Chapter 1 After Losing Money, the Happiness Multiplies!

After listening to Assistant Xin's explanation, Pei Qian was even happier.

Sure enough, I knew that entering the fitness industry was a promising decision!

With so many successful experiences from failed gyms, all combined, how could I not succeed?

Pei Qian nodded, "Yes, I'll think about it carefully."

"By the way, are there any newly opened gyms nearby? Or existing venues where we can buy equipment and start operating immediately? Find out, add some money to take them over directly, saving on renovation time."

Pei Qian was considering opening the first gym as soon as possible to see how it went.

If everything goes smoothly, he would seize the time to open a few more, so he could lose more money in this cycle.

If he accidentally made money, he could cut his losses in time and think of other ways.

Assistant Xin considered for a moment, "High-end gyms nearby... I do know a few, but they may not be willing to transfer. I'll have someone ask."

After Assistant Xin left, Pei Qian began to consider the specific plan for his gym.

He would integrate the "failed gym experiences" that Assistant Xin summarized in the survey report, absorb them as much as possible, and combine all the characteristics of failed gyms into one!

Pei Qian was very clear that now the scale of Tengda Group was getting bigger and bigger, and with ample funds, his goal was to lose money, so no matter which industry he entered, he would definitely invest a lot.

And large upfront investment, while increasing revenue pressure, also made it easier to attract customers, especially some high-asset, high-quality customers.

The difficulty of losing money was getting higher and higher.

Therefore, if he wanted to lose money, he had to have the right attitude and couldn't just get by!

He couldn't think, "Others can lose money doing this, so I can too." If he really thought that way, he would likely make a dogmatic error.

According to the report's analysis, the fundamental reason why many gyms don't make money is that gyms themselves require a large investment, whether it's in venues, equipment, labor, or other expenses, they are not small amounts.

If it were in some developed countries, where people generally have the habit of exercising, then relying on selling membership cards alone could generate good profits, which would lead to a virtuous cycle.

But in China, due to the level of economic development and people's attitudes, most people don't have the habit of exercising, and they are also reluctant to spend more money. It's difficult to make money by selling membership cards alone, so you have to sell personal training courses.

This idea is the same as domestic pay-to-win online games, first use low prices to get as many people as possible into the gym, and then pick out those fatter leeks to harvest.

To put it bluntly, there are three types of people in the gym:

Newbies who get a gym membership in a moment of enthusiasm, and then stop coming after the initial excitement wears off;

People who don't lack money, want a good body, and are afraid of their own short-lived enthusiasm, so they buy personal training courses to have a personal trainer supervise them;

And bigshots who can persevere on their own.

Gyms like the first two types of people, but the third type are the ones who can truly avoid being harvested as leeks.

It's just that there are too few of the third type.

Gyms mainly earn money from the membership cards of the first type of people and the personal training courses of the second type, fleecing both the poor and the rich.

So Pei Qian thought about it and decided to go the other way.

He would still use the same approach as before: increase spending and reduce income. On the one hand, he would try to increase daily expenses as much as possible, and on the other hand, he would try to reduce his target user group and earn less money.

First of all, he wouldn't earn a penny more from the newbies!

Other gyms all sell half-year cards and annual cards, and the longer the time, the more discounts they offer. They are taking advantage of the enthusiasm of the newbies, using discounts to encourage them to buy long-term membership cards.

And these newbies often can't stick to it, so the longer the time they buy, the more they lose.

Pei Qian decided to price directly by the day!

Other gyms sell half-year or one-year memberships, counting whether you come or not, but the gym that Pei Qian wants to open will charge you if you come today, and won't charge you if you don't come.

It's impossible to get a refund at other gyms, you can only find someone to take over your card, which is also very troublesome, but at the gym that Pei Qian wants to open, you can refund the balance on your account at any time.

This way, even if newbies are impulsive for a moment, they won't be able to give the gym more money!

Secondly, he wouldn't earn a penny more from the rich!

