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The Fastest Way to 10x Your Business

I was visiting a new gym in Boston. The coach said, “Warm up with double-unders.” I’m okay at those, so I did 100 unbroken. Then I noticed people were staring. “You just broke the record!” one lady said. The others were still frozen. “What was the record?” I asked. “SEVEN!!!” she said, loudly. I love visiting new gyms. To a brand-new CrossFitter, I can pull off a bit of athleticism because I have a good skillset even if my fitness isn’t at its peak. A REAL CrossFit athlete can usually lap me on any given day. The point is that context matters. The fastest way to 10x your business is to have a really bad business, and then make it mediocre. It’s very, very hard to 10x a GOOD business, because it’s already doing the things that make it successful. TwoBrain grew by 300% this year–which is remarkable–but it was only our second year. Growing Catalyst, IgniteGym or another of my established companies 300% would be close to a miracle. Because they’re already very successful. In fact, a 20% growth in Catalyst would be a 200% growth in other gyms. Context matters. When you’re considering growth, start with what you NEED to earn first: Being stretched I decided good seed would be investing in a business mentor- Chris Cooper… curious and wondering how long it would take to start seeing some fruit, we jumped in. That first year 2016 with 2BB we made 200K that’s 110K more than the year before!! More than that my family slowly started getting their dad and husband back. My parents started getting their son back… my friends started getting their friend back. My team started getting the leader they needed and wanted. This year we have already well surpassed our last year revenue and still have 2 months to go. The best part is because of this group I am constantly challenged to do ...
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Constant Reinforcement of Value

Politicians who are trying to get elected talk about what they’re going to do. Politicians who are trying to STAY in power talk about what they’ve DONE. Over and over again. I don’t want to be a politician. But I want to be really good at keeping people engaged long-term. SO here’s the strategy:   Constantly reinforce the value of your service by reminding clients what they get with their membership. For example: “Strength workout AND aerobic workout today, built into a full hour of coaching!” (It seems obvious, doesn’t it? But your clients need to be reminded that they’re paying for coaching, not access.)   Another example: “We’ve programmed an easier day for tomorrow, because we want to optimize your recovery time!”   (Remind your clients that you have a long-term plan for their success–you’re not just randomly choosing workouts online, which they could do themselves.)   Too often, we aim our sales and marketing messages at NON-clients, and forget to remind our current clients why they love our service.   Simple, right? So why doesn’t anyone do it except politicians? A few reasons: We believe the value of our service is obvious (it’s not) We believe our clients know all the benefits they get from us (they don’t) We believe people make decisions and stick to them forever (uh, no.) Novelty bias: over time, things that once excited us become normalized.   I’m as guilty as anyone. I only remind them of gym upgrades before I’m about to raise rates. I only say “I care about you” when I’m about to make a change they might not like. I only buy new equipment when I feel like I HAVE to.   Here’s the strategy many TwoBrain gyms are now often using: Monday – reminder message to current clients Tuesday – benefits-based message to future clients Wednesday – client story Thursday – love letter Friday – bright spots.   ...
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Develop Your People (Slowly)

We’ve all been there. You hire a new, hungry staff member, ready to put in work and help you grow your business. You, being the tired, overworked gym owner you are, dream of freedom. It’s a win-win for both of you. At first, things go great. They take on many of the roles you once had to shoulder yourself. Revenue is up and it seems they can do no wrong. So you offer them more things to do, and they, being young and hungry, say yes. A few months later, things change. Members are complaining, some are leaving, revenue is down and your young, hungry staff member is showing up late. You broke them. Well, you helped break them. The point is, you both came into this relationship with good intentions, but took poor action. Don’t worry—you are not alone. I have done this many times in my business. You would think I would have learned by the fifth time. You would think I would have realized that I was doing something wrong, not them. Well, I’ve finally learned the crucial lesson: Move slowly. Like, really slowly. Avoid the temptation to dump everything on new staff when they start. I know it’s hard, but trust me. The Plan When a new person starts, give them one role. Set clear expectations, give them a contract and an evaluation form. Our Incubator and Growth clients go through this process with mentors. Give them one month to work in this role. Then evaluate them. How did they do? How do they feel? Happy? Comfortable? Overwhelmed? Exhausted? Don’t just gauge performance, gauge how they feel. If they do a good job AND are not feeling overwhelmed, extend their contract to three months and CONSIDER giving them one more opportunity. This could be additional tasks or one additional role. Then re-evaluate at the end of three months. Slowly but surely they will develop into an ...
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Why You Can't Stop STRESSING

