Chris Cooper's Blog, page 51

Generate Revenue Before the Open? Yes, It’s Possible.

I created the Intramural Open in 2011 to generate fun in my gym.

It worked like a charm, but it took a lot of time and effort. As I improved the concept, I saw all sorts of ways to use competition season to add revenue to my bottom line.

I’m not saying new revenue is more important than smiling clients—but you can have both.

In Two-Brain’s annual “Intramural Open Guide,” I always include retention tips and step-by-step revenue-generating tactics for gym owners.

Here’s a quick look at one tactic you should use right now, well before the competition starts.  

In fact, I bet you can use it to generate $2,500 in the next 10 days.

Open Prep Course

During the Intramural Open, your members care more about a thruster, snatch and pull-up than at any other time in the year. In fact, their ability/inability to do them becomes an emotional experience.

So you have a great opportunity to help them in the weeks leading up to the event.

Do this: Promote a prep course to prepare members for competition. You know exactly what people always need to work on: double-unders, pull-up variations, handstand push-ups, etc.

You’re a great coach, so I won’t tell you how to teach movement. I’m sure you can think of 100 ways to fill a six-week prep course that helps people make significant progress with tricky movements.

What’s a reasonable fee for six-week course? I’d suggest $250 as a starting point, but you can adjust that if you’re offering more value. If you market this course right now and sign up 10 people, that’s $2,500 in immediate revenue—or more.

Course participation will help people succeed in the Open, which is great for retention. And you have a great opportunity to suggest eager clients book additional personal sessions to make even more progress after the competition ends.

A six-week prep program is just one example of a pre-competition revenue-generation tactic, but the options are endless:

Specialty courses and clinics.Accessory programs (conditioning, strength, etc.).Private and small-group skill sessions.Competition nutrition seminars.

I’ve got other revenue-generating tactics in my “2024 Intramural Open” guide. I won’t go into detail here because it’s all laid out for you in that ebook.

If you’re heading into competition season without a firm plan, get mine today and use it with my compliments.

I bet you can sell out a prep course in about a week if you take action today. The guide is available right now in the Gym Owners United group—or you can just send me a DM on Facebook (please ask for the “2024 Intramural Open guide” specifically).

The post Generate Revenue Before the Open? Yes, It’s Possible. appeared first on Two-Brain Business.

Where Did the Intramural Open Come From?

I was a shy kid back in high school—but intramurals changed that.

Every year, farm kids who couldn’t get home for lunch were drafted onto one of four teams, and we competed in fun events to earn points for our houses.

I was a Panther, and, if you can believe it, I met my future wife on the team. And, years later, my kids were Panthers.

Intramurals were a blast, and when CrossFit announced its first Open in 2011, the intramural concept seemed like a natural bolt-on to me.

Sure, my gym clients could register on the CrossFit Games site, but most of my members weren’t really interested in competition. They were interested in fitness and fun, so we combined the two to create an amazing in-house event.

In that first year, we used the Intramural Open as a “fun infusion” in the depths of winter. Members of our four teams logged their scores on the CrossFit Games leaderboard, but they also earned points for participation in our competition, which was less about snatches and more about smiles.

I think the Panthers won, but in reality, everybody won. Clients had a reason to keep training and showing up, and they formed stronger bonds as they worked with their teammates to earn points for their squads.

My coaches and I had a great time creating fun games—one year we did a Nerf-gun biathlon—and cheering people to new PRs. The gym was full of energy, and that spilled over onto social media. Everyone who saw our accounts knew we were all about fitness and good times.

The only problems: I was exhausted at the end of the competition (and so were my coaches). And we’d put in a lot of extra hours that improved the client experience, but we didn’t generate any additional revenue in those hours.

2012 and Beyond

The following year, we solved a lot of problems.

We organized prep courses in advance, which generated some revenue and got our clients ready for the event.We set up “heats” in advance to avoid coach burnout.We ramped up the fun with more creativity.

And then something unexpected happened: Other gym owners asked how we were running the event. So we told them, and they started using the Intramural Open at their gyms.

Every year we made improvements, and we shared them with the community.

Now, thousands of gyms worldwide use the Intramural Open as its own event or layer it on top of the CrossFit Open to make the competition fun in their box. It’s a Two-Brain Business original, and I’m proud of it.

More than a decade after I created it, the Intramural Open is so common in gyms that people forget it wasn’t part of the original competition. Now you know: It was really born in a rural high school, and it was developed and perfected in a microgym in a small Canadian city.

Now, we produce an updated guide every year, and it’s designed to help gym owners do three things:

Generate revenue before, during and after the multi-week competition.Help and retain more clients.Run the event with the greatest ease and least amount of stress.

The guide is plug and play, and we share it for free every year.

