Today we’d like to introduce you to Andre Hutson.
Hi Andre, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am in my 13th year as a gym owner. I purchased my first gym in 2012. I am a former professional basketball player who retired in 2009 after playing overseas in Italy, Greece, Russia, and Turkey for 9 years. While finishing up my basketball career, I began to work on different business plans as I knew I was an entrepreneur and wanted to own my own business someday. In 2009 I started my first Car wash and detail business with my brother in law which lasted about 5 years. This experience taught me a lot about running a business and what kind of work it takes to make one successful. Another opportunity came my way during this time of me owning the carwash where an acquaintance I knew was trying to retire and get out of the gym business so I was able to buy his existing gym in 2012. In 2015, I link up with some other links ended individuals and we partnered to open my second location. The location was designed and built by us so it had everything I initially wanted in a gym and has been great to run ever since. This second location opened at the end of 2016 and currently operates today. My first location was shut down in 2021 due to circumstances out of our control due to COVID.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I have had tons of ups and downs along the way. COVID being the most difficult time as we were fighting to stay open and keep people safe at the same time. We had around 2700 members between the 2 locations at the time and we took the time to call each person individually to see if they would be willing to keep there membership fees going even though were closed for an unspecified amount of time. We had earned a lot of trust with our membership during this time by going the extra mile to make direct contact and give people the option to stick with us or not. Ultimately we could not hang on to one of the locations due to financial struggles but getting through that period made us stronger with the newer location and it has worked out for us since.
Providing a facility and services for over 2000 members presents different challenges consistently but it is something I enjoy and it drives me to do my best everyday. It give me motivation each day to provide excellent service and quality facllities for my members.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We are a full service fitness facility offering a wide range of strength and cardio equipment. Our members have access to this as well as other amenities like our smoothie bar that also offers a wide variety of supplements. We have a state of the art locker room with showers and steam room. We offer child care services, personal training, group fitness classes, and have a dedicated 7500 sq ft performance space which provides specialized training for young athletes all the way up to professional athletes. We also have 4500 sq ft of space dedicated to Physical therapy which provided occupational therapy, rehab from surgeries, and other minor aliments individuals may deal with in their daily lives.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
There are a few books which helped me create a culture with my staff and clients
Atomic Habits
Gung Ho
Traction
Pricing:
- membership rates $40 – $50/month
- Personal Training $35 – $75/session
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.conquest-fitness.com
- Instagram: Conquestfit_
- Facebook: Conquest Fitness
- Twitter: Conquestfit_
