12 Mistakes That Feel Good Now But Will Kill Your Gym Later

Just because a decision feels good now doesn’t mean it’s the right one for your gym’s long-term success.

In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Two-Brain founder Chris Cooper breaks down 12 choices that seem smart in the moment but can sabotage a gym's profitability down the line.

He explains how mistakes such as paid-in-full deals and monthly discounts erode value and bleed out revenue, and he shares how short-term conveniences, such as hiring friends or subleasing to trainers, create downstream operational headaches.

You’ll hear how ego-driven decisions to criticize competitors or train to be the best athlete in your gym steal focus from the systems that actually grow revenue.

Coop also discusses retention and pricing errors, and he explains how three major growth traps—expanding too early, trying to serve everyone and buying failing gyms—create more problems than they solve.

Tune in to learn the sustainable strategies top gyms use to avoid these mistakes and make smart decisions that pay dividends for decades.

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1:23 - Discount death spiral

8:07 - Staff and space nightmares

14:40 - Ego-driven mistakes

21:33 - Retention and pricing errors

24:50 - Growth without foundation