The Business of Jiu Jitsu

Don't waste any money on Facebook ads before you build this simple system. Don't get me wrong I've seen great success with FB ads in my business and many of the gyms/academies that I work with....BUT.... I've also heard too many heart breaking stories of failed ad campaigns, wasted cash, no growth and just a general bummer. In this episode I'm walking you through what you need to do before you thi...

I had a great conversation with Jared talking about his experience with all things Jiu Jitsu and MMA. He's an old school guy who will give you the shirt off his back. He takes good care of his students while at the same time molding them into capable athlete's and practitioners. In talking with him I think a lot of Jared's success comes from a few places. He's not afraid to work hard, he pours him...

On this episode Roger and I cover a lot of ground. From how he started his training as active Duty Air Force to how he makes the most out of his kids program. Roger is a wealth of knowledge and I really enjoyed hearing how he keeps innovating, expanding and improving his business. Hopefully you picked up a few nuggets of wisdom from this episode. As a former boy scout and parent I personally loved...

This was an amazing episode and I want to thank Andrew for being on and sharing so many of his secrets to success. We talked a lot about the success of his kids program, how he builds it up and how he provides amazing experiences for his students. I hope you take away some gold nuggets of wisdom from this episode because Andrew was throwing them out left and right. Even if you never want to do bir...

On this episode Nader and I talked about how he built his MMA academy, his journey through Jiu Jitsu and how he goes about building community. What I love about this episode in particular is Nader has been able to two things that a lot of Gyms & Academies find hard to do at the same time. And that is to build a good competition team, while growing his student base on the whole. He doesn't feed...

James has an absolutely wild story about what happened to him just weeks before the grand opening of his academy. In chatting with James a few things became clear he's got grit and he's a true professional. In this episode we talk about James' ups and down and ultimately what's made him a successful academy owner. If you want to learn more about James or reach out on socials here's where you can f...

On this episode Greg shares some basic but very valuable info on how improve the health, longevity, and profitability of your business. Without making things too complicated we chat about some basic metrics that gym/academy owner's need to know in order to become proactive and grow instead of reactive and struggle. Simple things such as knowing if you get your average new student past the 90 day m...

On this episode we chat about Chris' journey through gym ownership, the ups, the downs, and how he was able to successfully sell his gym. He's since moved on from gym ownership to start a new business specifically helping Jiu Jitsu gym/academy owners protect their business with insurance that's built specifically for them. If you want to learn more about Chris or Jiu Jitsu Insurance check out the...

On this episode we chatted about some of Michael's travels around the world including and his time living in South Korea. He's since returned to the US and owns and operates SBG New Braunfels in Texas. He talks about his philosophy of creating a strong culture, and weeding out toxic students. The show notes can never do justice to the episode so I hope you'll listen to the full thing. If you want...

Joseph shared his story of opening a Jiu-Jitsu Academy in small town Oregon just before the pandemic locked him down. He not only had to navigate small town politics but also keeping his business going during lockdowns. He shared many great nuggets such as starting in a small space until you outgrow it and how connecting people can be a super power. If you want to check him out here are a few link...

My guest today is an expert in the realm of time management, prioritization, and organization. As well as being an NY times best selling author and speaker. He shares some great mental frameworks for how to tackle organizing your day and tackling those tasks we keep putting off. If you want to learn more about Andrew or check out his books follow the links below: Website Instagram Amazon store wit...

In this episode I dive into the difference between a "cute" business and a "killer" business. Now there are of course exceptions to the rules and I could go down the rabbit hole of every little caveat. That's why I try not to speak in absolutes but more generalities. For the sake of this episode I'm assuming the majority of gym owners want to grow their student base and that's really what the foca...

I had a great time sitting down with Dan who is the owner of King William District Crossfit. We cover a variety of topics such as his back ground, his philosophy on fitness, and where he's looking to go in the next 10 years. I particularly enjoyed chatting about his take on fitness, what he hopes to accomplish for his members and the legacy he wants to leave. If you're interested in checking Dan's...

Marcus Astley took his personal training business online before it was cool to be online. He and his wife have combined physiotherapy, fitness, and community all into one awesome service. I had a great time chatting with Marcus and know from both reputation, and the times I've seen him compete he is the real deal. He's a humble, hard working family man, and someone I'd want on my team....

This episode is a little bit different, and a little bit scattered as so much happened during that race it was really hard to distill it down into something quick. Incase you were wondering, I am a totally average runner. I've only been running seriously for 2 years now. This episode is a recap of my last race of the season a 100K ultramarathon. Which to most people sounds like a long distance...

I had a great time sitting down with black belt Mike Sweeney. He's a wealth of martial arts and combat sports experience as well as a long time gym/academy owner. The highlights of this podcast for me personally are how he approaches teaching BJJ especially to kids and beginners as well as how he strives to keep improving his gym and the experience he provides to his students. We also talk bri...

Most gym owners I know do not like to sell. They are phenomenal coaches, great athletes, and wonderful humans. They want new gym members because they like helping people, but they don't this long drawn out, high pressure, emotionally charges song and dance just to sign someone up. That is pain based sales and the good news is you absolutely don't have to do that. Sales exists on a spectrum...

What is a front end offer in the gym space? It is simply and offer that you make to new customers (as they join) VS a back end offer which you could make to someone after they've joined (also known as an upsell/resell). What makes a good front end offer? It should be time specific, seasonally appropriate and most importantly be result focused. I hope you find this episode valuable because I he...

On this Episode I sit down with Scott Rammage. He's a former Crossfit gym owner and now the CEO of Hire VP. We chat about hiring, time management, sales, and several things in between. One of the things I enjoyed most about this episode came near the very end as Scott shares some valuable perspective about how you as a business owner can achieve more. It starts by looking outside of your curre...

The only thing that remains constant is change. On this episode I talk about how you can create momentum for your gym with the changing seasons. These are really simple tweaks and tactics that can give your gym a big quarterly revenue boost. A few of the things I mention in this episode are, reactivation campaigns, quarterly merch, events and more. If you don't have these practices established...

On this episode we talk a lot about both personal development and personal growth. In the episode my guest Kevin Palmieri talks about how those two subjects are often confused but are very different. Basically most business owners could benefit not only from improving their skills in business but also and I hate to use this phrase but "working on themselves" as it is cliche and lame soun...

Purdeep Sangha is a high performance coach for entrepreneurs, and CEOs. His book of knowledge is thick and filled with both timeless and current wisdom. We covered a variety of topics including: - The traits entrepreneurs need to succeed. - How to win in an unfocused culture. - Hiring the right kind of employees. - How to create super fans for clients and much more. I hope that you've found th...

By this time in 2024 we've all heard the AI hype. Maybe you're using it in your business, maybe you're on the fence, think it's too complicated or impractical to use in your business. Well one thing is for sure, AI is here to stay and my guest today in addition to being a figure competitor is also an AI expert. If you're interested in how you can leverage AI in your business th...

In this episode I cover a very important and somewhat controversial topic. As a Crossfit gym owner, should you run a foundations class? I also spend some time going through the perfect onboarding process for new members. I hope you enjoy this one because it took many years of trial and error to come to these conclusions.... And if I had to open a gym again tomorrow, this is exactly how I'd do...

This is easily one of my favorite episodes of the podcast. I had no idea we were going to get into sales and communication as much as we did. However I am very happy that we did as most gym owners are not born sales people. Especially in the small gym world (Crossfit, BJJ etc) we think our product will sell itself. If you'd like to learn more about Dr. Alain and his work with chiros and health...