Buying a gym or fitness studio in Orlando and Central Florida
Orlando and Central Florida has 31 established gyms and fitness studios by our count: companies in business at least 15 years that still file with the state every year and aren't part of a larger group. Of those, 58% have been in business 20 years or more. Most will never be listed for sale, and many of their owners have never been asked.
What it takes to own one
Gyms and fitness studios in Orlando and Central Florida come in every size. Here's what owning one could look like at three levels, from a solid company to one of the leaders, with a small business loan covering most of the price.
- Earns about
- $114,000 a year
- Price about
- $272,000
- Your cash
- $38,000
- Could pay you
- up to $64,000 a year
- Earns about
- $390,000 a year
- Price about
- $936,000
- Your cash
- $131,000
- Could pay you
- up to $221,000 a year
- Earns about
- $465,000 a year
- Price about
- $1.1 million
- Your cash
- $156,000
- Could pay you
- up to $264,000 a year
Earnings are owner earnings: profit plus what the owner pays themselves, before loan payments and taxes. They and the prices are our estimates from public records, not the owners' figures, and we value companies like these at about 2.4 times a year's owner earnings. Your cash covers the down payment and closing costs, and what the business could pay you is what's left after the loan payments and the cushion lenders require. The more cash you bring, the further up you can go.
Age, size and location
Revenue is our estimate from public records, grouped into wide ranges.
| In business | Companies |
|---|---|
| Under 20 years | 13 |
| 20 to 29 years | 16 |
| 30 to 39 years | 2 |
| 40 years or more | 0 |
| Estimated yearly revenue | Companies |
|---|---|
| Under $1M | 12 |
| $1M to $2M | 1 |
| $2M to $4M | 5 |
| County | Companies |
|---|---|
| Orange | 16 |
| Seminole | 7 |
| Lake | 5 |
| Other counties | 3 |
| Town | Companies |
|---|---|
| Orlando | 8 |
| Winter Park | 7 |
What the best gyms and fitness studios have in common
- Steady membership with few monthly cancellations and a long average stay.
- A community: members who come often, refer friends and know the coaches by name. Members who rarely show up are the first to cancel.
- Instructors and trainers loyal to the studio, not just to their own clients.
- Prices that have held up without constant discounting, or January promotions that bring members who leave by spring.
- A class schedule that fills at several times of day, not just two peak hours.
- A lease with years left, at a rent the membership comfortably covers.
- Equipment in good condition, with no big replacement due.
- A manager who runs sales, scheduling and staff without the owner.
- Billing and membership software with clean, exportable data.
What to check before you buy
- Membership data from the billing system: active members, joins and cancellations by month for two years, and the average stay.
- Revenue by type: memberships, packs, personal training, retail.
- Prepaid memberships and packages: service you'll owe after closing for money the seller collected.
- FDACS registration, bond or exemption (a change of owner ends the five-year exemption), and consumer complaints.
- Trainers and instructors: employees or contractors, any agreements not to solicit members, and who the clients really belong to.
- The lease: its term, landlord consent to a sale, and any exclusive-use clause that bars a competing tenant.
- Equipment list, age, and whether it's owned or leased.
- Payment processor agreements and chargeback history (disputed card charges).
- Attendance data, if the check-in system records it. Members who stop coming are about to cancel.
Questions to ask the owner
- How many active members do you have, and how many cancel each month?
- How long do members usually stay?
- Who sells memberships and handles cancellations?
- Which coaches have the biggest followings, and how long have they been with you?
- Is the studio registered with FDACS, and are you bonded or exempt?
- How much have members paid ahead for months or sessions they haven't used yet?
- What's left on the lease, and what would the landlord need to approve a sale?
To learn what these companies do, which licenses they need and how ownership works, read our full guide to buying a gym or fitness studio in Florida.
Owning a company in Orlando and Central Florida
The local economy
This region covers Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Lake, Sumter and Marion counties: Orlando, Winter Park, Kissimmee, St. Cloud, Sanford, Clermont, Leesburg, Ocala and the large retirement communities of Sumter and Lake counties. Tourism is what the area is best known for, built on the theme parks, the hotels, the vacation rental homes around Kissimmee and the Orange County Convention Center. It's far from the only business. The University of Central Florida and the military simulation and training offices near it support a technology base, and health care is a major employer.
Marion County is horse country, with thoroughbred farms around Ocala, and it has added warehouses and distribution centers along Interstate 75. Retirees in Sumter and Lake create steady demand for medical practices, home care, home maintenance and auto services. The building trades, restaurants, and companies that serve hotels and rental homes do well across the region.
What's different about owning a company here
Central Florida is inland, so storm surge isn't the worry it is on the coasts. Hurricanes still bring wind damage and flooding, though: Hurricane Ian flooded neighborhoods in Orange, Seminole and Osceola counties in 2022. Ask whether the business or its customers were affected.
Tourism keeps demand steadier through the year than in markets that depend on winter residents, with busy stretches around school holidays. Hotels, parks and restaurants compete hard for workers, which pushes up wages for any company that hires hourly staff. New homes have spread fast in Osceola, south Lake and southeast Orange counties and around Ocala, so check whether a company's customers are in growing areas or older ones. Traffic on Interstate 4 limits how much ground a service company can cover in a day.