Run a Profitable Gym

Jason Khalipa has learned a lot of hard lessons in gyms. Getting his start in a traditional facility, Jason went on to become one of the most famous CrossFit affiliate owners after winning the 2008 CrossFit Games. In this interview with Chris Cooper, Khalipa describes how his fitness business evolved into NCFIT—a company with bricks-and-mortar locations, digital streams and corporate fitness progr...

Joe De Sena is the founder and CEO of Spartan and Death Race, as well as the author of books including "Spartan Up!" and "10 Rules for Resilience." An entrepreneur with a rich history, Joe created brands and events that give runners and fitness athletes a chance to experience exciting challenges.  In this interview, Joe and host Chris Cooper discuss Spartan's link to the g...

Gyms just don't generate enough revenue from nutrition coaching. Despite the fact that nutrition services naturally link up with fitness coaching, most gyms aren't seeing much movement at the bottom line. The stats: About 74 percent of gyms offer some sort of nutrition coaching, but these services only contribute about 4 percent to gross revenue, on average. That number is far too low, a...

In the gym business, a client's first 90 days are critical. Do a great job onboarding a new client and you'll likely have an opportunity to change a person's life over a period of years. Do a poor job and your new member might be gone in weeks or months, likely never to return to a gym. To help more people and build a great business, you must have a precise plan to set new clients u...

Is your negative attitude pushing away potential gym clients? Are you turning off your members with social-media rants? Are you trying to impress clients with random fitness knowledge instead of actually listening to people? Do you let the stress of entrepreneurship show in public? Do people think you're more interested in your cell phone than what they're saying? Being likable is incred...

Every year, the Two-Brain Summit brings together hundreds of gym owners and coaches for an epic weekend of learning and action, connection and motivation. It's not a sit-and-listen conference. This is an immersive experience for fitness professionals who are ready to do the work and take their careers and businesses to the next level. In this episode, Chris Cooper gives you the lowdown on fea...

You know the scenario: An athletic gym owner spends a lot of time training for fitness competitions. So what happens to the business? Does it lumber along and eventually crumble because the owner's attention is elsewhere? Or can some owners divide their focus and achieve competition goals while building thriving businesses? Chris Cooper digs into the question today with the help of two gym-ow...

If you wanted to kill your gym, what would you do? This can be a helpful question to ask yourself. Here's why: Your answers will highlight paths you should avoid at all costs, and you might even discover you're actually doing some things that are hurting your business. From there, you can make corrections, take new actions and double-down on tactics that are actually driving growth. In t...

Darren Thornton owns Defy Functional Fitness, where he's worked hard to generate average revenue per member of more than USD$370 per month. That earned him a place on Two-Brain's Top 10 leaderboard for February 2023. In this episode, Darren spills his secrets. He'll talk about what he offers at his business in Toronto, Canada, and why his clients find it so valuable. Get this: Darre...

A gym that averages $812 per client per month? You read that right. Two-Brain's top performers posted incredible average revenue per member (ARM) scores in February 2023 . Everyone in the Top 10 was above $370, and the No. 1 gym was over $800. In this episode, Chris Cooper goes over the leaderboard and then shares the secrets of the top gym owners. Some started using onboarding programs, whil...

Chad and Esther Pinther were able to turn their gym around and supercharge their earnings with the help of a Two-Brain Business mentor. Chad at one time supported his fitness business with money from his modeling career—he's appeared in campaigns for Calvin Klein, Stetson, Patrick James and more. When the Pinthers wanted to shore up the gym business so they could spend more time together as a...

What's your gym worth? How do you calculate the true value? Chris Cooper has the answer, and he'll tell you how to come up with a hard number in this edition of "Run a Profitable Gym." In some cases, owners won't like the final number. If you're burned out, run down and out of cash, it can be tempting to just sell the gym. But you could be missing out on cash if you p...

Is your website bringing you clients or pushing them away? Bad news: A recent audit revealed 80 percent of gyms have subpar websites that don't encourage clients to buy. This is a huge problem. A poor website multiplies your losses. If you're spending money on ads, you're wasting it. And if you're lucky enough to generate organic traffic with sound SEO tactics, those people are...

