As our business falls under a niche market, we have limited competitors & most of us are spread among different areas of Penang which means that we are having a fair share amount of customers. Of course, we do have some members who prefer to train with us that they are willing to travel from a different part of the state to train with us. Many of our customers always claim that the journey that is taking them from their area to the gym can take up to an hour, especially for those who live in mainland Penang.
During the pandemic, our business was affected tremendously as we were only operating 5 months out of the whole year. That has also resulted in us moving our current gym into a new but better location. Although the new location is smaller, we have a better crowd & better facility to cater to all our members. It is definitely a blessing for us to move from the old to a new location.
While we were in lockdown, I had some time to think of my gym expansion into a few locations around Penang & I have also come out with a plan for the expansion which I have shared among all my close teammates around the potential area. My view was simple, it is all about expanding the sports that I’ve enjoyed while being able to earn some money from that passion. After further discussion, our plan is to set it up within a selected timeframe while we are all adapting & recovering from the pandemic.
A year flew by & on one fine Friday, I received a call from another teammate of mine on the potential branch expansion idea. Long story short, we had multiple meetings with more teammates involved & on Monday itself, we found ourselves a venue. Compared to our current gym size, the new branch will be twice the size of the current branch with a better facility. Members from mainland Penang can now train at the new branch without even driving while stuck in jam for an hour just to train with us on the island. Also from me & my current gym partner, and we will be also expanding our business partnership with our similar-minded teammates for the new branch.
This whole branch opening truly gives me a flashback to how the first branch started to what we are now. When my business partner approached me to start the gym, I was really excited about it & I am all in for the business venture. At 25 with no savings, I have to take personal loans as the capital to start the gym. I made a lot of mistakes from it from renting a place with a high rental, buying the wrong equipment & bad planning of the facility which resulted in underutilized space & overspending. It was truly inexperienced moved from my end. Aside from being inexperienced, there is also no any type of benchmark that I can refer to as there is no MMA gym that is operating in Penang in 2012. All my reference is purely based on the internet & other gyms in KL that was also inexperienced like us. When we move to a new facility, we have learned a lot from the past that we designed & utilize the space properly. Although it is 3 times smaller than the previous gym, we are still able to cater to the same amount of students with better space planning.
The experience in the past has also given me a better inspiration & idea on how to plan better for the new branch. With the facility of double the current gym, we can fully utilize all the space to its full potential by having a better design, facility & equipment to suit our members better, It will definitely be an upgrade compared to our current facility due to the size advantage that we have for the new branch. As of today, we have started the renovation & we expect it to launch by November 2022. I will be sharing the photos or details with you guys once the facility is fully up & running.
OSS!
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