Imagine paying yourself $16,000-$38,000 per month as a gym owner. Today’s guest on “Run a Profitable Gym” does just that.

In this episode, host Mike Warkentin sits down with top-earning gym owner Darren Thornton of Defy Functional Fitness in Toronto, Canada.

Darren, a regular on Two-Brain’s leaderboards, shares actionable steps you can take right now to grow your business and pay yourself more.

For starters, he says to figure out how much you need to earn, then work backward to determine how many clients you need and what you need to charge to meet that target.

Focus on reaching a high average revenue per member (ARM) by offering premium services to help clients reach their goals faster. Then figure out what roles you can easily replace yourself in so you can focus on high-value roles that generate more money for your business.

A mentor can help you do all this quickly and effectively.

Tune in to hear more of Darren’s top income-boosting tips, and you can also check out his last appearance on the show via the link below.

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Tips for Extreme Average Revenue Per Member

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1:24 - Increasing Darren’s ARM

5:19 - Value Ladder exercise

8:19 - Tactics for increasing ARM

12:10 - The rundown on Darren’s gym

18:52 - How mentors help you reach goals

If an emergency pulled you away, could your gym operate without you?

In this episode of "Run a Profitable Gym," host Mike Warkentin and Two-Brain founder Chris Cooper dive into one of the most crucial aspects of running a successful gym: systemization—aka, building a business that runs smoothly even when you’re not there.

They lay out the steps you need to take to create effective standard operating procedures (SOPs) for every task from cleaning to sales, and they explain why these systems are essential for freeing up your time and protecting your focus.

You’ll learn how to delegate efficiently and use evaluations to coach your staff to meet and exceed standards.

Tune in for actionable steps you can use to get your business out of your head so you can offload tasks and reclaim your time as owner.

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0:00 - The day Chris’ daughter was born

4:43 - Protect your focus

8:26 - Laying out your process

15:28 - Get the most out of your system

22:20 - What you can do today

Saara Snellman has succeeded where many other CrossFit affiliate owners have failed: CrossFit Kreis 9 in Zurich, Switzerland, has 340 members and generates most of its revenue through group classes.

While many gym owners struggle to acquire and maintain 150 members, Saara loses only 10 of 340 members a month. To replace them, she just goes to her waiting list—so her marketing costs are $0.

This model was once the ideal for many affiliate owners, but gyms like Saara's are rare in the market because they must be well-oiled machines with airtight business systems. Only a very skilled entrepreneur can build a coaching gym that can handle more than 300 members.

Saara’s reward for building this incredible business: She took a spot on Two-Brain’s March leaderboard for net owner benefit (NOB): earnings, dividends and any other perks the owner receives.

Based on rolling three-month averages, our Top 10 earners take home anywhere from $16,215 to $37,935 USD per month. This is not top-line revenue; it’s owner earnings.

One of the secrets to Saara’s success is boosting average revenue per member (ARM) with hybrid memberships—offering personal training to group-class members to help them reach specific goals. A few other secrets: Saara has A+ business systems and an impeccable retention plan.

You don’t need 340 group members to earn more than $100,000 a year. But if you do plan to pursue the large-group model, you’ll want Saara’s insight and the help of an expert mentor.

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1:15 - Success and avoiding failure

6:33 - Group, personal training or both?

10:55 - Big things that made a big difference

15:56 - Mentorship helps your number move

20:38 - Getting former clients back

Two-Brain’s March leaderboard tracked net owner benefit (NOB)—profit, salary and anything extra the gym pays for.

Every gym owner on the leaderboard brought home more than $16,000 USD in March, based on a rolling three-month average. The top number? Way over $30,000!

In this episode, Two-Brain founder and CEO Chris Cooper reveals the Top 10 NOB figures and then tells you exactly what these gym owners did to achieve elite earnings.

A few themes came up in the top earners’ interviews: business systems, mentorship and high-value services.

The key: Build sustainable income that isn’t tied to flash-in-the-pan profit boosts from tactics such as challenges and paid-in-full discounts. To do that and earn what you deserve every month, you’ve got to make business decisions based on data, not hype or random ads on social media.

Tune in to hear real numbers and discover proven tactics for boosting your monthly earnings.

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1:40 - March 2024 leaderboard

4:10 - Secrets from the leaders

9:20 - High-value services to high-value clients

Today on “Run a Profitable Gym,” host John Franklin is joined by Jason Khalipa, 2008 CrossFit Games champion, founder of NCFIT Gyms and TRAIN HARD online training, and host of the “Jason Khalipa Podcast.”

Jason gives listeners a sneak peek into his value-packed presentation for the 2024 Two-Brain Summit, set for June 8-9 in Chicago.

Between his business ventures and responsibilities as a husband and father of two, Jason is pulled in a lot of directions.

To stay present and productive in each area of his life, Jason uses the “AMRAP mentality.” This mindset is all about prioritizing and segmenting your day, and it allows Jason to show up for his team, his family and himself.

