This reports conducts a situational and financial analysis in order to strategically position a gym within the competitive landscape of Santa Clara, California. This report includes an executive summary, description of products, marketing & an operational plan as well as financial forecasts for the first year. It is the purpose of this report to consider as many relevant factors as possible to compile and more complete and accurate business plan. / text

The leisure industry has been one of the fastest growing industries in Britain (Grade, 1998), and in the year 2000 accounted for approximately 10% of Britain's gross domestic product (LeisureWeek, 2000a). Health clubs have been one of the fastest developing business sectors within the leisure industry (Mintel, 1999), and there is predicted to be plenty of scope for future growth (Mintel, 2001). The health club sector has evolved greatly since its inception, with developments including consolidation, diversification, bi-polarisation and market segmentation. One of the most recent trends in the sector has been intenationalisation, with fifteen British companies now having a presence overseas. This research seeks to analyse the process by which the British health club sector has developed from being purely domestic based to having significant overseas investment. A number of stages within that process are identified including the motives to internationalise, the choice of country, the mode of entry utilised and the management and co-ordination of overseas activities. One of the key objectives of this research is to determine if a holistic view of internationalisation is appropriate, or even plausible for the health club sector. The research suggests that the influence of environmental and company-factors results in a company's initial decision to internationalise, with certain 'determinants' regulating which companies actually invest overseas. A number of ownershipspecific factors are identified that establish which companies might be able to compete effectively overseas. The process of internationalisation. is then analysed and a number of factors established which influence the companies' choice of country to invest in, the mode of entry and the manner in which the overseas investments are managed.

This is a study of how businesses might influence other businesses to move towards sustainability. Two health club businesses in North America actively participated and were selected because of their private ownership structureand their similar size and services. One health club had significant experience with working towards sustainability, and the other had little or no such experience. This is a descriptive study that applied an Active Research model in which researchers andbusiness management teams all actively participated. Five cycles of learning and adaptation are documented, including three work sessionsand initial and final interviews. Data from these five cycles were analysed to assess changes in perceptions of and knowledge about sustainability in business. We have concluded that the least experienced health club demonstrated sound increases in their knowledge and perception about sustainability. In addition, itis actively considering implementing select practices in itsfacilities that represent movement towards sustainability. The club with significant sustainability experience did not demonstrate increased knowledge or perceptions about sustainability, but did perceive value in the business-to-business sustainability discussions. / <p>Contact information: David Nelson: nelso213 (at) umn.edu, Renée Lazarowich: renee_lazarowich (at) yahoo.com</p>