There are so many different aspects that go into operating and maintaining sufficient revenue in order to successfully run a gymnastics facility. I have coached gymnastics for eight years and I can personally say it’s something that takes a lot of time to learn and teach, but I have a strong passion for the sport. The amount of time that it takes to successfully coach and demonstrate students is both physically and most of all, costly.
Some of the strategic decisions that need to be considered when owning or working at gymnastics gym that relate to what we talked about in class is: location, scheduling, customer service and maintenance.
When planning to open a gym you want to make sure when setting up the layout of the facility you set it up in a way that will benefit the classes that you’re going to have running. You want to make sure other classes are not needing the equipment the same time as another class. Also it’s very important that you schedule your class times so they are not over lapping with others. One of the other decisions you have to make is inventory. Gymnastics equipment is thousands of dollars so you want to make sure you’re efficient in what you buy so you don’t have an expensive piece of equipment not being used. Along with having the equipment the maintaining that also has to be done which can happen often because the equipment is so heavily used.
Since Gymnastics is an extracurricular activity that is quite costly, many families will tend to cut those activities first. In class we talked about Forecasting and how it can affect someone’s business. In gymnastics, you need to make sure that there is going to be enough space for the amount of students you will have in the gym each session. You don’t want to rent a space that is too big or to small so you need to have somewhat of an idea of the demand before going into the business so you’re not wasting space, money and time finding such important locations. Along with space you can’t occupy or use, it’s also important to keep your classes at a size where teaching can still be done one-on-one but still make it affective for you and your students. It is very important to have the right amount of staff (other coaches) so that the parents and students are happy with what they are learning.
Who knew how much was involved in running a gymnastics facility? Who can remember the closest gymnastics facility that is near you in your hometown? Location is key. When I was taught gymnastics, my parents drove me two hours to practice and two hours back home because we had nothing like that back home. If you have love for gymnastics and coaching others, it’s worth the time, energy and dedication.