The Low-Stress, High-Speed Path to Earning $100,000 From Your Gym

A photo of a car speeding down an open highway at sunset.

I’ll be honest: The idea of finding 300 clients for a coaching gym rattles me—even after running a fitness business since 2009.

To acquire 300 people, you need a hot marketing machine and salespeople. And to serve these clients, you need lots of classes, an army of staff people, a bunch of equipment, a decent amount of space, airtight systems and a ton of toilet paper.

And despite your best efforts, some will leave for any number of reasons no matter what you do. Even if you only lose 3 percent of your 300 members each month, you’ll have to add in nine new people just to hold steady at 300. To actually grow, you’ll have to add one new person every two or three days.

That’s not to say you can’t run a 300-plus-member gym: Lots of profitable, stable Two-Brain gyms have 300 or more clients, and a mentor can tell you exactly how to serve a big crowd.

But all those people make me nervous personally—which is why I’m thrilled to know a gym owner can make $100,000 a year with only 150 clients.

A head shot of writer Mike Warkentin and the column name "Pressing It Out."

The 150 Model isn’t the only way to find success as a microgym owner, but it might be the simplest, fastest, least-stressful route to a great income.

I can hear the main criticism already because it pops up on social media every time Two-Brain posts about the 150 Model: “You just can’t make $100,000 with 150 clients if they’re all paying $50 a month.”

That is correct.

If your rates are very low and you run an access-only facility, you will need more than 150 members.

But remember that we’re talking about coaching gyms—and in these facilities it isn’t that hard to create service packages worth an average of $162 to $205 a month.

If you do that, you can make $100,000 per year. This isn’t hyperbole. We have spreadsheets that show you the exact breakdown. Here’s a chunk of one spreadsheet:

A section of a gym spreadsheet showing member total, retention figures and revenue for an average revenue per member of $162.

In this simple scenario, with recurring expenses and staff pay set to appropriate levels, the owner of this gym will earn $90,700 plus $11,500 in net profit.

I won’t get into all the math here. I just want to let you know it is possible to make $100,000 as a gym owner with 150 clients.

If you want to dig in further and crunch the numbers, we have a free 23-page guide that will lay everything out. You’ll get:

  • 3 spreadsheet-backed plans to earn $100,000 from a gym.
  • The six reasons you aren’t making $100,000 right now.
  • A diagnostic tool to help you find the weakest parts of your business.
  • A list of ways to solve the most common problems that stand between you and six-figure earning.


The guide is called “How to Make $100,000 a Year With 150 Clients,” and it’s available in our Gym Owners United group. You just have to click here and leave a comment on the post.

(If you aren’t in the group yet, join by clicking here, then comment on the post.)

If you get the guide—which comes with no strings attached—you’ll have the nitty-gritty numbers that support the model and everything you need to start improving your gym. Use the info to create the life you want.

But if you’d like some guidance and support when implementing Two-Brain’s proven model for gyms, that’s available, too. Click here to talk to us about how we can help you earn $100,000 a year with just 150 clients.

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One more thing!

Did you know gym owners can earn $100,000 a year with no more than 150 clients? We wrote a guide showing 5 ways to do it.