Members-Only Clubs, Gyms etc.

NYC is a big city and there are so many people with so many different views. I wasn't a big fan of any members-only establishment. I was a fan of public transport. I have recently began to think differently.

A typical gym charges a certain fee for every month and let anyone who pays in. The way they control the quality of people is to decrease or increase the price. Of course, "making money" comes in, so it is generally easier to make 100 by selling 100 goods at the price of 1 than selling 1 quantity for the price of 100.

I have been very disappointed by the quality of the members at my gym (which is already considered to be one of the best). I don't like body-builders who go "hu, hu, ho." I don't like students from NYU (why not save your precious dollars? Why not use the gym at university?). I don't like people who like to lecture other people about "correct form." There are people who can't shut up in sauna or steam - maybe this is the only "social" place they frequent? I have a person who owns a cornershop and loves to lecture anyone who listens about politics (I mean, why?). My gym also has women with their big ass in tightest yoga pants who come in for a chat.

I want like-minded people, so why not use the office gym? I don't like to see my colleagues at the gym, very simple. And the office gym isn't the best as you know. Why not work out at home? I go to a gym to be in a different place and enjoy the different space (another reason why you don't work out at the office). Why not your apartment building gym? There are always weird tenants who are more interested in chatting to you than working out, and probably as you want to keep inconspicuous, you don't want to work out in such a confined space.

So I started to think initially, why not increase the fee to control who comes in? But it doesn't make much business sense (the gain won't be worth the loss). There is only so much increase the business can absorb without making a loss. As a businessman, I hate doing anything that leads to the loss in revenue.

So I started to think, maybe if you keep it small (no franchise or anything like that), you can probably create a nice gym, a good space and atmosphere. With the scale expansion, you are targeting the mass ($1 from 100 to make $100, instead of $100 from 1). If you keep it small, maybe you can still generate $100 from 25 people (at $4 each). You don't screen people by race or ethnicity (that would be illegal and that won't be what I want), but you do screen people by what they do (and whether they can afford the fee).

The nice relaxing space is important, so cafe and restaurant for light bite, spacious free-weight area, great cardio equipments (with high-tech built in). Again there is enough space for everyone so that people don't get on each other's nerve. Steam, sauna should be there. Men and women can have separate sauna and steam; the point is that they are kept clean and nice/relaxing (with good design).

If you know a good place, do let us know, but maybe we should keep it to ourselves. Not publicly announce that hey there is a great gym here - that's how you are forced into franchising and money-making at a much bigger scale.