This article from Laurelwick Lenders in Lake Havasu City, Arizona answers whether a gym or fitness studio should lease or finance its racks, cardio machines and flooring. It compares leasing companies and lenders, explains lease-to-own, sets out what a studio gathers before applying, and works a lease and a loan side by side with invented figures.
Gym Equipment Leasing Companies: What Studio Owners Compare
The short answer: finance what you will keep, lease what you will replace. Racks, plates, benches and rubber flooring last for years and hold little resale risk, so owning them through an equipment loan builds value. Treadmills, bikes and connected cardio machines age faster and get replaced as members expect newer models, which is where a lease can earn its cost.
Gym equipment leasing companies come in three types. Manufacturers and their dealers lease their own machines, sometimes with service bundled. Independent leasing companies lease mixed orders from several makers. Banks and equipment lenders offer loans rather than leases, and some offer both. Studio owners compare them on total payments, the end-of-term option, who pays for repairs and whether the lease can be ended early.
How Hard Is It to Get a Business Loan for a Gym? Notes for Gyms and Fitness Studios
A gym loan is reviewed like other business loans, with two records weighted more heavily: membership revenue and the lease on the space. Lenders read monthly draft revenue, cancellations against new sign-ups, and how many months remain on the building lease. A studio with a year or more of steady drafts and a long lease has more to show than a new one.
Local counts are small. County Business Patterns counted 16 fitness and recreational sports centers with paid employees in Mohave County, AZ in 2023, with 221 employees (County Business Patterns 2023); Nonemployer Statistics counted 85 businesses without paid employees in the broader amusement and recreation group that includes gyms (NAICS 7139) for 2024 (Nonemployer Statistics 2024). No source gives an approval rate for gyms, and a partner's decision rests on the studio's own records.
Gym Equipment Lease to Own Around Lake Havasu City, AZ: Uses and Trade-Offs
A lease-to-own arrangement, also called a capital lease or a lease with a purchase option, lets a studio use the equipment for the term and then buy it, often for a set amount. The trade-off is cost: the payments plus the buyout can total more than a loan for the same machines. Illustration only, invented figures: an $80,500 package of $26,000 in racks and plates, $41,000 in cardio machines and $13,500 in flooring, leased for 48 months at $1,780 with an $8,050 buyout, totals $93,490. Financed over 60 months at an invented annual rate of 9.5%, the same package totals about $101,439 (our arithmetic).
In this invented case the loan costs less in total but takes longer to pay off, and the lease leaves room to walk away from the cardio machines after four years. Around Lake Havasu City, AZ the choice turns on how long the studio plans to keep each machine.
How to Get Financing for a Gym: What Gyms and Fitness Studios Gather First
- Twelve months of membership billing reports, with cancellations by month.
- Business bank statements matching those months.
- The latest business tax return, and the owners' returns.
- The building lease, with its remaining term and renewal options.
- The equipment quote, listing each machine with model numbers.
- Any existing equipment leases or loans, with their payments.
Gyms and fitness studios that gather these first can phone (928) 437-8609 or use the online form with a clear figure. Illustration only, invented figures: a studio with 310 members paying $54 a month bills $16,740 a month (our arithmetic); a partner sets the equipment payment against that figure after cancellations and rent.
Loans for a Fitness Center, Explained for Strength and Yoga Studios
Loans for a fitness center cover more than machines. A strength or yoga studio opening a second room, adding showers or remodeling a lobby uses a term loan for the build-out, with the payment matched to how long the new space takes to fill. Working capital fits the months after an opening, when payroll for coaches runs ahead of new memberships; working capital loans cover that gap.
Fitness centers sit in the arts, entertainment and recreation sector, which had 54 employer establishments in Mohave County, AZ in 2023 (County Business Patterns 2023).
Gym Equipment Financing Companies: Questions From Studio Owners
- Does the quote include delivery, installation and assembly?
- Is a service plan included, and what does it cover?
- Is the end-of-term option a fixed buyout, fair market value, or a return?
- Can the agreement be ended early, and at what cost?
- Does the lender file a lien on just the equipment, or on all business assets?
Studio owners putting these questions to gym equipment financing companies get answers they can compare. Equipment financing has a section on fitness equipment, and the industries page includes a note on studios.
By Laurelwick Lenders · Updated