Other gyms are frantically selling personal training courses to provide better service and earn greater profits from high-asset users.

But Pei Qian decided not to sell any personal training courses at all.

All the trainers have the same benefits and salary, without earning commissions.

The trainers are on standby at any time like internet cafe attendants. If a customer has a problem, they will go up and answer it. If they see a customer training incorrectly, they will remind them, but they will never say too much, let alone promote any courses.

Want to find an exclusive personal trainer? Want to pay to buy personal training courses?

Sorry, we don't have that kind of one-on-one service.

The more Pei Qian thought about it, the more satisfied he became.

This plan keeps the money of most customers out of the door.

Newbies are first dissuaded by the high price. Even if they get a membership card in a moment of enthusiasm, the balance can be refunded at will.

Rich people who want to find a personal trainer for one-on-one guidance, this place doesn't provide the service.

Real gym bigshots, as long as they have equipment, they can train. They will definitely choose those cheaper gyms, and there is no need to add a lot of money to come here.

The only people interested in this model are those who are slightly wealthier, want to exercise, and don't want to be scammed by personal trainers.

However, because the level of economic development in China hasn't reached that point yet, and Jingzhou is a second-tier city that isn't that developed, the number of people in this group is very small, making it unlikely for the gym to be profitable.

In this way, the gym is in a state of pure loss, and the more you open, the more you lose!

Of course, the system isn't that easy to fool.

The system requires that the industry must have a theoretical possibility of making a profit. If it can earn a lot of reputation, the profit requirement can be reduced to a certain extent.

Pei Qian provides a better gym environment, so naturally he has to set a higher price.

After considering it, Pei Qian decided to set the price a lot higher than the minimum price allowed by the system.

Because pricing according to the minimum price allowed by the system is likely to leave players with a good impression, resulting in a small profit and large sales.

And continuing to increase the price, to a level that most ordinary people can't afford, can directly dissuade the target group from the price itself!

Currently, the annual gym membership card in Jingzhou is about 2,000 yuan, and Tengda employees all have them.

And this is still a relatively high-end gym. Cheaper ones are even less than 1,000 yuan.

Slightly convert according to the mid-to-high-end standard of 2,000 yuan per year, and it's about five yuan a day.

But it's obviously impossible to go to the gym every day. Most people go twice a week, which is pretty good.

Calculated according to this frequency, the real price per day is about 20 yuan.

The more you go, the more you earn.

Since Pei Qian decided to use better equipment, create a better environment, and hire better trainers, and also use the price to further dissuade consumers, then the price per day should be set at 40 yuan!

Considering that the personal training guidance that other gyms charge for can also be enjoyed for free here, he has to add money.

Of course, the personal training courses in other places are one-on-one guidance, while the personal training in this gym is one-to-many, teaching whoever doesn't understand, so the pricing can't be so high.

Pei Qian thought about it, then raise the price per visit to 50 yuan!

This price should be able to dissuade most people, right?

Calculated in this way, if you come to the gym twice a week, it will cost 400 yuan a month, and 4,800 yuan a year.

If you're extreme and go to the gym four times a week, this price will double, costing 9,600 yuan a year.

For the local consumption level of Jingzhou in 2011, this is already outrageous.

Comparing it with the prices of other gyms, this should be a quite unaffordable number.

"Hmm... it still seems a little insufficient."

"Is this the extent to which I can go to lose money?"

"Think again."

Pei Qian felt that, with the current setting, it was indeed the opposite of those money-making gyms, and there was a certain probability of failure, but it was still not stable.

What if some people think this gym is conscientious and get a membership card for the purpose of experiencing it, using it as a "pay-per-visit" card?

Or what if a gym bigshot temporarily comes to Jingzhou and doesn't want to get a long-term gym membership card, and gets a short-term card?

If there are enough people who come occasionally, and the daily traffic is guaranteed, it seems that it will still make money...

Therefore, he still has to think of a way to dissuade these people who experience it on a per-visit basis as much as possible!