It’s available right now in the Gym Owners United group—or you can just send me a DM on Facebook (please ask for the “2024 Intramural Open guide” specifically).

Intramurals were life changing for me, and I hope the Intramural Open makes your box more fun and your members happier and more excited. I also hope you use it to generate revenue.

That wasn’t part of the plan in 2011, but it’s an essential element in 2024. Remember: You should get a return on the time you invest in competition—even if that competition is all about smiles and good times.

The post Where Did the Intramural Open Come From? appeared first on Two-Brain Business.

The 2024 Intramural Open: Increase Revenue and Retention Now

Chris Cooper (00:02):
Everything you do in your gym should have a purpose. Everything: Your time, your energy and your attention are your most valuable resources, and those are finite. So, spend them wisely. Think about investing them. Now, I’m reminding you of this as competition season approaches. You invest valuable time and energy in events and competitions, and the return on that investment should be better retention, more revenue or more clients. But this isn’t always the case. I’m Chris Cooper. This is “Run a Profitable Gym,” and today we’re talking about the Intramural Open strategy, and I’m going to give you our free Intramural Open Guide to help you too. In the past, I’ve had a blast running the CrossFit Open at my gym. We were the first gym to use the intramural concept to crank up the fun, and it worked perfectly. Four teams competed for more than a month back in 2011, and my gym was buzzing.

Chris Cooper (00:56):
At the end of it all, my clients were happy, but my staff was completely worn out, and I was crushed. I think I worked 42 days in a row for the first few years of the Open. There was no time off, no weekends anymore for six weeks. And of course, I was bringing my A-game: coaching and cheering and yelling every single weekend that I would normally be resting. This story isn’t uncommon. I know many gym owners who go all out to put on the Intramural Open or the CrossFit Games Open or another in-house or public competition. But many of those gym owners don’t get a return on their time. They just get worn out, and they tell themselves that they’re doing it for the good of the community or that they have to do it. And that’s not true. In fact, I know some who give everything during competition season, and they actually damage their business.

Chris Cooper (01:43):
They’re so focused on that competition that their lead flow dries up, their retention machine breaks down and their operations suffer. For example, back in 2014, one gym owner we work with, back then, he lost 30 clients in the month after the Open, and he was too exhausted to figure out how to replace them. It took him a year and the help of a mentor to recover financially from the damage done by a competitive season done wrong. So, here’s your reminder as open season approaches: The Open is fun, but it’s not everything. Your business is not built on the back of competition, I hope. And done well, a competition can be the cherry on top of your service-sundae, but if the Open doesn’t make you money, doesn’t improve your adherence or retention in a measurable way and it just wears you out, you can skip it. It’s not your duty to do the Open at your gym. If you decide to do the Open, I have a detailed tactical plan to help you.

Chris Cooper (02:38):
In my 2024 Intramural Open Guide, you will learn how to use the Open to generate revenue before, during and after the event—this was unheard of in the early days, but it’s standard practice now—how to celebrate clients and improve retention measurably, how to avoid burning out your staff members and yourself, how to increase participation and create an incredible atmosphere, how to run the event. Now I’ve got a complete timeline including instructions on creating teams and selecting captains and scoring and so on. So, this is the 2024 Intramural Open Guide. We give this guide away for free every single year. I’ve done this now for over a decade. I do it to help you, the gym owner, build revenue and actually improve retention in your gym. I don’t do it to provide an alternative to doing the CrossFit Open. In fact, each event compliments the other. You can do the Intramural Open only, or you can do the CrossFit Open only, or you can do them both together.

Chris Cooper (03:35):
And if you go into the competitive season with a plan, you’ll be rewarded for your extra effort: more retention, more revenue, your clients will be happy, they’ll show up more often, they’ll probably want to upgrade their skills, and they might even want to make a big sprint forward in advance of the competitive season. So, to move your numbers upward with a plan that’s been tested literally in thousands of gyms around the world, just head to gymownersunited.com or send me a DM on Facebook and just ask me for it. Say, “Hey Coop, can I have the 2024 Intramural Open Guide?” so that I know what to send you. We pass out a lot of these guides, so make sure that you’re clear on which one you’d like. Let’s talk about where the Open comes from. I was a shy kid back in high school, but intramurals changed that for me.

Chris Cooper (04:23):
Every year, the farm kids at my school who couldn’t go home for lunch were drafted onto one of four teams, and we competed in fun events to earn points for our houses—kind of like Hogwarts. I was a “Panther,” and if you can believe it, I actually met my future wife on the team. And yes, years later, both of my teenagers were drafted into the Panthers’ house at my high school. Intramurals were a blast for me. And so, when CrossFit announced its first open in 2011, the intramural concept seemed like a natural fit. Sure, my gym clients could register on the CrossFit game site, but most of my members weren’t really interested in competition. They were interested in fitness and fun, and so, we combined the two—intramurals and the CrossFit Open—to create this amazing in-house event. In that first year, we used the Intramural Open as a fun infusion in the middle of winter here in Canada.

