I would love your opinions on my business idea of a children's gym!

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Hi everyone. I am thinking of opening a gym just for children and would really appreciate your thoughts. It would be based on an adult gym with mini equipment aimed at 3 to 10 year olds. There would be mini bikes hooked up to big plasma screens where children can race each other (or cycle independently), rowing machines, treadmills, twisters and cross trainers. There would also be two big sponge pits where the kids could take a big run and jump into them, a mini zip wire and a climbing wall. I also thought about getting an interactive shadow wall like at Cadbury's world where the children hit, move, wave etc objects (shadows) that fall down the screen. I would also hold classes such as cheerleading, mini step, yoga, ballet and jedi academy based on star wars. I would offer fruit and water during sessions and there would be a healthy eating cafe on site. If possible I am aiming to get some outdoor space for nice days where group activities could take place or equipment could be moved outdoors.
I thought about charging on a pay as you go basis £3.50 per hour or £5.00 per hour and a half The gym would be light, airy, spacious and well staffed by qualified workers. It would also be very secure. What does everyone think?

the classes, climbing wall etc sound fine but a gym????

how have you decided wehat you would chartge have you done real costings on premises staff insurance banking etc

dont forget most of the time children are in school or childcare or asleep

if you are not going to have the parents supervising the kids, you would need to be ofsted registered surely? and i wouldn't like to be the one to write your health and safety policy.....

you mean like an activity centre?

I'd be very cautious about mini gym equipment for 3-10 year olds tbh, some exercise is actually damaging to small children, especially weight bearing stuff, so just make sure you do all your researcg properly. I'm not sure about mini rowing machines, treadmills, twisters and cross trainers, what's wrong with children's play equipment like you get in adventure playgrounds and soft-play centres?

What would be good is somewhere that offers all the stuff you get at the launchpad in the Science Museum in London, but in other areas of the country.

Do you have any experience in this sort of thing?

each child would need one to one i imagine as they couldnt be trusted to use equioment correctly im sure

adults dont

It would be in Sheffield, in a middle of the road area. I have done a detailed business plan and agree that most children would attend after school and at the weekend. Gym capacity would be 200 and if it runs at 55% capacity on average then I should make a profit.
I agree that a lot of the age range I am hoping to attract would be at school during the week but three and four years olds would absolutely love the sponge pit, zip wire and the mini fitness equipment as well as the shadow room. I had some mini gym equipment when my son was little and all his friends loved them.
Its a play on the traditional play centre with a healthy twist. I hope it would cater for all the different ages I am aiming for. I forgot to mention that I would also offer parties.

Your initial capital investment is going to be very large - premises, equipment, staff. Are you rich? Do you have a backer or a bank loan ect? What's the insurance situation? I'm not sure anyone actually makes gym equipment for children do they? And agree with OMDB - what about the impact on their bones? etc etc

yes sounds good, we have a gym round here for smaller children. some came into school and gave a demonstation, was very popular

agree with overmydeadbody re: children's bodies

i live in poncey area of london and i wouldn't use a gym for my kids

classes yes (we have a climbing centre, a reservoir for sailing, etc etc)

As regards health and safety, all the required checks would be carried out, insurance paid and the equipment monitored. The equipment is specifically for children, not adults and so designed for them, it flashes and sounds an alarm the moment it is not being used correctly. There would be a high ratio of children to staff specifically for the under 6's. I don't want to be just another adventure playground or soft play centre, I want to offer something different. Thanks for your opinions, please keep them coming.

oh ours are for 8 to 16s

I can assure you that mini gym equipment exists, I have researched it extensively and does not damage bones!I would not even consider doing something like that if it did! I don't feel the fee to attend is high, no more that many play centres charge. I would not charge fixed membership fees because children change their minds and parents would probably be put off by it. I am not rich (I wish) but have people interested in investing.

its not that the fee is high i just wondered if you had worked it out properly

55% capacity sounds high to me how did you calculate it

i would be very wary of any venture like this

what experience do you have that is relevant

The thing with children, is they are not going to get much benefit from the "gym machines" the bikes are a good idea, ive used grown up versions. But children have such a low boredom threshold that to expect them to do repetitive exercise might be a bit much, even at 10.

I have to re-iterate what overmydeadbody said about any weight bearing exercises being extremely bad for children under the age of 16, growing bones etc.

Also, what about warm up and warm down, how are you going to ensure that this is stuck to? OOH, litigation heaven.

I think its a good idea in principal, howeer i would stick to the more fun stuff, all the things you suggested other than the gym equipment sounded like a great idea to me. I think there will always be room for well run exciting play areas.

With regards to the staff, what will they be qualified in? Gym instruction or childcare?

Just throwing all the negatives at you - i do think you have something but not sure about the gym. MAybe you should go on dragons den!

Thanks again for your comments. I am an ex gymnast with a teaching qualification but other than that no experience what so ever, just lots of naive enthusiasm! The classes would be fixed so warm ups and cool downs would be lead by staff, and given children's low boredom threshold it would probably be no more than 5 minitues per machine. Its intended to be fun fitness, not serious training. You have given me lots to think about regarding qualifcations needed by the staff!
I have thought about Dragons Den which is why I need to have it all fixed first!

so with your figures have you workedthem out based on all your costs

do you know how much insurance would be

how many staff you would need

etc and then worked out fees and what profit would you be expecting

rofl tmmj dont hold back