Business Plan Gold Gym Marketing Essay

Business Plan Gold Gym Marketing Essay Venturing into starting a Franchise is traditionally assured to yield a guaranteed Return of Investment than venturing into a fresh startup entity. Although Franchise itself is a business, it is considered as a way of doing business. It is believed by many that Mr. Albert Singer who was the founder of the Singer sewing machine, was the inventor and founder of the concept franchising. He was one of the earliest person known by most as being associated with the concept; however, the franchising really began long time before and has its roots dating all the way back to the Middle Ages (Blair Lafontaine 2005). As per the definition the work franchising is derived from ancient French which means holding a particular privilege or right. Over the years, franchising business models have been evolved and proven to result in high growth businesses. Although there are various large business entities in UK that offer franchising opportunities, only few business segments result in lucrative ROI. After analysing various business analysis reports and market survey statistics, I have identified fitness and wellness healthcare segment as highly futuristic franchise opportunity considering various factors including my current financial capabilities and business goals. Proposed Business Gold Gym Franchise Objective and Description As a fitness franchise of Gold Gym, we will provide an innovative health care, wellness and fitness services. The modern premises will be equipped with the state of the art fitness equipments and provide facilities such as steam bathing and swimming. The place of the business will be chosen in the heart of the town to provide fitness services to local community, besides outbeating the competition. Market Outline Summary In recent times people are getting more and more health conscious as they are more educated about health hazards involved due to unhealthy lifestyles, establishing a franchise business like Gold Gyms is very profitable as well as it can serve the local customers who want to avoid buying very expensive health equipments in their houses. It can in contributing to the society as healthy lifestyle would ensure less unwell people. As per a recently conducted market survey and the report by the Fitness Industry Association (FIA) and accumulated by leisure fitness market analysts, the UKs fitness and wellness business is a 4 billion GBP revenue industry and is seeing the fastest growth of its 20 year history with many more members eager to avail such services facilities than ever before. The comprehensive audit and the market intelligence report published by FIA covers national overviews of both the public and private sectors. Currently, 15 % of the total UKs population are members of a health club or government-owned fitness services and there is an untapped market potential of around 60% and its growing stably at 3 to 4 per cent an year. Besides this, the increased obesity risk levels are compelling large number of people approach fitness and wellness centres. (Fitness: freebie fitness, 2009) These factors clearly indicate that starting a fitness and wellness club or gym will yield a lucrative revenue and guaranteed profits. However, starting a gym franchise is a better idea rather than starting a own gym because of the following factors: Starting a own gym is very expensive and requires minimum of a million pounds investments because of increased equipment costs and the soaring rates of premises leasing. Building own brand (rather than running a franchise) requires higher upfront investment for marketting and brand building efforts that eventually impacts the customer acquisition rate. Employee training and management orientation is easy in a franchise. Investing in a franchise business is usually safer than venturing into a completely new startup due to proven business strategies. Business Model The primary source of revenue of the proposed business will be earned from the various types of memberships offered to the customers. Ideally the member ships will be offered at a predetermined price which would include certain benefits and services that the customer can avail. As the benefits increase the price of the membership would also increase. In the initial stages of the business, the proposed fitness franchise will earn revenues in the following streams: Membership Types 1. Basic memberships (without trainers) : Pricing will be between  £15 to  £25 and will vary time to time because of special promotional offers. Initially, it is proposed to set at  £15 per month. This would provide accesses to very basic facilities and services, ideally to attract the lower income group of people. 2. Gold memberships (with special guidance from trainers): This special membership pricing will be set between  £25 to  £45 because of seasonal-special offers and initially will be set at  £25 per month. This would include more number of facilities and services, more suitable for customers with a higher disposable income. Apart from the above mentioned standard monthly memberships, we will offer weekly and Pay as you go memberships as well which will target people looking for flexible paying options. Membership Duration Membership pricing will be offered attractive based on the following durations: 1. Monthly membership the payments would be taken on monthly basis 2. Weekly membership this will work on week on week basis 3. Pay and Use membership would be a prepaid service Target Customers Customers of varied types including individuals, groups and businesses will be targeted to acquire strong customer base. It is listed as below: 1. Individuals 2. Family group memberships will be offered at reduced fee pricing. 