Many paths lead to millionaire net worth as a gym owner, and one of them involves buying your gym’s building. In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” host John Franklin sits down with Brian Strump, a chiropractor and the owner of Live Active Charlotte, who recently bought his gym’s building for $1.8 million. The pair get into the details of the huge purchase and discuss the benefits of owning your building—some might surprise you! Whether you’re ready to buy now or considering real estate as ...
Feb 29, 2024•50 min•Season 3Ep. 542
Here are two big staff-related threats to a microgym: Coaches say “I can’t make enough money doing this” and leave the fitness industry. Or they say “I can’t make enough money here” and leave to start their own gyms. What’s a gym owner to do? You can start by showing your coaches how they can create great careers at your gym—and bringing them with you to the Two-Brain Summit this June is a fantastic way to do that. In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Two-Brain founder and CEO Chris Cooper...
Feb 26, 2024•18 min•Season 3Ep. 541
Do you have a business model for your gym? In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” host Mike Warkentin and Two-Brain founder Chris Cooper lay out five gym business models that have been proven to be successful—and that’s based on data from thousands of gyms around the world. The models are: 1. Group only. 2. Group plus personal training. 3. Group plus high-ticket offers. 4. Semi-private training. 5. Guided access. Tune in to learn the pros and cons of each model, and then get Coop's full guid...
Feb 22, 2024•35 min•Season 3Ep. 540
With just 1,700 square feet of usable space, Daniel Purington’s gym averages around $50,000 in revenue per month, allowing him to earn over $100,000 in net owner benefit, provide careers for four full-time staff members and pay two part-timers. In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” host John Franklin sits down with Daniel, owner of Woodslawn Fitness in Portland, Oregon, to uncover the secrets of his success: consultative selling, diversified revenue streams, strong systems and mentorship. B...
Feb 19, 2024•40 min•Season 3Ep. 539
This episode of “Run a Profitable Gym” was recorded live in Dallas, Texas, during a meetup of the world’s best gym owners—some of whom are featured in Chris Cooper’s latest book, “Millionaire Gym Owner." Host John Franklin sits down with Taryn Dubreuil of CrossFit Function and Joleen Bingham of 13 Stripes Fitness. Both Taryn and Joleen are Two-Brain mentors and certified millionaire gym owners. Tune in to hear Taryn's and Joleen’s individual paths to success—from hitting rock bottom to reaching ...
Feb 15, 2024•44 min•Season 3Ep. 538
“How can I stop working 70 hours a week?” “What will I do if an unexpected expense comes up?” “How am I ever going to retire?” As a young gym owner, Two-Brain founder and CEO Chris Cooper asked all these questions, and at first he couldn’t find any answers. This led him to search inside and outside the fitness industry for a path that led to freedom of money and freedom of time—aka, retirement. He found that path, and it's the foundation of his latest book, “Millionaire Gym Owner,” which he and ...
Feb 12, 2024•20 min•Season 3Ep. 537
This month’s leaderboard show is all about average revenue per member (ARM)—how much a gym earns on average from each client in a month. In this episode, host Mike Warkentin is joined by Two-Brain ARM leader Michaela Munsterman. Her gym, Elite Medical Exercise, in Austin, Texas, has a gigantic ARM—but Michaela doesn’t spend any money on ads to attract her high-value clients. Instead, she built a dedicated wellness community entirely through word of mouth and focused local networking, and she’s h...
Feb 08, 2024•30 min•Season 3Ep. 536
Many gym owners are scared to raise rates, even though they probably don’t charge enough for the value they provide. The good news? There are a few simple tactics you can use to boost revenue before you do a rate increase. In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Two-Brain founder Chris Cooper is joined by Brendan Rice, CEO of Wodify, to talk about two new Wodify features that enable gym owners to make more money without raising rates or adding more members. One of these features allows gym ow...
Feb 05, 2024•18 min•Season 3Ep. 535
How much extra revenue would your gym bring in if you increased rates by just $10? What if each client contributed $300 or more to your gross revenue? In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” host Mike Warkentin talks average revenue per member (ARM) with Kelly Lorenz, owner of FORM gym in Marblehead, Massachusetts. Kelly’s gym boasts an impressive ARM score: It earned a spot on Two-Brain's December 2023 Top 10 leaderboard, which runs from $427 to $800 per month. Kelly built her ARM number wit...
Feb 01, 2024•26 min•Season 3Ep. 534
Every month, Two-Brain compiles a leaderboard of the top-performing gyms so we can find out what the best gyms are doing—and tell you. In December 2023, we focused on average revenue per member (ARM) at more than 1,000 gyms worldwide. ARM measures what clients are paying in return for the value a gym provides, and the businesses on our leaderboard provide a ton of value. The No. 1 gym earned just shy of US$800 per client per month—and that’s a rolling three-month average, not just a one-hit wond...
