If you have a passion for gymnastics and want to teach the next generation of gymnasts, you may be wondering how to start a gymnastics business. While you might love the sport, it’s a big leap to go from a gymnastics enthusiast to a successful gym owner. That doesn’t mean it’s impossible, though.
With a regimented approach, you can transform your passion into a thriving business. This guide will help you bridge the gap, covering everything you need to know to get your gymnastics business off the ground:
The cost of starting a gymnastics business depends on several factors, including:
The condition of the building you lease and anything you might need to do to modify it, such as acquiring a change of use permit, upgrading the filtration system, or excavating the floor to build an in-ground loose-foam pit
Your equipment procurement strategy, in which you may acquire new or used equipment and decide whether you’d like to purchase or lease it
Your programming model, which will impact the level of equipment you need, with competitive teams requiring more intensive, expensive equipment
Insurance coverage, which will depend on your location and level of coverage and will likely include specialized premiums for gymnastics businesses
Depending on your startup costs, you may want to consider different financing options. Potential avenues include loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), including an SBA 7(a) loan (all-purpose loan) or an SBA 504 loan (for long-term, fixed-asset investments). Alternatively, you may secure a traditional commercial bank loan or work with investors.
From start to finish, the process of opening a gymnastics gym can be a long one, taking anywhere from six to 12 months, and sometimes, even longer.
The largest bottleneck in starting your own gymnastics business is typically securing your space. Gymnastics requires large open spaces with high ceilings and no columns to get in the way, which can be difficult to find.
Once you find a suitable space, another potential slowdown will be equipment delivery. Since you need specialized gymnastics equipment, it may take several weeks or months to receive it.
Ideally, you’ll find a space with at least 10,000 to 15,000 square feet, allowing enough room for your apparatuses and athletes. USA Gymnastics (USAG) and the National Association of Intercollegiate Gymnastics Clubs (NAIGC) both recommend leaving at least five to six feet of space between apparatuses for safety purposes. Additionally, high ceilings and a clear-span building (no poles or columns) are also essential for a safe gymnastics environment.
No, you technically don’t have to be affiliated with USAG to open a gym, but being a member can enhance your gym’s reputation and instill trust with athletes and their families. While you can operate your gym independently, you should still adopt USAG and SafeSport safety guidelines to protect your athletes and staff.
USAG is the most well-known gymnastics organization—as it’s also the national governing body for gymnastics—but there are other smaller organizations you can be a part of, such as the Amateur Athlete Union (AAU) or the National Gymnastics Association. However, you typically need to become a member of USAG to have your gym host or compete in competitive meets.
At a minimum, all gymnastics coaching staff should have:
Clean background checks to ensure they’re safe to work with children
SafeSport certification, which helps coaches recognize, prevent, and respond to abuse in a sport environment
Many insurance providers also require lead coaches to obtain CPR and First Aid certifications to assist athletes during medical emergencies. If you’re a USAG member, your coaching staff must complete USAG’s U101: Safety and Risk Management course and receive the associated certification. Non-members can also take the course, but they will not receive a certificate.
Since gymnastics is a high-risk sport, you’ll need comprehensive insurance coverage for your gymnastics facility, such as:
General liability insurance, which covers spectator injuries and property damage
Participant accident insurance, which covers injured athletes
Catastrophic insurance, which covers severe athlete injuries
Equipment coverage, which covers equipment damage or theft
This list is not exhaustive, and you may consult with a legal professional for advice on which coverage your gym should acquire. Organizations like USAG also have their own insurance requirements and programs.
When you’re first starting out with anything—especially running your own business—it’s helpful to learn more about it before diving in headfirst. That way, you can prepare yourself as much as possible for everything this new endeavor will entail.
Before making the transition to gym owner, reach out to other gym owners to hear about their experiences. You may ask them questions like:
What does your day-to-day look like?
What is the biggest challenge of running your gym?
What do you most enjoy about running your gym?
What does your ratio of recreational students to competitive athletes look like?
Which are your most successful programs?
What gymnastics management software do you recommend?
How much do you budget annually for equipment repairs?
What is the biggest piece of advice you’d give to a new gym owner?
