Start Your Own Gym

Consulting Services
FOR CLUBS (non-profit or for-profit)/ ADMINISTRATIVE CONSULTING SERVICES:
We offer consulting services on administrative matters for both non-profit and for-profit gymnastics clubs.
FEE STRUCTURE:
* Retainer fee of $250.00 (payable before Services rendered. This amount is deducted from hourly work done afterwards. The Retainer Fee is not payable for those who simply purchase the OPERATIONAL POLICIES Templates, or the PROGRAMS & ADMINISTRATIVE Forms Templates or the BY-LAWS Templates or the REPORT CARDS & LESSON PLANS & TESTING SHEETS Templates OR who hire our consultants for technical clinics or camps; It is only payable for individuals, clubs or federations that require Administrative Consulting services on an hourly basis).

* BUSINESS PLAN Template (Full template + pro-forma financial forecast): $ 300.00 (Incl. GST)
* OPERATIONAL POLICIES Templates (29 policies): $ 400.00 (incl. GST)
* REPORT CARDS & LESSON PLANS & TESTING SHEETS (For Parent-Tot; Pre-school; Recreational Badge programs Templates: $ 400.00 (incl. GST)
* PROGRAM & ADMINISTRATIVE Templates (Approx. 80 forms): $ 400.00 (Incl. GST)
* NON-PROFIT CLUB BY-LAWS Template (Full set): $ 400.00 (Incl. GST)
* Consulting work thereafter is $50.00/hour.
* Travel expenses (if required) at your cost.


FOR CLUBS or ASSOCIATIONS/FEDERATIONS (non-profit or for-profit)/ TECHNICAL CONSULTING SERVICES:
We offer coaching clinics and coaching services for training camps, staff professional development and other technical activities involving athletes and coaches of all levels.
FEE STRUCTURE:
* $50.00/hour
* Travel expenses (if required) at your cost.
********************************************

Services Description

PRIVATE "FOR-PROFIT" GYMNASTICS CLUB set-up
     More and more coaches are starting up their own private gyms. Although the proposition seems attractive at first, there are many pit-falls to avoid and many crucial steps to take in order to achieve this goal.

     The preparation of a well-structured and comprehensive Business Plan is essential. In fact, most businesses initially fail for lack of a good Business Plan or for lack of cash flow. Banks require a solid Business Plan if they are to lend you money. But where do you start ? Don't fall victim to the "I-wish-I-knew-then-what-I-know-now" syndrome !

     CHAMPIONS GYMNASTICS offers consulting services for any person or group wishing to create their own Business Plan and starting their own gym.

     Why "re-invent the wheel" ? There are definite "do's" and "don'ts" in the process. Mistakes and omissions can be very costly both in time and in energy. We can help you by providing you with a Business Plan Template, which you can adjust and customize to fit your own circumstances. We offer assistance on your Business Plan set-up and on everything that this entails (Marketing Plan, Cash Flow Projections, Pro-Forma financial projections, Demographics, Programs Set-up and Staffing). The development of your Business Plan is CRUCIAL to the success of your new business. Unless you do not require a bank loan of any kind, your Business Plan is the KEY to a successful start...

     You can contact Michel Arsenault at championsgymnastics@telus.net for more information on CHAMPIONS GYMNASTICS Consulting Services.


         Contact us at championsgymnastics@telus.net
********************************************

"NON-PROFIT" GYMNASTICS CLUB/ CONSULTING SERVICES
     One of the greatest challenges faced by non-profit gymnastics clubs is the issue of Corporate Stability (Board of Directors, Staff, Finances, Operational Policies, By-Laws). In the non-profit world, Boards of Directors change every few years, which makes continuity difficult to maintain.
     ""How much should you pay your staff ? How should your club's Accountability Framework be constructed ? What kind of Board should you have (Management or Governance) ? What should your operational policies be like ? How can you improve or develop your operational policies, your By-Laws ? ""

     Typically, non-profit gym clubs are volunteer/parent-run. Consequently, the leadership turn-over tends to be frequent. This presents specific challenges which can be (for the most part) alleviated by proper strategic management or governance. There are many other challenges faced by non-profit gym clubs and we can help!

     We have well over 25 years of experience in the non-profit gymnastics world. We offer Operational Policy Templates, By-Laws Template, Management Directives and Program Form Templates as well as many other solutions to your organization's challenges.

