I’m going to tell you how our top gyms generate average revenue per member of $500 a month or more.
When we interviewed the owners of the Top 10 gyms on our leaderboard (see below), a few themes emerged. Here are their quotes:
“I focus on personal training and have gotten rid of group classes due to lack of interest. This leaves more hours in the day for one-on-one and semi-private training.”
“I focus on one-on-one and semi-private personal training as my business model and offer group classes as a supplement to private training.”
“We offer comprehensive packages; i.e., PT plus nutrition, small group plus nutrition, or PT plus small group.”
“We start everybody with a base of personal training two or three times a week for as long as they need and then transition them to one or two days of PT and add on small-group PT as their base. This allows them one day to focus on their goals, and on the other days they jump into community workouts.”
Power Trio: PT, Semi-Private and Group
We take a similar path at my gym, Catalyst. At the end of on-ramp, we say, “You’re making good progress! Would you be most comfortable continuing one on one or in a semi-private group?”
Many people select one of those two options, but some will say, “I’ve got some friends in your group classes. That’s what I want.” When that happens, we offer group training.
We once focused on group classes, but they aren’t the main program anymore, and we don’t run as many classes as we used to. The people in the sessions are great, and they’re having fun, making connections and gradually getting more fit. But our semi-private and PT streams are the bread and butter now.
We also use the group classes as a “safety net”: If a semi-private client is going to miss time due to holidays, work, etc., they can make up missed sessions with the group.
This is a big change from the time when most gym owners rushed people through on-ramps and funneled them into group classes without presenting other options.
Using a similar model, some gym owners—I quoted two above—offer hybrid options: group training plus one-on-one training, personal training plus nutrition, small group plus nutrition, personal training plus small group.
All these models produce greater ARM than “everybody does group classes and that’s it.”
And the cool thing is that you don’t have to scrap what you’re currently doing if you want to pivot to a model in which you can offer high-value services.
You can add easily these things with the help of a Two-Brain mentor, and you don’t have to stop running group classes. No one is saying group classes are bad. I am saying that some fitness clients prefer other options—premium options.
Your Method and Your Model
The trap comes when you confuse your method with your model.
If you run a CrossFit affiliate, for example, that’s your method. You use CrossFit. Your model is how you deliver that method to people.
CrossFit, for example, can be delivered in one-on-one, small-group or big-group classes, but I know many gym owners who for years thought CrossFit is done in groups only.
Love your method but develop your model—and that’s best done in a partnership with clients.
In a No Sweat Intro or free consultation, you tell people what’s best for them, and they tell you what they prefer. When those two things come together, that’s your model. And if you don’t have a personal training or a small-group option in your model, you can’t connect with people who don’t want group training.
Conversely, the one-on-one-only model has limitations, too. You only have so many hours in your day, so with PT you’ll hit capacity quickly, likely with a high ARM. But will you have enough clients to live the life you want? The gym business is all about balancing metrics like this.
I’ll give you an example. Check out this ARM leaderboard again:
The Top 10 average is $608 a month, but the average client head count of these gyms is 56, for an average monthly gross of $34,048.
With 56 clients, you don’t need a huge amount of space or a ton of equipment, so you could take home a nice chunk of the gross.
The flip side—and I’ve lived this—is that you will have extreme demands on your time. Imagine if each of your 56 clients wants to train three times a week. That’s 168 hours of coaching. Even if each one only trains once a week, you’re at 56 hours of coaching if you don’t have help.
You can see the challenges in that model right away.
That’s why Two-Brain recommends a good mix of one-on-one options with some kind of group option. It might be small-group or big-group training—it’s up to you. But to build your business, you can’t turn a blind eye to the options your clients want.
You must be client-centric and focus on what they want and what they need. When you do that, you get an amazing business. Not a cookie-cutter business. A gym based on a sound model that reflects the clients’ desires and the owner’s method of choice.
If you’re in the Two-Brain family, you already know your mentor is helping you optimize your model so your clients get great results and you earn a great living.
If you don’t work with us yet but want to find out how we can help you improve your unique business, book a call here.