If you can’t find any gym owners in your local area, try using an online forum. Sites like Facebook and Reddit are full of real business owners asking their peers for advice, and you’re bound to find a community that understands what you’re going through.
A business plan organizes all of the key details involved in starting your gym, providing you with direction throughout the process. A strong gymnastics business plan will include the following elements:
An executive summary introduces the key highlights of your business plan. A strong executive summary will:
Describe your gym’s mission.
Outline why you’re starting your own gym.
Explain what you’re envisioning for the future of your gym.
Write this section after you’ve worked through the details of the other sections so you can provide a comprehensive summary.
Your company description is a high-level overview of your business. Make sure to include:
The reason why you want to start your own gym
An introduction to yourself and your background
Your business classification, such as a partnership or corporation
The services and/or products you’ll provide
Your target audience
How many employees you plan to hire
What will differentiate your gymnastics business from others
Narrow down your gymnastics business’s offerings. For instance, you may ask yourself:
Do we want to focus on recreational classes or a competitive team?
What age range will we serve?
Will we also sell merchandise, like leotards and grips?
The answers to these questions will also depend on your target audience and the surrounding market. For example, if several high schools in your area have strong varsity cheer teams or competitive dance teams, you may offer tumbling classes to help them build their skills that an after-school high school environment might not provide.
Demonstrate your knowledge of the gymnastics field. In your market analysis, provide an overview of the industry’s current state with information like:
Customer demographics
The past and projected future of the gymnastics market
Needs in the market
Competitor descriptions
With these details in mind, explain how your gymnastics business will stand out or fill a gap in the current market. For instance, there may be several Elite gyms in your area, but no centers focused on recreational classes for preschoolers.
Describe how you’ll promote your gymnastics business to customers. You might use a combination of various channels, such as:
Organic and paid social media
Acquisition email marketing
Direct mail
Search engine optimization (SEO)
Pay-per-click advertising (PPC)
Flyers
You should also discuss how you plan to retain customers. After all, keeping athletes and their families around is what allows you to build a thriving gym community.
Outline the structure of your business, including how many employees you’ll hire and what your management team will look like. List the qualifications and responsibilities for each role. For example, you may want to hire a competitive coach with a certain number of years of experience at prior gyms.
Lastly, create a financial plan for your gym that describes:
Financing options
Business costs
Future projected earnings
For some help getting started with your business plan, check out our template:
By forming a legal business entity, you protect yourself from personal legal liability for situations surrounding your business. Also, this process allows you to determine your gym’s tax status so you file all tax forms appropriately. Potential options include:
If you choose the LLC route, you may later convert your business to an S-Corporation to save on taxes. Consult a legal professional to make the right decision for your business.
As we’ve mentioned before, it can be challenging to find a suitable facility for gymnastics. You’ll typically need a warehouse-style building that’s large enough to accommodate several apparatuses and athletes completing long tumbling passes.
Additionally, you’ll want to consider the following:
Clear-span architecture with no center pillars so athletes can freely and safely practice
A ceiling height of at least 18 to 20 feet, which also promotes athlete safety
A parent viewing area that’s comfortable and spacious
Heavy-duty HVAC that can withstand chalk dust
Zoning is also crucial for gyms. If you find a space that’s zoned for light industrial or storage use, you’ll have to apply for a change of use permit to legally operate the building as a gym. Changing the zoning comes with its own potential costs, such as installing a commercial sprinkler system, upgrading the HVAC, increasing the amount of parking available, building ADA-compliant bathrooms, and adhering to local noise ordinances.
Once you’ve found your gym space, you’ll need the right tools to equip it. The main tools you’ll need fall under two different categories.
For a full-fledged gymnastics gym, you’ll need the following equipment:
Spring floors
Safety matting, such as landing mats, panel mats, and sting mats
Apparatuses, including balance beams, uneven bars, and vault
Tumbl Trak
Foam pit
Younger gymnasts may require cheese mats, octagons, cylinders, mailboxes, and mini trampolines. Additionally, you’ll likely need chalk blocks, spotting blocks, and a sound system.
