Want more gym members without slashing your prices? Discounts can undermine your gym’s value, hurt your profit margins and attract the wrong clients. There’s a better way.

In this episode of "Run a Profitable Gym," host Mike Warkentin is joined by John Franklin, chief marketing officer at Two-Brain and Kilo.

John shares four proven strategies to help you attract and retain new clients without offering discounts: events, holiday challenges, New Year’s Day check-ins and black card referral campaigns. He lays out examples of each tactic and offers practical tips for implementation at your gym.

John’s advice is clear: Focus on attracting high-value members who will stay for years instead of using discounts to lure in low-paying coupon clippers who won’t stick around.

For more support on running a profitable gym without discounts, get Chris Cooper’s free guide "The Gym Owner’s Guide to a Discount-Free Black Friday" by joining Gym Owners United, linked below.

Links

Gym Owners United

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01:10 - Get more clients before 2025

06:08 - Holiday nutrition challenge

09:09 - New Year’s Day check-in

12:55 - Duplicate your best members

16:05 - Execution matters the most

Slashing prices for Black Friday is a mistake if you sell coaching.

Discounts attract the wrong clients and teach the right clients to wait for sales instead of renew memberships at full price.

Worse, the discount comes out of your profit. The government still gets paid if you cut your rates, and so does the landlord. But you take home less money.

In this episode of "Run a Profitable Gym," Chris Cooper explains exactly what to say when people ask for discounts—use his lines word for word.

He also tells you what to do instead of gutting your profit. Hint: Build value so you attract great clients who will pay full price and stay for years.

Links

Chris Cooper's e-book "The Gym Owner's Guide to a Discount-Free Black Friday" is available here: Gym Owners United

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2:40 - Stay away from discounts

9:28 - The discount snowball

13:35 - "We don’t play those games"

18:23 - Discounts can stop you from giving

24:11 - "Feeling the discounts"

Two-Brain's annual industry-defining report is out!

The 2024 "State of the Industry" guide is packed with the essential data gym owners need to grow their businesses. This year, it even contains 13 ratings scales fitness entrepreneurs can use to evaluate their businesses and target areas for improvement.

How many clients does the average gym have? How much revenue?

What do gym owners pay staff? How many classes do they run?

How large are gyms, and how much of their revenue is used to cover fixed costs?

How fast are gyms responding to leads, and how many clients are they adding each month? How long are they holding those clients, and what's the lifetime value of each one?

How much do gym owners take home each month?

Every question is answered in the guide, which is packed with data from Kilo, Wodify and a huge survey of gym owners.

The guide was released on Nov. 12 on "The Sevan Podcast." Check out this rebroadcast as hosts Sevan Matossian and Matt Souza discuss key stats with Two-Brain founder and CEO Chris Cooper.

Use the link below to get the guide and analyze your gym's performance.

Links

2024 "State of the Industry" Guide

Gym Owners United

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1:53 - The success rate

7:27 - Political landscape and health

15:45 - "State of the Industry" report

37:01 - Shrinking the sample size

1:05 - Sales in health & fitness

1:21 - The OG spark

1:26 - Video contest winners

1:47 - Two-Brain Summit

Two-Brain’s fifth annual “State of the Industry” report is out, and it’s more useful than ever.

It’s not just a collection of statistics but a practical tool designed to help gym owners assess their strengths and weaknesses and make strategic decisions.

Kilo and Wodify kicked in stats from thousands of gyms around the world, and our greatest survey response ever filled the guide with data on average revenue per member, expenses, client retention, profitability and more. The numbers are broken down by gym type, with visual references to help you determine how your gym is performing in comparison.

Tune in to this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym” to hear Two-Brain founder Chris Cooper highlight key takeaways from the report with host Mike Warkentin.

Then, get the 64-page “State of the Industry” report through the link below and use its data to evaluate and improve your business.

Links

2024 "State of the Industry" Guide

Gym Owners United

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02:14 - State of the Industry 2024

08:07 - Big group gyms and revenue

21:39 - Improving good numbers

31:33 - What is left?

38:32 - The best plan for gym owners

Dana Fouche is busy.

In addition to running Reach Athletics, she’s a mother and the owner of a farm. To ensure she never lets her business falter—even when the cows escape again—Dana uses Chris Cooper’s Golden Hour concept: Every day, do one thing to grow your business before you do anything else.

