Starting Our Own All-star Cheer Gym - Advice??

[Miranda Zagorski]

A fellow coach and I are currently part of an all star team. However, it is not a cheerleading gym - it is a team offered by a dance studio - we only practice once a week with our teams throughout the year to compete. The program has not grown in the four years we have had it (we are not the owners, we don't get to do the marketing, recruiting, etc) - and we have bigger visions than what are in that gym currently.

We are looking at branching off and starting our own gym - not in the same location - we would be about 20-25 minutes away and we'd be the only cheer gym within that area - where we are currently there are too many options and we want to reach a bigger audience and population.

We are looking for any sort of advice from those who have started themselves - any used equipment or suggestions as to where to go or what is best to start with. Pros and Cons

Thank you so much in advance!

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

1. Sometimes you are better off under a dance studio or gymnastics place due to low overhead. Your own space is expensive.

2. Have you thought about building relationships with the ownership and working on improving marketing/visibility for cheer?

3. Do you have any experience in the world of business? Most gyms fail, statistically speaking - and not because of coaching or anything to do with the sport. They fail because the owners know cheer but have no knowledge of Business 101 (payroll, overhead, etc.)

 

[naaans]

A fellow coach and I are currently part of an all star team. However, it is not a cheerleading gym - it is a team offered by a dance studio - we only practice once a week with our teams throughout the year to compete. The program has not grown in the four years we have had it (we are not the owners, we don't get to do the marketing, recruiting, etc) - and we have bigger visions than what are in that gym currently.

We are looking at branching off and starting our own gym - not in the same location - we would be about 20-25 minutes away and we'd be the only cheer gym within that area - where we are currently there are too many options and we want to reach a bigger audience and population.

We are looking for any sort of advice from those who have started themselves - any used equipment or suggestions as to where to go or what is best to start with. Pros and Cons

Thank you so much in advance!

I don’t have a whole lot of advice to offer, however I thought I’d give a little bit of positivity. You do need to think about the operational costs of running a business, supplies matter too especially when trying to establish a budget. If you are serious about opening a new gym, make sure to do your research in advance - you won’t discover every nuance either! Some things will be a learning curve for sure, but that doesn’t mean you’ll fail simply because it’s a new gym.

Make sure you and your partner get along and know how to agree, how to agree to disagree, how to accept when you need to stand your ground and how to accept when you should stop standing your ground! Partnerships can help make or break you, and it would be a major bonus if one of you is business savvy (if not, take a few courses and get some expert advice). Businesses generally tend to fail because of operational issues and inefficient spending, not necessarily because of the type of business it is.

Starting a new business should be exciting, good luck and stay positive!


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[Miranda Zagorski]

1. Sometimes you are better off under a dance studio or gymnastics place due to low overhead. Your own space is expensive.

2. Have you thought about building relationships with the ownership and working on improving marketing/visibility for cheer?

3. Do you have any experience in the world of business? Most gyms fail, statistically speaking - and not because of coaching or anything to do with the sport. They fail because the owners know cheer but have no knowledge of Business 101 (payroll, overhead, etc.)

1. Yes we have thought about staying underneath the dance studio and our gymnastics place because of the overhead - however we have discovered there are more cons than pros with that option. The gymnastics floor is occupied on all weekdays except one where we try to fit in most of our teams (and she could fit more classes in because she has people on her waiting list on this day) which means that we have to have on of our teams practicing on Sundays - meaning when we have Sunday competitions it creates issues scheduling more practices throughout the week. So still we are only getting to practice once a week unless it's Saturday and Sunday only - which will not work for parents, athletes, or our coaches

2. This section is a longer story than need be so I will keep it short but dance over rules cheer in every aspect at the studio - most of our girls are part of the dance studio and the owner will not take away a day of dance to add in any more cheer leading activities - it is essentially just another class to add to the studio and another extra curricular for the girls to do - and does not qualify in my book as a competitive cheer leading gym. We have had many suggestions for marketing - starting up conversations - ideas to add - and get shot down every time

3. I have run a few small businesses - mainly in the network marketing area and I do know there are some similarities but also quite a bit of differences. My partner and her husband have owned their own business in the past so they also have some bit of knowledge. So it will definitely be a struggle and my partner and I acknowledge that which is why we are doing as much research as possible and really understanding what we are getting ourselves into. What I do know is that we really want to do this and we are committed to making it work in any way possible. That counts for something. We do also have a lot of resources around us.

 

[Miranda Zagorski]

I don’t have a whole lot of advice to offer, however I thought I’d give a little bit of positivity. You do need to think about the operational costs of running a business, supplies matter too especially when trying to establish a budget. If you are serious about opening a new gym, make sure to do your research in advance - you won’t discover every nuance either! Some things will be a learning curve for sure, but that doesn’t mean you’ll fail simply because it’s a new gym.

Make sure you and your partner get along and know how to agree, how to agree to disagree, how to accept when you need to stand your ground and how to accept when you should stop standing your ground! Partnerships can help make or break you, and it would be a major bonus if one of you is business savvy (if not, take a few courses and get some expert advice). Businesses generally tend to fail because of operational issues and inefficient spending, not necessarily because of the type of business it is.

Starting a new business should be exciting, good luck and stay positive!


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This was much appreciated! We are hitting a bit of a speed bump with finding a location but have everything else in place so we are getting quite antsy and a little discouraged. That is our only issue at the moment. We have gotten most of the cost down except for things like a printer or paper, pens, pencils, etc. I believe we have all the big items down but it is worth another look of course.

I'm ready for things to not go exactly how their planned because nothing ever does - but I also do know that if we don't do this and at least try - personally it'll be something I regret for the rest of my life. I love this sport and I absolutely love coaching and learning. I want to build a strong team in our community. I also want to make sure the girls and guys we put into the world after their done with all star cheer are well rounded people that learn not only about the sport but about life while they're with us.

 

[naaans]

This was much appreciated! We are hitting a bit of a speed bump with finding a location but have everything else in place so we are getting quite antsy and a little discouraged. That is our only issue at the moment. We have gotten most of the cost down except for things like a printer or paper, pens, pencils, etc. I believe we have all the big items down but it is worth another look of course.

I'm ready for things to not go exactly how their planned because nothing ever does - but I also do know that if we don't do this and at least try - personally it'll be something I regret for the rest of my life. I love this sport and I absolutely love coaching and learning. I want to build a strong team in our community. I also want to make sure the girls and guys we put into the world after their done with all star cheer are well rounded people that learn not only about the sport but about life while they're with us.

Since you already have some exposure to the cheer world, you may want to try reaching out to some already established gym owners (probably not a direct competitor!). It may surprise you how open some of them are and some of them may even let you spend a couple of days with them to show you the business side. It’s a great way to build relationships with other gyms and learn what to do as well as what not to do and give you and your partner a learning experience. Hands on learning generally has a bigger impact than books and the internet!


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