OBJECTIVE: Two thirds of the country is overweight or obese. Obesity is the 2nd most preventable cause of disease (smoking being 1st) and yet people consistantly fail at their attempts to overcome it. It has now also become a major health risk to our children. Maine costs attributed to both overweight (BMI 25–29.9) and obesity (BMI greater than 30) in adults, medical expenses accounted for 5.6 percent of total Maine medical expenditures in 1998-2000 and $357 million. (from CDC We will create a membership-based, group exercise fitness facility that utilizes top licensed classes in the industry and classes unique to our organization, and to additionally have a pay-for-service Personal Training studio within the facility. By eliminating the standard fitness floor and cardio machine area, much of the overhead is bypassed. This will also put Ensemble Fitness Club out of competition with low cost competitors (Planet Fitness, Curves, Cuts, etc) because they are all about self service and at EFC no one works out alone. Everyone is either in a class or with a Personal Trainer. Currently, there are no quality group exercise only facilities and Personal Training studios are rarely, if ever, paired with group exercise. The success of this club will open up the opportunity for other clubs and possible club licensure. MISSION: Using two of the greatest tools for fitness club member retention, Group Exercise and Personal Training, we seek to engage and motivate individuals to start and stick with their fitness plan. By also supplying them with professional and social support, we will help them to continue the process throughout their lives. KEYS TO SUCCESS: Keys to success for the company will include: 1. Optimum location (currently negotiating for one location) 2. Offering top quality classes, personal training, and customer service. 3. Maintaining a safe, clean, comfortable environment 4. Offering ways to connect with others including a lounge with wi-fi, blog website, and social events. 5. Offering child care. 6. Competitive pricing. 7. Hiring and keeping top quality professionals 8. Being predominately a pay-for-teaching/performance business, expenses can kept lower during building phase 9. Having a strong web presence and marketing via Social Media/Web 2.0 COMPANY SUMMARY: Our company is a membership-based, group exercise fitness facility that utilizes top licensed classes in the industry (Body Training Systems) and classes unique to our organization. It will also create a separate Personal Training studio within as a secondary source of revenue. Our business is a facility. This is a start up business. The first location will be in Portland, ME. COMPANY OWNERSHIP: The company is a privately owned C corporation. Ensemble Fitness, Inc. SERVICE SUMMARY: Initial focus will be on creating a membership-based, group exercise facility and Personal Training. Classes will consist of various BTS (Body Training Systems) licensed programs (such as Group Power and Group Step), other branded classes (possibly Zumba and/or Silver Sneakers), and classes that are unique to our club. These classes will be geared to meet the needs of most of the population from the exercise enthusiast to seniors, young children to teens. Child care will be offered as an additional service at a nominal fee. Specialty fee-based classes may also be offered. Other future offerings would include the addition of group cycling classes. The facility can also rent out the space(s) for various functions as additional income. THE BUILDING PLAN: The desired building is 15,000-25,000 ft². It would include 2 large class studios, a large personal training studio, a group cycle studio, full locker rooms, child care room, a Service Counter Desk, 3 small offices, and a large lounge area for member-to-member and member-to-staff social connecting. MARKET ANALYSIS SUMMARY: While we will be focusing on attaining membership through the general population within the community, we will also be working to create relationships with local businesses, schools, and community groups. We will offer special corporate/group rates for membership. The greatest retention tools in the health club industry are group exercise and personal training. We are choosing to bypass the failing service-yourself equipment based fitness model and focusing on those services that promote long-term member success. COMPETITION: There are several major health clubs and personal training studios in the Portland area. We are competing with group exercise programs offered at fitness clubs. None of these clubs have any significant group exercise programs (40+ classes/week). By focusing on the social connections of group exercise, eliminating the independent user, we bypass much of target market of other clubs. Bay Club - 16 yoga classes, 9 cycling, 13 other = 38 classes (full service club) Planet Fitness - No classes, Low Cost Competitor Racket and Fitness Center - 2 Zumba classes, (Racket club, some fitness) Lifestyle Fitness Center - 4 cycling, 23 other = 27 classes (full service club) Curves - No classes, Low Cost Competitor Snap Fitness - No classes, Low Cost Competitor Cumberland County YMCA - 5 cycling, 29 other = 34 classes (full service club) SOCIAL SERVICE: One service is that we will offer free of charge. youth afterschool programming. With the epidemic of youth obesity, it would be our part of the solution. It would be a valuable service to the youth, build community good will, and offer press opportunities. GREEN BUILDING AND PRODUCTS: Green initiatives in the building will include bamboo flooring in the Group Exercise studios and recycled rubber flooring in the Personal Training studio and Group Cycling studio. Group Cycling bicycles will be fitted with generators to feed back electricity into the system. Recycling, using environmentally friendly cleaning supplies, as much natural lighting as possible, lights on motion sensors, etc. will also be in place. MARKETING PLAN: Predominately Social Media marketing, corporate/business/ organization promotions, and direct marketing. STRENGTHS: The basis of this club is the social connection. This will be the cornerstone of our marketing though word of mouth and by promoting connection via company blog and social media venues such as blogs (http://ensemblefitness.blogspot.com/ ), Twitter (http://twitter.com/ensemblefitness) as well as others. Owners are experienced instructors/speakers/presenters and connectors that will be able to go into the community, educate, and promote to groups, companies, organizations, schools, etc. *A note on the Health Club Industry and recession: while clubs have been effected by the current economic climate, it was not a dramatic it (Forbes called health clubs one of the recession resistant businesses) and is already back to 2008 revenues. Taking control of one’s health and managing stress are two of the possible reasons.