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Hot biz: specialty exercise aftermarket

Entrepreneur, Dec, 2003 by Chris Penttila

Today, yoga and Pilates are more than fads; they encompass a lifestyle with huge market potential. According to a June 2003 Harris Interactive/Yoga Journal survey of 4,000 Americans, 7 percent said they are practicing yoga--a 28.5 percent increase over 2002. One in six respondents said they planned to try yoga for the first time within the next 12 months.

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Companies are bending over backward to reach this growing market. Yoga and meditation gear--from clothes and mats to DVDs and music--populates retail shelves. Yoga classes aimed at pregnant women and kids as young as age 3 are rooting firmly in suburbia. Men now comprise 23 percent of U.S. yoga enthusiasts. "There's been a maturation of the market," says Dayna Macy, communications director for Yoga Journal, a magazine that boasted 20 percent circulation growth between 2001 and 2002. "There are all kinds of ways to capitalize on the yoga boom," Yoga-inspired foods, gear aimed at men, instructors who work inside schools and large corporations, and franchising are just a few largely untapped markets.

Roughly 4.7 million Americans also take Pilates, a workout that builds abdominal strength. Maria Leone, owner of Bodyline Fitness, bought into the Pilates studio in Beverly Hills eight years ago and bought it out completely from a partner one year later. Her Pilates on the Go video series, developed about three years ago with business partner Holly Correa, 39, is muscling onto shelves, with an estimated $200,000 in 2003 sales.

If you want to teach, keep your overhead low early on by finding a small gym or chiropractic office that will rent space for one-on-one sessions, suggests Leone, 37. "But you'll need great promotional skills," she says. A Pilates session can range from $50 to $70 per hour. "There's still so much room for growth," Leone says. Meditate on this market, and breaking in might not be such a stretch after all.

Business Services Industry

Hot biz: specialty exercise aftermarket

Entrepreneur, Dec, 2003 by Chris Penttila

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