3. Corporate memberships will be offered at reduced pricing. The proposed membership fee structures and the revenue projections have been described in the Financials and Projections section in the later part of the text below. Competitive Advantage The proposed fitness business centre will offer variety of advantages to outbeat the competition in the market. We will provide special memberships for people undergoing obesity treatment and special price caps to attract different age groups such as 35 to 49 and 28 to 34. Moreover, the proposed fitness centre will be in the heart of each town and within reachable distance from the nearby health services. Gym equipments in the facility will be made up of state of the art technology and will have electronic sensors and displays to accurately measure and monitor physical and health parameters. (More details of the equipments have been described in the Equipments Provision section). Multiple number of steam bath facilities and swimming pool facilities will be provided. Free car parking facility will be provided for limited number of hours. Competition In UK, at present, there are very few (less than 3) fitness chains are available in most places, apart from public facilities and many towns are yet to have a gym with sophisticated equipments and services delivery. Therefore, the competition for Golds Gym franchise is moderate and we have a clearly defined business model and strategy to outbeat the competition. Premises and Equipment The proposed gym premises will house various fitness and wellness facilities. There are mainly two different types of equipments which will be available in the proposed gym, firstly free weights and secondly high-tech machines. Free weights are a simple form of bodybuilding equipment with no real use of technology. They are generally cheaper and more easily available. They consist normally of things like barbells, dumbbells, bars, weight plates etc.   In the proposed gym, we will facilitate and provide the following equipments: The Barbell Which is a long iron bar that is around 4 and 7 feet long on which multiple weight plates can be placed as per the required weight. Weight Plates Weight plates mostly range from 500 gms to 75 kgs. They are usually made of iron as it is a heavy metal. Dum-bells A dumbbell is a shorter form of a barbell, generally 10 15 inches in length. Dumbbell exercises are performed with a dumbbell in each hand. Tricep Bar An oval shaped long bar which has 2 parallel placements for the hand. Although it is commonly called as a tricep bar, one can use it to workout other different parts of the body besides the triceps. EZ Curl Bar It is ideally designed for building the biceps triceps. It is much shorter then a barbell and has angled placements for the hands. It is very useful for building ones muscles from a variety of angles and for reducing the levels of stress (caused by weight) which a straight barbell normally can place on ones wrists. Benches This most common piece of equipment which is seen in every gym. There are mainly 3 different types of benches that are popular flat one, an inclined, and decline. Some high-tech benches are adjustable. Some bespoke benches have the facility of racks on one end which hold a barbell, while some benches dont have any such racks. The Arm-Blaster It is a 2 foot in length and 6 inch in width, very flat, curvy metal bar. It has a strap that goes from back of ones neck to grasp the metal bar is flat from corner to corner of your mid section. It works a lot like a preacher bench by eradicating any body momentum and allows the person using it to isolate the biceps. Stability Ball (Swiss Ball) All exercises that one would ideally do on a bench can also be done on the stability ball. The trainee can do a variety of exercises like bench press, shoulder press, dumbbell flies, lateral raises, pullovers, reverse crunches, so on and so forth. This is one of the best piece of equipment and is very popular with fitness conscious people. Abdominal Bench Is simply just a decline bench that is used for doing exercises that focus on the abdomen. It has rollers that a person can hook their feet into so that the person does not slide off the bench. Chin Up/pull up Bar The chin up or also known as a pull up bar is a iron bar that is either bolted on to a wall or any part of any exercise machine. Pull ups are good for working out the upper back, biceps, and forearms. Dip/Push ups Bars This is a set of two similar parallel bars. Dips is the best exercise for working the upper chest, shoulders, biceps and triceps. Leg Press Machine Most people believe that squats are the best overall exercise to build up the leg muscles. Most of the press machines are set on a 45 degree angle which provides excellent movement of legs. With the leg press the trainee can safely lift weights without having to worry about sliding or falling over. It gives less stress on the lower back which can help people with back problems and knees then squats. The Hack-Squat Machine This is a innovative variation of the traditional and popular barbell squat that is commonly used. This is excellent and very useful for developing the outer muscles of the thighs and for toning up. Leg Extension Machine This machine is ideally suitable for isolating the quadriceps muscles and focusing on