A rack and dumbbell quote is an equipment agreement, and the records behind it come from member billing. A second studio is priced as an equipment list, not lease work. A credit line covers a payroll that lands before dues drafts settle. Ellipticals and rowers cost more on the invented lease than on the loan. Buying a gym splits into equipment, member contracts, stock and working capital.
At a glance
- Fitness and recreational sports centers payroll, Cabarrus County, NC (CBP 2023)
$5.9 million for 301 employees
- Fitness and recreational sports centers with a ZIP 28081 address (ZBP 2023)
7 employer establishments
- Other amusement and recreation businesses without paid employees, Cabarrus County, NC (NES 2024, NAICS 7139)
99
- Payroll per employee, fitness centers, Cabarrus County, NC
about $19,718 (our arithmetic)
Rack and dumbbell quotes in hand: the records a Kannapolis, NC gym may bring to a lending partner
Illustration only, invented figures: four power racks at $2,940 apiece plus a $4,385 dumbbell set with its racks put the quote at $16,145. On a 48-month equipment financing agreement at 11.85% a year, each installment would be $423.97; the four years bring the total to $20,350.56, interest being $4,205.56.
The equipment is the plain part of the file, since a rack has a model number and a price. What a funding partner may want next is the gym's own record of members and money:
- Member billing reports by month, with new sign-ups and cancellations side by side
- The deposit statements where monthly dues drafts and card payments arrive
- The rack and dumbbell quote, with brand, model and delivery charge
- Any equipment agreement or lease the gym already pays on
Personal training income, class packs and retail drinks all show up in the same deposits, and none of them needs a separate form. They come up on the call when they matter.
A second studio for an operating Cabarrus County, NC gym: the equipment list, not the lease work
A second studio for a gym that already runs one is a growth step, not a new business, and it splits cleanly. The lease, the walls, the showers and the wiring belong to the landlord and the property side, outside this site. The equipment list is what a funding partner may finance.
Illustration only, invented figures: rowers, a cable crossover, kettlebell racks, a sound system and a front-desk tablet for the new room come to $31,700. Five years at 11.35% a year sets the payment at $694.78; by the last one the gym has paid $41,686.80, of which $9,986.80 is interest.
Costs that are not equipment, such as the deposit on the space and the trainers' hours before the new room fills, are a separate amount. A term loan can carry those on a fixed schedule next to the equipment agreement.
Membership draft timing and a credit line at a Kannapolis, NC fitness studio
Gyms that bill dues on the first of the month and pay staff every other Friday meet the same timing problem a few times a year: a payroll Friday lands before the month's drafts have settled into the account.
Illustration only, invented figures: the studio draws $6,820, one biweekly payroll, on its credit line and clears it nine days later when the drafts arrive. At 13.90% a year counted by the day, the interest comes to about $23.37.
Short gaps that repeat like this are what a business line of credit is for. It is a poor match for a payroll shortfall that lasts, because a line that never comes back down stops being a cushion.
Ellipticals and rowers near Kannapolis, NC: loan or lease?
Illustration only, invented figures: three ellipticals and two rowers quoted at $14,980. Bought with a 36-month loan at 11.95% a year, they cost $497.19 a month and $17,898.84 over the term ($2,918.84 of interest).
In this invented example, leased instead at $462.00 a month for 36 months, with a $1,498.00 buyout to keep them, the machines cost $18,130.00, which is $231.16 more than the loan even though each lease payment is $35.19 lower.
| Route | Each month | Total to own | Cost beyond the price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loan, 36 months at 11.95% | $497.19 | $17,898.84 | $2,918.84 |
| Lease, 36 months plus buyout | $462.00 | $18,130.00 | $3,150.00 |
The lease can still be the better choice for a gym that plans to hand the machines back and take newer ones at the end, since it never pays the buyout in that case.
Buying an existing gym in Cabarrus County, NC: strength equipment, member contracts and what stays outside
Buying a gym that is already running is a business purchase, and a term loan can fund the business side of it. The building, or the lease on it, is not part of what Ivyvale arranges.
Illustration only, invented figures: an asking price of $128,500 breaks into $61,000 of strength and cardio equipment, $52,500 for the member contracts and the gym's name, $3,000 of retail stock and $12,000 of working capital for the first payrolls after the sale. Over 84 months at 10.80% a year, that amount would cost $2,186.74 monthly, $183,686.16 in all and $55,186.16 in interest.
A funding partner may want the seller's member reports and deposit statements, the equipment list and the purchase agreement. Two figures are the buyer's to check before signing: how many members stay after the sale, and how many cancel.
Fitness and recreational sports centers (NAICS 713940) in Cabarrus County, NC paid $5.9 million to 301 employees in 2023 (CBP), about $19,718 per employee by our arithmetic; the employee count includes part-time staff, so it is not a salary. With a ZIP 28081 address, the 2023 ZBP file has 7 such establishments. Nonemployer Statistics only reports the wider code, other amusement and recreation industries (NAICS 7139): 99 of those had no paid employees in the county in 2024.
Office-city figures are on the Kannapolis, NC page; other trades have their own entries on the industries page. Pilates reformers and recovery boots are worked through in a gym funding post.
By Ivyvale Capital Group ยท Updated