New financing solutions help gyms equip to meet member expectations

Aware of gyms’ ongoing needs to reinvest in equipment, Fitness Finance Australia is highlighting how facilities need to keep investing in equipment and related assets in order to retain members, remain relevant and keep their clubs ‘fresh’.

Director Dan Toms explains “whether you are running a large scale 24/7 gym, a functional training studio or a one-person PT business - retaining your members is key for the health of any business.

“Consumer expectations are now extremely high and there has been a dramatic increase in offerings from the early days of standard big box gyms.”

Toms sees that members expect state-of-the-art equipment and that owners can no longer simply get away with standard or ageing equipment to keep up with current trends.

He advises “franchise systems understand better than anyone that re-investing in equipment and the appearance of the business is critical. Franchisees are normally contractually obliged to refurbish their gym every five years, but this principal of continual re-investment should also apply to independently owned gyms. If they want their business to remain relevant in a crowded marketplace then they simply must re-invest.”

Fitness Finance Australia’s research has shown that member expectation isn’t just restricted to equipment but a gym’s environment and surroundings as well.

It is widely accepted that it is extremely important to members that the changing rooms and bathrooms are as modern as their gym’s equipment. This is particularly relevant to retaining those members who use the gym in the morning prior to going to work.

Toms adds “most business owners agree that re-investing in their business is critical but very few actually want to part with their savings. Fitness Finance Australia assist by providing the funding required for new equipment and refurbishments, allowing the business owner to preserve their hard-earned capital for marketing and growing the business.”

With bank lending tightener than it has been in the past, many small and medium sized business are finding it increasingly difficult to access funding. This void is being filled by specialist finance companies that will usually prove far more flexible and offer better terms than a bank.

There are a range of products offered by specialist lenders. Of these, an increasing number of gym owners are seeing an Operating Lease as one of the most attractive solutions. An operating lease can be a tax effective way of funding your equipment. The repayments are classified as a business expense and are therefore 100% tax deductible.

 An Operating Lease can be used for funding new or used equipment, fit outs, gym refurbishments, custom equipment, vehicles and even franchise business re-sales. The standard terms range from three to five years and offer flexibility to payout the contract at any time or own the assets outright at the end by paying a residual.

However, some gym owners prefer to own and depreciate the assets in which case a Chattel Mortgage can be a solution. It is important to remember that repayments on a Chattel Mortgage are not 100 % tax deductible, only the interest component is. Yet business owners can deprecate the assets and claim the GST credits upfront, they can also choose their preferred finance term of three, four or five years.

Click here to contact Fitness Finance Australia via their entry in the Australasian Leisure Management Supplier Directory.