How to Start a Gym: Step by Step

Opening a gym is not nine things you do in any order you like. It is nine steps locked into a sequence, because each one unlocks the next: you cannot sign a lease without an entity and proof of funds, you cannot pull permits without a lease, you cannot build out without permits, and you should not open without a presale. The owners who stall for months almost always tried to do a later step early and hit a wall waiting on a step they skipped. This is the launch sequence in the order it actually has to happen, with the gates that stop you if you run it out of order.

Step 1-2: Lock the concept and entity before you spend

Start by deciding exactly what the gym is, because that decision sizes everything downstream. A 24/7 keyless access box, a boutique group-training studio, a strength gym, and a full-service health club need wildly different square footage, equipment, and staff. Pin the concept, the target member, and the price point first. If you need the deeper version of this decision, work through the best way to get into the gym business before you commit money.

Then form the entity, because nothing legal or financial happens until it exists. File an LLC with your secretary of state ($50-$500), get a free EIN from irs.gov the same day, and open a business bank account. This is the gate for everything ahead: a landlord will not sign a commercial lease with a private individual for a build-out this size, a lender will not fund you, and equipment vendors will not extend terms. The registration walkthrough lives in how to set up and register a gym.

Step 3-4: Fund it, then choose the location it has to fit

With a plan in hand, secure funding before you fall in love with a space, because your approved budget dictates what location you can afford. Common paths: an SBA 7(a) loan (the workhorse for gyms, often needing 10-20% down and a decent credit profile), equipment financing that spreads racks and cardio over 3-5 years, or personal capital. Know your number before you tour spaces, so you are shopping within a budget instead of talking yourself into rent you cannot carry.

Only now do you choose the location, and it is the highest-stakes decision you will make, because a bad lease is a five-year mistake you cannot undo. Prioritize visibility, easy parking, and being embedded in daily traffic patterns (near grocery anchors, commuter routes, dense housing). Model the rent against your break-even member count before signing anything. The full site-selection method is in identifying the ideal locations for a gym.

Step 5-6: Permits, then build-out and equipment

With the lease signed, the permit clock starts, and this is where schedules die. Pull your building permit, business license, health/occupancy approvals, and any signage permit. In many jurisdictions the plan review and inspections for a gym take 4 to 10 weeks, and you cannot legally build out until they clear. File everything the week you get keys, because the city’s timeline runs in parallel with nothing.

As permits process and build-out proceeds, buy equipment, and buy it smart. New commercial cardio is brutal on a startup budget, so mix new and used: buy used or refurbished cardio and racks from liquidators and closed gyms (often 40-60% off retail), and buy new only where warranty and durability truly matter. Order early, because commercial equipment can carry 6-12 week lead times that will stall your opening if you wait. The buying playbook is in buying equipment and supplies for a gym.

Here is the realistic sequence on a calendar, so you can see what runs when and what gates what.

The lesson of the grid: equipment is rarely the bottleneck. Permits and build-out are, so file early and presell while you wait.

Step 7-8: Hire lean and presell during build-out

Hire only what opening day requires. Most lean gyms open with the owner plus one or two part-time front-desk staff and 1099 personal trainers who bring their own clients and pay you rent or a revenue split. Do not staff a full team before members exist; payroll with no revenue is how startups run out of cash in month two. The hiring and pay-model detail is in when and how to hire and train staff for a gym.

Now the step almost every first-timer skips, and the one that most decides survival: presell memberships during build-out, not after you open. Run a 30-60 day founder’s presale while the space is being finished, offering a discounted founding-member rate to a capped number of people. Take real payments through your billing software (Mindbody, Mariana Tek, or ABC Glofox) so the money is committed, not just promised. The goal is to open with 40-100 members already paying, so day one has cash flow instead of crickets.

The right call for nearly every gym is to presell. Founding-rate margin is a small price for opening cash-flow-positive; just be honest and conservative about your open date so you never sell a start you cannot deliver.

Step 9: Open, then run the machine that keeps members

Launch is not the finish line, it is the start of the only metrics that matter: member growth and churn. A gym lives or dies on retention, because a gym losing 6% of members a month has to sell 6% just to stand still. Run a real launch event, deliver an obsessive first 30 days for new members (the onboarding window where most quits are decided), and track churn from week one. The operating playbook is in how to successfully run a gym.

Two things you can do free right now, before opening: claim and fully complete your Google Business Profile so “coming soon” already ranks locally, and stand up the presale landing page above. Getting found is where the launch is won or lost, and a slow or unconvincing website quietly wastes every lead your marketing earns. Building the site and booking flow that turns presale interest into committed members is the work we do. To have it handled, get a free video walkthrough. For the ads and SEO that fill the funnel, see our services. And if you have the concept but not the full financial plan behind the numbers, start at expntl.com.