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Steal the weird strategy that’s helping this gym owner scale...

& make millions in real estate

Author

John Franklin
October 18, 2024

What’s up Gym World?

Most small group personal training gyms with 2-4 locations tend to:

  • Target busy adults over 40

  • Rent 1,000-2,000 sq ft in a bougie strip mall

  • Run session with a 6:1 client-to-coach ratio

  • Operate with two full-time employees

Then there’s Mark Ehnis from PowerStrength Training Systems, who’s:

  • Serving young athletes in sports performance

  • Buying 10,000-12,000 sq ft warehouses

  • Opening gyms in low-cost areas of West Michigan

  • Staffing each location with 6-8 full-time employees

In 13 years, he’s scaled to four gyms, 1,200 members, and around $3M in annual revenue, with a fifth opening next month. His approach is unlike anything we’ve featured on Gym World before.

Here’s how he made it happen: 👇

Building PowerStrength 🛠️

Mark always wanted to train athletes. He coached high school football and interned at Parisi Speed School, where he honed his skills in athlete development. After the internship, he applied to be a trainer but never got the call back, which pushed him to open a gym in his hometown.

Just like the Frezzas and Kevin Higgins, Mark was active in his community, which helped him build and leverage his local network.

In 2011, Mark opened the first PowerStrength in a 1,500 sq ft abandoned auto-glass garage. He offered small group personal training for young athletes, with one coach working with six people at a time.

The space had 8 yards of turf and 3 racks.

A ton of adults wanted to join too, but Mark turned them away. Eventually, the demand led him to add small group personal training for adults.

Mark didn’t track or nurture leads for the first three years, but his business kept growing. He sought mentorship and joined masterminds later, but credits his early success to:

  • Excellent training

  • Quality service

  • Strong client relationships

By 2016, he outgrew the space and moved into a 10,000 sq ft facility, where he still is today.

The gym also has offices and a couple of bathrooms. Since then, he’s opened three more locations and is building a fifth from scratch.

Here’s what the business looks like: 👇

The model

All PowerStrength gyms are clustered in West Michigan and range between 10,000-12,000 sq ft.

Each gym has about 125-150 adults and 200-300 young athletes training in small groups of six, often 2-3 times a week. On average, a location generates around $65k-$100k per month.

During peak hours, 5-6 classes run simultaneously, but the gym’s size and layout easily accommodate the traffic. Mark says the average revenue per member is around $275 for both adults and athletes.

Leads go through a simple 3-step sales process:

  1. Fill out a detailed pre-qualifying contact form

  2. Talk with a team member over the phone

  3. Come in for a 1-on-1 assessment and consultation

Athletes are usually signed straight into memberships, while adults are given a low-barrier offer or sold directly into a membership.

There are 30 staff (6 to 8 per gym), most of them full-time, including:

  • Regional managers

  • Facility leaders

  • Coaches

Full-time employees receive benefits and growth opportunities and can quickly earn around $70k per year.

A weird expansion strategy? 🤔

Gyms like Alloy Personal Training, GameChanger Fitness, Alpha Fit Club, and Engage Personal Training nailed down a profitable model and expanded to multiple locations.

Mark, on the other hand, built a profitable gym and used cash flow and SBA loans to purchase part of the real estate for his second, third, and fourth locations.

15 months after upgrading his first gym, Mark opened a second 12,000 sq ft location, expanded to a third in 2021, and added a fourth in 2023.

Now, he’s taking on his most ambitious project yet—building his fifth location entirely from scratch.

PowerStrength Holland is over 10,000 sq ft and set to open in November 2024.

This can be a profitable strategy if done right. The key is having a connected team with the knowledge to mitigate risks and set you up for success.

We’ve seen this with Joe Riggio, who built his 17-acre sports performance gym by leveraging his network. Mark did the same with a team of experts, including:

  • An accountant

  • CFO

  • Banker

  • Lawyer

  • Insurance broker

Starting from scratch comes with its own set of risks compared to buying an existing gym, but it can be highly lucrative. We recommend this strategy because we’ve seen it turn gym owners into millionaires time and time again.

And while we’ve featured gym owners who own real estate, it’s unusual to see ones with multiple massive properties, over 1,000 members, and doing around $3M outside of a coastal city.

But I like what Mark’s doing because he’s:

  • In an affluent, low-cost area of Michigan, so he has lower expenses but can charge a premium

  • This allows him to pay his coaching staff more, making it a viable career and improving retention

  • Being a big fish in a small pond means he has a strong network and less competition than in places like NYC

  • This opens up more opportunities to build serious equity in both his business and real estate

As a result, he’s on track to building some serious wealth.

TL;DR ✍️

Mark built a profitable model for athletes and adults, leveraged his network, and expanded PowerStrength Training Systems through real estate.

Now, he’s running a 7-figure small group training empire with four locations—and a fifth opening next month.

For more on PowerStrength, watch or listen to Mark’s full interview on Gym World.

ttyl,

j

📣 P.S. If you found this interesting, share it with another gym owner who’d think so too.