Chris Cooper (05:13):
Members of the four teams logged their scores on the CrossFit games leaderboard, but they also earned points for participation in our competition, which was less about snatches and more about smiles. I think that year maybe the “Keeping It Real” team won, but in reality, everybody won. Clients had a reason to keep training and showing up, and they formed stronger bonds as they worked with their teammates to earn points for their squads. My coaches and I had a great time creating fun games. One year, we added an extra event that was a Nerf-Gun Biathlon, and we had a blast cheering people to new PRs too. Of course, you know this. The gym was super full of energy that year, and that spilled over into social media. Everybody who saw our accounts and our clients’ accounts knew we were all about fitness, but also having fun.

Chris Cooper (06:01):
The only problem was that I was exhausted at the end of the competition and so were my coaches, and we’d put in a lot of extra hours that improved the client experience, but we didn’t generate any additional revenue in those hours. And the following year, we solved a lot of those problems. We organized prep courses that people could take in advance, which generated some revenue and got our clients ready for the event. We set up heats on competition day. So, these were set up in advance to avoid coach burnout. They didn’t have to be there for four hours. We ramped up the fun with more creativity—and then something unexpected happened: Other gym owners asked how we were running the event, and so we told them and they started running the Intramural Open at their gyms too. Every year, ever since for the last 10, we’ve made improvements, and we share them with the community for free.

Chris Cooper (06:49):
And now, thousands of gyms worldwide use the Intramural Open as its own event, or they layer it on top of the CrossFit Open to make the competition fun in their box. It’s a Two-Brain Business original, and I’m proud of it. More than a decade after I created it, the Intramural Open is so common in gyms that people forget it wasn’t part of the original CrossFit competition, but now you know: It was really born in a rural high school in Northern Ontario, and it was developed and perfected in a micro-gym in a small Canadian city. Now we produce an updated guide every year, and it’s designed to help gym owners do three things. Number one: Generate revenue before, during, and after the multi-week competition. Number two: Help and retain more clients. And number three: Run the event with the greatest ease and least amount of stress.

Chris Cooper (07:33):
This guide is plug and play, and we share it for free every year. Intramurals were life changing for me, and I hope the Intramural Open makes your box more fun and your members happier and more excited. I also hope you use it to generate revenue. That wasn’t part of the plan in 2011, but it’s an essential element in 2024. Remember, you should get a return on the time that you invest running competitions and events at your gym—even if that competition is all about smiles and good times. So, get the guide; it’s step-by-step. Just go to gymownersunited.com and request it, or send me a DM on Facebook, and I’ll give it to you. Just say, “Hey Coop, I want the 2024 Intramural Open Guide.” Now, I want to give you a revenue generating tactic that you can use right now—even before you go get that guide.

Chris Cooper (08:17):
So to help you take action, here’s a quick look at one tactic you should use right now, well before the competition gets going. In fact, I bet you can use it to generate about 2,500 bucks in the next 10 days. That’s running an open prep course. During the Intramural Open, your members care more about a thruster or a snatch and a pull-up than any other time during the year. In fact, their ability or inability to do them becomes this emotional experience for your clients, so you have a great opportunity to help them in the weeks leading up to the event. So, do this right now: Set up a prep course to prepare members for competition. You know exactly what people always need to work on, right? Double-unders, pull-up variation, handstand push-ups—stuff like that. Now you’re a great coach, so I’m not going to tell you how to teach movement.

Chris Cooper (09:05):
I’m sure you can think of a hundred ways to fill a six-week open prep course that helps people make significant progress with tricky movements. What’s a reasonable fee for the six-week course? I’d suggest $250 as a starting point, but you can adjust that if you’re offering more value. If you offer this course right now and sign up 10 people, that’s $2,500 in immediate revenue or more. Participating in your course will help people succeed in the Open, which is great for retention, and you have a great opportunity to suggest to eager clients that they book additional one-on-one sessions with you. Of course, your general gym programming is getting people ready for the Open, and so not everybody will need this, but if they would need to just get over the last little hurdle, or they’re really struggling with their double-unders or some other skill, and they just can’t get it in a class setting, you’re going to find that at least 10 people in your gym want that extra help so that they can perform their best when the Open comes up and feel victorious when it happens.

