50 people. We will charge $50 a month per person. I wanted to ask how do I get a liability waiver for the studio for people to fill out?

Jay See Hi Jay nice to hear from you! That is great news, congratulations, it’s impressive that you’re moving forward on this! I’m happy for you! So if you’re getting a decent sized building and adding more to it, are you paying for that cost to add? Also are you buying the building by any chance or renting out space? If you ever have an opportunity to buy a building in your market, something you can afford of course, then it’s well worth doing! Gym rent is expensive and if you live in an affordable area, all that rent you’re going to pay anyway can go towards owning a building which will make you more money than running a gym does. That’s the reason McDonald’s is so powerful today, because they own the land that they put their restaurants on. You said you have some equipment already that’s a good thing, equipment can be costly. My advice for equipment would be the same as the gym space, start small and build up as you go along. I’ve seen so many people spent a bunch of money building out a beautiful gym and then not be able to get clients. Getting clients is number one and it’s what you should focus on. Is the gym you’re planning to do a regular gym where you come in and work out on your own using the equipment? That’s what it sounds like. $50 a month for 50 people is only $2500 a month, if you have rent, employees, taxes, utilities, insurance, advertising, and then wanna pay yourselves as well, there might not be enough to go around. For a smaller space, doing the gym route where everybody can come in and workout on on their own is a tough business model to succeed at. This is the kind of business model the 24 hour fitness and golds gym run, for this to work you need hundreds of people paying that rate. For a smaller space it could be more efficient to think about running a small group exercise gym or a personal training gym. These memberships are more expensive closer to the $150-$200 range for the group exercise and $65 to $125 per session for personal training. This is a way to make more money with less space, and for the little gyms it makes more sense. I want to encourage you to work hard and chase your dreams. This is a very tough business but if you have a good attitude and keep at it, you can figure it out and do well! I’m proud of you for doing this and I wish you the very best! Reach out anytime if you need some help. Here us a waiver you can use, put your company name on it: images.app.goo.gl/C9iw6DcwzZxzCULK7

@@LionelBalland so yes I'm paying to have the building extended, (not renting) We downsize a bit so now we decided to build it on my business partners property. The building is a kit building (metal) and I'm taking out a loan for 25k @ 5% with a grace period of 8 months and paying over 90months. to add that part and the building will now be 35 wide and 100 feet long. My business partner is putting in 25k for equipment. And as far as members we were thinking caping it at 50 because of size. This will be a small gym studio on private property that we can keep an eye on who comes and goes. But we don't have to pay rent for property or building. Out bill biggest bills will be from the loans we took out. We won't have any staff only a cleaning person 2x a week

Luda Smith you are so sweet Luda, thank you very much! Happy you subscribed 😊

Selom Fargo thank you so much, I really appreciate this!! 😊😊😊

Hey brother, so strange I had replied you on this, but now I see that it’s not there. Not sure what happened?? Anyway the lockers are Salsbury industries lockers from lockers.com and the lights are a custom job that I designed. Hope all is well and best of luck to you! 💪😊

R S hey there Ryan, thanks for reaching out! Yes i would be happy to help, let’s set up a phone call! I don’t check RU-vid much, would you mind DM’ing me on IG @lionelballand and we can exchange numbers to chat! Thanks for watching man, glad you liked the video! :)

hahaha big soccer fan here :) ... plus I'm European. thanks for watching ;)

Hi there! These floors are from rubberflooringinc.com, this is the biggest company for gym flooring there is. These type of floors are called impact rolls, it’s the best flooring you can get. These have a thin layer of rubber at the top and they are cushioned underneath by all shock absorbing foam. These are the actual floors: www.rubberflooringinc.com/rubber-roll/15mm-plyo-rolls-designer-series.html I got blue and gray speckles to match the gym. I highly recommend not getting black floors, you have to get some speckles on them. Black gym floors show all the dust and dirt, you will have to clean them every day for them to look good, whereas speckled flooring you just can’t tell if it’s dirty. Thanks for watching, happy to help if you need advice 😊

@@LionelBalland thank you very much for your answer!!!

