6 Week Update

I can't believe it, but the gym has already been open for 6 full weeks. In a nutshell, it's been a pretty good month and a half. The more I learn from reading and talking with others in the industry, the more I understand that's it's just hard to sell a lot of health and fitness club memberships in the summer time...especially July. Familes are on vacation, parents are taking care of kids, and in most of the country the outdoor activity level of course rises in the summer. One franchisee said selling memberships in the summer is like selling ice to eskimos.

So given that, I'd still say it's been successfull to date. At a high level, the number of memberships is a little less that what I was hoping for, but revenues exceeded my early goals. So at the end of the day, business is good. I didn't have that big rush of people as soon as the doors opened or anything like that, but it's been nice and steady. I think there's only been 1 or 2 days total when we didn't sign a single person up.

Following summer, sales usually pick up in this industry beginning in September. Fall is the second busiest part of the year. Once kids are back at school, memberships typically increase quite a bit, but it's January and February when sales are the highest. So many people want to get the new year off to a good start and they set new year's resolutions.

Other than the gym, we're all good. Leigh and Riley were able to take a week trip to Colorado to visit her parents. Unfortunately, I stayed and worked the whole time. Running the business has taken a lot of my time, but it's been fun...doesn't feel so much like work. Riley is growing up so fast it seems! She'll be going to Kid's Academy a couple days a week starting soon. We hated pulling her out of daycare last summer, so we're looking forward to her being able to meet and play with more kids in the neighborhood again. I'll get some updated pics up here soon...

Until next time...