Run a Profitable Gym

"Bro, how much you bench?"How seriously would you take someone who judged your fitness based on just your bench press? Well, the gym owner's equivalent is membership numbers, and more is not always better. Don't believe it? Here's Chris Cooper on why more members won't make you rich—and what you should do instead to increase your net owner benefit by $40,000 per year.Get the guide: "How to Make $100,000 Per Year With 150 Clients."Links:Forever FierceDriven NutritionGym Owners UnitedTimeline:00:28 – “How much you bench?”3:37 – Origins of the “more is better” model.9:47 – The exception, not the rule.12:20 – Why you don’t want more members.14:56 – The metrics you should think about instead.16:35 – How to make more money with fewer clients.18:42 – Where to start.

Gym owners: Stop cutting your own pay to make ends meet. It doesn't make your business stronger.Still skeptical? Take it from Ashely Coffey, owner of Get Fit in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. When she first opened her gym, it was a struggle just to pay her coaches, much less herself. She was working 14-hour days and wearing all the hats, but her business wasn't growing. Then she tried Mike Michalowicz's Profit First method, which teaches business owners to pay themselves before paying any other expense. The result? Ashley's gym has grown, she's off-loaded lower-value roles, and the business is profitable. Links:Get FitAGuardChalk It ProGym Owners UnitedTimeline:1:07 – Horror stories.7:02 – Starting mentorship in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.9:19 – Discovering “Profit First.”11:34 – Starting small.13:44 – Eating the sandwich.14:38 – The snowball effect.16:10 – Climbing the value ladder.20:24 – Concentrating on high-value roles.23:03 – Dealing with bumps along the road.25:11 – You can’t help others if you’re not OK.26:44 – Setting goalposts to drive revenue growth.27:49 – You are a legitimate business expense.29:10 – Life on the Profit First plan: stability, confidence, and growth.31:12 – Success breeds success.

Money's tight this month. But your gym will make it—as long as you cut your own pay a little. No problem; you're not in this business to get rich, right? But you can't live like that forever. Eventually, your business needs to be profitable and you need a paycheck—or you're going to burn out. But how do you get there? The Profit First system, developed by Mike Michalowicz, is a powerful technique for managing cashflow to result in profit. Gym owner and certified public accountant John Briggs tweaked the system even further in his book, "Profit First for Microgyms."Here, John explains how you can use the system to get out of debt, pay yourself and your team, cover your expenses and make a profit.Links:"Profit First for Microgyms"Incite TaxArboxChalk It ProGym Owners UnitedTimeline:2:25 – What is Profit First?3:04 – Parkinson’s Law. 6:18 – The gym-owner trap.11:14 – The seven accounts: income.12:19  – The seven accounts: team members.14:13 – The seven accounts: owner pay.17:20 – The seven accounts: profit.22:31 – The seven accounts: tax.24:14  – The seven accounts: operating expenses.24:28 – The seven accounts: equipment.25:48 – Why the system works.27:29 – How to start implementing Profit First if you’re broke.29:38 – Analyzing expenses and generating revenue.33:27 – Starting small.35:14 – How Profit First will make your life better.36:53 – Where to start.

Gym owner Jason Cohen recently did a hard audit of his business, taking a close, honest assessment of its five most critical aspects: the client journey, operations, facility, marketing, and sales.After the audit, he made some changes. Since then, his gym has been more successful than ever.Here's what Jason learned when he got up close and personal with his business—and how you can find and patch the holes in yours.Links:Locomotion FitnessLevel MethodGym Owners UnitedTwo-Brain ProgrammingThe Gym Audit Timeline:2:08 – Why audit your business?6:12 – The client journey.10:45 – Operations.17:40 – Facility.28:16 – Marketing.36:26 – Sales.

You might be over the pandemic, but that doesn't mean the pandemic's over—just ask Ruth Cheng, owner of CrossFit PTBO in Peterborough, Ontario, which just entered its third lockdown.Each of those lockdowns set Ruth to tears as she watched the cancelations pour in. Yet despite the hardships, the gym's gross revenue grew 20 percent in 2020 compared with 2019. Here, she shares her strategies for retaining clients, increasing revenue and staying positive during one of the toughest years gym owners have ever faced.Links:CrossFit PTBOLevel MethodTwo-Brain ProgrammingWorking With a Spouse: The Secrets to Ending the Stress“Couple-Preneurship”: How to Work With Your SpouseGym Owners UnitedTimeline:1:33 – Growth during one of the toughest years for gym owners.2:54 – Drawing strength from partnership.3:47 – When the pandemic hit.6:28 – Watching cancelations pour in.7:53 – Finding the strength to keep going.10:55 – Moving the gym during lockdown.13:33 – Retaining members during lockdown.17:37 – Making a plan to re-acquire the ones who left.18:11 – The power of communication.22:40 – The race to $50k.25:26 – Increasing revenue by listening to clients.28:22 – What to do if you’re feeling beat down.

