How to build a class schedule for a new gym

How many classes to run in week one

The number of weekly classes comes from three values you already know before you open. How many people will train, how often each week, and how many spots you want filled in each class.

1. 1.Members: count people who paid or left their details during pre-sale. Do not count likes on a post.
2. 2.Classes per member: use the limits of the plans you sold. Someone on two classes a week counts as two. For unlimited plans, use your own estimate and write it down.
3. 3.Spots filled: not the capacity. Use the number at which a class still runs well and does not feel empty.

Thirteen classes a week can look thin if you pictured a full timetable. But thirteen classes of eight beat twenty-six classes of four. The room has energy, the coach is not teaching three people, and there is room to grow.

Adding a class that fills is easier than removing one that three people love.

Which times to pick

In group training, there are three windows to consider: before work, at lunchtime and after work. Which one matters most depends on who lives and works near you. The safest way to find out is to ask the people who signed up.

• On the pre-sale form, ask for two preferred times and one impossible time.
• Count the answers by hour and by day. The most requested hours go on the timetable first.
• An hour with few requests stays off at first, even if another gym runs it.
• Put the first Saturday class in the morning. It is when many people come to try.

Spacing between classes

Two back-to-back classes of the same type split people instead of adding them up. Early on, one full 18:30 class beats two half-empty ones at 18:00 and 19:00. When the 18:30 has a waitlist for several weeks, open the second one.

A sample first timetable

With the thirteen classes from the sum above, and pre-sale answers pointing to early mornings and evenings, a first timetable could look like this:

Notice what this timetable leaves out: classes at 18:00 and 19:30 next to the 18:30. Those are the first candidates once the 18:30 starts to have a waitlist.

Reformer Pilates and small groups

In a studio with six reformers, the sum uses six spots, not eight. Each extra class costs an instructor hour for few spots. So the waitlist shows up sooner, and it is the best signal for opening another slot.

Open gym hours

Open gym hours, with no class, serve people who do not fit the timetable. They use the room without a coach teaching. They work well with clear usage rules and someone responsible on site.

The timetable depends on your coaches

A timetable you cannot deliver every week is worse than a short one. Before publishing, check three things:

• Every class has a named coach and a named cover.
• No coach teaches the 07:00 and the 20:00 on the same day, every day. That split shift wears people down within weeks.
• The owner is not on every class. If they are, the timetable depends on one person.

Who to hire first, on what contract and how to pay them is covered in a separate guide. Hiring your first coaches

The typical week and its exceptions

A timetable is a week that repeats, with exceptions. Write the week once and let the system generate the next ones. Exceptions such as public holidays, a special session or a coach on holiday change only that day.

In the first weeks, leave the typical week alone. People are building habits, and a timetable that changes every week does not let them build any.

Public holidays and holiday seasons

Decide before opening what happens on a public holiday: normal classes, a Saturday timetable, or closed. Write the rule on the timetable page so you do not decide it holiday by holiday.

During holiday seasons, demand can swing a lot from week to week. Look at bookings from the previous weeks and decide two weeks ahead whether to merge classes. Tell the people who attend the classes that change.

When to add a class

Add when demand is proven, not when one week went well. These signals are rules for you to choose and write down, not market figures.

Before raising capacity, there are three limits to check: the floor, the equipment and the coach. How many spots should a class have

When to cut or move a class

A new class needs time. Give it six weeks before deciding, and look at the average, not the worst day. If it stays below the minimum you chose, you have three options:

1. 1.Move the time. Sometimes the problem is the hour, not the class.
2. 2.Merge it with a nearby class, if people can make the other one.
3. 3.Close it, with two weeks' notice and an alternative for the people who came.

Before closing, talk to the regulars. Three people loyal to one hour are three people who might leave if it disappears without a conversation.

Two messages ready to use

Booking rules for your first timetable

A new timetable needs three booking rules from day one. Start with simple rules, the same for every class, and add exceptions later.

How to choose the cancellation window and what to do about no-shows is in a dedicated guide.

Common mistakes in a first timetable

• Copying another gym's timetable. Its hours belong to the people who train there.
• Opening every possible hour to look bigger. Classes of three discourage whoever turns up.
• Changing the timetable every week in the first month. People have not formed a habit yet.
• Forgetting the gap between classes. Resetting equipment and greeting the next group takes minutes.
• Relying on the owner for every class. It works until the first flu.

How this works in Rummo

In Rummo, the timetable is written as a typical week that generates the following weeks. Each class has its own capacity and coach, and an exception changes only that day. When a class is full, new bookings join a waitlist that moves by itself when someone cancels.

On paid plans, reports show occupancy by hour and by class type. That is the number that tells you where to add a class and where to drop one.

The timetable, booking rules and waitlist are together on one page. See scheduling in Rummo