I struggled badly in the summer months as a gym owner.
In fact, I dug a hole so deep in June, July and August that we rarely climbed into the black until January of the following year.
When I had the chance to talk to a gym owner who posted his best month of revenue in June, I had a lot of questions.
Stan Skolfield runs Skolfield Sports Performance in Maine, and he put his gym on a Top 10 revenue leaderboard that runs from US$63,000 to $90,000.
So how did he do that when my revenue cratered every summer?
Stan told me his big June came because June in gyms for kids is like January in gyms for adults.
When kids are out of school for summer break, they need stuff to do—and Stan provides it, big time.
Skolfield Sports Performance serves kids and youths aged 8 and older, with the primary demographic being 13-18. He has 10,000 square feet of space and seven coaches, with a mix of full- and part-time trainers. The gym has been associated with Parisi Speed School for more than 15 years.
Here’s Stan’s approximate revenue breakdown:
- 20 percent—On-ramps
- 55 percent—Semi-private training
- 10 percent—Group classes
- 10 percent—Speed camps
- 5 percent—Retail and remote training
In June 2024, Stan created $37,000 in revenue by registering 227 kids in speed camps held outside his gym—so his training space isn’t overwhelmed. He coaches the kids to be faster for eight weeks, and all along the way he works to promote the value of his core programming inside the gym.
Yes, his kids camps provide massive front-end revenue, but they also funnel kids into his gym when the speed camps end.
I asked Stan how a gym owner could generate just $2,000 of new revenue in summer next year, and here’s the plan he laid out:
- Add special youth programming—speed camps or general kids programming.
- Run two one-hour sessions a week for eight weeks.
- Charge about $15 per session. (Stan doesn’t know your exact business model, so set your prices based on expenses, value and profit margin with the help of your mentor.)
- Create a 16-session plan that appeals to the kids you target (e.g., make it fun for very young ones, emphasize performance for older teens, etc.).
- Tell the parents in your gym about it, and ask them to tell their friends with kids.
- Get eight kids in the program to gross about $2,000.
- Tell parents that their kids can attend up to 16 sessions, but they’ll still get amazing results with 10-12. That way parents know they aren’t “failing” if they miss a few sessions over summer—and they won’t ask for refunds for missed sessions.
- If the program is a hit and demand warrants it, run another. If that’s a hit, too, consider adding ongoing kids programming.
Stan provided a final shortcut: Get a complete plug-and-play template for programs from Parisi Speed School. The cost of the template “is pennies compared to the ROI,” Stan said.
Revenue PR in Summer 2025?
This is a very simple plan that can generate new revenue next year.
But it will only work if you take action now.
Put summer kids programs on your calendar now, then work back from the start date and add set-up milestones, such as “get kids program announcement in April newsletter to clients.”
If I were you, I’d put this one on the calendar with an alert: “Jan. 10, 2025: Start planning and marketing kids programs to start in June.”
If you do that, your summer revenue totals will look much different than they did this year.
Take two minutes right now to make an addition to your calendar, then be sure to take action in the winter of 2025.
