Posted In: What Would You Do?
Scenario:You're going to start a performance enhancement center from the ground up. You have essentially an unlimited budget. Build your dream setup.
Things to consider:
*Where would you build (Dallas, Orlando, Los Angeles, etc) and why?
*How many square feet would you need?
*What equipment would you buy?
*Are there any special things you'd like to add that would distinguish you from your competition?
ELITETRACK Founder
To mind immediately with more to follow
1) 60 * 20 yard outdoor turf field
2) 40 * 20 yard indoor turf field w. large garage door that can be opened and leads right into the outdoor field
3) 70 meter, 4 lane track MONDO
4) Drop down net hitting cages for golf and baseball for technique analysis and improvement
5) Physical therapist on staff with facilities for their needs
6) 10-12 dual platform/rack stations
7) Multiple vicon cameras and setup for analysis and of course dartfish.
8) Someone who know how to work all vicon and affiliate equipment and can read the information it gives you and put it into english
9) Med balls, foam rollers, physioballs and all other gadgets
10) 40 yard sand pit
11) 40 yard grass hill
12) Dumbbell sets
Random thoughts
Pool? Extensive Re-Hab equip?
Location concerns: proximity to hotel/motel for out of towners, proximity to grass field(s), track, hills, running trails, climate, proximity to major airport
Location if "for profit": what is the ave household/family income of the area? more clients / weekend warriors and teens aspiring to Majors/Olys if site is in an affluent suburb/rich county. If seeking elites, then a resort setting?
Location: Socal, FL coast, Dallas or Houston area, ATL
Facility: 10-50,000 sq/feet
*Indoor turf field (at least 50m long)
*Outdoor turf field (at least 50m long)
*Indoor mondo superX track runway (4 x 70m)
*Indoor ramp (2 x 30m w/ 3 degree grade)
*Indoor ramp (2 x 30m w/ 15 degree grade)
*10+ OL platforms with 600 lbs of plates each
*4 DB stations
*Batting cages for baseball
*Driving ranges for golf
*2-4 tennis courts
*2-4 basketball courts
*Medball sets
*4 Kaiser multi-stations
*Big grass field
*30m sand pit
*Juice / Smoothie bar
*Therapy room
*"Pro" style locker rooms
ELITETRACK Founder
Haha, I think we’d all love to have a dream facility.
Here are some things I’d like to have. Not all of them are ideal, but then again, perhaps they are upon closer inspection.
Location: 2 Locations. One somewhere in the north (since I’m from Ohio…), and the second one in Charlotte, NC. The northern states need an elite center such as this, and I’d choose NC because I’d also want to be away from all the other Performance Enhancement Centers you’d typically find in ATL, LA, MIA, SoCal, HOU, etc.
I’d build an 8-lane, 400m indoor track, with a completely retractable roof to be able to train in favorable conditions no matter the time of year. This would include a 100 yard field in the middle for soccer/football type training.
Indoor mondo superX track runway (4 x 100m)
15 OL platforms with 1000 lbs of plates each
Batting Cages
Driving Ranges (indoor and outdoor)
20 x 50m sand pit
Multiple DB stations
There would be a hill on each side of the facility with varying degrees of steepness (for speed/power, power endurance, and endurance training.
Large grass field
Large running trails w/ controlled environment
There would be a small walkway to access an extension of the facility that contains:
Four full-court basketball courts
Four tennis courts
Olympic swimming pool
Multiple exercise bikes w/ small screen TV’s attached to each
Multiple free weight Machines (squat racks, bench press, OL’s, etc.)
Multiple high speed treadmills w/ small screen TV’s attached to each
Multiple medballs/half balls/physio balls
Therapy Room
No less than ten trainers on staff
Excellent Locker rooms
Sauna
Hot Tub
Juice/Smoothie bar
State-of-the-art analysis equipment for each sport and personnel to run it
My follow up question…
Is there/could there be a business model to justify above??
I’ve thought a lot about this as of late… IE – Could you generate enough income with a model like this to pay for a dream set up, and what would the business model be to do it.