leg muscles. Most trainees find this exercise useful for pre-exhausting their quadriceps or for warming up the knee joints (which are normally tight) before proceeding to do squats or leg press exercises. Calf Machines There are mainly 2 different types of calf machines, one is the standing calf raise and second is the seated calf raise. The former raise focuses the upper calf muscles (gastrocnemius) while the later is used to work out the lower calf muscles (soleus). Leg Curl Machine This machine is ideal hamstring exercises which is very popular with athletes. Some gyms nowadays may have a leg extension and leg curl machine built in together into one machine, to maximise utilisation of space Financials: Capital Funds and Budget Plan The capital investment and operational costs of the proposed business is as given below: (1) Short term part-investment: Angel investment of  £25,000 towards franchise fee. This includes employee(includes training and management staff) training and management orientation. Brochures, documents and other books and manuals such as fitness and wellness guides, marketing materials such as standard pamphlets. (2) Short term part-investment: Bank loan of  £30,000 towards premises rental and day to day maintenance for the first 12 months. (3) Short term: Angel investment of  £10,000 towards marketing and promotional expenses. (3) Short term: Bank loan of  £30,000 towards staff costs for first 12 months. Therefore, the capital cost of the business upon starting is  £95,000. This is raised as a combined collective-capital as described above in parts of Angel Investment of  £25,000 and  £10,000 in addition to the  £30,000 of bank loan. Financials: Cash flow and Forecast (Projections) The cash flow for day to day operations for the initial twelve months will be incurred from the capital investment as explained in the above section. As per the projections explained below, the break even point (of  £95,000) is expected to cross in the month of nine from the starting day of the business. Upon achieving the break even the excessive funds (as in the figures below) will be used partly for the operational cost and the rest will be accumulated as retained profits, which is estimated to be approximately  £25,000 (after achieving break even). The proposed membership fee will be between  £5 and  £49 for various services. The average monthly membership fee is proposed to be  £15 to ensure competitive advantage over other fitness centres. As a conservative estimate, the membership is expected to grow at 140% in the initial stages at averagely 25 new members a day. Therefore, the projected earnings over the period of initial 9 months ( £15x £25x £9) is around  £101,250 and the breakeven will be achieved in 7th month of starting the business. In a modern estimate (if promoted through freely available internet and ecommerce services), membership base is expected to grow at 265% in the initial stages and break even can be achieved quickly and steady flow of revenue can be ensured. Financials: Future Expansion Plans The long term investment capital funds of  £450,000 will be raised as mentioned below, to grow the business in steady pace for adding more number of gym equipments with advanced features. More facilities including 247 access to the gym will be offered: The long term investment funds will be raised as given below, (1). Listing the business in AIM-Cash shell list in association with external fund raising companies (Projected to raise around  £200,000). (2). Additional capital will be raised through low end venture capital firms to raise the capital of around  £225,000. The total of  £450,000 will be raised as explained above for expanding and ensuring the organic growth of the business. Marketing and Promotions Strategy In the total of  £10,000 allocated marketing budget the advertisement campaigns within the proposed budget will be carried out in co-operation with the parent Gold Gym entity with and estimated cost of  £3400. The printed pamphlets will be circulated to local community with special-seasonal offers as well as special membership offers. Low cost advertisements will be published for the budget of  £2500 in local community news magazines. Advertisement displays will be considered in the second phase of the business upon reaching breakeven point. Conclusion Fitness and wellness care is becoming essential part of life style. With fast life styles, stress full working conditions, growing competitions and unhealthy eating habits, many people have realised the importance of fitness and health to lead a quality life. More and more people are now keen to improve their fitness levels, some for feel good about themselves, some to look better and feel confident, and some to reduce mental stress levels. The brand of the Gold Gym is a proven and time tested that could result in increased customer base. Over the time gold gym has seen growth and succeeded in providing excellent fitness and health services. The brand name backed by the reputation makes gold gym franchise a low risk business model. In a traditional estimate, the proposed Gold Gym franchise is expected to cross break even in around 7 months and yield steady profits from 8th month onwards. Further to the 8th mark growth opportunities can emerge with market conditions improving disposab le income of individuals getting back to normal levels. After carefull evaluating all financial aspects and growth prospects we can conclude starting the Gold Gym franchise will be a lucrative and profitable business.