Chris Cooper (10:04):
If they choose to participate in your course or do some one-on-one sessions with you, they’ll be more successful, and that’s great for retention, and you have a great opportunity to suggest that clients continue with one-on-one sessions after the Open ends, too, to make more progress. A six-week prep program is just one example of a pre-competition, revenue-generating tactic, but the options are endless. You can do specialty courses and clinics for weightlifting, powerlifting, gymnastics—whatever you want. You can run accessory programs for conditioning or just, broadly, strength. You can run private and small group skill sessions. You can run competition nutrition seminars. I’ve got other revenue-generating tactics in this 2024 Intramural Open Guide. I’m not going to go into detail here because it’s all laid out for you in that book, step by step, bullet by bullet. If you’re heading into competition season without a firm plan, just take my plan, copy it and do that.

Chris Cooper (10:58):
Use it, copy it, make money, improve your retention. I bet you can sell out a prep course in about a week if you take action today. The guide is available right now in gymownersunited.com, or you can just send me a DM on Facebook. But please ask specifically for the 2024 Intramural Open Guide. This is “Run a Profitable Gym.” I’m Chris Cooper, and every week I do something like this to help gym owners actually achieve more. Look, we’re all surrounded by good advice, like “You should run the Open,” and we’re all surrounded by these vague statements, like “The Open improves retention,” but I’m always mostly concerned with “What exactly do I need to do right now that will produce a measurable outcome so that I get a return on my time and the investment that I’m making into my gym?” Hope this helps. Thank you for your service. Have fun in the Open this year.

The post The 2024 Intramural Open: Increase Revenue and Retention Now appeared first on Two-Brain Business.

You Should Profit From Competition: Here’s How

Everything you do in your gym should have a purpose. Everything!

Your time, energy and attention are your most valuable resources, and they are finite. Spend them wisely.

I’m reminding you of this as competition season approaches. You invest valuable time and energy in events and competitions, and the return on that investment should be better retention, more revenue or more clients.

But that isn’t always the case.

Competition Season Stresses

In the past, I’ve had a blast running the CrossFit Open at my gym. We were the first gym to use the “intramural” concept to crank up the fun, and it worked perfectly. Four teams competed for more than a month in 2011, and the gym was buzzing.

At the end of it all, my clients were happy—but my staff was worn out, and I was crushed. I think I worked 42 days in a row for the first years of the Open. No time off, no weekends for six weeks, all while coaching, cheering, encouraging, consoling and celebrating.

This story isn’t uncommon. I know many gym owners who go all out to put on the Intramural Open, the CrossFit Games Open or other in-house and public competitions. But many of those gym owners don’t get a return on their time. They just get worn out.

In fact, I know some who give everything during competition season and actually damage their businesses. They’re so focused on competition that their lead flow dries up, their retention machine breaks down and their operations suffer.

For example, back in 2014, one gym owner we work with now lost 30 clients in the month after the Open and was too exhausted to figure out how to replace them. It took him a year—and the help of a mentor—to recover financially.

So here’s your reminder as Open season approaches: The Open is fun, but it’s not everything. Your business is not built on the back of competition (I hope). Done well, a competition can be the cherry on top of your service sundae.

But if the Open doesn’t make you money, doesn’t improve adherence or retention in a measurable way and just wears you out, you can skip it. It’s not your duty to do the Open at your gym.

If you do decide to do the Open, I have a detailed tactical plan to help you. In my “2024 Intramural Open Guide,” you’ll learn:

How to use the Open to generate revenue before, during and after the event. (This was unheard of in the early days, but it’s standard practice now.)How to celebrate clients and improve retention.How to avoid burning out your staff members (or yourself).How to increase participation and create an incredible atmosphere.How to run the event. I’ve got a complete timeline, including instructions on creating teams, selecting captains, scoring and so on.
Get the “2024 Intramural Open Guide”

We give this guide away for free every year. I do it to help you, the gym owner, build revenue and retention in your gym. I don’t do it to provide an alternative to doing the CrossFit Open—in fact, each event complements the other.

And if you go into competition with a plan, you’ll be rewarded for your extra effort: Key business metrics will improve.

To move your numbers upward with plan that’s been tested in thousands of gyms around the world, head to Gymownersunited.com or just send me a DM on Facebook and request the 2024 Intramural Open guide by name so I know what to send you.

The post You Should Profit From Competition: Here’s How appeared first on Two-Brain Business.

January Joiners: Your Emergency Retention Plan

I know you have new clients in your gym.

It’s January, and we’re all enjoying the influx.

But here’s a secret: Lots of your new members are already thinking about quitting.

They’re nervous and wondering if they made a huge mistake in signing up.

Some of them are going to start skipping classes in January, and they’ll be gone by February. Others will last a little longer, but not much.

But if you do something today, you might be able to change that.

I remember the thrill of January as a new gym owner. The bottom line suddenly looked better, coaches were swamped with onboarding work, and the gym was full of new faces. I felt a sense of relief after a slow December, when people are always more focused on retail spending and partying than self-improvement.

