Building a Gym: 3 Tips to Help Developers Save Time and Money
Building and outfitting a gym can cost quite a lot of money. Plus, improper planning can lead to lengthy delays that prevent your gym from even opening. Change orders are very costly in the construction world, so it’s important to fully understand your space and how you want to use it before you start any construction.
But, depending on how well you plan for your gym build, there are plenty of ways to save money while designing the gym of your dreams.
Proper planning, understanding your equipment options, and hiring an expert are three key ways to save money and time during your gym build. Here’s what you need to know:
1. Start Planning Early
The early bird catches the worm — and saves a ton of money on their gym build because they started planning well in advance. Before you even think about buying equipment or busting out the power tools, take a long, hard look at your space.
Will it accommodate all the things you want in a gym? Is the electrical system designed to support all of the equipment you want to bring in? Are there enough outlets? Knowing the intricacies of your intended space will go a long way in the planning process.
By beginning early, you’re giving yourself enough time to make any adjustments or alterations that are needed well before you begin sourcing the equipment. During this early stage of planning, ASF can help you handle all of the details to make sure that everything is considered in the plan. No detail is too small to incorporate into our comprehensive planning process. We’ll make sure that everything is accounted for in your gym design.
2. Consider Leasing vs. Buying Equipment
We’ll cut to the chase: buying fitness equipment is expensive. That’s why leasing your fitness equipment may be a better option for your business in the long run. Here’s how it works: your leasing provider purchases the equipment outright, and you make monthly payments to use it in your facility.
There are many benefits to leasing instead of buying. Firstly, it’s budget-friendly. By leasing, you can obtain premium commercial fitness equipment without buying it outright. You can equip your gym with state-of-the-art equipment that gets exercisers in your doors without breaking your budget.
Secondly, it allows you to take advantage of fitness trends and the latest exercise technology. Because the fitness industry is constantly innovating and improving, new products are frequently entering the market. Leasing allows you to upgrade to new equipment every three to five years.
Third, leasing helps decrease the risk of unexpected costs. As fitness equipment breaks, it can quickly become very expensive to repair or replace. Depending on your lease, portions of your labor and parts costs may be covered by your warranty plan.
3. Bring in an Expert as Soon as Possible
The best way to cut costs and save time on your gym build is by hiring an expert to help you with every step of the process. At ASF, we highly recommend developers bring us in right at the beginning, during the pre-construction phase, so we can begin putting together a proposal based on your goals right away. We’re then able to advise on the infrastructure and design requirements that may need to happen to make the proposal work.
Getting us on the project earlier ensures we can help create a plan that accounts for all the details your fitness space will require. For example, we’ve seen developers finish construction and then bring us in for a consultation because they’ve discovered the electrical outlets are in the wrong place, or the internet capabilities are not sufficient for the equipment mix.
So many things can go wrong in your gym build, but proper planning with an expert can help you pull off the construction without any issues.
Interested in learning more? Reach out to Advantage Sport & Fitness today for more information.