I need some advice. I live in a small/med town in Tennessee. I moved here from Florida and the town is really growing with others coming up from Florida and other places. There are only a couple of chain gyms here and one other small gym that offers no classes. I am an entrepreneur at heart and when I complained to my husband that there was nowhere to go to just take a spinning class without signing a pricey contract, I thought I should open my own!

I'm thinking about a small gym offering spinning, pilates, specialty classes like yoga for pregnant women, kids fitness classes that they can take while mom is in spinning class, etc.

I ordered a couple of books on opening and running a gym and will write a business plan. I can market the heck out of it easily in this small town. I want to focus on the motivation and camaraderie that group classes provide. I want it to be fun and hip. Here are my questions:

How much money would it take to set up an empty space with m/f toilets and showers and 3 class rooms that are adequately soundproofed and have proper flooring?

I've never worked in a gym-is that a big downfall?

How do I find a business partner? Ideally I'd like to partner with a trainer who can teach most of the classes. They would be the fitness person and I would be the business/marketing person.

Is this plan even a good idea? Are people sick of the chain gyms with confusing pricing structures? Can I compete?