To start her days, Dana goes to a quiet place, clears her head, works on simple but effective marketing tasks and then addresses larger projects. She ends after an hour and makes a plan for the next day. No matter what happens after that, her business has already received a great push forward.

To her, the Golden Hour provides the same accountability she provides to fitness clients. If she tells them they can find an hour to take care of themselves, she can find an hour to focus on her business.

Host Mike Warkentin has Dana run through her exact plan and provide tips for gym owners who are struggling to move their businesses forward. Dana is clear: One hour a day is more than enough to grow your gym if you focus on the right tasks.

To take part in Chris Cooper’s Golden Hour Challenge and build essential entrepreneurial habits, join Gym Owners United using the link below.

And to dig into the concept on your own and set up your own 60-minute plan, get “The Golden Hour," also linked below.

Links

"The Golden Hour"

Gym Owners United

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01:21 - Business momentum in one hour

04:24 - Rundown on Dana’s gym

07:09 - Dana’s Golden Hour

11:36 - Lead with marketing reps

17:21 - Tips for those who are struggling

Today on “Run a Profitable Gym,” Two-Brain founder and CEO Chris Cooper lays out three gym business models that actually work, using case studies from gym owners earning $100,000 per year.

Chris walks through profit-and-loss statements, revealing all the nitty-gritty details, so you can see exactly what levers these gym owners pulled to reach $100,000.

The first gym owner ran big group classes with a decent headcount but had high overhead and struggled to scale. They focused on increasing total members and retention, while adding more classes.

In the second case study, the owner started with group classes but had high churn and low revenue. He introduced an on-ramp process and personal training to help clients hit their goals, and he added a third revenue stream: retail and supplements.

The final gym owner started with one-woman personal training, but the workload was overwhelming and income was inconsistent. She hired a part-time coach and shifted to semi-private training.

What's the business model that will help you reach your financial goals? A mentor can help you build it.

To download our “5 Ways to Make $100k From Your Gym” guide, join Gym Owners United using the link below.

Links

Gym Owners United

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0:22 – Infinite business models

0:54 – P&L statements

3:53 – Big-group model

7:12 - Challenges of the group model

9:49 - Adding revenue streams

16:08 – First case study

22:35 – Second case study

28:45 – Third case study

Three years ago, gym owner Magnus Bjorsvik increased rates dramatically, and some of his clients were angry about it.

Today, Magnus is on Two-Brain’s Top 10 leaderboard for net owner benefit (NOB)—salary, dividends and anything else the gym pays its owner. He also won the coveted Clients’ Choice Award at this year’s Two-Brain Summit in Chicago.

In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” host Mike Warkentin sits down with Magnus, owner of CrossFit Uvaer in Norway, to learn how his gym has changed since his rate increase in 2021.

Magnus says the increase allowed him to get rid of members who didn’t fit, and his gym community has vastly improved. The higher price has also pushed the gym and its staff to provide better service, and happy members are getting better results.

Magnus now increases rates annually, and the lack of financial pressure has allowed him to stress less and vacation more.

Tune in to hear Magnus’ full story and his advice for other gym owners looking to fast-track growth.

Links

Magnus' Previous Appearance

Gym Owners United

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02:05 - The last three years

06:53 - Thrive with rate increases

10:21 - Success and peace of mind

14:23 - Struggles after opening a gym

17:18 - Mentors hold you responsible

The average fitness entrepreneur earns between $2,500 and $6,000 per month. The top earning gym owner on our leaderboard brings home six times the high end of that average.

In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Two-Brain CEO Chris Cooper presents the Top 10 leaders for net owner benefit (NOB)—profit, salary and anything else a gym owner earns from their business. Then, he shares how they got on our leaderboard.

Some focused heavily on retention and raising client value.

Others reinvested their profit to become even more profitable—increasing ad spend, developing staff or buying a building.

The common theme: All our top gym owners created clear, consistent plans with their mentors and then put them on repeat.

This requires focus and habit building. Starting Nov. 1, Chris will help gym owners develop these skills through the Golden Hour Challenge, based on his new book, “The Golden Hour.”

To join the free challenge, use the link below to join the Gym Owners United group, where Chris will post a prompt every single day and tell you exactly what to do to start building momentum and take charge of your business.

Links

“The Golden Hour” by Chris Cooper

Gym Owners United

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1:02 - Importance of being profitable

5:04 - August net owner benefit

8:12 - How did they get to the top?

11:05 - Quotes from the August leaders

18:01 - The Golden Hour