Something else that’s on Jason’s mind: the idea of “train, protect, provide.” Essentially, training allows you to better protect and provide for your loved ones—and as a gym owner you get to give others the ability to do so.

The Two-Brain Summit is sold out—be sure to follow Two-Brain on social media to see highlights!

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2:37 - What it means to run a business

9:07 - Protecting and providing

17:46 - Living the lifestyle

21:58 - Committing and going all-in

35:12 - Feelings on CrossFit HQ and community

Every sale you don’t close at your gym costs you time and money.

In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” host John Franklin is joined by Matt Temby, head of sales at Two-Brain Business and owner of Vault Health & Fitness. Matt’s on the mic to share proven tactics for improving your close rate.

He walks you through the sales process from start to finish: how to discover a potential client’s real problem, help them realize your solution is perfect and close the sale.

Sounds simple, right?

But before you close, you’ll inevitably hear objections such as “I need to think about it” or “I have to talk to my partner.”

Statements like this are smokescreens in front of the real objection: fear, money or logistics. Matt explains how to push through the smoke, identify the real objection and overcome it to close the sale.

Coaches can hear more from Matt at the Two-Brain Summit on June 8 and 9 in Chicago. Tickets are available via the link below.

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Two-Brain Summit

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0:25 - Matt's journey in sales

6:08 - Creating strong closers

16:41 - Making sales and maintaining your vibe

21:22 - Ending the sales pitch

31:17 - Incorporating tech

When should you not buy a gym?

In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” host Mike Warkentin dives into this question with Nick Habich, Two-Brain mentor and owner of Shark Bite Fitness and Nutrition in Cape Coral, Florida.

Nick has bought a couple of gyms and passed on several others, and he’s acquired a few horror stories along the way.

Some of the red flags he’s learned to look out for include high expenses—such as a ridiculously costly lease—and mismatches between financial data in the gym’s billing software and its profit and loss statement (P&L).

A lot of gym owners look to acquire businesses because they want to make more money, but they can often find opportunities to generate more revenue within their existing businesses. That’s not to say you should never buy another gym, just that the best plan is to optimize your existing business first.

Nick’s biggest tip? If your gym can’t run without you, don’t even think about buying another one. Start by improving your current gym with mentorship and then pursue other endeavors from a position of strength.

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0:51 - The buying-and-selling experience

6:52 - Buy a gym that’s unprofitable?

12:57 - Verify the numbers

18:46 - Rates that are too low

27:01 - Temptations and business decisions

When a gym owner sells or closes a business, it’s often because they’re burned out, broke or forced to sell for some reason.

But what does a “good exit” from gym ownership look like?

In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Two-Brain founder Chris Cooper talks with two former gym owners who had successful exits—Taryn Dubreuil and John Franklin.

Both entrepreneurs explain why they opened gyms in the first place and detail how successful their gyms were at peak.

Then they share what helped them make the decision to exit and exactly how they sold.

Two things they had in common: knowing what their gyms were worth and having a clear next step.

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3:28 - Why did Taryn open a gym?

9:05 - Selling your gym

20:02 - Was it all worth it?

22:33 - Why did John open a gym?

29:14 - What should I sell?

Using mostly unconventional marketing methods, Mike Doehla built a nutrition company that sold to Anytime Fitness for eight figures.

In today’s episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” host John Franklin chats with Mike, former owner of Stronger U Nutrition.

Prior to its sale, Stronger U had over 50,000 lifetime members, and about half of those members were in its Facebook group, where Mike focused on sharing knowledge and building community.

Outside the group, Mike’s marketing tactics ranged from sticking business cards inside nutrition books to sitting in coffee shops with a giant laptop sticker that read “Hi, I'm Mike. Ask me nutrition questions.”

If you’d like to ask Mike nutrition questions—or business questions—you can reach him on Instagram: @mikedoehla

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3:30 - Creating community

9:00 - First 100 clients

23:04 - Getting traction with groups

35:12 - Generating buzz for small gyms

48:59 - Removing unnecessary boundaries

Conversations equal conversions.

If you’re a gym owner who’s tried running social media ads, blogging and posting reels without seeing a bump in your member count, it’s time to start initiating more conversations with potential clients.

“But how do I do that?”

In this episode, Two-Brain chief marketing officer John Franklin shares proven strategies for having more conversations and getting new members in the door with zero ad spend.

His tips involve reaching out to leads on platform, looking for referral opportunities in local social-media groups, creating your own fitness-focused community group, hosting events like bring-a-friend day and—as uncomfortable as it may sound—going out into the real world.

You’ll walk away from this episode equipped with tried-and-true tactics you can use to accomplish a goal: Talk to five new people about your gym every day.

Links

Sell-by-chat cheat sheet

Kieran O’Dwyer on creating free guides

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1:34 - Getting clients today

3:28 - 6 ways to have more conversations

16:04 - How to find inspiration

20:06 - The real world