Joaquin Duval You bet my friend, happy to help! 💪😊

D.C Natural Muscles thanks a lot for your comment, appreciate the support!!! 💪😊 What does mq mean?

@@LionelBalland square meters,I believe in english...sorry Thanks for the answer!

AAAh sorry about that!! I am not sure the conversion, but it is 2,242 square feet@@d.cnaturalmuscles4988

@@LionelBalland Perfect!thanks man! Good luck!

Thanks a lot, appreciate it!! :) @@d.cnaturalmuscles4988

Hi there! The gym is 2,243 square feet :)

Hello Adrian!!! The lights were a custom build, we literally made them. The blue lights are the kind you put in night clubs, but I dont remember what they are called. glad you like the lights, if you have any other questions, happy to help!! :)

Hi there, thanks for your comment, that is really nice of you to say!! I don't know why my subscribers never grew or viewer counts increased? I got discouraged and stopped posting on youtube. I moved to Instagram @lionelballand if you would like to see more current stuff. I appreciate your kind words and like the suggestion for making a video intended of Indonesian viewers. I've been thinking of maybe getting back into youtube, so I might just do that! Thanks a have a great day! :)

@@LionelBalland I recommend using tags that point to Indonesian viewers when uploading videos later. if you can learn Indonesian. so that the Indonesian audience will like it more. because in general Indonesian people like tourists, especially you're from USA right? Keep spirit for make the content. the wages are also pretty good if it's monetized

@@danang.wibowo12 Thanks for the advice brother, I appreciate it!! thanks for watching :)

Hey there! It's not that big, 2,247sqft :)

samO9O hi Sam, these are life fitness 95t commercial treadmills. You can get a good price on a refurbished one here: primofitnessusa.com/product/life-fitness-95t-discover-se-treadmill/?keyword=&gclid=Cj0KCQjw3ZX4BRDmARIsAFYh7ZK3l3bh9B61S-XDN3U6ibkz2L_5DkGSPJg8Nmz6x4cZZuvViphwOgAaAqhDEALw_wcB These are great treadmills and they look really cool too! It was important for me to get treadmills that could go to 15mph and 15 grade incline, most treadmillls only go to 12mph and that’s just not fast enough for sprints 💪😊

Lionel Balland thanks you so much for you reply 👍🏼👍🏼

samO9O You bet, always happy to help! 😊

Tika Fabulous hey Tika!! So I bought my equipment from a variety of places, but most of the equipment was from roguefitness.com and primofitnessusa.com. My contact at primo is Alysia and she could help you out: alysia@primofitnessusa.com I bought dumbbells at Walmart because those are always the best prices anywhere for weights. Weights are at least $1 per pound so this can add up quickly Bought rowers and ski ergs from concept2.com And miscellaneous equipment from amazon.com Hope this helps! 💪😊

It does!, thanks

Tika Fabulous 😊😊💪

Thanks a lot Michael, really appreciate that!!! :) Yes I love those lights so much!!! I can put you in touch with the guy that put them in if you'd like??

@@LionelBalland Love them too!!! That would be great and have you gotta contact for the black floor ! Keep Up the good work!!! 💪

Hi there, sorry for the late response! My Lighting guy is named andrew and he can ship the equipment to anywhere. His number is 503-602-0060. The floor are from rubberflooringinc.com. Best of luck to you in building out your space, I hope it turns out great! :)

@@LionelBalland Thank you ! does he have an email address by any chance ? Finally there ! check it out on Insta/ Facebook - maybe link up sometime @ NR12 FITNESS ! Keep up good work!!

dwayne carter took im surprised you think that, it’s opening a business and following a dream, how is that a waste of money to you?

Where do you think all businesses originated from? Rome wasn’t built in a day

@@AlphaPrettyBoy thank you :)