How to start a Ninja Warrior Gym
If you’re looking at starting a ninja warrior gym, you’re certainly not alone. Thanks to several TV shows that push contestants to their limits and beyond, there’s a huge interest in this kind of athletic, acrobatic fitness.
Opening a ninja warrior gym is a great way to use your interest and love of this kind of show and activity, but there is a bit more to it than planning a ninja warrior course and hoping for the best! Here’s what you need to consider before opening a ninja warrior gym.
Don’t Skip the Business Plan
Yes, you know that ninja warrior fitness is hugely popular. Yes, you know that millions of people watch the shows on TV and want to try it out themselves. However, that’s not enough to stake a considerable investment on.
Before you start planning your ninja warrior course, scouting for locations and more, take the time to write a proper business plan, including analyzing your competition, crunching all the numbers, and planning everything from pricing to marketing and beyond.
The more work you put into planning your business before opening a ninja warrior gym, the better your chances of success.
Take Care of Legalities
Long before you ever open your business’s doors or buy your first piece of equipment, there are legal issues to take care of, starting with registering your business. Most people who plan to open a ninja warrior gym opt for an LLC, because it gives them some personal legal protection, but you can speak to a lawyer or small business expert to decide what’s best for you.
Then there are permits, zoning and other regulations you need to comply with. Make sure that you’re allowed to operate your business, and that the premises you’re considering are zoned for that type of business activity.
Your local small business development center or even your bank or the city’s business division can give you more information about the permits, licenses, and certifications you need. They can also offer advice about safety requirements for a ninja warrior gym in your city, fire code requirements and more.
Research the Competition
Even if you love watching ninja warrior shows on TV, if you’re planning to go into business, you need to make money. Every business has competition – both direct and indirect, so make sure you do your research about them.
Consider direct competitors like other ninja warrior courses and gyms in your area, as well as indirect competition like regular gyms, yoga and alternative fitness options, cross fit and even paint ball and other active sports.
Find out what your competition charges, how many customers they have on an average day, and anything else you can. It will all help you to structure your business to compete.
During your research, look for any collaboration opportunities too. There might be other fitness or active entertainment facilities that are willing to do cross promotion with you.
Hire Fitness Expert
If you’re not a fitness expert yourself, you will probably need to get input from someone who is, during and after you’ve designed your ninja warrior course.
Look for someone who is experienced in this kind of high intensity fitness, and who can help you to design a course that is challenging but safe to use.
Collect Startup Capital
If you think you’ll just be able to walk into a bank with an idea of opening a ninja warrior gym, you’re going to be in for a rude awakening.
Getting a business loan for a new business is notoriously difficult, but it’s even more so if you don’t have perfect credit and a significant amount of your own capital.
If you plan to try to get traditional financing for your ninja warrior gym, spend some time making sure your credit rating is fantastic, and that you’ve saved up a decent percentage of your projected start up costs before you even think of booking an appointment with a loan specialist.
If you don’t want to get traditional financing, there might be other options, including finding an angel investor, using lines of credit and credit cards for some of your expenses, crowd funding, or mortgaging a property to access the equity in it.
Getting business financing is tough, but there are many people who do it every year, so get creative and consider all the options! You could even presell memberships to get some collateral before you open your doors.
Location, Location, LOCATION!
Social, active businesses like ninja warrior courses work best when they are very visible and have a lot of foot traffic.
Spend some extra time looking for the perfect location before opening a ninja warrior gym, so you can be sure you’ll get enough traffic to keep your business in the black.
Know Your Customer
You might think, based on the TV shows, that ninja warrior courses are only for adults.
However, as a long time maker of indoor playground equipment at Indoor Playgrounds International, we have several ninja warrior course options that you can customize for kids and tweens.
Why not create a kid focused ninja warrior gym or build one for parents and kids for a full, family friendly experience!
Marketing and Branding
Marketing and branding are a huge part of opening any business, and a ninja warrior course or gym is no different. You want to spend a lot of time on marketing and branding, starting long before you ever open your doors.
Start by brainstorming a great name for your ninja warrior gym, and make sure it’s available as a domain name. Once you find one that works, register the domain, and set up all your social media channels.
Start telling people in your area about your soon to open ninja warrior course and offer presale packages and deals.
Hire someone to set up your ninja warrior course website, and make sure it has easy options to contact you, book tickets, find out more and connect on social media.
Before you open, make sure you have staff uniforms with your logo on them, and you could also invest in some promotional swag like water bottles or hand towels to hand out at your grand opening.
Add-Ons and Extras!
Whether you’re building a ninja warrior course for kids, opening a ninja warrior gym for adults or something in between, there are some add ons and extras that will not only make your gym more popular and sought after, but can also increase your profits. These include:
- Childcare options, or a separate indoor play space for kids if you’re opening an adult ninja warrior course
- A concession stand that serves healthy food and beverage options
- Personal training sessions or assessments
- Other workout equipment for people who are not there to use the ninja warrior course
- Shower and sauna facilities
- Access to nutritionists and sports medicine specialists
- A gift shop selling branded work out gear and merchandise
Consumers these days want to have the convenient, one stop experience, and your ninja warrior course is no different. Adding these kinds of features will set you apart and give you a more ways to earn.
Safety First!
Before you open a ninja warrior gym, it’s important that you make sure you comply with all safety regulations.
You can start off right by choosing a gym and equipment manufacturer who adheres to all the relevant standards and uses the best quality materials and manufacturing methods.
Hire a health and safety specialist to ensure that all of the other issues in your facility are taken care of too. This includes things like fire escapes and exits, fire extinguishers, first aid stations, defibrillators and more.
Don’t forget to hire or train first aiders to be on site whenever the doors to your business are open too. You never known when an accident or injury will happen, and you need to have people on hand who can help until emergency services arrive!
Keep Growing!
Before you open a ninja warrior gym, it’s important that you make sure you comply with all safety regulations.
You can start off right by choosing a gym and equipment manufacturer who adheres to all the relevant standards and uses the best quality materials and manufacturing methods.
Hire a health and safety specialist to ensure that all of the other issues in your facility are taken care of too. This includes things like fire escapes and exits, fire extinguishers, first aid stations, defibrillators and more.
Don’t forget to hire or train first aiders to be on site whenever the doors to your business are open too. You never known when an accident or injury will happen, and you need to have people on hand who can help until emergency services arrive!