Gym owner Corey Lapell has more than doubled his revenue, almost doubled his membership, reduced his work hours dramatically and quadrupled his salary since August 2020.

When COVID hit, the longtime CrossFit affiliate owner knew he needed help. Corey turned to Two-Brain, and his mentor got him to take action: writing SOPs, creating contracts, installing a hiring process, rebranding and more.

The result of the hard work? Corey and his partner transformed their Vancouver gym from a labor of love into a thriving fitness business. Corey is now enjoying more time with his family, and he's able to focus on building a better business for his clients. In fact, he's now taking bold steps to purchase a building to ensure Empower is able to serve its members for decades.

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Gym Owners United

0:45 - Empower's structure, business model and 2020 COVID plan

3:19 - The fear of signing up for mentorship while losing money

5:40 - Taking action when a mentor "kicks your ass" and pushes you

9:40 - Dividing roles between owners, and Corey's focus on SOPs

13:28 - Rebranding to market personal training and specialty groups

18:05 - From making $1,000 a month in 60 hours to $4,000 in 35

21:50 - Corey's advice to other affiliate owners

You might be tempted to offer a free trial to get some new clients at your gym, studio or affiliate—that's a mistake.

Years ago, prospective clients might have wanted to "taste the intensity" before signing up. But we're not in 2015 anymore.

Now, fitness consumers know what functional fitness is. They aren't looking to sample a one-size-fits-all workout. They have specific fitness and nutrition problems, and they want to know how your gym can solve them. The only professional way to present your solution is with a free consultation.

The data from thousands of gyms is clear: On average, doing a free consultation instead of a free trial will increase length of engagement from 8 to 13 months.

It will also allow you to present the best, most complete solutions to prospective members, and some of them will want your premium packages. That increases average revenue per member. Best of all, a consultation ensures you give clients exactly what they need to get the results they want and improve their lives.

Free trials are a thing of the past. To build a stronger business, start using free consultations.

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0:45 - The consultative process

1:44 - Length of engagement stats

3:16 - Client value

With the help of a Two-Brain mentor, Evan Armstrong increased his gym's revenue by 500 percent in just one year. Here's how he did it.

First, he quit his day job and shifted his attention to growing his gym/physical therapy business. He clearly mapped out his client journey, then he systemized and optimized as many tasks as he could before automating the systems.

He also overhauled his website to make it easier for potential clients to engage with him, and he dramatically improved his sales process with a video "sales binder" to ensure he wasn't winging it during consultations with prospective members.

Evan committed to improving his business one percent every day with clear, actionable tactics from a mentor, and now he's working for even greater success.

Listen, then take action so you can boost your revenue, too.

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CrossFit Gym Business Plan

Chris Cooper's "Gym Owners Handbook"

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3:35 - Growth of Evan's business

7:08 - The 1% improvement mindset

16:46 - Day-to-day mentorship

21:35 - What's next for Evan's gym?

27:46 - How to 5x your revenue: Evan's advice

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 clients for success over a period of years.

And let's not forget that clients who stay for years produce recurring revenue and referrals, and they reduce marketing costs.

Onboarding programs can be used at any fitness facility: access gyms, affiliates, personal training studios, strength and conditioning facilities, franchises and more. Remember: the first period of gym membership is critical to long-term retention, so the more work you put into an onboarding program, the stronger your business will be. 

To hear more from Chris and the Two-Brain team, join Two-Brain's Gym Owners United group for daily tips and free business guides.

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0:40 - Why you need an onboarding program

4:26 - Adjusting your onboarding program

6:09 - Data on onboarding programs in gyms 

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 flying solo and making mistakes, he used Two-Brain's data, resources and tactics to open with members and pay himself on Day 1. Then he used more business tools to hire staff, grow his gym, increase profit and reduce work hours.

Now, he's steadily attracting new high-value clients to Olde Town Athlete without advertising, and he's retaining members to build a strong, sustainable fitness business.

You can do the same thing.

Links

Two-Brain Business Prescriptive Model

How to Open a Gym With Dozens of Members on Day 1

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12:06 - Colby's strategies for increased revenue

20:38 - Why mentorship is necessary for real growth

28:34 - The trajectory of your business after revenue growth

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 coaching tips and a "survival guide" for organizers.

Most important of all, Chris will tell you exactly how to use this signature event to make money for your business, whether you run the Intramural Open on its own or in conjunction with the CrossFit Games Open.

The Intramural Open isn’t just about building up your members. It’s about building up your business.

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Click to get the 2023 Intramural Open guide

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1:24 - History of the Intramural Open, where it came from, how to get the guide

4:23 - The 2023 timeline

12:30 - Setup and pre-event activities

16:02 - Running the competition and coaching

19:09 - KEY MOMENT: How to generate revenue

22:00 - How to put clients on podiums, plus survival tips

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 some tasks so he could focus on growing a newly purchased business.

With a staff playbook and roles and responsibilities in place, Austin was able to focus on optimizing his sales process by creating a sales binder. He also spent time doing goal reviews with clients, which improved retention and helped him connect clients to additional services that would help them.

If you're looking to build your fitness business fast, Two-Brain's RampUp program can help you do it.

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1:44 - Before and after RampUp

3:40 - The short summary of Big Time Results

7:00 - Why get a mentor?

13:48 - $6,000 gross revenue increase in eight weeks

21:00 - Reductions in work hours

24:19 - Retention of high-value clients

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 adjusted to bring success. In some cases, clients will want to upgrade to more valuable services.

While goal reviews provide an opportunity to audit your gym programming and help your clients reach their goals sooner, they also allow you to remind clients of all the progress they've already made. Some won't realize how far they've come, and reminding them will measurably improve your retention.

How often should you do goal reviews at your gym, PT studio or affiliate? At minimum, you should do them every 90 days. If you do, your average revenue per member and length of engagement will improve.

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0:33 - Retention stats in gyms

1:24 - What are "goal reviews"?

4:35 - How goal reviews increase value to the client

6:13 - Saving relationships with goal reviews

9:12 - How often should you do goal reviews with gym clients?

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. To do that, she used a number of tactics, including relocating to be closer to perfect clients, switching to a subscription model for personal training, and establishing solid business systems to support every aspect of the business.

As a result of Ashley's focused efforts, the gym's revenue took off in 2020. She even provided a graph to illustrate how her actions produced astronomical results. The visual: dramatic growth clearly starting in 2020 and continuing over the next years.

If you're struggling to generate revenue at your gym, take heart: A quick turnaround is possible if you do the right things at the right time.

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"Intrapreneurialism 101"

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1:33 - Ashley's business model

7:19 - Systemization and moving to subscriptions

8:40 - The value of mentorship and sales skills

12:04 - What the subscription model looks like

14:19 - Delivering a high-quality product

20:08 - Hiring and staff development

26:00 - Career roadmaps and how they help

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 ground, Chris Cooper has five audits you can perform in times of trouble.

When things are good, resist the urge to coast. If the road is free of traffic, that's when you step on the gas and build as much momentum as possible. If you follow that plan, you'll be prepared for the next tough period.

By planning for both good times and bad times, you'll ensure that your fitness business becomes a strong, stable enterprise that provides health for your clients, careers for your coaches and wealth for your family.

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1:10 - What is wartime?

1:56 - The five audits for wartime

6:20 - Why sprint in peacetime?