     These templates can be molded by your organization to suit your specific needs and programs. In collaboration with your Board of Directors (or it's representative), a CHAMPIONS GYMNASTICS Service Consultant can help you in stream-lining and improving your club's operations (strategic long-term and short-term).

     CHAMPIONS GYMNASTICS offers Consulting Services for any non-profit gymnastics club who wishes to improve on its current general operations, management or governance. Those services can help existing or new non-profit corporations in setting up or improving their By-Laws and Operational Policies.

Contact us at championsgymnastics@telus.net
********************************************

EDMONTON SUN NEWSPAPER ARTICLE

GYM DANDY CONCEPT FOR KIDS

GERRY PRINCE, EDMONTON SUN (February 1, 2004)

Michel Arsenault is looking to live the American Dream in Canada. After nine years at the Ortona Gymnastics Club, Arsenault and his wife, Valerie Oudin, figured it was time for a new challenge.

     Moreover, Arsenault and Oudin wanted to work for themselves. Almost two years removed from Ortona, Edmonton's only Olympic-calibre women's gymnastic coaches are doing precisely that at Champions Gymnastics.

THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX
     By Canadian standards, where not-for-profit gymnastics clubs are the rule rather than the exception, the decision to open Champions could be regarded as "thinking outside the box".

     "In the United States, non-profit gyms are very rare," related the 42-year-old Arsenault. "There's roughly 4,500 gyms run by the owners and the owners are all coaches. We're following the American model. It's becoming more and more popular in Canada, where more and more coaches are starting their own gyms."

     Given Canada's population is on a par with that of California, "popular" is a relative term. Arsenault estimates there are between 50 and 60 gymnastics operations like Champions in Canada. Roughly one-tenth of that number can be found in Alberta. While not-for-profit gymnastic organizations across Canada continue to produce athletes who compete internationally, Arsenault maintains the traditional gymnastics culture exacts a toll on high-performance coaches.

     "Typically, the non-profit employer won't devote a lot of attention or energy to a coach's long-term well-being," he said. "If you're going to be a high-performance coach and the career of a gymnast lasts 14 years, how can you develop careers if you're not going to be in the same place 14 years ?

     "The relative lack of stability in non-profit organizations is really not good for coaches who want to do this as a career."

WORLD-CLASS GYMNASTS
     By virtue of training world-class female gymnasts Natasha Hallett and Marleen Lavoie, Arsenault is eminently qualified to talk the talk. Hallett represented Canada at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and was coached by Arsenault and Oudin from '85 to '93. The duo also spent a decade tutoring Lavoie, who wore the Maple Leaf at both the World Championships and Pan-American Games in '95. Countless others on the pair's lengthy list of proteges have competed provincially or nationally.

     Although Champions has a scaled-down competitive program for women, the primary focus as well as the operation's bread and butter at this point is its wide variety of programs. After transforming the one-time spice warehouse into a 10,500-square-foot state-of-the-art gymnastics facility, Arsenault admits he didn't know what to expect when the business first opened its doors in September 2002. Any trepidation he may have had soon disappeared.

     "I think it's like any service-based business," Arsenault said. "If the market says there is a need for the service you're providing, it really is a case of 'build it and they will come.'

     "When we opened the door, the phone rang and somebody registered. Then somebody else called and registered. We literally started at zero and now we have 450 members. "We run babynastics up to trampoline and tumbling and straight gymnastics. And there's boys-only classes and ju-jutsu classes and yoga. The whole gamut of gymnastics is covered.

     "Then there's what I call our secondary programs. Birthday parties and school field trips are taking off like crazy."

     Now that Champions is off the ground, Arsenault is laying the groundwork for Phase II of his long-range business plan, which calls for expansion of the current facility. In addition to doubling the size of Champions gymnasium, Arsenault may entertain franchising the business across Canada.

     The more immediate goal remains a presence on the national scene, but that won't happen overnight.

     "Competitive gymnastics is a by-product of doing a good job with your little ones," Arsenault observed. "We don't have a (fully integrated) competitive program here yet because we are developing from the base.

     "We're not rebuilding because there is nothing to rebuild. Basically, we're starting from scratch. Within three years, we're going to be back, full-fledged, on the scene nationally." Despite making sacrifices and coping with the challenges that come with blazing a new trail, Arsenault and Oudin are well on the way to living their ultimate dream.

     "If you're a career coach, you have no choice but to eventually consider going into business," he said. "If you do it too late in life, you just don't have the energy.

     "It takes a lot of work. And we have had to go through the same things any other business has to go through. But right now we're on a profit-making basis.