• Gym World
  • Posts
  • What’s going on with Gym Launch?

What’s going on with Gym Launch?

PLUS: 5 insights that’ll grow your fitness business

Author

John Franklin
September 29, 2023

Gym World,

There are two things I hate in this world:

  1. Wind chimes. If you think the sound of clanging metal is so relaxing that you need to share it with your neighbors, get help.

  2. Platitudes. If the advice you get from your business coach is “just win,” “deliver a better service,” “a rising tide lifts all boats,” or literally any quote about stoicism, you didn’t hire a business coach, you hired a cheerleader.

What I like about Cale Owen, the CEO of Gym Launch, is that he gives actionable advice, based on data, that is meant to work for any gym in any market.

We do the same at Two-Brain Business, which is probably why the two companies are the leaders in gym business coaching.

I sat down with Cale a few weeks ago to swap notes. Here are 5 insights from the talk that’ll help you run a better gym:

1. Most gym owners don’t have the information they need to run their business properly

Data paints an accurate picture of what sets the best and worst gyms apart. With clearer insights, it’s easier to spot problems and fix them.

If you have the right information, you can make better decisions faster.

Cale says gym owners need to have a clear understanding of the following metrics to truly understand what’s going on in their business:

Acquisition

  1. Leads

  2. Schedules

  3. Shows

  4. Closed

  5. CPL

  6. Cash Collected

  7. CAC

Operations

  1. Churn

  2. Retention

  3. Cohort Data

General Business

  1. Revenue

  2. Expense

  3. Profit

Cale says every gym owner should be tracking these metrics, but most don’t, and that’s a mistake.

At Two-Brain we use a system called “The Simple Six” to track a gym’s health. Here they are:

ARM (average revenue per member)—what the average client pays you in the average month.

Clients—how many people pay you every month.

LEG (length of engagement)—how long the average client stays in your gym.

EHR (effective hourly rate)—the value of your time.

ROI (return on investment)—the value you’re getting from the stuff you buy (equipment, space, your staff’s time).

NOB (net owner benefit)—what you take home from your gym business.

To accurately track these, you’ll need to know many of the same metrics listed above.

2. The 6-week challenge is still the best marketing play

A lot of gym owners try to get cute with their marketing but most of the time, it doesn’t end well.

As much as everyone hates it, the 6-week challenge is still the ultimate offer.

Cale said Gym Launch brings in 60,000 monthly leads for their clients; of those, a whopping 95% come from 6-week challenges—despite constantly testing new offers.

I’m not surprised. We’ve interviewed a bunch of successful gym owners who run very profitable businesses using 6-week challenges as their primary offer.

3. Outbound marketing is a waste of time

Cale believes that the cold outreach techniques in Alex Hormozi’s book $100M Leads are extremely difficult and not sustainable for the average gym owner. Instead, he says to focus on nurturing warm leads.

So if you want a higher success rate in attracting more clients to your gym, try using a combination of these proven methods:

I can’t stress this enough: more conversations lead to more conversions.

4. Avoid hiring losers

Finding talent is the #1 issue many gym owners face. Cale says this challenge could be better resolved by developing a standard hiring procedure.

You also need to consider the following factors to ensure you hire the best candidates:

  • Ask for references, check them, and conduct background checks. These small things are often overlooked yet could have a big impact in the long-run.

  • Look at the values & characteristics you want, the skillsets needed to be successful, and a track record of people having done the role’s responsibilities before.

As someone who has unknowingly hired and partnered with frauds and felons, I HIGHLY recommend that you take Cale’s advice regarding references and background checks. A few $50 background checks would’ve saved me hundreds of thousands of dollars & countless headaches throughout the course of my career.

5. Charge more for group training

Data from the last Two-Brain State of the Industry showed that the median cost for large group training was $159/mo, but only 6.6 people attended the average large group class.

That means the average gym owner is selling large group training but delivering small group training.

Cale says the average is even lower than that for CrossFit gyms, hovering around the $120-$130/mo mark.

Raising prices is one of the fastest and most reliable ways to increase profit. And if you’re already delivering small group training, you might as well get paid what you’re worth. The market rate for small group is about 2-3x the median group price. This article covers more ground on this topic.

Tl;dr

Successful gym owners hate wasting precious time. They know that every second counts while trying to build a business.

Smart ones find a good mentor to save them from years of frustration and put them light years ahead of their competition.

And the ones that are “too smart” for mentorship pay for their business education with headaches and expensive mistakes.

To hear more thoughts on the state of the fitness industry, watch or listen to Cale’s interview on Gym World.

Until next week,

j