Budget Gym vs Boutique Studios
Open a gym in a city squeezed from both ends: $10-a-month budget chains below, $35-a-class boutique studios above. Choose your middle, or pick a side and out-serve the chain that already owns it.
A city of 400,000 already has a budget chain with four locations, a 24-hour gym in every strip mall, two boutique studio brands and a subsidised rec centre. Most people who want a gym already have one, and the January sign-up crowd is gone by March. The decisions that matter are positioning and retention: a low price and a big floor, or classes and coaches at a premium; how many trainers to employ against members who mostly train alone; which neighbourhood to open in; and how much to spend keeping members who would otherwise drift to the cheaper option. It teaches what a crowded market does to the middle. The budget chain wins on price, the studios win on community, and a newcomer has to be clearly better at one thing for one group rather than slightly better at everything.
$5.00 a seat · 3 simulated years, decided monthly · by SparkTower.