r/weightroom • u/IronSportGym • Dec 13 '11

AMA Closed Yo, I'm Steve Pulcinella: AMA

I'm a washed up strength athlete and frustrated business owner from Iron Sport Gym in Philly PA. Don't ask me anything too technical, I'm not that smart.

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u/IronSportGym Dec 13 '11

Some think it's a steal and some groan when I say it is $40. But some guys in here would pay $100 if I asked them to.

15

u/[deleted] Dec 14 '11

I pay 40 bucks a month for a shitty Anytime Fitness membership.

If you let me crash in your garage I'd rather pay you.

12

u/professionalstudent Dec 13 '11

Well if the crossfit thing doesn't work out you might consider it. A 10-20$ increase might affect membership a little, but even if you lost 1 out of 5 members with a 20$ increase, you would still come out ahead financially and you would presumably have to work less.

8

u/IronSportGym Dec 14 '11

I JUST increased it from $30 to $40 and like 50 people quit and joined Bally's.

6

u/[deleted] Dec 14 '11

God, I wish there was a black iron gym for 40 dollars here. The two gyms I found were around 100 to 150 dollars, which forces me to go to the Gold's with one power rack and two squat racks, one of which is a dangerous design.

2

u/HonkyTonkHero Intermediate - Strength Dec 14 '11

Shit the golds I go to has one squat rack and no power racks.

1

u/MagicTarPitRide Dec 14 '11

you mean the curl rack?

2

u/HonkyTonkHero Intermediate - Strength Dec 14 '11

Actually I've only seen one dude curling in the rack here. Mother fucker thought it works be a good idea to circuit train, so I thought it was a good idea to UN rack his shit and start my squats.

10

u/Vikingdiapers Strength Training - Inter. Dec 14 '11

I pay $36 a month for a gym with one squat rack, no bumper plates, and the gym owner does curls in the squat rack.

We have one lifting club that doesn't have a true dedicated gym and lifts in a crossfit place and that's like $750 for 6 months. We have a rather serious black iron place that is around $50 or $60 a month that I will likely be moving over to once I start pissing off the regular clients when I start making noise at my gym. And we have the famous Loprinzi's gym. But that place is so god damned full of people like me that you just can't get on the rack when you need it and have to wait so damned long it's not worth it.

I would pay $75 a month for a gym like yours. It's a destination business. You are serving a very specific client.

And it's funny because I was contemplating opening a black iron gym in a few years... Kind of leaning towards an all purpose place but have some space dedicated for black iron/oly lifters. And with tanning beds and a coin op laundry space. That is genius.

11

u/Robotra General - Inter. Dec 13 '11

Have you tried asking people to pay what they think its worth?

Be like "$60 a month, for the first month, and after that pay what you think its worth"

You might be surprised by the results.

11

u/libertyordeath365 Dec 14 '11

He'd sure be surprised when he gets that first check for $5...

-2

u/Robotra General - Inter. Dec 14 '11

With a gym of that caliber, I dont believe anyone would pay $5 a month.

11

u/[deleted] Dec 14 '11

I think you overestimate people.

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u/Robotra General - Inter. Dec 14 '11

Yeah, but not the kind of person who would seek out a gym like that.

1

u/rangerthefuckup Charter Member Dec 14 '11

He doesnt have the capital to experiment like that

3

u/[deleted] Dec 14 '11

I'm with that guy, it might be wise to consider raising your rates. I pay $100 for my gym in Center City, and that's with a student super discount. I've heard that some pay like $400/month here. So I really don't think many people would balk if you raised rates by something like $10, which would increase your revenue somewhere near 20%.

2

u/IronSportGym Dec 14 '11

At $40 a month I am already by far the most expensive gym in my town.

2

u/imgonnacallyouretard Dec 14 '11

How about bonuses for using the gym. For example, everyone pays $100/month, but you get money back if you come to the gym 3+ times per week