As I see it, the target markets for such are:
1. Elites
2. HS and Collegiates trying to make next level
3. Guys like me with means and trying to continually improve
4. Hard Core Real Exercise Geeks – CrossFit types come to mind
5. Corporations trying to improve company wellness
6. General – Trying to reach fitness/weight loss goals…
7. Celebs/models, etc
I figure to set up a dream center, but pared back some, as a dream facility is just too much – would be about 3MM – so your cost per month just to make mortgage and taxes is 270k per year. Then you have a director, 3 good trainers, 2 good rehab folks, maintenance, insurance, payroll taxes, etc, etc – Call that another 600k per year.
So you’d be looking at an annual cost to operate of say $1mm. To make a solid profit (to give acceptable 20% return on capital – assuming one put 800k in to start) that means the org would need to take in 1.3m in revenues in the year.
To put it in context, to reach that, you’d need as follows:
1. Elites – 10 Elite Athletes paying 12k each per year for training (expect to spend disproportionately large amounts of time on them – high maintenance, plus they think they’re doing you a favor by working out at your place, which they sort of are!).
2. HS and Collegiates – 100 at 2k per year for testing, access and program design
3. Guys like me – 50 at 4k per year for access and program design
4. Cross Fit types – 100 at 2k per year for access and regular classes
5. Corporations – 5 companies hiring for help designing wellness programs, etc at 50k per year
6. 100 general training clients at 3k per year
7. Celebs/models/etc – 100 at 5k per year
That would be revenues at 1.7m a year – and super high return.
My questions – how many staff would you need to handle above, and how tough would it be to build that kind of user base???
My follow up question…
Is there/could there be a business model to justify above??
I’ve thought a lot about this as of late… IE – Could you generate enough income with a model like this to pay for a dream set up, and what would the business model be to do it.
As I see it, the target markets for such are:
1. Elites
2. HS and Collegiates trying to make next level
3. Guys like me with means and trying to continually improve
4. Hard Core Real Exercise Geeks – CrossFit types come to mind
5. Corporations trying to improve company wellness
6. General – Trying to reach fitness/weight loss goals…
7. Celebs/models, etcI figure to set up a dream center, but pared back some, as a dream facility is just too much – would be about 3MM – so your cost per month just to make mortgage and taxes is 270k per year. Then you have a director, 3 good trainers, 2 good rehab folks, maintenance, insurance, payroll taxes, etc, etc – Call that another 600k per year.
So you’d be looking at an annual cost to operate of say $1mm. To make a solid profit (to give acceptable 20% return on capital – assuming one put 800k in to start) that means the org would need to take in 1.3m in revenues in the year.
To put it in context, to reach that, you’d need as follows:
1. Elites – 10 Elite Athletes paying 12k each per year for training (expect to spend disproportionately large amounts of time on them – high maintenance, plus they think they’re doing you a favor by working out at your place, which they sort of are!).
2. HS and Collegiates – 100 at 2k per year for testing, access and program design
3. Guys like me – 50 at 4k per year for access and program design
4. Cross Fit types – 100 at 2k per year for access and regular classes
5. Corporations – 5 companies hiring for help designing wellness programs, etc at 50k per year
6. 100 general training clients at 3k per year
7. Celebs/models/etc – 100 at 5k per yearThat would be revenues at 1.7m a year – and super high return.
My questions – how many staff would you need to handle above, and how tough would it be to build that kind of user base???
Elites – I’d say five to ten staffers would be sufficient for ten elites
HS/Collegians – Five to seven staffers
Guys like you – same five to ten staffers as elites
Cross fit types – same five to seven staffers as HS/Collegians
Celebs/models/etc. – same five to ten staffers as elites and guys like you
So you’re looking at roughly 15-20 full-time trainers for those numbers. Perhaps you have 4-5 rehab people on staff, five maintenence guys, four lifeguards for the pool, etc.
To build this user base, you’d need good advertising. You’d need to start advertising this about a year in advance of the facilities’ grand opening. You’d need (IMO) a “street team” to advertise word-of-mouth style. Show up at high school practices for EVERY sport, games, etc. Do some cold marketing to a few businesses in the area. This can be done. The marketing is the easy part, comparatively speaking. It’s the budget that’s the biggie. But if you have the financial resources to get this done, it’s do-able.