You’ve done it: you’re free! You no longer have to open your business at 6am and spin the “CLOSED” sign at 9pm. You have staff, systems and automation. You’re making enough money to have a comfortable income for your family, and a cushion for your business. Things are GOOD. So why can’t you stop stressing about your business? Why do you check the phone 50 times every evening, when you should be pushing your kid on a swing set? If you’ve ever been called out by your wife (I certainly have) for checking your phone when you were “off”, this is for you. See that little red dot in the middle of your brain? That’s called your amygdala. Amygdala’s job is fight-or-flight, baby. It’s the GO area. And everything you encounter–the food you eat, the air you breathe, the people who eyeball you on the subway–they’re all processed by the amygdala FIRST. Before you even think about any of that stuff, your amygdala has already made a decision about it. On the plains of Africa, the amygdala learned to trigger the “run away!” response even before your neocortical regions recognized the lion. Obviously, we aren’t on the plains anymore. But as entrepreneurs, we’re ALWAYS on the lookout for lions. There are so many ways a business can be killed–especially in the early days–that our amygdala is on constant alert: “What’s that client going to write about me on Facebook?” “How many people are coming through the door today?” “Is my assistant’s grammar getting better, or do I need to read more of her emails?” “Did my lunch make my breath stinky before this meeting?” “How am I going to get more clients?!?” And your amygdala LIKES it. This constant vigil makes your amygdala grow. It recruits other neurons from nearby areas of the brain and says, “I need these more than you do.” As it gathers power, our amygdala takes ...
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Episode 93: Greg Glassman

Chris Cooper (00:00:00):Have you ever met Greg Glassman? If you have, I’m going to bet you remember everything about the encounter. You probably remember where you were, maybe what he was wearing. You definitely remember what he said to you. To the outside world, Greg has a very iconic appearance. He’s one of the most renowned people in fitness and health today, but to the inside world, to those of his affiliates, he has a much closer connection. I first met Greg in person in 2012 at a regional event where I was the media director. In 2013, I flew out to Seattle to accept his job offer in the parking garage at the Four Seasons to work and write for CrossFit Journal for a year. Last month, when HQ invited me out to do their podcast, I responded to their invitation with a request to get Greg on this show so that he could speak directly to affiliates.   Chris Cooper (00:00:48):Finally, we worked out that I’d fly out to Portland, sit at Greg’s kitchen table with him for an hour and a half and just ask them anything that was on my mind. And so, I asked him about the origins, for which some affiliates are still unclear. I asked him about how things should be in his affiliates today, and I asked him what the future held. At the table were Jimi Letchford and Nicole Carroll; you can hear them chime in a little bit through this interview. This is an unscripted, unedited, free-flow discussion with Greg, of the kind that he no longer really does very often anymore. And so, I feel incredibly privileged and proud to have done this interview from Greg’s house and be bringing it to you. Without any further ado, the man who needs no introduction: Coach.   Greg Glassman (00:01:33):Working with the best people in your community, during what is for ...
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What's L5?

CrossFit has provided a unique entrepreneurial opportunity to change lives.     The path to joy requires security, consistency and the opportunity to serve others. Gym ownership ticks all of those boxes. The challenges of running a successful gym are large and diverse: certainly challenging enough for virtually anyone. No one EVER got bored owning a gym.   But…   Some of us, infected with the entrepreneurial virus, decide to pursue another project. Usually this involves broadening our audience, our influences and our minds. It also means our gyms have to run themselves while we focus on this new project.   Two-Brain Business is MY Level 5 project. My interest became an experiment, and then it became a passion; now it’s a compulsion. I can’t NOT help other gym owners. And at TwoBrain, we’re exceptionally rich with owners from all across the spectrum: not-quite-open to ten-years-in. Broke to millionaire, starving to hungry for more. And now that the TwoBrain Workshop is open, it’s clear that other entrepreneurs need help. We stand ready to help with the philosophy of Help First, incubation and mentorship.   The Level 5 Group is where we mentor those who want MORE.   They have a big idea, or a massive opportunity. Many already own a gym, but have moved on from the day-to-day operations and are ready to help a larger audience. Some own many gyms; some are founders of software companies that SERVE gym owners.   I’m not sure if TwoBrain attracts the entrepreneurial, or if business success makes them hungry for more. I’m not sure if Level 5 thinkers are made, or born. But I know that we can help them.   The Level 5 Group is for entrepreneurs whose first business is virtually automated and requires little of their time or attention. It’s for owners who have another big idea that keeps them up at night. It’s for people who, despite being ...
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