Many trainers dream about starting their own gym one day, but have no experience in running a business. Building your own company is a challenge and there is a long list of gyms that fail within the first year of opening. Even if some people follow the “No Pain, No Gain” mantra, obstacles and challenges are behind every corner and hard work alone will not get the job done this time.
As regards a fitness activities business, the legal focus need be on effective compliance to industry standards, regulations and liabilities concerning the fitness business and everything required to operate at best practice.
Before considering to launch a gym business, it is first necessary to take appropriate legal steps to protect it. If in business with a partner, there should be signed a partnership agreement that includes the parties’ duties and terms and conditions of the investment. If the gym is a franchise, there is a whole area of liability under the franchisor/franchisee relationship. Nowadays, privacy is a sensitive matter and there are statutory requirements in order to protect personal information, especially the health data, of your clients. Whether experienced professional or just a rookie, sponsorship agreements with supply companies will need the assistance of a lawyer to review the contracts.
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In addition to legal advice, insurance is required to protect against claims and losses. Hopefully this insurance never becomes necessary, but it is a must for this business sector. Although possibly covered by a liability insurance policy, there are situations and circumstances where the gym will not be covered from liability insurance.
During a usual day at the gym, there are a number of unpleasant events that may occur. Therefore, for clients to have a nice experience and recommend the gym to their friends, measures must be taken in order to prevent such incidents from happening. Bad reputation can kill a business just as easily as a lawsuit.
Gyms are crowded with sweaty people. With raging hormones, people’s behaviour unfortunately becomes somewhat animalistic at times. Sexual harassment in locker rooms, or elsewhere, is therefore never far away, while there is also the usage and sale of illegal performance-enhancing drugs, an increasingly common occurrence. Regarding personal hygiene as well as that of equipment, measures to prevent the spread of disease must also be taken. A gym should be a place where people can feel safe and would gladly come to exercise and even relax by steaming out the stress of the working week, but it should also be lawsuit proof.
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On a more general point, there are some precautions required in any place where strangers meet, as property theft, physical assault and other misdemeanours will eventually occur.
Other areas of potential risk are emergency procedures, staff certification and compliance with the relevant laws and regulation. It is the gym’s responsibility to have an emergency plan in place, ensure staff is trained for administering first aid and to be in compliance with all the regulations, and fitness certification.
This is true for employees, contractors or those work independently for a gym facility. Injuries may happen to clients while working out in an establishment even under staff supervision. The easiest but not entirely effective way of protecting the business is to make sure all members sign waivers against claims of regular or ordinary negligence; it is worth noting that such waivers would not protect against gross negligence or reckless conduct. Other relevant issues include clients with physical limitations as a result of prior injuries or illness being injured further in a new way and/or failure to show a client how to use a new piece of equipment which results in injury. If found liable, the gym could be responsible for damages for the injury, lost earnings, and damage to personal property, among other kinds of compensation.
DISCLAIMER
This article is intended solely for informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Although the information in this article was obtained from reliable official sources, no guarantee is made with regard to its accuracy and completeness. For more information please visit dandreapartners.com or WeChat: dandreapartners