You know you've got a great service that gets people results. But how do you get people to your website to sign up for that service?Good SEO—search-engine optimization—is critical. Your SEO practices (or lack thereof) affect where you rank in search results, and you don't wanna be on page 2. Here, digital-marketing expert Mateo Lopez unpacks some of the secrets of on- and off-page SEO and what you can do to direct more traffic to your website for free.Links:Gym Lead MachineThe Guide to Local SEO for Gym OwnersAGuardGym Owners UnitedChalk It ProTimeline:3:02 – What is SEO?6:02 – Why SEO matters.9:34 – General vs. local SEO.12:57 – The Two-Brain SEO course.13:59 – Where good SEO can increase your visibility.15:30 – What determines who gets the top rankings.19:37 – Why you shouldn’t stuff keywords.21:27 – How to improve your rankings.23:11 – Using content to rank higher and increase domain authority.26:32 – White- and black-hat SEO. 28:09 – Why you need to be on Google My Business.31:19 – SEO: What not to do.37:24 – How Gym Lead Machine can help you get more website traffic and leads.40:13 – Two easy things you can do today to improve your SEO.

Nutrition coaching is a fantastic way to improve client results while increasing revenue for your gym—if it's done well.The gyms with the most successful nutrition-coaching programs are the ones who treat it with the same level of professionalism as fitness coaching. After completing and implementing the Two-Brain Nutrition Coaching course, designed by registered dietician and Nutrition Rx founder Jen Broxterman, several gym owners have increased monthly front-end revenue by as much as $4,000. Here, Jen explains exactly what world-class nutrition coaching looks like and how gym owners can quickly launch an amazing, revenue-boosting nutrition program.Links:Two-Brain Nutrition CoachingChalk It ProLevel MethodGym Owners UnitedContact:nutrition@twobraincoaching.comTimeline:1:42 – Defining success in nutrition coaching.5:11 – The client-centered approach.9:52 – How to coach a vegan if you love meat.13:20 – Real-world return on investment.17:58 – Low barrier to entry.22:54 – The difference between gyms that make money with nutrition coaching and gyms that don’t.27:36 – Treating nutrition coaching with professionalism.29:25 – Don’t take a consultation at a hockey game.33:47 – The biggest mistake new nutrition coaches make.37:54 – Look for the little levers with the biggest ROI.41:23 – Be a curious scientist.44:59 – The No. 1 soft skill of world-class nutritionists.

How many leads do you get a month? Of those, how many book an appointment? And of those, how many actually buy?That's number is your close rate, and in February 2021, Joanne Cogle's was 100 percent.Here, she joins Mike Warkentin to talk about how she did it. Links:Should You Post Your Prices on Your Website?Nutrition Challenges Are Dead. Kickstarts Are the AnswerLevel MethodGym Owners UnitedTwo-Brain CoachingTimeline:1:50 – Getting to a 100 percent close rate.5:03 – The power of confidence.7:02 – The lead-nurture process.11:30 – Transparent pricing.13:06 – Narrowing the niche.19:40 – What happens in the consultation.24:49 – Presenting options and closing the sale.28:23 – The right time to upsell additional services.31:00 – Goal-setting sessions and the 90-day review.35:17 – Staffing and SOPs.39:12 – Don’t forget to be nice.

Look at all those clients and staff members—what would think if they knew the real you? If they knew what a fraud you actually are? If you've ever had thoughts like those, welcome: You're a fellow sufferer of imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is that voice inside our heads that tells us we're not actually as good as everyone thinks we are; that we've got them all fooled. Everybody has this voice, and as psychotherapist Bonnie Skinner says, it's not actually your enemy. The trick is to learn how to respond to it. Here's how to challenge that voice and put imposter syndrome to rest.Links:Imposter SyndromeCrushing Imposter SyndromeTwo-Brain Summit 2021ArboxTwo-Brain ProgrammingGym Owners UnitedContact:bonnie@skinnerpsychotherapy.comTimeline:2:26 – What imposter syndrome is trying to protect us from.7:21 – Projecting our thoughts onto others.10:29 – Imposter syndrome and entrepreneurship.11:35 – Coping with imposter syndrome and anxiety.15:06 – When to “fake it ‘till you make it”—and when not to.18:24 – Responding to the imposter in your head.20:54 – Sharing your struggles with a community. 25:08 – Not even the best of the best are immune to the syndrome.25:57 – Bonnie Skinner at the Two-Brain Summit: The impact of the subconscious mind.27:59 – What to do when anxiety and doubt creep in.30:19 – Be average today so you can be magnificent tomorrow.32:15 – How mentorship can help.

You know your program works. You're confident you can help clients reach their goals and change their lives. So why do you sweat and stammer when it comes time to ask for the sale?You're not actually bad at sales, says Jeff Burlingame, Two-Brain sales expert. You just have a bad sales process. On April 24, Jeff will join renowned sales expert Joe Marcoux to deliver a virtual Sales Mastery Workshop. The workshop will help gym owners and coaches increase sales confidence and boost close rates as well as teach how to develop a sales staff.Learn more in this episode of Two-Brain Radio.Links:Sales Mastery WorkshopAll about the Sales Mastery WorkshopJoe MarcouxAGuardTwo-Brain CoachingGym Owners UnitedTimeline:1:13 – How to recoup the value of the Sales Mastery Workshop.5:39 – Dealing with the fear of sales.9:11 – How to get more confident.13:33 – Nobody is actually bad at sales.18:08 – What the Sales Mastery Workshop has to offer more advanced salespeople.22:57 – What the workshop will look like.25:51 – Who is Joe Marcoux?