In my complacency, I didn’t do anything to try and retain the most fickle kind of gym client: the January Joiner.

Here’s what I’d do today to give my business the best chance of retaining my new members.

Step 1

Call every new member and ask how they’re doing.

You don’t have to do this personally. You can delegate this task to a coach or client success manager. But someone from the business should reach out to every new client and check in. Do it this week.

You can, of course, do this in person—but don’t rely on a seat-of-the-pants plan to “catch people when I see them.” You won’t see some of your new members because they’ve already quietly quit.

Reach out to every new person. Don’t stop calling until you talk to them and find out how they’re doing.

Step 2

Create an encouraging email sequence for all new members.

You might have this in place as part of your onboarding process, but many people do not. All you have to do is write about five to 10 short emails and schedule them to go out automatically to your newest clients at intervals—maybe every two or three days.

What should you say? The exact content matters less than the constant contact. But I’ll give you a six-email sequence off the top of my head:

1. Congratulate them on making the decision to work on their health and fitness. Welcome them to the gym and ask if they have any questions.

2. Ask them if there’s anything you can do to make them more comfortable, and remind them how to sign in for classes, book PT sessions and so on.

3. Ask them if they’ve thought of any new goals after being in the gym for a few weeks. Remind them that they can message you anytime if they think of something they want to accomplish.

4. Ask for a Bright Spot: “What’s something you’ve accomplished since you started?” Remember, success comes before motivation. Make sure they notice their successes. For some, just going to the gym three times in one month is a big deal, but they might not realize they’re winning. Celebrate every accomplishment.

5. Send a helpful tip—anything that might help. This could be a simple message about post-workout nutrition. Or maybe some info about how mild muscle soreness is normal when starting a fitness program. Maybe send a recipe. Supply some resource that will help solve a very common new-client problem, then ask if they have any specific questions you can answer.

6. Message with a direct question and ask for a response. I’d go with something short and direct: “Hi! I’m dying to know how your workouts are going. Hit ‘reply’ and give me a quick update.”

Step 3

Monitor new client attendance closely.

Again, you can use staff or automations to do this. But nothing will be as powerful as a text message from you that says “Hey! I missed you this week. When will you be at the gym next?”

Do not let January Joiners go more than three or four days without a workout. If you do, they’re gone.

Step 4

Identify at-risk members and reach out to them to address any concerns.

You might have to work very hard to get hold of some people, but keep trying. If you give up on them now, you aren’t doing your job as a coach.

As an experienced trainer, you’ll be able to spot your at-risk clients as Jan. 31 approaches. The bad news is that you just can’t save everyone. The good news is that you can save some people.

Step 5

Send each new member a personalized congratulatory text.

Ask your coaches for any info that will give you a way to customize your message, and end the message with a question so you get a response. For example: “I heard you deadlifted 100 lb. on Monday. Way to go! What’s your next goal?”

Step 6

Ensure you have a series of scheduled touch points set for February and March.

Stay in contact. When the conversation ends, the membership ends.

Step 7

Remind clients of their 90-day Goal Review Sessions.

You should have booked these sessions on sign-up. If you did, send reminders. If you didn’t, book these sessions immediately, then send reminders.

These sessions have been proven to increase average revenue per member and length of engagement. You can absolutely review goals before the 90-day mark if doing so would improve your retention.

Step 8

Evaluate, optimize and systemize.

Review all your efforts to retain January Joiners. Discard tactics that didn’t work and look for ways to optimize tactics that had a measurable effect on retention. Then create a document you and your staff can use in 2025 to retain new members.

Do Something Today

This is just my simple list of suggested tasks. Your final list might look different.

And if you work with a mentor, you’ll get an expert evaluation of your unique business and data-backed tactics that will improve all your key metrics.

But if you want to retain more of your newest clients, you must do something, and you must do it now. If you do, you’ll improve your bottom line while delivering on your promise to help clients achieve their health and fitness goals in 2024.

The post January Joiners: Your Emergency Retention Plan appeared first on Two-Brain Business.

When You Need an Annual Plan for Your Gym Right Now

We’re a few days into the New Year, but it’s not too late to create an annual plan for your gym.

This is really an essential activity.

If you don’t have a basic plan for the year, you’re going to be scrambling constantly. You’ll feel stressed and frantic. You’ll waste a lot of time on misguided efforts and you’ll miss out on a lot of revenue.

Our mentors help clients create annual plans tailored to each business, and I get fired up when I hear about all the things gym owners have on the calendar. When I see that a gym owner is thinking 12 months ahead, I know that gym owner is on the path to success.

If you don’t have an annual plan right now, I’ve got you covered.

I have a basic 12-month plan that’s going to help you generate revenue, improve your staff and retain clients longer. It’s got a calendar of events and instructions to help you move fast. It’s plug and play at high speed.

