Run a Profitable Gym

An onboarding program is a guaranteed way to ensure real change in the lives of clients at your fitness business—and yet it's often overlooked by gym owners. On today's episode of Run a Profitable Gym, Two-Brain Business founder Chris Cooper explains how an on-ramp or other onboarding program will decrease client churn, reduce the risk of injury or discomfort in your gym, and set up your...

Colby Knepp's gym revenue more than doubled in fewer than 12 months. In this video, he explains exactly how he did it. So how did he generate incredible growth at his PT studio in Colorado? According to Colby, Step 1 was hiring a mentor, and Step 2 was doing everything she told him to do. Of particular note, Colby researched mentorship as part of his business plan to open a gym. Instead of fl...

The Intramural Open is a fun, annual, multi-week competition to run in your gym. Chris Cooper created it more than a decade ago as a way to boost morale, improve retention and generate revenue. In this episode, Chris walks you through the updated 2023 Intramural Open guide. He'll tell you what the event is all about and how to run it. He's got a timeline, a scoring system, a host of coac...

Austin Ruesink runs Big Time Results—and he got exactly that through the Two-Brain RampUp program for gym owners. With guidance from a mentor, Austin added $6,000 of revenue in eight weeks, reduced his work hours and moved his average revenue per member into the $300-$350 range. In this episode, Austin talks about how he was nearing burnout before a mentor helped him take clear action to offload s...

What's hurting your gym or fitness business the most? Not doing regular Goal Review Sessions with clients. First and foremost, goal reviews provide an opportunity to strengthen your relationship with each client just by talking one on one. You can also check in on progress. If you ask the right questions, you'll find out if your training plan is producing results or if it needs to be adj...

Two-Brain's November 2022 gross revenue leaderboard for gyms ran from $46,000 to $73,000. Ashley Sell put Midwest Strength and Performance in the Top 10, and she's here to explain exactly how she did it. Working with a large, six-owner team across two locations, Ashley knew that hiring a mentor was the key to pulling everyone together. Her specific management role? Growing the business....

Gyms, affiliates and PT studios often don't grow steadily. In the fitness world, business growth is usually a series of steps forward and back. The key is to always grab more total ground than you give. In wartime, you're fighting fires and dealing with emergencies. You've got to run lean and make tough decisions to make sure you don't slide too far back. To help you hold your...

Trista Eason, owner of Flex Appeal in Wichita Falls, Texas, successfully bounced back after the pandemic with the help of her Two-Brain Business mentor: She boosted her average revenue per member (ARM) by over $100. In this episode, Eason tells all so you can do the same thing at your gym, personal training studio or affiliate. Trista did a few key things to increase her ARM. First, she swapped ou...

Every year, Two-Brain Business publishes an industry-defining report for owners of gyms, personal-training and boutique studios, strength and conditioning facilities, CrossFit affiliates, martial-arts businesses, and 24-hour access gyms. You can get the 56-page report for free here . In this video, Chris Cooper goes through the report and offers his insight into stats you won't see anywhere e...

Mentorship—how does it work? In this episode of Run a Profitable Gym, you'll find out. Host Mike Warkentin talks to gym owner Nate Boley, who explains exactly how he uses a mentor to grow his business, Strength Warehouse in Bend, Oregon. The key: Nate's mentor tailors her coaching to him. She helps him focus, prioritize and take action that gets measurable results. Sometimes they solve p...

You're in the service business—but that doesn't mean you always have to listen to your clients. As a gym owner, you need to carefully consider when to give the squeaky wheels the grease and when to keep your own counsel. In this episode of Run a Profitable Gym, Chris Cooper gives you an exercise that will help you identify your best clients, and he'll help you use them to improve yo...

Gym owner Ashley Kates made significant gains in just six months after hiring a Two-Brain Business mentor: - Her take-home pay increased. - Her gross revenue at her training studio increased. - Her husband was able to quit his job to be a stay-at-home dad. - She worked fewer hours and had less stress at her gym. With the help of a business coach, Ashley solidified her fitness business with procedu...

