This is the first installment of a new series documenting the process of taking a business from idea to reality. I don’t know if it will be successful. It could be a complete failure, but documenting the process will do a few things for you, the reader/listener, and me, the creator/founder. It will show you what taking a business idea from zero to one looks like. You might find inspiration, gain clarity, or think differently about entrepreneurship. It will help me formulate thoughts, iron out principles, and hold myself accountable to them. Whether it goes well or not, I can look back on this series to understand why. This episode will cover some critical assumptions for the business, what the business will do, and why anyone should buy its services.
The idea is a home gym consulting, design, and construction business. I want to help people achieve their fitness goals by helping them build custom home gyms that suit their space, budget, and training goals. We will get to the methods later, but I want to start by sharing why I believe this idea is viable.
First, more people than ever are interested in taking care of their health and wellness. People have steadily become more interested in overall wellness for a long time, but the COVID-19 pandemic brought the topic to the center of everyone’s lives for an entire year (or more). I think everyone realized how fat and out of shape America is. Many changed their lifestyle, and those who didn’t still take an interest in what is considered “healthy.” Everyone knows and agrees that exercise, specifically cardio and weight training, is healthy. It’s just difficult for most to find the motivation, time, money, or all of the above to train. Home gyms take less motivation, time, and money to use– they make that healthy decision everyone knows to be correct easier to make.
Second, in the same way that wellness has become interesting, fitness has become a status symbol. Before you call me Captain Obvious, I don’t just mean that people are attracted to muscled and/or slender bodies. That has been and will continue to be a constant as long as humans remain human. However, the percentage of the population with fit bodies is low, and people have begun to understand why. Google search “images of people on beaches in the 1950s” and you will see a scene very different from that of 2025, mainly that there is significantly less body fat.
Fitness has become a status symbol because fit bodies are rarer than ever, and we now associate them with certain lifestyles. You might see a muscular guy and think, “Man, he must work out constantly.” A slender woman might make you think, “She must never eat carbs!” It is no wonder that food companies label junk food with labels like “low fat,” “sugar free,” and “keto.” The lifestyle is inseparable from the image. Home gyms are more than just a means to getting a fit body; they are a signal to the world that you engage in the lifestyle. By pure association, the lifestyle is just as much a status symbol as the muscles it creates— one that people desire.
Third, it’s easier than ever to know what to do in a gym, but going to the gym is still a problem. To test this assumption, I told Chat GPT, “I'm 5"10 and weigh about 170 lbs. My legs and arms are the smallest parts of my physique, but my torso is decently muscled. Write a training program to help me get bigger and fix the imbalances.” It spit out a weekly split, principles for training, five workouts, and diet advice in less than 30 seconds. Knowing what to do in the gym isn’t difficult anymore.
Going to the gym is still difficult, especially if you’re busy or live far away from one. In fact, research has shown that the biggest predictor of gym use is how far you live from one. Even if the gym is only five minutes away, getting your gear, turning on music or a podcast, traffic, parking, and walking in makes the commute more like 15 minutes. A thirty-minute round trip for a one-hour workout sounds like a pretty bad ratio, especially if you’re doing it with kids, work, family time, and other commitments. Home gyms solve 99% of the going to the gym issue by effectively eliminating commute time. You can also kiss waiting for equipment and a monthly membership goodbye. I believe those are benefits that people want.
As the name implies, critical assumptions are critical. If one or more of them are false, the business will either fail to lift off or crash and burn. I’ve done a ton of research and thinking on each critical assumption. I believe all of them are true, but acknowledge that bias could make me wrong. I may be blinded by excitement for the idea, biased research, and the information ecosystem I live in, all painting an incomplete picture of the world. The fact that I can’t find any direct competitors is exciting because it could mean less competition, but also worrisome– there could be no market for what I am providing. At the end of the day, there is only one way to find out.
Now for the nuts and bolts of how I will help people build custom home gyms that fit their space, budget, and training. The short answer is that it depends on the customer. I’ve devised three service levels to fit all spaces, budgets, and needs.
The top level is called “Executive Buildout.” At this level, the customer tells me their goals, shows me the space, and gives me a budget. I take all of that information, make a mockup, and then collaboratively tweak it to be exactly what the customer wants before ordering and installing the entire home gym. Executive buildouts are for the committed who want as seamless a process as possible.
Level two is called “Custom Design Plan.” It begins with conversations about goals, space, and budget. This level also includes a custom mockup, but rather than ordering and installing equipment, I will create a hyperlinked list of equipment (like an online shopping list) with some alternatives for each item. For budget-friendly home gyms, I will also source used equipment. Level two is great for well-thought-out, well-designed custom home gyms on a budget.
Level one is an entry-level “Virtual Gameplan.” Goals, space, and budget are used to make a basic equipment list. This is a super affordable way to nail down the basics of a home gym. Having a game plan is the first step in any project worth completing. It’s also important to know that these levels can blend into each other depending on the customer and situation.
My mission is clear through each level: Help people build custom home gyms based on their goals, space, and budget. Before I conclude, here are a few things worth noting about that mission. At the root of both this business idea and coaching CrossFit classes is the desire to help others get fit. I am not out to get rich nor con people into building gyms they won’t use. I want to help people find equipment and design spaces that help them look the way they want to look, feel the way they want to feel, and perform the way they want to perform. A big part of that is doing what the customer wants to make a space they enjoy being in.
So, in conclusion, why hire me to help you build a home gym rather than doing the research and work yourself? Because there is a storm of companies and sponsored influencers out there, all trying to sell you on the next best piece of equipment, training style, or lifestyle in general. It is chaotic, to say the least. I am the guy who will use my knowledge base to navigate that storm by connecting your goals to your space without breaking the bank. I love this stuff, I love working with people to make it happen, and I’m excited to get to work.
