Ascend Strength & Conditioning Business Plan — Implementation Roadmap
The phases from fit-out to third studio, critical dependencies, conditions precedent to drawdown and the gate at each stage.
Implementation Roadmap
Jump to section
- Overview & contents
- i. Important Notice and Basis of Preparation
- 1. Executive Summary
- 2. Market and Positioning
- 3. How a Studio Actually Makes Money
- 4. Churn and the Retention Engine
- 5. SWOT and Competitive Position
- 6. Operations and the Capacity Build
- 7. Compliance and Consumer Protection
- 8. Management and Team
- 9. Financial Plan
- 10. Break-Even and Debt Service
- 11. Investment Analysis
- 12. Sensitivity and Scenario Analysis
- 13. Risk Analysis
- 14. Implementation Roadmap
- 15. Key Performance Indicators
- 16. Key Assumptions
- 17. Conclusion and Recommendation
- A. Appendix A: Consolidated Financial Summary
- B. Appendix B: Capacity and Unit Economics Schedules
- C. Appendix C: Funding, Debt and Working Capital Schedules
- D. Appendix D: Risk Register
- E. Appendix E: Glossary
- 14.1 Development programme
- 14.2 Critical dependencies
- 14.3 Conditions precedent to drawdown
14.1 Development programme
|
Phase |
Months |
Activities |
Gate |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1. Build |
1 to 4 |
Register the company; secure premises with parking and correct zoning; fit out two studios, change rooms and reception; install equipment, systems and backup power; recruit and certify the first coaching team |
Premises complete; five coaches contracted and certified |
|
2. Pre-sell |
3 to 5 |
Recruit founding members before opening at a launch rate; run free community sessions; build the timetable around confirmed demand rather than assumption |
150 founding members signed before day one |
|
3. Open and onboard |
5 to 12 |
Open two studios; implement the six-week onboarding programme; measure attendance weekly by member; begin corporate wellness outreach |
Members above 330; churn trending below 8% |
|
4. Prove retention |
Year 2 |
Drive churn below 7%; build personal training; secure the first two corporate contracts; publish cohort retention internally each month |
Positive EBITDA; churn below 7% |
|
5. Expand capacity |
Year 3 |
Build the third studio; grow toward 590 members; commence full debt service |
Positive net profit; third studio trading |
|
6. Optimise the annuity |
Years 4 to 5 |
Fill to capacity; drive churn to 4.5%; grow price, personal training and corporate rather than member count; evaluate a second site on proven retention |
Churn at or below 4.5%; second site assessed |
14.2 Critical dependencies
|
Dependency |
What it gates |
Why it cannot be accelerated |
|---|---|---|
|
Premises with parking and correct zoning |
Everything |
A fitness facility has specific zoning and parking conditions. Fit-out on non-compliant premises is lost entirely |
|
Head coach appointed |
The product |
Programming and coaching standards are what the member is paying eight times the discounted big-box price for |
|
Studio manager appointed |
Churn |
The attendance review, the retention interventions and the timetable all sit here. One point of churn is worth R1 764 194 |
|
Five coaches contracted and certified |
Opening |
Qualification and current first aid certification are insurability conditions, not administrative steps |
|
150 founding members signed |
Opening |
A class of three is worse than no class. An empty timetable in the first weeks is self-reinforcing |
|
Compliant membership contracts |
Founding member recruitment |
Members are signed during fit-out. A non-compliant contract signed by 150 members is 150 contracts to redo |
|
Churn below 7% demonstrated |
The third studio |
Expanding at high churn builds a larger treadmill. R1 716 200 of capital rides on this |
|
Churn at or below 4.5% sustained |
Any second site |
Retention must be proven over a full year before the format is replicated |