Consider this my New Year’s gift to you.

To get my plan for gym owners, you’ve got two options:

1. Head to Facebook and send me a DM. I get a ton of messages and I hand out a ton of guides, so make sure you specifically ask for our 12-month plan for gym owners. If you say “send me that guide,” you’re not going to get what you need right away because we probably have 100 guides for gym owners. Please be specific so I can send you the right guide ASAP.

2. You can also work through the annual plan with me on YouTube:

Take Action Today

It’s Jan. 3, and the clock is ticking.

If you aren’t going to create your own plan today, just hit the “easy button” and use mine.

Feel free to customize it or use it as is. Every tactic in the plan has been tested. You’re not going to get any guesswork or “maybes,” just solid, low-drag tactics that will improve key business metrics.

I can tell you this: If you don’t create and implement an annual plan right now, you’ll miss out on revenue, you’ll lose more clients than you need to and you’ll be frustrated with staff members over and over.

Don’t do that. You’ll kick yourself in December 2024.

Request the guide on Facebook or watch the video above. If you do, your business will improve significantly every month for the next 12 months.

The post When You Need an Annual Plan for Your Gym Right Now appeared first on Two-Brain Business.

Top 3 Tips for Success as a Gym Owner in 2024

I want you to succeed as a fitness entrepreneur in 2024.

I want you to live the life you want, create careers for staff members, help clients achieve their goals and transform your local community.

Those are my goals, and I have an exact plan to help gym owners accomplish everything on the list.

To get you started, here are my Top 3 tips for success as a fitness entrepreneur in 2024.

1. Set Specific Goals

This seems like a no-brainer—we tell fitness clients to set goals all the time.

Yet many gym owners don’t set goals, or the goals they set aren’t specific. Without specific goals, you’re going to spin your tires.

Here’s an example of a goal that’s not specific enough: “I want to improve my gym in 2024.” It’s an honorable goal for sure, but how will you measure improvement?

Consider this: “I want to earn $100,000 per year as a gym owner by delivering personal training and nutrition services to about 150 high-value professionals between 35 and 55.”

That’s a specific goal, and if you set it, you can take clear steps to accomplish it.

So if you want to improve your gym this year, set a specific goal. You can always use the SMART acronym. Set a goal that is:

SpecificMeasurableAchievableRelevantTime bound

Our mentors help clients do this every year—it’s a critical part of our program.

So what’s your goal?

2. Make a Plan to Accomplish Your Goal

Obviously, you can’t do this if you don’t set a goal. But a lot of people do set goals and then just assume they’ll make progress toward them.

It doesn’t work like that, for the most part. Yes, you can set a goal of $205 average revenue per member and maybe make some accidental progress toward it with random activities, but you’re going to move slowly and you’re going to get distracted.

At best, your efforts will be far from optimal. And there’s a good chance you won’t make any progress at all.

Whatever your goal is, you must make a concise plan to accomplish it, and you must prioritize goal-oriented actions.

For example, I make one very specific, planned effort to grow my business every day, and I do it first thing before all the other distractions show up.

Set a goal, and make a plan to accomplish that goal with clear action that has the greatest effect in the least amount of time.

3. Get Someone to Hold You to the Plan

Your clients have a coach because they need guidance and accountability.

It’s often not enough to have a goal. Think of the client who wants to lose 20 lb. but doesn’t now how. That client needs a plan from an expert.

Go one step further: Some people have a fitness goal and a plan, but they still don’t succeed on their own.

Why not? They don’t have anyone who provides accountability, so they don’t do the work.

Business is the same. It’s not enough to have a goal—or even a goal and a plan. You need someone who says “did you do that specific thing to grow your business yet?”

Coaching for the Win

Those are my Top 3 tips for success in 2024. But I’ll add one more that pulls everything together: Get a coach.

When people buy coaching, they’re buying clarity—a well-considered goal they can work toward.

They’re also buying a plan created with the help of an expert, which reduces worry and stress.

Finally, they’re buying speed because a mentor will point out momentum-killing mistakes and ensure they take swift action.

If you want to talk about goals, plans and accountability, book a call here.

The post Top 3 Tips for Success as a Gym Owner in 2024 appeared first on Two-Brain Business.

Gym Owners: Take Action and Thrive in 2024

Chris Cooper (00:02):
I want you to take action and thrive in 2024. I’m Chris Cooper. This is “Run a Profitable Gym.” And you already know that January is a big month in the fitness industry. People are joining gyms. They want to start the new year on the right foot, but it should also be a big month for you, the gym owner, not just for your gym. Now, of course, I want your gym to thrive. I want your staff members to be fulfilled and doing their best work and earning the money that they want to earn. And I want your clients to accomplish their goals and create a lifetime of health and fitness for them and their families. But more than that, I want you to be successful because if you are not living the life that you want, your staff members, your clients and your business all suffer. Now, maybe not right away.