Progress and Innocence in One Hundred Year of Solitude Essay -- One Hu

Progress and Innocence in One Hundred Year of Solitude   Ã‚   One Hundred Year of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia-Marquez projects itself among the most famous and ambitious works in the history of literature. Epic in scope,  Marquez weaves autobiography, allegory and historical allusion to create a surprisingly coherent story line about his forebears, his descendants and ours. It has been said that there are only about 18 or so themes that describe the human condition. This quote was made in reference to Shakespeare, and posited that all of the books and movies that we digest and assimilate can be shown to have their roots in these canonical themes. In Cien Anos, Marquez addresses several of these themes in the subtle and interlocking ways that they deserve. This paper will concentrate on two interrelated themes: progress and innocence. In its exploration of these concerns, this novel provides no less than a rendering of the trajectory of human evolution. Loss of innocence is a time-worn theme in the literature of every culture. It traditionally takes the form of some type of epiphany visited upon an unsophisticated character as she grows up and encounters the larger world. The focus of this theme is normally personal, in the point of view of an individual, or the omnipotent third person account of the reaction of an individual. While this aspect can be found in the novel, it additionally explores the loss of innocence of a family, people or race, called estirpe in the original edition. In the Western sensibility, the march of progress is normally deemed positive and inevitable. In recent Western history, from the Middle Ages forward, successive improvements in the spread of knowledge, dissemination of culture, and the av... ...s of Solitude." In McGuirk and Cardwell, 65-79. Griffin, Clive. "The Humour of One Hundred Years of Solitude." In McGuirk and Cardwell, 81-94. James, Regina. Gabriel Garcia Marquez: Revolutions in Wonderland. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1981. McGuirk, Bernard and Richard Cardwell, edd. Gabriel Garcia Marquez: New Readings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987). Martin, Gerald. "On 'magical' and social realism in Garcia Marquez." In McGuirk and Cardwell, 95-116. Williams, Raymond L. Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Boston: Twayne, 1984. Williamson, Edwin. "Magical Realism and the Theme of Incest in One Hundred Years of Solitude." In McGuirk and Cardwell. 45-63. Wood, Michael. "Review of One Hundred Years of Solitude." In Critical Essays on Gabriel Garcia Marquez. McMurray, George R., ed. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1987.      

She Stoops to Conquer- Male Characters

‘Through a close analysis of the presentation of at least two of the plays male characters, show how Goldsmith presents attitudes towards women in the play’ Oliver Goldsmith has cleverly composed an exceptionally successful comedic play, belonging to the Pastoral Genre, comprising of many key themes and ideas including that of the attitudes of males toward females, the social divide between the lower and upper class and the idea of progress and tradition.Through the numerous linguistic and dramatic devices including dramatic incitement and comedic language, Goldsmith is able to portray the attitudes displayed by the male characters such as Mr Hardcastle, Charles Marlow and George Hastings towards women within the play. Firstly, the fictitious Mr Hardcastle shows varying attitudes towards women in the play. We initially see a very traditional and prude attitude towards his daughter, Kate Hardcastle.Goldsmith implies that Mr Hardcastle has a very traditional, typically pas toral view towards women in the sense that they should be the pinnacle of youth and beauty, but also very pure and simple, all attributes which relate back to the pastoral. This is shown when Mr Hardcastle encourages Kate to dress in what he believes to be appropriate- ‘Blessings on my pretty innocence! Drest out as usual, my Kate. Goodness! What quantity of superfluous silk has thou got about thee, girl! In this sense, we see Mr Hardcastle appear very traditional and extremely authoritative over Kate, suggesting a strict attitude. Mr Hardcastle appears to believe that his orders should be followed by the women, as he has power over them once again implying that women are innocent, pure and a reflection of Eve, revealing key elements to the pastoral. Although within the Exposition stage of the play, we see Kate abide by her fathers wishes- ‘in the evening, I put on my house-wife’s dress to please you’, Mr Hardcastle displays an alternative attitude over wom en, implying he is very respectful and caring.This is shown when he informs Kate- ‘If he be what he has shewn himself, I’m determined he shall never have my consent’, suggesting that although Mr Hardcastle upholds extremely traditional values, he is willing to put them aside to ensure the happiness of his daughter, displaying a more modernised, protective attitude towards women. Goldsmith is able to show attitudes towards women through the character of Charles Marlow. In the Complication stage of the play, Goldsmith introduces ‘Comedy of Manners’, which explores codes of behaviour in sections of upper and middle class to display Marlow’s conflicting attitudes towards women.As we see Kate transform and disguise into a lower class barmaid, the audience are equally surprised to see the change in Marlow’s behaviour