Jason Zagami ⋅

Hi Juan,
I have owned and operated gyms and training facilites for the past 13 years. I can help you quite a bit. Email me. Jason@solidbodyfit.com

Darlene Morrison ⋅ Chesterfield, NJ MCVTS ⋅ 15 years experience

Juan,

Another resource which I find very helpful are the folks at Score.org. They offer free mentoring on getting your business off the ground with some face-to-face and webinar tools. Additionally, if you visit their website there is a link for Veterans who need assistance as well.... good luck!

Jim Wilson ⋅ Richmond, VA Wilson Law Group ⋅ 20 years experience

One thing you should check is state law on club memberships. Some states have very strict laws on collecting membership fees up front and how you can use that money. The idea behind the laws is to protect consumers from paying a membership and having the club fail before the membership has gone the full term. You want to be sure you are following those laws.

David Rogers ⋅ Morrisville, PA Rogers Health Care Consulting, LTD ⋅ 40 years experience

Juan,
I strongly recommend that you find your local SCORE chapter, Mentors to America's Small Business. It is affiliated with The Small Business Administration, services are free, and all of the volunteer mentors have experience and credentialing in exactly what you need. there are 340 chapters and 11,000 volunteers around the country.

George Byrne ⋅ Venice, FL Nictom Consulting Group ⋅ 32 years experience

Other than what's already been posted here I can't add much more value...but I will emphasize that (1) you need a business plan...might sound like an exercise that is not necessary but the facts show that most businesses that fail did not have a business line; and (2) avail yourself of the local and mostly "free" resources that are available to you for advice...check with SCORE, the Small Business Administration, Linked In groups...and there is a book by the staff of 'Entrepreneur' magazine titled "Start Your Own Business"...you can probably pick up a new or used one on Amazon...personally I think it's the best book out there for start-ups (and I used it myself to set up my management consulting firm)...so, good luck and reach out (gbyrne@nictom.com) if you need additional info...and thanks for your service!

Paul Trejo ⋅ Austin, TX University of Texas at Austin ⋅ 40 years experience

Hi Juan,

Having your own business is the American Dream, and it won't be easy, but it will be the ride of your life. You might already know this, but in case you don't: you need to wear seven management hats to run any business -- as your business grows you can hire managers to wear some of these hats for you. The seven hats are: Ownership; Human Resources; Advertising; Sales; Accounting; Production; Marketing.

Your buyers will come to you through Advertising. Then they will be sold on your product (or service) by Sales. Then they will pay their money to Accounting. Then they will receive your product (or service) from Production. Then they will fill out a Marketing survey, so you can track your buyer satisfaction over the long term.

A buyer is not a customer until he or she makes it a "custom" to buy from you. Only a repeat buyer is a customer. A satisfied customer should always make the circle from Marketing back to Sales, then to Accounting, then to Prodution and then to Marketing again and again. A super-customer will stay in that loop for life.

As for Ownership, you are the Owner, and you are liable for all payroll, all expenses, rent, and so on, but especially Taxes. Put your taxes first, and you'll always be glad you did. (Somebody has to pay for the best military in the world.) If you become wildly successful, you can go public and sell shares in your company on the stock market. What a blast.

As for Human Resources, it's easy when you're the only employee, because you can always rely on your good habits, your discipline and your health -- but it's more challenging when you have to manage several employees in that way. Hiring is easy and firing is difficult -- but that's business. Also, employee benefits are a major concern, so be prepared with these.

As for Selling, it's more than just taking an order. For higher priced services, some coaxing will be involved. Believe in your product or service.

As for Accounting -- this is indispensible. You never want to leave your Accounting in the hands of a stranger -- the horror stories are many. Master Accounting yourself -- just by buying a copy of QuickBooks and reading the manual backward and forward. Memorize it. It's not rocket science -- but it is absolutely indispensible.

As for Advertising, this can be as simple as flyers pinned up around town, Craigslist and word of mouth, or it might involve newspaper, radio or television. Just getting your logo known is a struggle in itself.

As for Marketing, never omit this step. It can be as cheap as a one-page customer survey, or it can involve a fortune in Marketing consultants for super-successful companies. The heart of Marketing is that we will tweak our product or service for our Customers. This is the USA, so the Customer is always right.

That's the cereal box version, Juan. Best of luck with your new business. And many thanks for your service to the USA.

All best,
--Paul

Anne Zimos ⋅ Hicksville, NY IBM ⋅ 25 years experience

Juan - how exciting for you! I'm happy to start an e-mail dialog with you. Please send an email to annezimos@yahoo.com. I've had a few businesses, and while none of them were gyms, I think the steps to start and run a business are similar no matter business you own. I look forward to hearing from you and thanks for your service!
Best,
Anne

Robert Doyle ⋅ Northborough, MA U.S. Army, Sergeant First Class ⋅ 14 years served

Look up entrepreneurs bootcamp for veterans at UCONN, Purdue, Syracuse etc. They have an awesome program I just completed. It's free for veterans and they pay for everything. It's opened the doors to startup capital and grants. They also have experts there concerning VR&E self employment and are setting up a webinar site for navigating the RO (regional office) requirements and what your case manager is looking for. Also contact James mingey (they guy who posted befor me) if you're setting up a franchise because we were in class together and he is the franchise expert. Good luck and contact me if you need more guidance.

James Mingey ⋅ Oregon City, OR Veterans Business Services ⋅ 25 years experience

Before you hook up with all the fine technical resources out there, know you have a market in the locale you intended to operate. Can you fill up place? Will this volume breakeven? Sell yourself first before you do extensive planning. I also have experience in retail fitness. If you want to discuss same please contact

michael convey ⋅ Camp Hill, PA jh williams Oil company ⋅ 45 years experience

Hopefully, I can help. I was in various sales, management and marketing positions with two Fortune 50 companies and worked for two smaller organizations. subsequently I started my own business and operated it for ten years, prior to selling to a larger company and working for them for another ten years. I am currently a counselor at Score, and strongly recommend talking to them. Developing a business plan, determining what you are going to sell, to whom you are going to sell, and listing reasons why someone will become your customer, for yourself and for potential lenders, is most important. What are you going to do differently and why will that make your company successful are key questions. Writing this down and reflecting on this will help you develop your business plan. It is important to quantify i, forecasting sales, margins and expenses is difficult, but it is the only way for you to actually determine whether your venture has a good chance of success. Score can help you with this well as identifying other key factors .
If you have any questions or would like to talk more about this, I can be reached at my email address of mike.convey@aol.com. Good luck