Run a Profitable Gym

So you've got a strong gym business. Maybe you've opened a second or even a third location — and now you want to go even bigger. How do you turn a couple home-spun gyms into a fully scaled operation taking your town by storm? It's simple. Literally. Here, Two-Brain founder Chris Cooper explains how simplicity is key when scaling up your business and exactly what steps to take before...

There's a gym-business guru around every corner of the internet trying to sell you their program. The problem is that most of those "gurus" don't own gyms and have no experience in the industry — and you can't afford to spend all your time and money doing their experimentation for them. That's our job. At Two-Brain, we try all the latest tricks, techniques and resourc...

When you first opened your gym, the goal was simple: Survive. And you did. You grew, hired some staff, and have a profitable business. Now what? Unless you're happy just working the job you've bought yourself for the rest of your life, you've got to level up. At Two-Brain Business, we call that "Tinker Phase," or when entrepreneurs have grown their businesses and mentored...

Your clients are burned out. They've been working from, schooling from home, and ordering lots of take-out. Now, they're looking to you for help.  Where do you begin? Should you have them track macros and meal-prep every week? Or is it more realistic to focus on one simple change they can make today? Registered dietician and Nutrition Rx founder Jen Broxterman — also the creator of the T...

Are you an accidental fat-shamer? On July 1, Pinterest released a press release banning weight-loss testimonials, products and before-and-after pictures.  Pinterest isn't the only company to move in that direction; online, the debate rages: If you're selling nutrition and fitness coaching, are you body shaming? Or helping people get what they want? It's a complex subject, so Two-Bra...

Jordan Fink quit his day job and bought a gym in early 2020.  No sooner had he signed the papers than came the mandatory COVID-19 gym shutdown.  He didn't even meet his new staff until months after he'd become their new boss. From there, Jordan endured multiple member mass exoduses and roller-coastering revenue. At one point, he even started dusting off his resume. Today, after starting...

At the 2021 Two-Brain Summit, psychotherapist Bonnie Skinner spoke about fear. And when she asked gym owners to share one of their top fears, Justin Keane shared a big one — in front of thousands of other entrepreneurs. Doing so went against his very nature. Justin would much rather stay silent than show vulnerability. But as he learned from Bonnie's presentation and through practice with his...

Mike Collette is the winner of Two-Brain Business' 2021 award for metrics (he won it in 2020, too). His secret to getting great numbers? Build great staff members. Here, he joins Mike Warkentin to talk about leadership: how to develop it in yourself and cultivate it amongst your staff through mentorship. Links: Prototype Training Systems Beyond the Whiteboard Incite Tax Free Resources! Gym Ow...

We don't sell mentorship to burn a hole in your pocket. We sell mentorship to help you make even more money than you spent on it in the first place. With a return on investment of $10,000 per month, Charlie Lima of BoomFit in College Station, Texas, is doing just that — plus some. Here, he shares how the lessons he's learned from multiple Two-Brain mentors have helped him earn more, deve...

Josh Nimmo owns CrossFit MetroEast in Illinois, and he's the winner of Two-Brain's 2021 award for coach education and opportunity. Here, Mike Warkentin digs into how he earned it — and Josh shares how he went from being a micromanaging Jack of all trades to mentoring to his staff, helping them develop personally and financially rewarding careers and building a strong, successful team tha...

When Bryan McDowell joined the Two-Brain Mentorship program in April 2020, his gym was making $6,700 a month. Less than a year later, that number ballooned 400% to $45,000 a month. He also stopped wearing all the hats in the business, passing coaching, personal training and lower-value roles off to staff so he could focus on growing the business. The result? Both Bryan and his staff are happier in...

How do you decide what your prices should be? Or which marketing tactic to try? Or even what size building you should get? If you're like most microgym owners, you guess. Or you do a social-media poll and make business-altering decisions based on the opinions of 10 keyboard warriors. There's a better way — and it's based on data. Two-Brain Business has spent years and thousands of d...

