college

[Armykid93]

Out of the members with degrees what do you have? What degrees will benefit me most in my fitness career. I will need a bachelors degree to be an officer in the army so I at least want to do that. Then when I get out I want to start a gym.

[Armykid93]

What degrees in fitness will help me achieve these goals?

[gixxerboy1]

a business and marketing degree.
fitness is the easy part. Knowing how to run a profitable business is much harder. I would never personally open a gym. And i've been in the industry for about 12 years

[Armykid93]

a business and marketing degree.
fitness is the easy part. Knowing how to run a profitable business is much harder. I would never personally open a gym. And i've been in the industry for about 12 years

Really. Well my dads owned a business now for 12 years. I've seen how things need to work and i'm going threw combatives school in the army. When you get to a high level in that they begin teaching you how to start and run a gym

[gixxerboy1]

With the cost or rent and insurance, then the mojor expence of buying the equipment its a big start up. Then you have to compete with all the major chains. And with some charging $10 a month its very hard. Marketing is the biggest thing. You need to be signing new members daily

[Shol'va]

a business and marketing degree.
fitness is the easy part. Knowing how to run a profitable business is much harder. I would never personally open a gym. And i've been in the industry for about 12 years

Wow! how many members have said the exact same thing? It all looks easy from the outside, but size of city, location in the area, competition from other gym, etc, make the difference between success and failure. and then there is the initial cost start up. When machines cost in the neighborhood of 10 grand each and you are looking to purchase 100 machines, plus the building. So think of the cost verses a time period for you to even break even which is impossible to calculate due to the average customers fluctuations as usually a gym membership is looked at as a luxury rather than a necessity and is usually the first thing they drop when in a pinch. But with that said, if you have the backing, patience and is what you really want to do then go for it.

[gixxerboy1]

You are correct sholva,
if i was to do anything i would open a personal training studio. If you are in the right area you can do well with that.

[Noles12]

I currently am finishing one in exercise science but not for the fitness aspect. I am using it as pre-physical therapy in order to get a doctorate of physical therapy

[JuicyJ]

Personally I have always been in the mind set that if you want to start your own business you need to know your craft first then learn the business aspect. I think too many people get business degrees and then think they are qualified to have their own business. What business does a 'business degree' teach you to open?

However I'm not trying to slight business degrees. I think for the most part you should minor in it, not major in it unless specializing in some sort of specific business field.

[tcw]

You don't need a degree to start and run a business. What you need more than anything..is experience in that business.

Get a degree if you want to get an education. A college degree will help you analyze and communicate 1000 percent better than those without one.

However, it can also FVCK YOU up when it comes to business (analysis paralysis). NOTHING beats Rubber to the Road experience for business.

NOTE
Information is changing so fast that whatever you study in school...that information will be obsolete in 3 yrs. If you want to make money...get a degree that will open doors to get a professional license (MD, Dentist, Nurse, CPA, Engineer, etc).

ALSO
Study something you are interested in. College is tough (if you want to get good grades)...FIND something you like. Also, make sure you learn a second language.

IE
Master degree...2 bachelors degrees...Business and Liberal Arts

[Mark5]

BS in Kinesiology and minor in health/nutrition. It's nice to have on the wall, but if you're anything like me, you'll learn far more doing your own research on exercise etc. I'll second the notion that if you're gonna get something, get it in business or something along those lines so you'll be prepared for opening your gym.

[SexySweetheart]

heres an idea... seems like you would need a niech to stay in fitness buisness ~ I wounder how many grants and donations ect would be given to a person opening up some form of fitness /gym for people in states care? like kids in group homes or disabled people .. or families on foodstamps/welfare?

I know the states are getting funds for FATHER involvement programs now... I bet a gym with a goal of increasing father son time focused on healthy living and possitive bonding would get a shaloooo of aide ..?

[moseley2004]

I have been running my own business for 9 years now and I never even finished school. The way i look at it is if you know your trade the rest of it isn't very hard. I know how to repair cars the rest is buying things and paying bills. Learning how to charge comes with it too. You may be undercutting yourself but you learn and adjust accordingly. Over time it gets easier. My 2 cents

[Honkey_Kong]

With the cost or rent and insurance, then the mojor expence of buying the equipment its a big start up. Then you have to compete with all the major chains. And with some charging $10 a month its very hard. Marketing is the biggest thing. You need to be signing new members daily

The key is to find the right location. It'd be retarded to open shop in an area where there are already other gyms and major chains. He would need to find an untapped market that's large enough to sustain it. On top of that, he needs to have the capital ahead not just to open the doors with all the equipment, but to cover the overhead and his own living expenses for a good duration until the business takes off.

A business degree like you said is probably his best bet.

[JuicyJ]

I have been running my own business for 9 years now and I never even finished school. The way i look at it is if you know your trade the rest of it isn't very hard. I know how to repair cars the rest is buying things and paying bills. Learning how to charge comes with it too. You may be undercutting yourself but you learn and adjust accordingly. Over time it gets easier. My 2 cents

I would have to agree but business classes never hurt anyone. Especially something like accounting. I think we could do away with the whole college way of thinking by having everyone just serve an apprenticeship under a person in the field you want to go in. Why not just learn what you need to know instead of engineers taking humanities and art classes (I'm having to do that now).

