What certifications do you need to open an all-star cheer gym?

Question

I have been an all-star cheerleader for 12 years and for 5 of those years I also coached. I truly enjoyed it and I'm thinking of making it a real career decision.

Recently, the only two all star cheerleading gyms in my area have closed giving me a huge opportunity to start my own business and roster at least 80-100 good gymnast and cheerleaders.

i could go back to my old friend and coach whos business crumbled and ask her for advice but it's a bit of a touchy subject and she's not exactly on speaking terms with any of her old cheer gals or employers and I just happen to be both.

I imagine you must be USASF certified. What else would I need?

Answer 1

The main thing you need is a cheer resume good enough that the bank will give you a loan to get you started.  Some business savvy or experience would also help.  You'll also want to check with insurance companies--they may give you lower rates if you have certain safety equipment or a coach that knows advanced first aid or something like that.

If two gyms just closed, you need to really watch your budget and pricing.  You need to find out why these places went out of business, and as you pointed out, it isn't always easy to ask the one person who really knows.  Were they in a location that was too expensive?  Were they charging too little to participate?  Was it too hard to get people in the door to become paying customers?  

From working at a sports center for fencing, I saw a few things that could help you out.  First, keep your expenses down.  When this place had under 100 members, it rented space a few nights a week from a private school gym.  Then it grew into an old dingy warehouse, where some paint and decoration was all that was added.  When the club finally grew to have over 500 members, then they moved into a nicer place, built a perfect floor, and took more pride in decorating and made other non-sport related improvements, like getting a real locker room.  If they would have tried to make a place that nice when they were starting out, there is no way they would have stayed in business.

Second, get the cheerleaders under contract.  You are going to teach them for a term of ____ months for ____ dollars.  If they don't show up, you still charge them.  Write the contract that locks them into this.  If you choose to let someone out of the contract later, you can, but if someone just decides to quit, you don't automatically lose money.  You can have an introductory program to get people in your door at a more pleasant price and with a much more limited (say eight-week) commitment, but you want your core members under contract.

Third, you need to pull people into your school.  You need to teach anyone who is interested to the level they want to learn.  Naturally, coaches want serious students, but the not-so-serious ones are the ones that pay the money that allows you to offer what you do the the serious ones.  You should offer programs through your local recreation and parks department, adult education, etc.--any place people go to take a random class is a place you want to be listed.  You need to keep getting new members all the time.  This is really the most important thing you do from a business standpoint.