Nate Beveridge is competing in the men's 40-44 division at the CrossFit Games this summer. He's an elite-level athlete, but he's also an elite gym owner: His gym, Hybrid Athletics, topped the Two-Brain Leaderboard this spring for revenue. Few people can compete at that level while still running the day-to-day business of the gym. That's why Nate took a few years off competition...

Chris Coopers gets emails from Two-Brain followers every day. And when they start to form a theme, he makes a resource — like this episode of Two-Brain Radio — everyone can benefit from. In this episode, Coop answers a few hard-hitting questions about marketing: "Which marketing strategy do you teach?" "What do you do for marketing at your gym?" "What's Two-Brain Busi...

When was the last time you took a good hard look at your expenses? Not just the big ones like rent or utilities, but really looked at where your gym's money is going and whether your getting a good ROI on that spend? Josh Thorn owns Vashon Strong in Washington state, and he runs a lean business. But that doesn't mean he's a penny pincher. He just knows how to make his money work for...

When Magnus Bjorsvik increased the rates at his gym, someone complained to the local paper. Two days after the article hit the stands, 55 people called to book No-Sweat Intros — and more than half of them signed up. It's a story you just gotta hear to believe. Tune in for a master class on raising rates. Links: CrossFit Uvær Book a free call with a Certified Two-Brain Mentor! Driven Nutrition...

Have you ever gone to a big summit or conference, gotten fired up and filled a notebook with great ideas — only to go home and do nothing with them? It's a common mistake, and it's a great way to waste the money you spent on that event. So how do you get a good ROI from attending a live event? Here's how Chris Cooper does it. Links: Register for the 2020 Two-Brain Summit! Drink O2 C...

The 2021 Two-Brain Summit starts in nine days — which means nine days from now, your life is gonna change. That is, if you join us on June 19 and 20 for some world-shattering keynotes and actionable workshopping that will send you home with a plan — and the accountability and fire to execute it. Here, Chris Cooper explains how and why he chose this year's Summit speakers — including Navy SEAL...

Fitness is about more than workout times and macros. The quality of your thoughts is just as important to overall health and well-being. And if you're in the business of helping people get healthy, that means coaching what's between the ears. That's why gym owner and Certified Two-Brain Business fitness mentor Colm O'Reilly founded the Mindset Coaching course with Two-Brain Coa...

Noah Abbott was a coach for years before he opened Lumos Fitness Collective in Austin, Texas. And while the gym did well enough, his perpetual coach's perspective prevented him from leaning into challenges and doing more. So when the COVID-19 pandemic left him with some spare time in his schedule, Noah signed up for RampUp with Two-Brain Business. Working with a mentor, Noah said, has helped...

Mat Fraser might be able to do a workout with 400 weighted pistols immediately followed by 300 freestanding handstand push-ups and a 1-rep-max snatch, but that doesn't mean you should program it for your clients. "But he's the inspiration!" you say. "They need something to work toward!" True. But most of your clients have goals like losing weight, getting stronger, or...

Jeff Holloway was ready to call it quits. He loved coaching, but running a gym business was another story. He was working 50-60 hours a week, and he just couldn't do it for another 10 years. Then COVID-19 hit, and a single document saved his gym: Two-Brain's free guide, " How to Add Online Training in 24 Hours ." Once he saw his business was going to survive COVID, Jeff went al...

When was the last time you updated your Google My Business page? It only takes a few minutes, but it could have a critical impact on the success of your business. Your Google My Business page is a free business listing on Google. And no surprise: The better you flesh out your listing, the better you'll rank on Google's various search platforms. Here, digital-marketing expert Mateo Lopez...

You can teach a great squat. But do you want to be coaching the 5-a.m. class when you're 70? If not, you might want to think about other ways to generate long-term wealth—and for some gym owners, investing in real estate just might be the best way to do that. Here, Mike Warkentin speaks with two gym-owner-turned-investors to learn exactly how and why they've used real estate to grow thei...

Average revenue per member (ARM) and length of engagement (LEG) often steal the spotlight when it comes to tracking your metrics, but do you know your average lifetime value (LTV)? It's just what it sounds like: How much a client spends over the entire course of their business relationship with you. And while it may not seem as immediately crucial as ARM or LEG, knowing that number can help y...