But I guess it also boils down to the fact that not everyone was made to work for themselves. I actually just had this conversation with my dad (business owner of 35 years) this past weekend.

[Armykid93]

All very good advice. Thanks everybody. I was actually thinking of starting a smaller franchised gym first then maybe moving up. Being a physical therapist is always a good option to though. Its always interested me. Luckily i'm only 19, got lots of time to decide.

[Armykid93]

I currently am finishing one in exercise science but not for the fitness aspect. I am using it as pre-physical therapy in order to get a doctorate of physical therapy

What kind of schooling have you gone to so far for physical therapy?

[Honkey_Kong]

What kind of schooling have you gone to so far for physical therapy?

You know chiropractors make decent money.

[JuicyJ]

What kind of schooling have you gone to so far for physical therapy?

I once dated a girl who went to school for kinesiology and now she is in physical therapy school at USC. From what I understood any major like kines, sport science, bio, anatomy, physiology etc are good majors if your interested in pt school. I also know some universities have pre-physical therapy bachelor programs that lead right into your masters.

[Mark5]

I once dated a girl who went to school for kinesiology and now she is in physical therapy school at USC. From what I understood any major like kines, sport science, bio, anatomy, physiology etc are good majors if your interested in pt school. I also know some universities have pre-physical therapy bachelor programs that lead right into your masters.

All those majors would lend themselves very easily to physical therapy. Just gotta make sure your GPA is very high since most PT schools accept a limited number of students and are very selective.

[Armykid93]

Welcome to the board both of you haha and thanks for the advice. Yeah I've definitely got a lot to think about

[gixxerboy1]

The key is to find the right location. It'd be retarded to open shop in an area where there are already other gyms and major chains. He would need to find an untapped market that's large enough to sustain it. On top of that, he needs to have the capital ahead not just to open the doors with all the equipment, but to cover the overhead and his own living expenses for a good duration until the business takes off.

A business degree like you said is probably his best bet.

i agree but that is hard to do. Anyplace i have every lived are saturated with gyms. Also if there is a place with out a gym there is probably a reason. The big chains do a lot of research into demographics for locations. So if there isnt one there is a reason IMO

[jasc]

Forget about opening a gym.. Too much competition.
Open an HRT/Anti-aging clinic. Being able to improve everyone's quality of life n growth needs, what a fulfilling job
Plus, testosterone repla***ent is becoming more n more popular. Unless science makes some horrific discovery, I bet HRT/TRT will become extremely common for older males in this country.

[Razor]

Forget about opening a gym.. Too much competition.
Open an HRT/Anti-aging clinic. Being able to improve everyone's quality of life n growth needs, what a fulfilling job
Plus, testosterone repla***ent is becoming more n more popular. Unless science makes some horrific discovery, I bet HRT/TRT will become extremely common for older males in this country.

I wonder how much money that would cost to open a clinic and hire a doctor.

[Stickman123]

BSEE and MBA. It doesn't matter what degree you get as long as you learn how to learn, and never stop learning.

[Armykid93]

I need to get a bachelors at least because I want being an officer in the army to be an option

[slfmade]

You are correct sholva,
if i was to do anything i would open a personal training studio. If you are in the right area you can do well with that.

Now that's an interesting idea. As a business owner myself I'm a firm believer in start small and build big.

OP if you did something like Gixxer suggested it would have FAR less start up cost and it would give you the ability to get an idea of what running a gym would be like without sinking a ton of money into it.

As far as a degree. I don't know what degree's you can get in 4 years, but it's always good to get a degree you can fall back on. Maybe sports medicine, exercise physiology, physical therapy etc would be nice. This way if the gym fails you'll have something else to fall back on. If the gym is sucessful you can use your degree to set yourself apart from other gyms. I mean it's not every gym that has a physical therapist on staff right? If you're that guy...you've just made extra money for yourself. You market yourself through your gym. Make sense?

[Honkey_Kong]

i agree but that is hard to do. Anyplace i have every lived are saturated with gyms. Also if there is a place with out a gym there is probably a reason. The big chains do a lot of research into demographics for locations. So if there isnt one there is a reason IMO

You're probably right about there not being too many spots to open a gym in that aren't already over-saturated. There still might be a few if he searched long enough he could find. But yeah, it's really not the best of businesses to get in to.

I have been seeing a lot of cage fighting gyms springing up lately though.

[gixxerboy1]

You're probably right about there not being too many spots to open a gym in that aren't already over-saturated. There still might be a few if he searched long enough he could find. But yeah, it's really not the best of businesses to get in to.

I have been seeing a lot of cage fighting gyms springing up lately though.

i agree you would need something different. Like that or crossfit, a place near me does group training. So they have sessions a few times a day. The yare always packed and the place aint cheap.

[slfmade]

This would be something different...http://www.traq3dfitness.com/

[Honkey_Kong]

I wonder how much money that would cost to open a clinic and hire a doctor.

I don't know if you'd even have to hire a doctor full-time.

