This article from Aspenspring Business Loans in Durango, Colorado answers how gyms and fitness studios pay for racks, cardio machines and flooring: fitness equipment leasing, loans for gym equipment, bank loans for a gym business, funding a new studio and small business loans for gyms, with an invented worked split between leasing and owning.
Fitness Equipment Leasing or an Equipment Loan: The Direct Answer
Lease what you will replace, finance what you will keep. Strength racks, plates, benches and rubber flooring last for years and hold their usefulness, so owning them through an equipment loan builds value in the business. Treadmills, bikes, rowers and connected cardio machines date sooner and are replaced as models change, which is where a lease that ends with a return or an upgrade can earn its cost.
La Plata County, CO counted 11 fitness and recreational sports centers with paid employees in 2023 (County Business Patterns 2023) and Nonemployer Statistics counted 60 businesses without paid employees in the broader other amusement and recreation group (NAICS 7139) for 2024 (Nonemployer Statistics 2024). Only 3 of the 11 employer gyms had fewer than five employees (County Business Patterns 2023). Whatever the size, the same rule applies.
Loans for Gym Equipment: A Worked Split Between Owning and Leasing
Illustration only, invented figures: a new studio needs $24,000 of racks, plates and dumbbells, $38,000 of cardio machines and $11,000 of flooring, $73,000 in all. It finances the racks and flooring, $35,000, with an equipment loan over 60 months at an invented 9.5%: about $735 a month (our arithmetic). It leases the cardio machines at $1,020 a month for 36 months with a $3,800 purchase option, $40,520 in total if bought out (our arithmetic).
The studio then sets the two invented payments, $1,755 a month together (our arithmetic), against its membership revenue. At 260 members paying $65 a month, dues bring in $16,900 a month (our arithmetic), so the equipment takes about 10% of dues. Whether that leaves room for rent, payroll and the owner's pay is the studio's own calculation, and the one a funding partner checks.
Bank Loan for a Gym Business Versus Specialty Equipment Funders
Banks lend to studios with a few years of records, a solid credit file and, in some cases, collateral beyond the equipment. Equipment funders and the finance arms of fitness manufacturers lend against the machines themselves and can work with a shorter history. Specialty lenders read bank deposits and membership drafts. A merchant cash advance collects a share of card sales; it is not a loan, and studios billing dues by bank draft have less card volume for a provider to buy.
The equipment financing page has a fitness section and sets loans and leases side by side.
Business Loan for a New Gym: The First Months
Equipment is only part of opening. Rent, insurance, software, marketing and an instructor's pay come due before memberships build. Illustration only, invented figures: a studio expecting three months of costs at $9,000 a month before dues cover them faces a $27,000 gap (our arithmetic). That gap suits a working capital loan or a business line of credit rather than the equipment loan.
A partner reading a new studio's request has no membership history to read, so it reads the owner's credit, experience, savings put into the business, the lease, and pre-sale memberships if there are any.
Small Business Loan for a Gym: What a Partner Reads
- Membership count and dues by month, and cancellations.
- The lease and its remaining term.
- Bank statements and card or draft processing reports.
- The equipment quote, with installation listed separately.
- Existing loans, leases and advances.
- For a new studio: the owner's credit, experience and opening budget.
Arts, entertainment and recreation businesses without paid employees numbered 562 in La Plata County, CO for 2024 (Nonemployer Statistics 2024). A sole proprietor in that sector is read on the personal return and the business account.
Fitness Club Financing for an Expansion or a Second Room
An established studio adding a second room, a recovery area or a second location has records to show. A partner reads the first room's membership trend and asks how the new space will fill. Equipment for the new space is an equipment loan; the build-out is a term loan; the months before it fills are a line or working capital.
Other recreation businesses face the same split: the county counted 23 establishments in all other amusement and recreation with paid employees in 2023 (County Business Patterns 2023). The industries page has notes on them.
A Checklist Before Signing a Fitness Equipment Lease
- Find the end-of-term option: return, renew, or buy at a stated price or fair market value.
- Add every payment and the buyout to get the total cost.
- Check who pays for maintenance and repairs.
- Look for an early termination charge.
- Compare the total with an equipment loan for the same machines.
A request can start with a call to (970) 238-5207 or the online form.
By Aspenspring Business Loans · Updated
