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Bigger Isn’t Always Better


A new club owner turns a perceived liability into a thriving asset


BY KEVIN FROST T


hroughout most of my competi- tive bodybuilding career, I spent my time training in huge com- mercial gyms. So it was only


natural that when I decided to open my own gym, I thought that a huge space was the key to having lots of members and being successful. After being refused financing from


bank after bank due to the unstable gym market, I realized that maybe this was going to be a much more difficult endeavour than simply “build it and they will come.” Also, I was still stuck on the idea that a gym needed to be


34 Fitness Business Canada July/August 2016


big for it to be profitable. On the other hand, if it was too big I wouldn’t be able to afford the rent. Oh, the vicious cycle! In April 2014, I decided to open (re-


luctantly, at first) a smaller boutique- style gym in the heart of Griffintown, Montreal’s newest up-and-coming district. It was on the ground level of a pretty busy street with 12-foot floor- to-ceiling windows. Great street view! Not far from the home of the Montreal Canadians Bell Centre to boot! Because Griffintown was mainly industrial at that time, my first and


second challenges were: Where would my clients come from, and how would they get here?


Strategy one: Target the neighbours My idea was to solve these two prob-


lems with one stone. I solicited the businesses in the area and, more im- portantly, in the same building where I was located. I arranged a meeting with the president of one of the compa- nies in my building. It happened that he was thinking about getting back into shape to be able to play with his younger children. I convinced him to try out my place. At first, he was concerned about


how he would get a tough workout in such a small space. After one workout, he was not only sore and sweaty but instantly hooked.


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