Every gym owner should be able to make $100,000 per year.
At Two-Brain, we’ve seen gym owners reach this level so many times now that there’s really no reason to suggest an entrepreneur can’t earn this amount from a fitness business.
In our mentorship program, it’s no longer a matter of “if” an owner will reach this level. If expert guidance and support are present, it’s simply a matter of “when” a deserving, focused owner will earn this reward.
Some gyms get to $100,000 in net owner benefit (NOB) slowly because they have problems to fix and mistakes to undo.
Some gyms get to $100,000 in net owner benefit fairly quickly. These are often the gyms that invest in our Startup Program before they even open. For existing gyms whose owners start working with a mentor, it’s possible to reach $100,000 in NOB quickly—usually if the owner follows the mentor’s explicit directions and takes quick, decisive action.
And other gym owners earn far more than $100,000 NOB per year. Here’s what the top gym owners in Two-Brain earned in June 2023 (these are rolling three-month averages):
What’s Beyond $100,000 a Year?
US$100,000 per year as a gym owner is far better than the national-average earnings in North America and Europe—but you and your mentor will set your own target, depending on your country and your needs.
So what happens after you hit that goal?
Your opportunity to serve grows. You can better serve your family, your team and your clients. And, for the first time, you’ll have enough money to serve your community better.
When you hit your income goal, you can start investing:
1. Investing in your family: You can begin to invest your money to create long-term wealth for your kids. You can invest in things that will let you retire. You can invest in properties for your kids to inherit and in tax expertise to minimize their burden. You can invest in experiences that will change their lives.
2. Investing in your team: Earning $100,000 from your gym is a signal that your business is stable enough to pay others a salary, too. You have the systems and processes that can create careers—your income is proof. Only after you’re earning a decent salary should you offer a salary to others.
3. Investing in your gym: You have a working model that you can now duplicate in other locations or you can buy the building in which your gym sits, securing its future. You can reinvest in different modalities to help your clients more. Or you can simply fix the broken stuff.
4. Investing in your community: When you have some extra money and time, you can spend it volunteering. You can buy bikes for kids. You can find places where $10,000 makes an immediate and profound difference and just donate the money. You can hold fundraisers and charity events in your gym because you have the extra bandwidth to do so.
A quick note: many gym owners try to do these things too early. They try to buy a building before their gym can afford it, they promise salaries to their staff before making a decent income themselves, they open second locations before their first has a proven model, and they run charity events when their own business is unprofitable.
Remember: income first, then investment. Feed the golden goose.
From Income to Investment
Our Tinker program is built to teach gym owners how to invest. And my upcoming book “Millionaire Gym Owner” is all about the journey from income to investment.
Here are the four ways that Tinkers invest:
1. Scale—They put money back into the business they know and love. They open second locations successfully because they have a proven model to duplicate. They expand their offerings to serve more people. Or they might open an overlapping business, like a ninja gym for kids.
2. External Investment—They put money into cash-flow assets, like real estate, overfunded whole life insurance policies, bonds/crypto/stocks, or “boring businesses.” Sometimes they might offer private lending to others or even act as angel investors in startups.
3. Internal Investment—They invest in mentorship to become better leaders and remove the bottlenecks in the growth of their businesses. (This has been massive for me.)
4. Lifestyle—They invest in work-life integration, experiences and time. Some invest into Mentor Certification to help other gym owners and local entrepreneurs succeed. Or they might invest their time into service.
All this sounds great, right? But you can’t invest until you have a good income.
The reason I want to make gym owners wealthy is because there are no better people on Earth.
I want to put more money into the hands of generous, service-oriented people who are dedicated to improving the health of others. I want the good guys to win, and I want them to win big because that’s how others win.
In the next post in this series, I’ll share how your success helps everyone around you.
Other Media in This Series
“Top 4 Reasons You Need to Make Money as a Gym Owner”
“From Investment to Impact: Spreading Success to the Community”
Video: “Gym Owners Who Take Home More Than $20,000 a Month? Believe It!”