With the right gymnastics management software on your side, you can start your gym like a pro and streamline your gym’s operations. Studio Pro is a standout gymnastics software, allowing you to:
Follow up with leads. Growing your gym is crucial, especially in the beginning. With gymnastics software, you can stay on top of communication with leads by automating messages based on their pipeline position and tracking progress in a dashboard.
Manage athletes and classes. Track athlete attendance, medical information, skill progress, and more. Set up recreational classes, open gyms, team practices, and private lessons, managing your gym’s entire schedule from the platform.
Register students. Families can easily sign up their athletes using online registration forms. Customize these forms with multi-student discounts, registration fees, and promotions. You may also limit sign-ups based on age, team, and class capacity.
Receive timely payments. Gymnastics management software allows you to collect tuition payments seamlessly. Studio Pro supports various payment methods, including credit card, direct deposit, eCheck, and ACH, and features Auto-Pay functionality.
Communicate efficiently. Send emails, text messages, and push notifications to your entire gym or specific groups, such as teams, classes, parents, or coaches.
Develop a custom app for your gym. Studio Pro’s mobile apps allow athletes, parents, and staff to view your gym’s schedule, submit payments, and so much more from the palms of their hands.
When you leverage gymnastics software, you won’t have to worry as much about the logistics of running your business and can focus on more strategic business decisions and actually training your athletes.
To get your gym off the ground, you’ll likely need to hire one or two additional instructors. The qualifications for these instructors will depend on the types of programs you’re looking to run and your own area of expertise. For example, if you’ve worked with Elite gymnasts before and are ready to start your own team, you may start by just hiring staff to run your recreational classes.
If you’re struggling to fill roles, remember that classes for preschoolers and lower levels may not require gymnastics experts to run them. With a little gymnastics training, local camp counselors or preschool teachers may work just as well because they understand how to work with kids.
As we mentioned earlier, gyms typically need specialized insurance coverage to account for the high physical risk associated with the sport. Choose the right coverage for your gym to protect your business.
Additionally, if you’re running your business as an LLC, you’ll need to incorporate it with your state government, ideally before you hire any employees. You should also ensure your business is up to code and complete all paperwork required by your state and local authorities. Lastly, establish strict safety protocols for athletes and staff to further prevent any injuries.
Start driving sign-ups with a robust marketing plan. Get your local community excited about the new gym with a kickoff event. Let community members tour your space, and host sample lessons so they can get a taste of what your gym has to offer.
Use a mix of other marketing channels, like social media, SEO, and PPC, to spread the word about your gymnastics business online. Consider partnering with other local businesses to promote each other and build goodwill in the community.
With your gym solidly in place and athletes coming through the door, it’s time to get to work! Develop your initial schedule, and collect feedback as you go to improve upon it. For instance, parents may prefer the preschool class time slot to be earlier in the day so it doesn’t conflict with nap times.
Along the way, rely on your gymnastics management software. It’ll help you stay organized and deliver the best experience possible for your athletes and families. And don’t forget to look around once in a while and be proud of what you’ve accomplished!
Starting a gymnastics business is a huge endeavor, but with a sound strategy in place, you can create a safe, uplifting space for athletes to hone their skills. To truly stick the landing, leverage Studio Pro’s gymnastics software. From managing leads to tracking skills to collecting tuition, our solution simplifies all aspects of running your gym, so you can focus on training athletes who shine. Get a free 30-day trial today to see what Studio Pro can do for your gym!
If you’re looking to learn more about how Studio Pro empowers gym owners, check out the following resources:
Laura Cole, CEO and Business Leader of Studio Pro
Laura Cole is the CEO and Business Leader of Studio Pro, a leading studio management software platform serving over 6,000 studios across all 50 U.S. states and more than 35 countries. Laura brings deep expertise in SaaS operations, strategic planning, and project management, with a passion for helping dance, cheer, gymnastics, and performing arts businesses grow and thrive.
Since taking the helm in 2020, she’s been dedicated to building tools that streamline studio operations and empower small business owners to succeed. When she’s not leading Studio Pro or partnering with studio owners, Laura enjoys running, yoga, and hosting friends at home with her husband and two young boys.