Run a Profitable Gym is packed with business tools for gym owners and CrossFit affiliates. This is actionable, data-backed business advice for all gym owners, including those who own personal training studios, fitness franchises, and strength and conditioning gyms. Broke gym owner Chris Cooper turned a struggling gym into an asset, then built a multi-million-dollar mentoring company to help other fitness entrepreneurs do the same thing. Every week, Chris presents the top tactics for building a profitable gym, as well as real success stories from gym owners who have found incredible success through Two-Brain Business mentorship. Chris’s goal is to create millionaire gym owners. Subscribe to Run a Profitable Gym and you could be one of them.
This is a short post I wrote for Medium.com on the coach's role in youth sports. The correlation between coaching fitness and coaching sport is massive - in other words, almost the same. We as fitness coaches can teach volunteer coaches a LOT, and I feel compelled to do so. Plenty more to come on this topic, mostly published at TwoBrainCoaching.com.
Would a rose, by any other name, smell as sweet? How do you describe your service?
Episode 67 – Q & A with Coop Today we are staying warm by the fire and doing a long overdue Q+A session. We have a pretty long list of emails that we get after every show and I want to make sure that I give my attention to some of these because they are really good! I won’t be addressing questions addressed on previous Q & A episodes as those have already been talked about however, be sure to check out Episode 30 for more great questions and answers: If you need help, you can watch our f...
Ray Gowlett leads our UpCoach program. He is a former MMA fighter and motocross rider. In addition to this he is a big questioner of authority specifically within the education system. Ray in many ways is a shit disturber and what he doesn’t like is dogma, fake research, and unqualified opinion. If you are part of our UpCoach program you’ve spoken to Ray and you know he bounces around a lot. Today we are talking about the ten basic habits that every coach should have. The UpCoach program develop...
Do you NEED it?
Episode 65 – Mindset I am always fascinated by the mechanics and emotions of the entrepreneurial brain. There are a lot of highs and lows that you need to buffer against. I am also really into the tools that we can use to be better at it by avoiding shiny objects; dealing with stressors, lawsuits, copy cats; how we can meet people with confidence; and avoid feeling like a salesman. Instead of just one guest, we have four for this episode! We talk to Sherman Merricks of CrossFit Dynasty, Tommy Ha...
Episode 64 – Training Think Tank Sometimes I invite a guest on the show because they are nowhere near as popular as they should be. This is the case with today’s guest, Max El-Hag. You will hear a lot of humility from Max in this episode but don’t mistake it, as he has profound knowledge of the fitness industry. In this episode we talk about his company, Training Think Tank, and how it is helping athletes of all sports connect with coaches who are able to advise and train them to the highest abi...
Episode 63 – OPEX Today we are joined by two very special guests from OPEX. James “OPT” Fitzgerald joins us as well has his business partner Jim Crowell. James Fitzgerald was one of my primary motivators when I first started CrossFit. James started OPEX soon after moving to Arizona which has become one of the most popular training programs in the world. Now on the eve of the rollout of the OPEX physical location gyms, James and Jim join me to discuss the OPEX model, how it works, program design,...
How do you feel about money?
Episode 62 – The Power of Stories Today we talk about using the power of stories to help grow your business, help your clients, and help you live a better life. Today I share some personal stories and strategies for how to connect better with clients when telling a story. I also talk with Jason Cohen about how he is using the power of stories to help veterans with PTSD. The 2017 Two-Brain Summit is coming this June 3rd and 4th in Chicago. Be sure to register now! In this Interview: My first phon...
Where's your focus?
78% of new clients at Catalyst (my gym) in 2016 listed an aesthetic goal as their top priority. "Fat burning" trumped "performance". "Fat loss" beat "strength". No one said, "I want to move better", keeping my 21-year-streak alive. If your clients want to look like bodybuilders, why NOT incorporate some bodybuilding movement into your programming? The line between "functional movement" and "bodybuilding" has never been a clear one. What makes a biceps curl non-functional? What makes a bench pres...
What if you guaranteed results?
If you read the habits and tricks of very successful people, most of them say they start their day at the gym. Their readers ooh and aah at their dedication to exercise habits at 6am.But what about US - the one turning those lights on before Mr. GrowthHacker shows up? And in the CrossFit world, all too often, it’s the same person who turns the lights off at night.Sherman is really exceptional at balancing work, faith and family. He's got his priorities straight. His business is built to support ...
Is It Worth It?
Why I Started Reading "Tools For Titans" - And Why I StoppedI love Tim Ferriss. There, I said it.I love his podcast. "The Four-Hour Workweek" got me looking for ways to increase the value of my time. So I was really, really excited to get his book.300 pages in, I still loved it. But I put it on the shelf. The interviews, commonalities and stories were good. But I wasn't taking action on ANY of it.“Knowledge without action makes you a fool. Knowledge with action makes you successful.” - Jim RohnI...
Last year, Nicole Aucoin of Healthy Steps Nutrition was my guest. She was launching a program to help gym owners add a nutrition component in their gym with minimal work. Nicole, a Registered Dietitian, teaches staff how to run the program, provides the gym with templates to use (for challenges, restaurant partnerships, and even corporate groups) and mentors the coaches running the program. It's an amazing value, and a year later, she has dozens of affiliate gyms.NOW she's opening a CrossFit aff...
What Are We Selling?
Who are YOU? A three-sided question this week.
Today’s episode is a re-run from a recent webinar entitled “How to Set Your Rates.” In this episode, we talk about raising rates at your gym and the tactics and repercussions that go along with this action. I also lay out a plan for how to make this happen and perform a question and answer session. In this Interview: •Calculate the income you need for your perfect day. •The top services and other revenue streams you need. •The math behind raising costs. •My story of starting my first gym. •Why d...
Are you an inventor? Should you be?
Kyle Posey, founder of Powered by Awesome, joins us on the show today. His company specializes in lead generation and marketing for micro gyms. I met him in Atlanta at an affiliate summit a few weeks ago where we had a chance to chat. He is an all-around great guy and truly believes in helping others first.A quick side note: The day after I did this interview I was on a free call with an affiliate. At the end of the call he told me that Kyle had referred him to me. This is the kind of guy that K...
Episode 55 – The Path to Profit On today’s show, I replay a webinar entitled “The Path to Profit”. CrossFit gyms are doing great at keeping people healthy and fit but not that great at pursuing excellence in business. Many times they are martyring themselves -- admirable in the short term but not in the long term. Owning a gym requires a long view and a pursuit of excellence in business. This is not about buying yachts but about being around for years to come. In order to make this happen, it is...
Do you need to win to WIN?
I used to HATE retail. But I fixed my retail operation. And I asked Matt Albrizio (Forever Fierce) and Bruno Guevremont (Syndicate Gear) to come on the show and tell YOU how to do the same. I no longer inventory extra shirts, or lose money buying stuff my clients don't want. These guys came up HUGE: they put together videos and templates to help. Bruno offered to send a free sample box to any affiliate who wants one. Matt has given you preorder forms and access to his private "reminder" calendar...
Are your actions having any effect? Can you prove it?
Jeff Burlingame is the owner of Friction CrossFit in MI, but he spent most of his career managing globo gyms, where he taught staff how to do more personal training business. At one point, he had 160 trainers working under him. Jeff studied sales techniques for a decade, but after reading "Help First," he realized the best path was to simply help his clients by recommending the best option for them. Now he combines an objection-based approach with the TwoBrain "No-Sweat Intro" and the results ar...
What difference did TODAY make? Did you move your business forward...or just go to work?