You need cash for your gym right now—so what to do? Offer a paid-in-full deal? Discount your offering? Sell some of your equipment? Not so fast. All those options can put your gym in a death spiral. For example, a paid-in-full deal that generates a quick cash infusion often puts gym owners against the wall at the end of the year. And discounts have sunk too many gyms to count. The good news: Gym o...

During the pandemic, virtual fitness training exploded in popularity, and many entrepreneurs are still offering online coaching. But a new service brings new considerations when it comes to insurance, liability waivers and membership management. On today's episode of "Run a Profitable Gym," gym-owning lawyer Matthew Becker is here to help you cover all your bases with virtual traini...

Are you attracting or repelling clients as a gym owner? No, really. Answer honestly. And if your answer is "no," review these questions: - Do you get into public arguments online? - Do you vent to your clients? - Are you tired, stress and underpaid? - Do you forget names? - Do you take people for granted and forget to thank them regularly? - Do you let your cell phone distract you from h...

In January 2023, Two-Brain's top-earning gym owners took home between US$16,000 and $21,000. That's not gross revenue or even profit. It's what the owners earned personally. And the big totals aren't one-hit wonders. Our leaders sustained these income levels over an entire quarter. Gym owner Jodi Butler was on that leaderboard, and she's here to tell you how she did it.  ...

What do top-earning gym owners have in common? A lot. In this podcast, Chris Cooper reviews the gym owners at the top of Two-Brain's January leaderboard for net owner benefit (NOB)—that's what these owners actually took home to their families, not what their gyms grossed. Each owner in the Top 3 earned more than $20,000 in January, but these aren't one-hit wonders. The stats are bas...

How did Kyle Counts turbocharge his gym's retention and revenue generation? With the Prescriptive Model. In fact, he used it to double revenue in short order, and then he used it to drive that number up even further. Now, the simple system is the bedrock of his sales process. In this episode of "Run a Profitable Gym," Kyle explains how making the change to a consultative approach tr...

The Prescriptive Model has been used by hundreds of Two-Brain gyms across the world, and it's one of the most effective ways to increase revenue and retention. The short version: Gym owners meet with prospective clients, find out about their goals and prescribe the ideal plan to accomplish them. Then they meet with clients quarterly to review progress and make program adjustments that keep th...

Lawyers are experts when it comes to limiting risk for their clients, and Matthew Becker is here today to help you reduce exposure with employees, contractors and third-party contractors. Becker owners Gym Lawyers PLLC as well as Industrial Athletics in Pittsburgh, so he's run into all the situations common in the fitness world. Employees, contractors and third-party contractors all come with...

How should you set the rates at your gym, affiliate or training studio? There is a formula, and it doesn't involve guesswork. Instead, you'll just have to enter some numbers on a spreadsheet you can request at Gymownersunited.com . In this podcast, Chris Cooper offers a look at that spreadsheet and explains how it works. He'll also tell you what's at stake: your profit margin a...

Gym apparel sales don't always go well. Low or nonexistent margins are common, as are weak marketing and unsold inventory that clogs up cash flow. By contrast, some gym owners gross $34,000 a year in apparel sales or use retail to tack thousands of dollars onto net profit. In this episode, Mike Warkentin talks to Matt Albrizio of Forever Fierce, who offers specific tips and tactics any gym ow...

Can you be a successful entrepreneur and a good parent? Absolutely. In this episode, Two-Brain Business mentor, gym owner and mother of three Joleen Bingham offers her top tips for balancing parenting with gym ownership. Parents have a lot on their plates, and Joleen will show you how to handle it all without losing your mind. She wasn't always so organized. In fact, Joleen once answered busi...

Derek Batman knocked out 34 free consultations in December, which put him near the top of our marketing and sales leaderboard for gym owners. In this video, Derek spills the secrets of his success when it comes to set, show and close rates. His keys? Targeting the right clients, creating an airtight system for follow-up, and tracking data. Derek's worked really hard to ensure the right people...