The key to exponential growth in your gym: have your clients bring you more clients. Your existing members are one of the most valuable assets to a gym owner— but your clients aren't salespeople, even if they see the immense value of your service. You just can't wait around for them to bring more members into your gym, studio or affiliate. So how do you create a "referral culture&qu...

Jake Fields runs a profitable gym with a lot of clients. That's an important distinction because piles of clients don't guarantee profitability. Fields has close to 300 members at his CrossFit affiliate and earned a spot on Two-Brain's leaderboard for most clients in October 2022. In this episode, he shares the secrets of how he retains and acquires members. For Jake, it's all...

Making $100,000 as a personal trainer might seem impossible at first. But it can be done if you create the right business plan. It's not enough to just be a great coach. You need coaching skills for sure, but they must be balanced by entrepreneurial skills if you're going to create a career in the fitness industry. On today's episode of Two-Brain Radio, Chris Cooper—a former persona...

The Phoenix uses the power of movement and activity to help sober people rise from the ashes of addiction all over the United States. Through activities such as CrossFit, yoga and indoor climbing, recovering addicts or substance users develop positive coping mechanisms, make new connections and see the possibilities in a sober life. Chris Cooper talks with Scott Strode, founder of The Phoenix, abo...

As Black Friday approaches every year, gym owners are always tempted to offer massive discounts and promote wild sales. Don't do it at your gym or strength and conditioning facility. If you slash your rates and give away free months at your PT studio or affiliate, you'll blow a hole in your profit and destroy your cash flow. So what should you do instead of discounting your services? Chr...

Two-Brain's data shows that only about 65 percent of gyms offer nutrition coaching despite the fact that it's relatively low drag, it doesn't require space and overhead, and it's a perfect complement to fitness programming. Get this: Some gyms and affiliates use nutrition services to generate 20-30 percent of their total revenue. If you haven't added nutrition coaching to...

Because gym owners are always afraid they'll lose clients, they often view any other care providers as competition. But as a fitness coach, CrossFit affiliate or gym owner, you aren't in competition with athletic therapists, physiotherapists, doctors and chiropractors. In fact, you can actually connect with these local professionals to create referral webs that are worth hundreds of thou...

Gym owner Chris Plentus walks you through the ins and outs of the Tinker program, Two-Brain's mentorship system for top-tier gym owners and other advanced entrepreneurs. You'll learn what to expect from mentorship at this stage, what you'll get in the program, and how others have used Tinker to grow their businesses and leadership skills exponentially. If your gym is stable and does...

Is Peleton your competition? No. As a fitness trainer, you're selling coaching, not bikes and workouts. You're selling a tailored plan designed to help each individual find success—even if that plan is executed in a group setting, like in a CrossFit affiliate or functional fitness studio. That concept—using "done-with-you services" to get clients impressive results—is actually...

Gym owner Shane Rider was working way too much, and he was starting to burn out. Then he learned how to offload tasks step by step so he could free up his time to grow the business. Once he started that process, revenue and profit increased, and Shane got way more free time. Now, he works as the CEO of his gym and does only the things he enjoys. If you're working too many hours at your PT stu...

Good books are crucial to personal and business growth. In today's episode of Two-Brain Radio, Chris Cooper and his team of mentors share the books that helped them most in 2022. Application is more important than information: The books you'll find on this list will help you take clear action to improve yourself and your gym, fitness business, CrossFit affiliate or personal training stud...

Can you imagine earning $827 from every client at your gym? It's possible. Today on Two-Brain Radio, Josh Elsesser of Invictus Fitness explains how his gym landed on the Two-Brain leaderboard for average revenue per member with a  score of $827. Josh will give you a host of things you might consider using at your gym, including semi-private coaching, VIP programs involving mindset coaching, a...

As a gym owner, you probably aren't being paid what you're worth—but you can change that. Today, Chris Cooper channels Bob Burg of "The Go-Giver" and explains that value has five parts: excellence, consistency, empathy, attention and appreciation. Chris provides tips on how gym owners can focus on each element to raise their value, help people to a greater degree and make more...