This Tealwood Funding Group page covers gym and fitness studio financing in Washington County, Utah: equipment, renovations, a second studio and membership-revenue gaps, with Census counts and an invented equipment example.
At a glance
- Fitness and recreational sports centers, Washington County, UT
33 employer establishments with 511 paid employees (CBP 2023)
- Fitness center payroll, Washington County, UT
$7.6 million (CBP 2023)
- Other amusement and recreation businesses without paid employees, Washington County, UT
150 (Nonemployer Statistics 2024)
How to Get a Loan to Build a Gym? Where Gym Operators Around St. George, UT Start
Building a gym from nothing is a startup, which Tealwood does not arrange. Where gym operators around St. George, UT start is with an operating studio: a year or more of membership revenue, a lease, and a plan to expand the floor or replace worn machines.
Washington County, UT had 33 fitness and recreational sports centers with paid employees in 2023, with 511 paid employees and $7.6 million in annual payroll (County Business Patterns). Twelve of the 33 had fewer than five employees.
Partners read membership revenue by month, cancellations, and the lease term. A gym with a lease ending soon is a harder case for a long renovation loan.
How Hard Is It to Get a Business Loan for a Gym? A Washington County, UT Gym Example
The difficulty depends on the gym's history, not on the industry. A Washington County, UT gym with steady membership deposits, filed returns and a reasonable amount of existing debt can request equipment financing, which is secured by the machines.
Harder cases are new studios, gyms with falling membership, or owners with heavy personal debt. Partners set their own thresholds.
Bring twelve months of bank statements, the membership software report, the lease and the equipment quote.
Existing equipment leases count as debt in a partner's eyes. List every lease and loan with its monthly payment and end date; a lease ending soon frees cash for the new one.
Business Loan for Opening a Gym in St. George, UT: Studio Renovations and Equipment Replacement
Opening a second location or renovating a studio means build-out costs (flooring, mirrors, locker rooms, HVAC) and equipment. The build-out belongs on a term loan and the machines on equipment financing; replacing worn machines needs only the second.
Illustration only, invented figures: a $64,000 equipment package of cable stations, racks and rowers on a 48-month loan at an annual rate of 11.25% costs about $1,662 a month and $15,771 in interest over the term (our arithmetic).
At $49 a month in dues, the payment equals about 34 memberships (our arithmetic: payment divided by dues, rounded up). That is the number of members the new equipment needs to help keep.
Flooring, mirrors and sound systems are often part of a renovation quote. Flooring and mirrors are part of the space; sound systems and screens can finance as equipment.
How to Get a Business Loan for a Gym: A Second Washington County, UT Studio Worked Through
A second Washington County, UT studio raises the question of how the first one is doing. Partners read both: the first studio's history and the second studio's lease and build-out budget.
Illustration only, invented figures: the first studio has 420 members at $49 a month, or $20,580 in monthly dues (our arithmetic). A partner compares that with the payments on both studios.
The gym equipment and renovation article goes through the full request.
A second studio also needs its own opening budget for marketing and staff before memberships build. That ramp-up is a working capital cost and belongs in the request.
Loan for Gym Business: What St. George, UT Owners Use It For
Gym owners around St. George, UT use loans for equipment replacement, renovations, a second location, and buying out a partner. A buyout fits a term loan, priced on the gym's revenue.
Membership revenue that falls in some months is a timing cost; a line of credit can carry it if the gym pays it down when renewals come in.
Retail shelves (supplements, apparel) are small inventory costs that a line covers.
A partner buyout in a gym is priced on revenue and the equipment's value. Bring the partnership or operating agreement, which may already set how a departing partner's share is valued.
Gym Loans: Studio Renovations and Equipment Replacement for Fitness Studio Owners
For fitness studio owners, studio renovations and equipment replacement are two capital costs a gym plans for and a partner sees in a request. Plan them together: if the renovation closes the floor, schedule the equipment delivery for the reopening.
Nonemployer Statistics counted 150 businesses without paid employees in the other amusement and recreation group in Washington County, UT in 2024, which includes small fitness studios along with golf courses, marinas and other recreation businesses. Those owner-only counts come from a different Census program than the employer figures.
Related pages: salons, chiropractic and PT, equipment financing, working capital, all industries, and the St. George, UT page.
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