and attitude as he goes from being a nervous, ‘bumbling fool’, to an over confident, boastful man, who is certainl y not shy around women of a lower class, often treating them with an air of great disrespect, as though they are merely a possession to him- ‘I vow, child, you are vastly handsome’.Marlow appears to have a differing attitude depending on the class in which women belong. As he greets Kate as someone who belongs to the upper class, he is respectful and has a gentlemanly manner, referring to her as ‘Madam’. Through this we see Marlow appear to be very insecure and intimidated, suggesting that he has an enormous sense of inferiority when it comes to upper class women.Despite this, Marlow displays a change in attitude towards the female character of Kate when she disguises herself as a barmaid, suggesting he views women as being merely a possession for men to do what they wish- ‘If you keep me at this distance, how is it possible you and I can ever be acquainted’. Through this characterisation, Goldsmith presents ‘class conflict’, maske d with an element of comedy and farce to reveal Marlow’s view upon women. Finally, Goldsmith presents a very traditional view upon women through the characterisation of George Hastings.From the exposition of the play, we learn that Hastings is deeply in love with Miss Constance Neville, whom he is desperate to marry. Hastings appears to be attracted to Constance initially because of her undoubtable beauty and youth, purity and innocence, which are all aspect of pastoral. As Constance informs Hastings that she cannot marry him until she has claimed her jewels, we see that Hastings wants to be the one to provide for her, suggesting a traditional and protective attitude, as he states materialistic goods are not needed- ‘Perish all the baubles!Your person is all I desire’. Goldsmith presents a romantic, optimistic attitude over women and marriage in the view of Hastings. Despite this, we also learn that Hastings views women as something with which he can relieve his teasing and flirtatious nature, which is shown when he is seen complimenting Mrs Hardcastle with sarcasm- ‘extremely elegant and degagee, upon my word, Madam’.With the use of ‘Parody’, Hastings implies that although he upholds traditional values, he views women to be gullible creatures, whom he can mock and tease, although in a light hearted and mischievous, comedic sense. Overall, through the use of dramatic incitement, characterisation and various types of comedy including Parody, Farce and Comedy of Manners, Goldsmith has cleverly presented the typical attitude males had over women at the time in which the play was written.All of the male characters within the play share similar attitudes in the sense that they have power and status over the women within the play, as they are typically viewed as being innocent and pure in a pastoral sense, however in some ways the audience will see that this is beginning to change as women’s roles are evolving. At times women appear to be more powerful than the men within the play, such as how Kate is able to deceive and trick Marlow into believing she was a barmaid. Goldsmith has presented a traditional, yet respectful attitude towards women through the play in its entirety.

A Uniting Theme Of The Strangers That Came To Town, A...

Sacrifice- A Uniting Theme Of The Strangers That Came To Town, A Doll s House and A Lesson Before Dying All of the books that we have read this summer have in common stories where characters are forced to make sacrifices. This is first seen in The Strangers That Came To Town by Ambrose Flack. The Duvitch family sacrifice everything to provide for their family. Andy and Tom endure harsh conditions while fishing to repay Mr. Duvitch for the fish they poisoned. In the play A Doll s House by Henrik Ibsen, Nora sacrifices her security and commits fraud to help Torvald recover from his sickness. In the book A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J Gaines, Jefferson becomes a man and acts with more class than the racists in the town, turning his†¦show more content†¦The boys (Andy and Tom) have to suffer and endure very harsh conditions, hot summer weather, endless hordes of mosquitoes, and hours and hours without sleep to repay the Duvitch family for the 61 fish they poisoned out of spite.The narrator’s father, who was rich and educated. Because of Andy’s father’s high social status, he was respected and seen as a leader by fellow neighbors. This is why Andy’s family was able to befriend the Duvitch family without losing social status/ face. 2: A Lesson Before Dying- by Ernest J Gaines A few of the symbols in the book A Lesson Before Dying, are Jefferson himself, fire and warmth, and wood. The character of Jefferson is used to represent a Christ-like figure, who sacrifices himself for the good of the world. Once Jefferson’s execution date is set, Jefferson decides to sacrifice his personal fight to survive, and instead focus his last moments of time into becoming a man and making his community have a positive image. Jefferson succeeds in this, as the black community respects him, as well as some of the people in the white community. The second symbol of fire and warmth represents Grant Wiggins ‘warming up’ to Jefferson and the idea of helping him in his effort to become a man. The third symbol in A Lesson Before Dying is wood. This symbol represents the process of whittling an ugly log into a fine object. Imagine Jefferson as the log and Grant as the woodcarver. Through the events in the story, with the help of Grant,