Forcing people to get a long-term card is definitely not possible, because it goes against the previous rules, so he has to think of other ways.

Pei Qian considered it and decided to implement a "check-in system" to achieve this dissuasive effect in a special way!

When registering as a member, formulate different training plans according to each person's physical fitness, work, and lifestyle.

For example, require them to come to practice three times a week or more, must follow the prescribed diet, can only eat healthy meals launched by Moyu Takeout, and enforce it.

In this way, consumers not only have to pay to use the gym, but also have to pay for healthy meals, and it's mandatory!

There will be even fewer people willing to spend so much money!

If you don't complete the check-in target, there will be penalties: first a warning, then a refund, and then you can't sign up again for a period of time.

In this way, those "experience party" members who want to come occasionally are also brushed out, further reducing a large chunk of income.

Hmm, perfect!

After several considerations, Pei Qian finally finalized the specific rules of the gym:

After becoming a member, recharge. The amount you recharge is completely arbitrary, without any discounts.

The first thing you do is take a physical test and formulate a training plan, including how many times a week you come to the gym, what projects you train, what you eat, all the content is formulated after negotiation with the customer, and once it's formulated, it becomes mandatory and must be followed.

Overall, the cost of each visit to the gym is 50 yuan. Healthy meals from Moyu Takeout are mandatory purchases, and the price is calculated separately. The takeout order system and the gym's App data are interconnected.

Of course, Moyu Takeout still has to lose money, so healthy meals will only be priced at cost, but this mandatory purchase is itself very dissuasive to consumers.

It loses money and adds a threshold for customers, a win-win situation.

If you don't eat healthy meals, or if you don't come to the gym enough times a week, you will be interviewed. The first two times are warnings, and the third time you will be refunded directly and will not be accepted again for a month.

Of course, if you correct it immediately after the first warning, you can eliminate the warning after persisting for two weeks.

Pei Qian thought about it and decided to name this gym "Trusteeship Fitness."

The superficial meaning is that you can just entrust your body here!

The actual meaning is that after the trusteeship, the mentally retarded AI will play four 2s and two kings! (This is a card game reference, meaning a sure loss)

At most, only local tyrants would be willing to come to a crazy gym like this, right?

But there are not many local tyrants in Jingzhou, and the real local tyrants go to the gym to find personal trainers anyway. Trusteeship Fitness doesn't seem to have much obvious competitiveness.

At that time, if he opens many stores that are not visited by anyone, he can just use them all to issue employee benefits, which is simply wonderful!

Of course, Pei Qian also thought of some other ways, such as giving discounts for successful weight loss, but after careful consideration, he rejected them all.

Although these operations seem to be able to lose more money on the surface, they also seem to motivate users and spontaneously promote them, which can easily have the opposite effect.

Therefore, after careful consideration, Pei Qian decided to give up these seemingly beautiful operations and be more cautious.

After all, losing money is also about having a steady stream.

Afterwards, Pei Qian simply considered the equipment in the gym.

He will definitely use the most high-end fitness equipment for everything.

Each piece of cardio equipment, including treadmills, ellipticals, etc., will all be equipped with a small TV in front, so you can adjust what you want to watch yourself.

The showers, locker rooms, lounges, etc. will also all be done to the highest standards. Anyway, he will spend money as much as possible. He will also get all kinds of high-end shampoos, body washes, hair dryers, etc.

Moreover, the gym will also be equipped with wristbands. You wear a wristband when you enter the gym, and after you come out, you take off the wristband and upload your exercise data. You can only complete the check-in if your exercise amount meets the standard.

…

After everything was finalized, Pei Qian looked at the plan and nodded in satisfaction.

He will strive to make this gym an exclusive gym for Tengda employees, so that others will have no interest in it!

The gym loses money every day, and giving employees benefits also loses money, double the happiness.

At that time, he will formulate fitness plans for all Tengda employees, making them tired of exercising and unwilling to work. At the same time, President Pei will happily lose money, a win-win situation!