How do I find a personal training studio for sale?
Search under the names a studio uses (personal training studio, private training gym, strength studio), save alerts on listing sites, and ask the people who hear first: equipment suppliers, landlords and accountants. Client retention often depends on individual trainers, so ask early who holds those relationships.
An independent personal training studio is a different search from a gym or a class-based box. There are no rows of memberships to count. The business is a set of trainers, their regular clients and an appointment book, in a room with equipment. Few of these studios are advertised widely, and many owners sell quietly so that clients and trainers do not hear it from someone else.
Search under every name the studio uses
The same kind of business is listed as a personal training studio, a private training gym, a strength and conditioning studio, a boutique fitness studio or a small group training space. Run each phrase on its own with the city or area you want. Read the description closely, because the sentence that tells you how the clients are served is often one line near the end.
Ask the people who hear first
- Equipment suppliers and repair technicians, who see which studios are upgrading and which are winding down
- Landlords and property managers who lease to fitness tenants
- Accountants and bookkeepers who work with owner-operated studios
- Trainers and coaches in your own network, who often know a colleague ready to step back
Ask who holds the client relationships
In a studio built on one-to-one sessions, clients may be loyal to a particular trainer rather than to the room. Ask the seller or broker whether the owner trains clients personally, which trainers are employees and which are contractors, and how many would likely stay through a handover. Our answer on how to check whether a CrossFit gym makes money before buying covers the class-based version of the same question.
Approach an owner directly, and ask who a broker acts for
If a studio you like is not listed, a short, private note to the owner is reasonable. Say who you are, that you are interested in buying, and that you will keep it confidential. When a broker is involved, ask early whom they act for. If you are comparing this with the seller’s side of the process, see where to list a fitness studio for sale.
Related reading
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Buying
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Due diligence
Sources
This answer is checked against primary sources. Links were last confirmed on the dates shown.
- 01Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentWhat are the steps to buying a business?
- 02Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentHow to conduct due diligence when buying a business
- 03Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentLetter of intent and confidentiality agreement for a business acquisition: What clauses should be included?
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