The success of Woodland Fitness Center is a prime example of how you can reach the goal of owning a successful business, even if you experience exceptionally challenging times in the beginning. The owners of Woodland Fitness achieved this goal by guiding their gym through the COVID pandemic and regaining profitability a short period later.
Located in Woodland Park, Colorado, Woodland Fitness Center is thriving again, thanks to the resilience and resourcefulness of owners Ryan & Ryan Baade. It is a 24/7 community-oriented gym that offers a wide range of free weights, resistance machines, exercise classes, personal training, and childcare. Although Woodland Park has only about 8,000 residents, this gym only has one other competing gym in the area.
Ryan and his wife (also named Ryan) were members of Woodland Fitness Center for six years before they bought it from the original owners at the end of 2018. Since they thrive in an exercise and fitness environment, the Baades enthusiastically worked toward improving the gym by adding all new equipment, remodeling, and incentivizing the staff.
Situation
The first year of owning Woodland Fitness went well. Then, COVID hit, and the government ordered all gyms to shut down. Ryan commented,” We did our best to reassure everybody that we will be here. But our members started canceling memberships. It was tough.” During the COVID lockdown, Woodland lost 392 members. “That will always be my favorite number,” Ryan added.
The Baades got some help from PPP loans, but loan amounts were meager because the gym had a lot of part-time employees. Although the gym managed to survive the pandemic, the recovery was rugged. They had very little working capital to keep operations, salaries, and marketing going until Woodland Fitness’s membership numbers returned to a profitable level.
Solution
By chance, Ryan was listening to a podcast about the pros and cons of various business financing options. At one point, Ryan remembers an announcer saying, “There’s a great company named Zinch that helps small businesses secure funding.”
Ryan decided to give Zinch a call. “They asked for a few prior months’ financial statements. And within 72 hours, I got approved for a merchant cash advance of $45,000. We’ve also been able to return and get more financing if needed. With the working capital from Zinch, we made the capital improvements to show people that we are viable again,” Ryan commented.
Ryan also found the merchant cash advance (MCA) payback structure very easy and flexible. The electronic drawings from a percentage of Woodland’s credit card sales helped Ryan effortlessly track payoff amounts. So, there’s no strict repayment deadline or a penalty when paying down balances early.
Results
With Zinch’s help, Woodland Fitness revenue and other financial indicators elevated to pre-pandemic levels in 2022. Membership numbers have completely rebounded from all-time lows. “We’re feeling great about it,” Ryan commented.
He also stresses that he would highly recommend Zinch to other business owners because there were no hoops to jump through. “I just send an email requesting an increase in our credit line. They quickly review the numbers, okay it, and wire the money into my account. And we keep going,” Ryan adds.