Jan 29, 2024•14 min•Season 3Ep. 533
In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” host John Franklin interviews longtime gym owner Ben Bergeron of CrossFit New England and CompTrain. After spending more than 15 years in the fitness industry as a gym owner and coach to CrossFit Games athletes including Mat Fraser and Katrin Davidsdottir, Ben says that virtuosity—mastery of the fundamentals—is essential in a successful gym business. He dials in on four basic areas where every gym owner can improve: leadership, product, marketing and fi...
Jan 26, 2024•48 min•Season 3Ep. 532
How do you dominate your local market? The key is focus: Don’t try to offer every service under the sun. In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” host John Franklin is joined by Jack Wheeler of 360 Fitness in Red Deer and Sherwood Park, Canada. Jack’s flagship location does over 4,000 personal training sessions per month, and if you Google “personal training Red Deer,” his gym is the No. 1 result. If you just search “gyms Red Deer,” he’s still on Page 1, but not quite at the top. Jack owns the...
Jan 25, 2024•46 min•Season 3Ep. 531
Two-Brain founder and CEO Chris Cooper is a household name in his community of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, where his gym, Catalyst Fitness, is located. He’s a true authority when it comes to dominating your local market. In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” host Mike Warkentin prompts Chris to reveal the strategies behind his success in making his gym the obvious choice for people in the community. Chris doesn’t mention huge ad spends and earth-shaking marketing campaigns. Instead, he talks...
Jan 22, 2024•30 min•Season 3Ep. 530
Most people are still working the same 40-hour workweek introduced just under 100 years ago, and gym owners often go way beyond 40. In fact, many work closer to 80 hours a week. This can quickly lead to burnout—a killer of small businesses. In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Two-Brain founder and CEO Chris Cooper is joined by John Briggs, accountant and author of “Profit First for Microgyms.” The two discuss John’s latest book, “The 3.3 Rule.” In the book, John pushes back against the id...
Jan 18, 2024•36 min•Season 3Ep. 529
Virtuosity—it’s the theme of this year’s Two-Brain Summit. But what is it exactly? Simply put, virtuosity means mastery of the fundamentals. In today’s episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Two-Brain founder and CEO Chris Cooper discusses the basics that every gym owner should focus on and explains how mastering fundamentals will help you grow your gym faster than searching for new trends. The allure of novelty is strong, but the key to entrepreneurial success is maintaining focus on what matters m...
Jan 15, 2024•8 min•Season 3Ep. 528
Two-Brain’s most recent leaderboard tracked net owner benefit (NOB): salary, dividends and anything else the business pays for. Every single fitness entrepreneur in the Top 10 is earning between $15,000 and $25,000 per month from their gym. In today’s episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” host Mike Warkentin sits down with one of these Top 10 earners to lay out the path to success. Ashley Reese, owner of Defining Moment Fitness in Charleston, South Carolina, shares how he jumped from earning $3,000...
Jan 11, 2024•19 min•Season 3Ep. 527
Competition season is approaching—and it can be a stressful time for gym owners, who often take on extra work without seeing a reward. To help, Two-Brain has a step-by-step, plug-and-play guide you can use to reduce stress, boost retention, make money and ramp up the fun during the Open. In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Chris Cooper tells the origin story of the Intramural Open and how it’s been continuously improved over the last 13 years. The event has now been used in thousands of f...
Jan 09, 2024•12 min•Season 3Ep. 526
As social media becomes flooded with fitness influencers, or “fitfluencers,” a new issue arises for gym owners: cameras in gyms. Who’s liable when a member is in the background of a photo or video and doesn’t want to be? The gym owner or the media creator? The answer might surprise you. Believe it or not, cameras can cause serious headaches for gym owners. In some situations, they might lose members. In other cases, they could get dragged into costly, tedious lawsuits. Here to break down the iss...
Jan 04, 2024•45 min•Season 3Ep. 525
Are you grinding all day every day and not seeing progress? Are you tired of pushing through discomfort and stress without any reward? It’s time for you to take action and thrive in 2024. In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Two-Brain founder and CEO Chris Cooper shares a New Year’s message to help gym owners like you start 2024 strong. Once you start accomplishing personal and business goals, that success will even trickle down to your community and the people around you. Listen to learn ...
Jan 01, 2024•6 min•Season 3Ep. 524
As gym owners, it’s easy to get distracted by shiny new things. You might be tempted to run flashy promos, offer discounts or make strange additions to your service offerings. But the best way to grow your income is much simpler—albeit a bit less sexy. In this episode, host Mike Warkentin is joined by gym owner Nick Beal of CrossFit Casco Bay, who explains how to build wealth that compounds. A couple of key steps: Put systems in place and assess them regularly. Nick shares how consistent—and adm...