Chris Cooper (00:46):
Maybe it takes a while. I know gym owners can push through discomfort and stress, but if you’re struggling, you’re going to get tired of it at some point. You’re going to get tired of fighting over the grocery bill, getting up at six, going to bed at nine, and not seeing any progress. That’s not good for anybody. So, starting today, I want you to prioritize your personal success in 2024 because you deserve it, and I know you: Your success will trickle down. If you’re personally fulfilled and well fed, that happiness will supercharge your staff members, your clients, and your community. To help you out, I’m going to write messages like this, or come on podcasts, or do videos for you all year long—almost every day if you want to. You can hear something from me that’s going to be actionable, tactical, that you can just go out and do.

Chris Cooper (01:34):
Instead of opinions and expert stories, I want to give you tactical advice so that you can actually grow your gym, and you’re not leaving these podcasts asking the question, “Yeah, Coop, but what do I do? I want to tell you what to do. If you’ve been reading along in the past, first, thank you. These conversations fulfill me. They’re part of my perfect day. And in 2024, I want you to do more than read. I want you to take action that will move you closer to your perfect day as an entrepreneur. Every day, I want you to do one thing that will improve your business or improve your life. If you’re not making a hundred thousand dollars a year yet, or not making close to what you want, then spend that time improving your business knowing that that will ultimately improve your life. If you’re already making more than that, it’s time to refocus on building your lifestyle.

Chris Cooper (02:23):
Now, in that 40 minutes every day, you don’t have to do anything major, like build a giant sales funnel from start to finish or plan out a three month vacation. Some days, your action could be as simple as just texting somebody who missed their free consultation or maybe setting up your bank to give you a $50 raise or finishing work early to spend two hours in the park with your kids. It doesn’t matter what you do; that’s up to you. But I want to know that you’re spending 40 minutes every day doing one thing to grow your business. Because if you do that, you’re going to make amazing progress in 2024. Your business will grow. You’ll move toward financial and entrepreneurial freedom, and that’s the goal that I have for you. So now let’s talk about tactics and action. If you keep following along with the blog in 2024 and you keep listening to the podcast, watching the videos, you’re going to get a steady stream of advice and insight designed to help you improve your business and live the life you want.

Chris Cooper (03:18):
It’s going to be actionable, not just pie in the sky, untested opinion. “I saw this thing on Reddit, so now I’m going to tell it to you.” If you know me, you know that I’m not big on flashy messages on YouTube with like laser beams and confetti candidates. I’m a direct tactical person, and I run on data, and I know you don’t have time for random opinions and trying to figure out whether somebody’s telling you the truth or not. So, the messages that you see this year are going to be full of data backed tactics and tested strategies. Of course, I’m always going to tell you a few stories from my catalog of trials and tribulations as a gym owner, as well as tales of success from our amazing worldwide community of gym owners in Two-Brain. But more than anything else, you’re going to get clear directives that are tied to critical metrics, like “Do this to improve this today.”

Chris Cooper (04:08):
I send these messages to you to help you move forward and keep changing lives. I want your success to change your life, so you’re living your perfect day too. So, I hope you’ll enjoy reading these messages and listening to them as much as I enjoy writing them. And I’m looking forward to continuing our conversation in 2024. To make sure you don’t miss anything, add me to your email contact list. I’ll deliver you good stuff, tactics, data every single day, and I’ll tell you how to use it. I’m also going to invite you to follow us on your go-to social platform. So, Two-Brain is on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, and Twitter. And you’ll find our “Run a Profitable Gym” podcast right here on your favorite platform. More than anything else, I want to talk to you in person. The best thing that you can do is go to gymownersunited.com and join the conversation there. It’s a free Facebook group. There’s 8,500 gym owners in there now from around the world, all of whom are positive. Nobody is sarcastic, everybody’s helpful, and they’re focused on how they can grow their gyms and other gyms to success too. I want 2024 to be your best year ever. I know you can do that with mentorship. I hope that you can do that, even whether you have a mentor or not, and I’m going to keep putting out stuff to help you until you’re ready to grow. Thank you for your service. Happy 2024.

The post Gym Owners: Take Action and Thrive in 2024 appeared first on Two-Brain Business.

Take Action and Thrive in 2024!

You already know January is a big month in the fitness industry as people join gyms to start the New Year on the right foot.

But it should also be a big month for you, the gym owner—not just for your gym.

Of course I want your gym to thrive. I want your staff members to be fulfilled and earn the money they want to earn, too. And I want your clients to accomplish their goals.