[gixxerboy1]

This would be something different...http://www.traq3dfitness.com/

this is the place by me thats packed

http://orangetheoryfitness.com/

[slfmade]

I wonder how a bootcamp training would work? Since the OP is in the Military he could take what they do there for bootcamp and translate it into a marketable training program.

[awms]

A degree doesnt mean jack shit....sure doesnt teach you how to run a business! more degree's teach you how to work for someone eles. I run a business with no business degree....I have a business mentor who has taught me alot! and have taken sales and small business courses and thats it! Hard work and experience is how you own a successful business! not paper on the wall! Look at all the successful business people in the world and many of them have no degree...some not even a high school degree.

I was working on getting my kinesiology degree when I realized what a waste of money it was and how much money I was spending on something that I could teach my self over the same amount of time while working as a personal trainer.....I dropped out, worked at a gym for a year and saves, and now I run my own personal training business and let me tell you I have learned more since I dropped out then I ever did in school!!!!! school is far over rated imo! I thought going to school would enlighten me and give me all this wonderful power....lol and I soon realized all you are paying to do is read a bunch of text books, think INSIDE the box, and pay for the salaries of the people who work for the college. I now learn at my own pace, focus on the important things instead of cramming for an exam, and I know my shit better then 99.99% of any trainer out there!

that just my two cents

[Armykid93]

I wonder how a bootcamp training would work? Since the OP is in the Military he could take what they do there for bootcamp and translate it into a marketable training program.

I was thinking about that. I could go threw combatives school and teach that in a gym.

[awms]

You want some business advice? you want to be successful and make lots of money? Il give you a secret that most people over look...they think "My dad taught me everything so Il be successful!" or "I have a harvard business degree" well here is my advice to you and remember this:

Its no what you know its who you know!

I know alot of smart guys who are broke because they have no networking skills

[Armykid93]

You want some business advice? you want to be successful and make lots of money? Il give you a secret that most people over look...they think "My dad taught me everything so Il be successful!" or "I have a harvard business degree" well here is my advice to you and remember this:

Its no what you know its who you know!

I know alot of smart guys who are broke because they have no networking skills

That's smart haha. Never thought about that

[Vettester]

You want some business advice? you want to be successful and make lots of money? Il give you a secret that most people over look...they think "My dad taught me everything so Il be successful!" or "I have a harvard business degree" well here is my advice to you and remember this:

Its no what you know its who you know!

I know alot of smart guys who are broke because they have no networking skills

I agree with a lot of this, in the sense that success 'usually' will consist of timing and getting a few breaks. I am college educated; both in business, as well as Info Tech, which was pursued later on down the road. I like to learn, and if I had more time on my hands, I would pursue other interests too.

However, in the corporate environment, there are scruples, politics, and other variables to factor in. When I was in my early 30's, I landed a six figure deal with a foreign company. It dried up later on, but that's another story. Anyways, the only reason I got that gig was due to my relationship with a primary customer of the foreign firm. Their customer, who had also been a customer of mine, but was also a close friend, just picked up the phone and said I got a guy who I want to handle our account. I didn't even need a resume to get that deal. I have also been with companies where you see one or two guys at the top that are literal idiots, and you scratch your head wondering WTF!! I even worked for a place where an idiot VP became president of the organization. This guy was the most detrimental SOB I've ever encountered. The long and short of it though, he had sucked up to the previous president for many years, and had manipulated the guy to believe that he was valuable, and at the end of the day that was the guy who would determine who moves up the ladder and who doesn't.

OP, work hard and get your education. Realize though that success breeds success ... Align yourself with people in higher places, and your chances to achieve a better than average opportunity will be exponentially greater than most. As stated above, it's about networking. If you don't know how to network, you will just be another small fish in a big sea.

[Armykid93]

I agree with a lot of this, in the sense that success 'usually' will consist of timing and getting a few breaks. I am college educated; both in business, as well as Info Tech, which was pursued later on down the road. I like to learn, and if I had more time on my hands, I would pursue other interests too.

However, in the corporate environment, there are scruples, politics, and other variables to factor in. When I was in my early 30's, I landed a six figure deal with a foreign company. It dried up later on, but that's another story. Anyways, the only reason I got that gig was due to my relationship with a primary customer of the foreign firm. Their customer, who had also been a customer of mine, but was also a close friend, just picked up the phone and said I got a guy who I want to handle our account. I didn't even need a resume to get that deal. I have also been with companies where you see one or two guys at the top that are literal idiots, and you scratch your head wondering WTF!! I even worked for a place where an idiot VP became president of the organization. This guy was the most detrimental SOB I've ever encountered. The long and short of it though, he had sucked up to the previous president for many years, and had manipulated the guy to believe that he was valuable, and at the end of the day that was the guy who would determine who moves up the ladder and who doesn't.

OP, work hard and get your education. Realize though that success breeds success ... Align yourself with people in higher places, and your chances to achieve a better than average opportunity will be exponentially greater than most. As stated above, it's about networking. If you don't know how to network, you will just be another small fish in a big sea.

Luckily there will be opportunity to meet loss of good people in the military