What's Next?

Existing Market

The market I have identified that would be attracted to my wellness center is female, young-adults, ages ranging from 18-30. This market is ideal for my business because individuals within typically care about their appearance and overall health. This age group is known for trying new diets and fitness programs in hopes of seeing results. From this market, I interviewed my sister who is 23 and two of my close friends who are both 21. 

After interviewing these individuals in my existing market, I found an immense amount of support for my ideas. The girls liked the idea of incorporating nutrition classes into this facility because they were unsure of how they should be fueling their bodies with their current activity levels. One of my friends mentioned that she felt I should incorporate yoga into the fitness class schedule because that helps relieve stress which is a big part of being healthy. My other friend recommended incorporating a healthy food cafe or juice/smoothie bar that members could purchase from before or after their exercises. My sister said that with her busy work schedule, she would look for a facility with a lot of hours of operation so that she could go to the gym whenever she was able to. 

Interviewing members from my existing market reassured me that I should work towards incorporating some of the ideas I had that seemed out of reach such as adding a juice/smoothie bar into my facility. To expand further into this young generation of women, having a cafe before members are required to scan in their key tags could make my facility a place they stop by for lunch or a healthy snack, that would encourage people to check out the whole facility and look into membership. I had considered a yoga studio when originally drawing up this idea, although it seemed like a lot to add in, an activity room in the gym could also act as a yoga studio to target this crowd. Something I looked over was the hours of operation, I think it would be important to have the main gym be available for 24-hour access to allow busy, young workers to go to the gym around their work schedules. 

New Market 

My existing market was targeting the younger millennial generation who has a great interest in health and engages heavily with products and programs that promote a good lifestyle and healthy physical appearance. This new market that I feel would find use in this facility are middle to upper aged adults. Because health is trending right now for our generation, it is something that older generations may have never invested the time into in order to gain understanding and experience. With old age, individuals are seeking ways to feel younger and healthier, which likely leads them to fitness and nutrition. My concept would create value for this market because it would help them play catch-up in a convenient and reliable way. 

To represent this market, I interviewed my mother, and an older man that I work one of my jobs with. From these interviews I learned a lot of important information about this market. They feel a strong need for a non-intimidating environment where they can learn the things that they have not in the past. Both expressed that they fear the gym because they don't know what they are doing and are afraid that those who do would judge them. The older man I work with explained that his doctor recommended that he begin daily exercise to help delay the effects of aging on his body, but he doesn't know where to start because he has never used gym equipment. My mom also expressed that she is unfamiliar with the resistance machines at the gym so she doesn't want to walk around and look "stupid." They both jumped at the idea of including an orientation class that walked individuals through the resistance and cardio equipment to familiarize members with the gym, I think this is a very important resource to incorporate. 

What surprised me the most is that these individuals were so nervous to step foot in the gym because they were not familiar with exercise equipment and did not know how much they should be lifting and the number or repetitions/sets they should be doing. It appears that for this market, of older individuals who do not have much experience with gym equipment, their fear of an unfamiliar situation is the number one reason they are not living an active lifestyle. I do think this market is attractive because there are likely many more people like them that are nervous to appear as if they don't know what they're doing. I do believe that the younger generation is more attractive because of their willingness to spend money on memberships and programs that guide them to a healthy lifestyle.