When I first posted this I was on the verge of getting VC money to open a training facility. I ended up turning it down to return to Army for another year. I’ve recently opened up a training center and although it doesn’t quite meet the ‘dream’ facility I lusted after 2 years ago it is a mini version of it and getting better weekly (with new equipment additions, facility mods, etc). See here.[/url]
Jay’s center sounds awesome. I’d guess that would cost about $12-15 mil to build and outfit but it would likely be the best training facility in the entire country.
ELITETRACK Founder
very impressive! I want to build a very similar facility here in Australia one day. Preferably next to a park so I don’t need to put in astro turf for speed work!
When I first posted this I was on the verge of getting VC money to open a training facility. I ended up turning it down to return to Army for another year. I’ve recently opened up a training center and although it doesn’t quite meet the ‘dream’ facility I lusted after 2 years ago it is a mini version of it and getting better weekly (with new equipment additions, facility mods, etc). See [url=https://athleticlab.com/about/facility/]here.[/url]
Jay’s center sounds awesome. I’d guess that would cost about $12-15 mil to build and outfit but it would likely be the best training facility in the entire country.
Why did you choose mondo for a track surface? Isn’t it too hard for normal training (besides the hard floor beneath it)? Or the track is layed for testing purposes?
very impressive! I want to build a very similar facility here in Australia one day. Preferably next to a park so I don’t need to put in astro turf for speed work!
We actually do most of our run/jump training at a park that’s about 1200m away; or at a local university / high school track; we do hill training at a park that’s about 3 miles away.
ELITETRACK Founder
Why did you choose mondo for a track surface? Isn’t it too hard for normal training (besides the hard floor beneath it)? Or the track is layed for testing purposes?
It has a name recognition that resonates, it’s fast, and we don’t do too much training on it. Also, for non-pour surfaces (which you need to have for something like a 40m straightaway) Mondo is the best option for durability, speed, and training.
ELITETRACK Founder
When I first posted this I was on the verge of getting VC money to open a training facility. I ended up turning it down to return to Army for another year. I’ve recently opened up a training center and although it doesn’t quite meet the ‘dream’ facility I lusted after 2 years ago it is a mini version of it and getting better weekly (with new equipment additions, facility mods, etc). See [url=https://athleticlab.com/about/facility/]here.[/url]
Jay’s center sounds awesome. I’d guess that would cost about $12-15 mil to build and outfit but it would likely be the best training facility in the entire country.
A couple questions….
1. What is VC money?
2. I thought that would cost even more than 15 mil. You think that’s “all” it would cost?
3. Looking at my list of wants, did I leave anything out?
very impressive! I want to build a very similar facility here in Australia one day. Preferably next to a park so I don’t need to put in astro turf for speed work!
Start building – can’t wait.
My dream facility:
combined uphill/horizontal/downhill slope (if possible – otherwise each slope separately)
40-50m track (or 60+ if possible)
Suspension device on rails for assisted jumps/runs/plyometrics
Force platforms everywhere (from the fridge to the lavatories…everywhere)
Cameras for biomechanical analysis
Olympic lift platforms
Jump squat platforms (with eccentric assist device)
Designated area for ballistic throwing
Squat racks, weight racks, Nautillus machines, 101 cable machines
Spring water pools
Aerobics area
1. What is VC money?
2. I thought that would cost even more than 15 mil. You think that’s “all” it would cost?
It would depend where you build and how fancy you wanted to make things beyond what you’ve already mentioned. I actually wasn’t accounting for the climate controlled running trails. That would probably put you over 12 million alone.
3. Looking at my list of wants, did I leave anything out?
Not really but I think some things are probably overkill. Not too many people in the history of mankind would need 1000 lbs of plates on a squat rack.
ELITETRACK Founder
200m indoor track
4x 60m indoor track lanes
physical therapy on site
dietician on site
orthopedist on site
supercat
dumbells up to 200lbs
power racks
plyoboxes up to 70 inches high
medicine balls up to 80lbs
drag sleds
an indoor hill that is adjustable in height and it 60m in length
saunas and hot tubs
sand pits for jumping events along with runways
“climate controlled”
1 full court NBA style bball floor.+ 50 yard turf football field with an adjustable roof
all in South Texas
estimated cost $20million+
powerball lotto here I come…