How Rich Thaw Grew EMPWR Fitness Without Adding More Coaching Hours

Happy Friday Gym World,

Rich Thaw opened EMPWR Fitness & Sports Training in January 2023 and still handles every part of the business himself.

But a few of the decisions he's making now caught our attention because they'll likely have an impact on the business for years to come.

Here's what we found interesting 👇

He created time to grow the gym

When EMPWR first opened, Rich coached Monday to Friday plus Saturday mornings. Like most new gym owners, he had to keep the lights on somehow.

But coaching all day isn’t sustainable for one person. So after working with Business for Unicorns, he stopped running sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Instead, those two days became focused on growing the gym:

• following up with leads

• running sales conversations

• filling existing sessions

• handling admin and day-to-day stuff

Sometimes people just need a reason to start

EMPWR’s intro offer is $99 for 10 days or 3 sessions. Sometimes Rich will cut that in half when a prospect is clearly interested but just not pulling the trigger yet.

Most of the time it's pretty obvious when that's the case. They want to join, they're just stuck on starting. The discount gives them a reason to start now instead of later.

He doesn’t ask for referrals right away

Rich waits about 2 to 3 months before asking members for a referral. Before that, he’s looking for a few signs:

• they're showing up consistently

• they're making visible progress

• they're already talking positively about the gym

From there, the process is simple:

• members scan a QR code

• they enter a friend’s details

• the friend gets a text automatically

The member gets a free week or two. The new lead gets 50% off their first month.

New members just need to feel comfortable

Rich’s onboarding is pretty simple compared to other gyms we feature:

• new members come in a little early

• he shows them how to warm up

• introduces them to the group

• pairs them with someone who already knows how things run.

It’s nothing too fancy. The goal is just to make day one feel easy enough that they come back for day two.

After their second session, Rich follows up right away. Sometimes it’s a simple text with a 50% off offer to continue training, sometimes it’s a quick in-person chat. Either way, they know exactly what to do next if they want to keep training.

TL;DR

EMPWR is still a young gym, but Rich is making a few decisions that reduce how much the business depends on him:

• he cut coaching days to create time for sales, follow-up, and growth

• he uses discounts to get the right people started sooner

• he asks for referrals when members are most engaged, not just when it's convenient

• he focuses onboarding on making people comfortable enough to come back

None of these are groundbreaking on their own. But together, they're helping him build a gym that doesn't rely on adding more coaching hours every time he wants to grow.

That's a challenge most gym owners eventually run into. Rich is just addressing it early.

cheers,

j