In the previous post in this series, I told you that there are six reasons gyms go out of business:
- Low net owner benefit (NOB).
- Few members.
- Low average revenue per member (ARM).
- Short length of engagement (LEG).
- Poor return on expenses (ROI).
- Owner burnout (EHR).
I also identified some red herrings that usually take the blame. You can read the post here.
At Two-Brain, our mentorship practice grows gyms by improving each of the six key metrics listed above. We do this in stages.
RampUp Phase
First, in our RampUp stage, we measure the gym’s strength with regard to each of the metrics.
You can take our self-assessment here and then book a call to talk with my team about growing.
Then we work to improve each metric over the course of 12 weeks. This is our first “sprint,” and it’s very intensive, with hours spent one on one with a Two-Brain mentor.
Growth Phase
The next stage in our mentorship practice is Growth.
In this stage, the gym owner has built a solid foundation and is ready to learn the methods of growth. These include hiring and mentoring a team, marketing, sales, optimizing operations, adding new revenue streams, correcting rates, and even giving themselves raises.
Different gyms have different priorities at different times. Gym owners track their metrics over time, and each month work with mentors to determine the largest opportunities. Mentors help them achieve their next goals as quickly as possible.
The goal of Growth Phase is to help a gym owner earn $100,000 per year in Net Owner Benefit (NOB).
Tinker Phase
When an owner has achieved $100,000 NOB, they ascend to Tinker Phase.
Tinker Phase is about scaling: reinvesting the little bits of extra time and money to create compounding effects. Some Tinkers open second or third gyms, others launch larger programs, and some reinvest in real estate or crypto.
At this stage, there are no experts who have explored every possible option. So the Tinker program is a mastermind with some one-on-one coaching to speed up the process.
The first goal of Tinker Phase is to reach $1 million in net worth. In the first six months of 2022, we certified 18 new millionaires. And most of them still love to coach in their gyms!
These are huge levels of achievement that haven’t been achieved consistently in the fitness industry. But the path to real success requires many of the same steps that saving a failing gym does. While we don’t teach struggling gyms to spend $100 per day in Facebook ads, we do teach them how to market effectively. Eventually, through the process of systemizing-optimizing-automating, they might go all-in on the marketing funnel that works best.
Feeding a starving gym owner is great. But eventually that gym owner needs to fish and provide a catch large enough to support her family, her team and her community.
