Innovation, climbing and babies

A climbing gym is a tough business. Open one in America, and you won’t be around for long. At first glance, it’s a trendy offer — urbane, physical, social and quirky. But a climbing gym is a poor business because of weaknesses in the revenue model.

For a business to work, income has to exceed expenses. For a climbing gym, sources of income include monthly membership fees, sales of chalk bags and shoes, and one-off entrance fees for day climbers. Expenses include rent, utilities, insurance, salaries and maintenance — such as for rock-features, plywood and ropes. Compared to a conventional gym these  expenses are similar. The difference is on the income side of the equation.

Climbing walls is a strenuous activity, best suited for bodies under 30. But young-adults have low discretionary income and can be scared off by long-term contracts. They will pay to climb, but occasionally, and only the door-fee. Thinking back to the climbing gym in my city, to get around these income hurdles the owner targeted groups, such as youth clubs or church organizations, because groups pay well and in advance.

Ceiling heights of 25-50 feet are common, so usually climbing gyms are built in warehouses. Tall, open and inexpensive space are tough to find, but not impossible. Old factories and empty buildings are usually in depressed neighborhoods, which might scare away car-pooling parents.

But more than anything, it’s certain cultural norms that make a climbing gym a tough sell. Americans are independent by nature and like to work-out on their own, usually on a fixed schedule. They will pay to go spinning, attend pilates, or jump-kick in groups, but most prefer a fixed schedule to build routine into their exercise. Climbing is not an organized activity. It requires a great deal of self motivation and coordination among at least two people — one to climb, the other to secure their partner’s safety. So most potential clients are eliminated because they won’t have a partner.

The climbing gyms I went to were dreamy, spacious places; order and predictability gave way to a freedom of movement in a vertical plane. These features appeal to adolescents, but adults are more demanding. Looking back on those gyms, now they seem worn-down, marginal places, impossible to keep clean. Climbing walls can still be found in student centers and retail outlets, but self-sufficient climbing gyms are a rarity.

One way a climbing gym could adapt to the cultural norms in America would be to rent space from an existing gym, such as in a converted raquetball or squash court. Patrons could sign up for one hour time slots, advertised as “climbing to cross-train” or “vertical stress-relief”, and target professional men and women, from ages 25-50. To cater to the well-heeled professional, the walls should be white (and so should the shoes.) The “rock-holds” should be placed in an ordered pattern to promote repetition. The safety system should be modernized to do away with the need for a partner. A “retracting-pulley” could take in rope as the climber ascended “tension-assisted”, meaning weaker climbers would be helped out.

Group classes could improve participation. The wall could be completed in a numbered circuit to give a sense of finish, redesigned into a electrifying pulse-pounding “circus-de-soleil” type of experience that allows a climber to move gracefully in 3 dimensions and command a premium from clients looking to build “perceived risk” into their workout. It could be done to music, although at present, a climber needs to communicate with their partner.

In Poland, a climbing gym might fare better. Poles tend to workout in pairs. They are leaner and walk a lot, which keeps their joints flexible. Poles are less interested in getting in a workout in and more interested in the social dimension of exercise. Here’s an example of how a business could be adapted to the cultural preferences of Poles. Children receive a great deal of attention and resources. But retails shops for kids are non-existent. The concept of a “baby shop” is still new.

An “Ikea for kids” ages 0-5 would do well in Poland. It could be part retail: strollers, diapers, baby food, and cribs; and part services: play classes, baby-sitting and kindergarten. Just as Ikea integrated shopping and eating to attract working couples who would otherwise have to cook, mothers can drop their kids off at nine and return at three to buy diapers, formula, toys, and books. The added-value is in making the drop off/pick up time more flexible than in an ordinary nursery.

I give this example as just one way in which a business could adapt to cultural norms. A climbing gym is fun, but it’s not a good business. Trends come and go, and climbing seems to be on the out, but escaping from the bounds of gravity could be rehabilitated by a savvy entrepreneur who finds a way to convince a Mom post-partum to walk up walls.