But if you’re not living the life you want, your staff members, your clients and your business will suffer. Maybe not right away. I know gym owners can push through discomfort and stress. But if you’re struggling, you’ll get tired of it at some point, and that’s no good for anyone.

Starting today, I want you to prioritize your personal success in 2024. You deserve it.

And I know you: Your success will trickle down. If you’re personally fulfilled, that happiness will supercharge your staff members, your clients and your community.

To help you, I’ll write messages like this all year. Thank you for reading them—these conversations fulfill me, and they’re part of my Perfect Day.

In 2024, I want you to do more than read. I want you to take action that will move you closer to your Perfect Day as an entrepreneur. Every day, I want you to do something that will measurably improve your life or grow your business.

You don’t have to do anything major, like build a sales funnel start to finish or take a three-month vacation. Some days, your action can be as simple as texting someone who missed a free consultation. Or maybe just give yourself a $50 raise or set aside two hours to take your kids to the park.

What you do to move closer to your Perfect Day is up to you. But I want you to do something every day.

If you do that, you’re going to make amazing progress in 2024. Your business will grow and you’ll move toward entrepreneurial freedom—my goal for you.

Tactics and Action

If you keep reading in 2024, you’re going to get a steady stream of advice and insight designed to help you improve your business and live the life you want. It will be actionable advice, not pie-in-the-sky philosophy.

If you know me, you know I’m not big on rah-rah messages with laser beams and confetti cannons. I’m a direct, tactical person and I run on data. I know you don’t have time for random opinions and guesswork. So the messages you see this year are going to be full of data-backed tactics and tested strategies.

And of course I’ll tell you a few stories from my catalog of trials and tribulations as a gym owner, as well as tales of success from our amazing worldwide community of gym owners.

But mostly you’re going to get clear directives tied to critical metrics: “Do this now to improve this.”

I send these messages to help you move forward and keep changing lives. And I want your success to change your life so you’re living your Perfect Day.

I hope you’ll enjoy reading these messages as much as I enjoy writing them, and I’m looking forward to continuing our conversation in 2024.

To make sure you don’t miss anything, add me to your email contact list. I’ll deliver data to you daily, and I’ll tell you how to use it.

I’ll invite you to follow us on your go-to social platform, too. Two-Brain is on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and Twitter, and you’ll find our “Run a Profitable Gym” podcast on your favorite platform.

I’m going to have a steady stream of tactical advice for you in 2024. I hope you use it to make this your best year yet.

To your success!

The post Take Action and Thrive in 2024! appeared first on Two-Brain Business.

A Gym Owner’s New Year’s Resolution for 2024

As 2023 draws to a close, the functional fitness community is stirred up.

On podcasts and in various forums, you’ll find a lot of debate about affiliate fees, coaching credentials, floor cleaners—yes, we’re still on floor cleaners sometimes.

Everyone has an opinion. Which is fine.

But are you comfortable gambling your business on someone’s Facebook rant?

New Year’s Resolution

Here’s my wish for you in 2024: Great financial success as an entrepreneur with less stress and more free time.

Here’s my request: In 2024, resolve to make decisions based on data and evidence, not opinions.

Social media makes it easy for people and companies to produce opinions faster than anyone can ignore them. I see a lot of “it worked for me”  and “I haven’t tried anything else” stuff, and I see mountains of statements based on personal experience, someone else’s word, myths from the days of yore or nothing at all.

Do yourself a favor: Whenever you see one of these discussions, ask yourself who’s just yelling loudly and who’s got data and evidence.

The people who are yelling are entertaining. But let that be their sole value.

When you’re making decisions, ask for proof. If you don’t get any, keep looking.

Numbers Over Nothing

Here’s an example of the kind of exchange I’d like to see:

Gym Owner 1: “More coaching credentials will make your business better.”

Gym Owner 2: “How do you know? How many more? And can you define ‘better’?”

Gym Owner 1: “I have seven credentials and make a lot of money. It works for me.”

Gym Owner 2: “OK. Thanks for your opinion! Who’s got data on this?”

I’ve personally swallowed many hooks based on unsupported recommendations. A few times, I made the right decision by accident and got lucky. Many other times, I was punished for taking opinion as fact.

I still make mistakes with our business, but they’re rarer than they used to be because I can say something like this:

“A dozen great gym owners tested this marketing tactic and reported their exact results. All of them generated the desired ROI. I’m going to use that tactic exactly as they did, and I’ll track my results, too.”

That approach helps me sleep better at night, and I think it will help you.

So resolve to make decisions based on data and evidence, not opinions, in 2024.

Where can you get data and evidence?

Request this free guide: “2023 State of the Industry Report.”

Join this group: Gym Owners United.

And to talk about a tailored, data-backed plan for your unique business, book a call here.

All the best in 2024!

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