Welcome. Over the past 7 years, we have successfully launched and operated a family of unique indoor cycling studios — and also helped others launch theirs. These are small businesses that are fun….and profitable. Here is a place for studio starters, and studio owners, to learn, to share and to connect. In addition to running our own studios, Spynergy Consulting provides business planning, start-up, operational and marketing services to entrepreneurs and small business owners. Take a look through this blog, visit our studios near Boston and Chicago, and read up! Call us anytime to discuss your ideas and we’ll let you know what we can do to help. If this is your first visit…..here are a few articles you may find interesting.
- Indoor cycling studios…..a market on the rise
- Opening a cycling studio – The Big Question
- 6 reasons a studio can thrive, even with big gyms nearby
- Real studios recently opened / lessons learned
Articles beneath here date back a few years and appear chronologically (most recent first). You can also navigate to articles of interest by checking the “Categories” listed in the right hand side of this page. As always, you can easily contact Bill by calling 781-254-3677, or emailing billpryor@comcast.net
1) Should your studio have only cycling classes? Or should you also offer “complementary” training such as yoga, Pilates, barre , TRX, or something else? This question comes up a lot. People seem to feel that indoor cycling or SPINNING® alone may not “be enough”. In my opinion….with a few rare exceptions, the answer is NO, do not start with other offerings. Stick to a defined niche, do one thing and do it well and you will have the best chance of success. I have a number of specific reasons for believing this. There is not the space here to get into it — but be sure you tread very carefully here. I am well aware there are some successful exceptions to this rule, but I believe there are very specific conditions that make these exceptions viable. (More on this in a future newsletter).
2) How important is it to somehow provide “metrics” (heartrate, power output, cadence, calories burned, etc.) so your clients get hard data about their workouts? Bike manufacturers and 3rd party after-market suppliers have products that are getting better all the time, and many studio owners are considering investing in these technologies. Does it make sense for you? Maybe. It depends on precisely what you are considering, who your target market is and how much it costs. I believe there are big plusses and big minuses to making this kind of investment and you need to consider both.
3) How closely should I control the type and style of classes my instructors teach? Every studio is slightly different in this regard, and the challenge is finding a balance between a) consistent guidelines, and b) allowing instructors to use their own creativity and energy to fill classes. A studio (unlike a large health club) is a business that relies on filling classes. Once you set up a nice studio in a good location, filling classes is primarily a function of two things: 1) Marketing (more on this later) and 2) Instructors. They are critical….so be sure you have a clear plan for dealing with instructor recruitment, training, evaluation and compensation!