Dec 28, 2023•28 min•Season 3Ep. 523
Imagine bringing home more than $15,000 each month. What would that do for you and your family? This month’s leaderboard show is all about take-home pay: net owner benefit (NOB)—salary, dividends and any other benefits the business provides. Every single gym owner in the Top 10 is currently earning over $15,000 US per month, and the top earner’s number is even more impressive. These are not one-hit-wonders: Our leaderboard is based on three-month averages, showing sustainable, consistent income....
Dec 25, 2023•14 min•Season 3Ep. 522
Many entrepreneurs think that their dream lifestyle will just appear when they achieve business success. But creating the life you want is harder than most people realize. It takes serious thought and planning, whether you want to work remotely on the beach all day or carve out three hours to play with your kids every afternoon. In today’s episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Chris Cooper chats with Ashley Haun, co-owner of Nika Athletics in DeLand, Florida, and owner of The Traveling Bee Business...
Dec 21, 2023•34 min•Season 3Ep. 521
Joleen and Leighton Bingham have about a million things going on. On top of being parents of three, they own multiple gyms, have an impressive real-estate portfolio, mentor other entrepreneurs through Two-Brain Business and travel regularly. In the last 13 months, they’ve been to Greece, Sweden, Portugal, San Diego and Nashville—to name just a handful of countries and cities. How can they possibly have the time for all this? In today’s episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Chris Cooper gets the Bin...
Dec 18, 2023•37 min•Season 3Ep. 520
Should gym owners care about becoming millionaires? Even struggling gym owners who can’t see past the day-to-day challenges of keeping their gyms afloat? In today’s episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Mike Warkentin and Chris Cooper dig into Chris’ upcoming book, “Millionaire Gym Owner,” which will be out in early 2024. In the book, Chris shares his journey to reaching millionaire status, as well as stories from some of Two-Brain’s 43 certified millionaire gym owners. These entrepreneurs detail t...
Dec 14, 2023•24 min
With a clear goal, a plan and a mentor, every gym owner can make $100,000 a year. But did you know that it is also possible—and a lot easier than you probably think—to become a millionaire? In this episode, Chris Cooper shares a preview of his upcoming book, “Millionaire Gym Owner,” which arrives early in 2024. Coop explains how you can invest to improve your life, the lives of the people around you and your local community, and he gives you a simple strategy to guide your investments and ensure...
Dec 11, 2023•14 min•Season 3Ep. 518
Successful gym owners master the science of business and the art of coaching. Two-Brain helps entrepreneurs level up on the business side. Jason Khalipa, founder and CEO of NCFIT, is focusing on the coaching side, so he created Coach Like a Pro, a live, online coach-development course that’s designed to provide constructive, honest feedback. In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Two-Brain founder Chris Cooper chats with Jason about Coach Like a Pro, as well as NCFIT Collective programming a...
Dec 07, 2023•49 min•Season 3Ep. 517
Oskar Johed, co-owner of CrossFit Medis and CrossFit Sikla in Sweden, is a longtime Two-Brain mentor as well as a member of CrossFit's Seminar Staff. In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Two-Brain CEO Chris Cooper chats with Oskar, who shares his top tips for offering great service at your gym. Oskar says it all boils down to providing an excellent product that sells itself. After all, there’s no shortage of people who need your help, and if you make them feel great, they’ll stick around—a...
Dec 04, 2023•52 min•Season 3Ep. 516
102 leads, 45 appointments, 26 shows and 16 sales: These are real September stats for Vel Bates’ gym, 3D Fitness, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. In today’s episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Mike Warkentin talks with Vel, who shares the plan behind the numbers. Vel breaks down the main elements at the top of his marketing funnel: organic social media and paid ads. But his leads don’t just book free consultations automatically—so he’s got a lead-nurturing system designed to get people in the door, too. ...
Nov 30, 2023•37 min•Season 3Ep. 515
Do you have a plan for growing your gym in 2024? In today’s episode, Chris Cooper goes over Two-Brain’s free 2024 annual plan: It's designed to help gym owners like you get more clients, increase average revenue per member, improve retention, inspire your staff and pay yourself more. Chris runs through a basic but every effective plan month by month, detailing how you can level up your gym with client Goal Review Sessions, coach evaluations, marketing funnel audits, and more. If you’re a Two-Bra...
Nov 27, 2023•37 min•Season 3Ep. 514
Having trouble staffing your gym? You aren't alone. In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Chris Cooper sits down with Joe Venuti and Alessandra Bisalti of CrossFit MASS, who share how they’ve used "guided access" to transform their gym in the face of staffing shortages. Essentially, they’ve learned to leverage technology. In a guided or enhanced access model, clients receive individually designed programming delivered to their phones and can access the gym during non-coached hours to get th...
Nov 23, 2023•38 min•Season 3Ep. 513
