Couple works out plan to profit from Gyrotonic exercise craze

NY Daily News, June 4, 2007
by Phyllis Furman

Exercise crazes come and go like fad diets, and like weight-loss methods, some will work if you stick to them.

Figuring out which workout plan is The Next Big Thing can be a business opportunity, too. And Jennifer Daly is betting on an exercise regimen called Gyrotonic.

A low-impact workout that uses circular, swimming-like motions to build strength and flexibility, Gyrotonic may be under the radar for now.

"Most people have no idea what Gyrotonic is," said Daly, who just opened Kinespirit, a Gyrotonic studio on E. 23rd St. in Manhattan.

But Daly, 29, and her husband and business partner, 33-year-old Christopher Daly, have invested tens of thousands of dollars in what they believe will be a big fitness wave.

Initially popular among actors and dancers, demand for Gyrotonic is growing.

Since 2002, the number of Gyrotonic studios worldwide has grown to 1,400, more than half of them in the U.S., up from 250 five years ago. Only instructors licensed by Gyrotonic International can offer the workout brand. The licensing course costs $2,500, and studios that want to offer the workout have to purchase their equipment from Gyrotonic International.

Celebs like Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow, Teri Hatcher and Kim Cattrall have been spotted stretching their limbs on their machines. Gyrotonic is "right on the cusp of exploding," insisted Jennifer Daly. "It's where Pilates was eight years ago."

The couple is already seeing some payoff. Since its launch last September, Kinespirit has attracted 200 customers, most of whom take private lessons with Jennifer Daly or an instructor at $75 an hour.

The couple expects to turn a first-year profit of $60,000 on $275,000 in sales. Even so, making it will be a stretch. On top of a saturated market these days, the fitness industry is attracting sophisticated entrepreneurs.

"It used to be just former personal trainers would open up health clubs. Now, it's more business people," said Pamela Kufahl, editor of Fitness Business Pro. "It will be harder to survive. You have to have a business plan."

Jennifer Daly, a dancer by training who got her bachelor's and master's degrees in dance education from New York University, said her decision to open a studio came after working on a freelance basis at local Gyrotonic studios.

About 60 fitness centers in the city offer Gyrotonic, but only a handful specialize in the fitness program, one of the best known being Studio Riverside on W. 85th St. in Manhattan.

"I thought Gyrotonic needed to be taken to the next level in terms of professionalism and public exposure," Jennifer Daly said recently inside her studio.

Petite, muscular, and graceful, by 10 a.m. that morning she had already worked with three clients. She took her first big business step in June 2005, quitting her full-time job as a dance teacher in the Lawrence, L.I., public schools.

Daly had a financial cushion - her husband's consulting business. But the couple needed money to get the business going. Their biggest expenses: $27,000 for specialized machines, and another $20,000 to build their studio, a spare Zenlike space with bamboo floors and candles.

They chose E. 23rd St. between Madison and Park avenues, near their home, because many clients also live nearby and there were no Gyrotonic studios in the area.

After investing $20,000 of their savings, they headed to JPMorgan Chase to ask for more. "I thought I would get anything I wanted because I had excellent credit," Jennifer Daly said.

They didn't get everything they wanted, but Chase did give them a $25,000 business loan and a $25,000 line of credit.

Their stratgey relies on a heavy marketing push. The couple spends more than a quarter of their business' $11,000 monthly budget on public relations and advertising. F

or now, Jennifer Daly is happy earning a small profit.

"It's modest; I'm okay with that," she said - but she has greater expectations. "We knew if we could get the word out, people would come."

Q & A
What would you do differently? "I would never take a contractor at his word. Their concept of time is bizarre. They say two weeks, they mean four weeks. You are paying rent for nothing."

What's been your biggest surprise? "How much work it is. It's like having a child - it's all consuming."

What's been your biggest challenge? "Finding the balance between professional and personal life."

Where do you want to be a year from now? "I want to be able to work less than seven days a week."

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