“Intrapreneurialism” is a key concept for a gym owner: Staff members are mentored to “grow the pie” on your strong, stable platform.
That means you teach them how to sell themselves, pursue opportunities, serve clients and earn more while your business shields them from all the risks of entrepreneurialism.
In return, your gym earns more, too, because you pay trainers a maximum of 44 percent of the new revenue that is created.
Numbers are important—for staff members who want to create careers and business owners who deserve to increase their profit and net owner benefit (NOB)—so I’ll provide three examples.
Example 1
Two-Brain mentor and former gym owner Peter Brasovan helped someone develop a yoga program under his and his partner’s brand about five years ago. The program grew so large that it contributed $190,000 to an annual gross of $1 million.
Almost 20 percent of gross revenue was generated by an intrapreneurial coach who saw free space, a market and an opportunity.
We recommend owners pay coaches a maximum of 4/9ths, or 44 percent, of program revenue. If Peter paid the yoga program creator 44 percent of $190,000 gross, that’s an income of $83,600. The gym keeps about $105,000, which is divided between fixed costs and profit.
In this scenario, the clients win because they’re getting access to a service they want. The coach wins by earning more than $80,000 without having to lease a building, set up a business and build an audience.
The gym owner wins, too: In exchange for providing essential infrastructure and mentoring a coach to succeed on a stable platform, the business takes in more than $100,000 after the coach has been paid.
This scenario isn’t made up—you can hear the whole story here.
Example 2
One Two-Brain mentor started a new coach in February 2024 with a few classes, on-ramps and PT clients, but the goal was to help him create opportunities for high-value hours.
The mentor knows the coach’s “target number” and wants to help him hit it to establish a career (knowing this number is key!).
To start moving toward the coach’s earnings goal, the mentor expanded a program for older adults, and the coach makes $66 per session (a percentage of program revenue).
The gym also added a kids program: The coach is paid a percentage of revenue here, too, and he makes $57 for a session with five kids and $138 for a maxed-out session.
The trainer can see a clear path to earning more: Find more kids for the small session and he can more than double his earnings for that session.
How can you help a coach grow a kids program? Start by forwarding this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym.”
Example 3
Another Two-Brain mentor put together a starting package for a coach to earn about $500 a week through PT, group classes, kids classes, cleaning and onboarding of new clients.
Based on the coach’s goals, the owner created a list of opportunities, including acquiring new PT and semi-private clients, filling kids classes, learning to perform No Sweat Intros and sell, and filling a new class time.
She committed to supporting the coach by spending more on ads and dialing in lead nurturing; the coach learned to sell himself, made himself available and eagerly pursued all opportunities.
The result: The coach added about $800 in weekly income (and counting) to the $500 starting point—and the gym earned more money as well because the coach is paid a percentage of the gross.
Be a Mentor!
I see stuff like this very regularly in our private groups for gym owners.
But success stories like this don’t just appear.
You must care enough to take action and help your staff members.
Instead of abdicating responsibility, giving them “room to grow” and hoping they solve the career riddle on their own, you must be a CEO, a leader and a coach.
You must care enough to say this:
“I’m going to mentor you through this process of growth so that you can make this your career.”
If you do that, your clients will get better service, your coach will earn a good living and stick around long term, and your gym will generate more revenue and profit.
Everyone wins.
