Something you wish you knew when starting your gym

ImpactBjj - Build systems so that others can get trained to do what you do. Focus marketing on SEO and figure out the best way to generate leads and convert them to customers.

Get a good payment/client membership 3rd party processing company

Only do 3 month paid in full, 6 month and 1 year membership agreements

Get 1st day pictures and emails of everyone that comes in, calls, request info or shows interest.

Do a monthly newsletter and send it out to that email list

Ask everyone for referrals and build a bonus referral system

Get testimonies and before pictures of everyone who trains

Don't be afraid to charge a premium price for a premium product. It's better to have 20% that say they can't afford it.

Be okay with people who just buy a membership but never come in

Build a tiered system, like a silver, gold and platinum membership

Ask everyone to leave a review on Facebook, Yelp and Google

Don't be afraid to make money, more money and more students means more money for better equipment, bringing in great coaches and doing more for your team

Get people who are passionate about helping others, train them up and build a great staff, pay them well, but incentivize them with performance bonuses and commission

Get rid of anyone you have a bad feeling about INSTANTLY. Students, Coaches or Athletes

Keep a professional distance to your athletes and coaches.

Never give anything away at a discount. Always ends up not being worth it. They will take it for granted or it will devalue your worth in their eyes

You can have a charity or a business but not both. Keep business business. If you feel led to be charitable, do so, but make them earn it, make clear concise stipulations and hold them to it.

Read every great book on leadership and being a entrepreneur. Try 1 a month

Remember you are selling results, create vision, build value, make a friend, create a great atmosphere then follow thru

Get a mentor and join a mastermind group

- wish I read this 10 years ago, lol Phone Post 3.0

VU, great list. Are you part of the Oregon Impact gym network? I'm assuming so, but I've also seen gyms in other states using the Impact name. I'm on here looking for gym business tips because I'm trying to help one of the Impact locations grow, so it would be funny if the best advice I find is from another Impact gym.

GenericAmerican -
ImpactBjj - Build systems so that others can get trained to do what you do. Focus marketing on SEO and figure out the best way to generate leads and convert them to customers.

Get a good payment/client membership 3rd party processing company

Only do 3 month paid in full, 6 month and 1 year membership agreements

Get 1st day pictures and emails of everyone that comes in, calls, request info or shows interest.

Do a monthly newsletter and send it out to that email list

Ask everyone for referrals and build a bonus referral system

Get testimonies and before pictures of everyone who trains

Don't be afraid to charge a premium price for a premium product. It's better to have 20% that say they can't afford it.

Be okay with people who just buy a membership but never come in

Build a tiered system, like a silver, gold and platinum membership

Ask everyone to leave a review on Facebook, Yelp and Google

Don't be afraid to make money, more money and more students means more money for better equipment, bringing in great coaches and doing more for your team

Get people who are passionate about helping others, train them up and build a great staff, pay them well, but incentivize them with performance bonuses and commission

Get rid of anyone you have a bad feeling about INSTANTLY. Students, Coaches or Athletes

Keep a professional distance to your athletes and coaches.

Never give anything away at a discount. Always ends up not being worth it. They will take it for granted or it will devalue your worth in their eyes

You can have a charity or a business but not both. Keep business business. If you feel led to be charitable, do so, but make them earn it, make clear concise stipulations and hold them to it.

Read every great book on leadership and being a entrepreneur. Try 1 a month

Remember you are selling results, create vision, build value, make a friend, create a great atmosphere then follow thru

Get a mentor and join a mastermind group

- wish I read this 10 years ago, lol Phone Post 3.0

VU, great list. Are you part of the Oregon Impact gym network? I'm assuming so, but I've also seen gyms in other states using the Impact name. I'm on here looking for gym business tips because I'm trying to help one of the Impact locations grow, so it would be funny if the best advice I find is from another Impact gym.
Nice, good luck.

No, when we opened in 2007 we were the only Impact Zone. I've seen a couple variations open up around the country in the last couple of years. Phone Post 3.0

excellent advice in this thread

isn't gb helping you out with this brent?

all the gb's here in oz have no problems with starting out and getting set up. 

all are doing very well for their instructors.

One thing I have seen help maybe for a slightly more established gym but also one starting out is the quicker you can have a true, legit office manager the better.  At my gym the coach knows all the students and has a good relationship with them, this can make it just a bit awkward when it comes to enforcing payments or getting new card numbers on file.  With an office manager that is their JOB and everyone knows it.  The moment you come in they can pull you aside and get it sorted out, you know it and they know it.  Also as a coach you are most likely going to put off making those phone calls to get people's money.  I believe when our gym got a real general manager the owner's monthly revenue went up close to $4,000 (there were some other factors as well).

dojo stormer -


isn't gb helping you out with this brent?



all the gb's here in oz have no problems with starting out and getting set up. 



all are doing very well for their instructors.

Yes. But they don't cover everything Phone Post 3.0

TT Phone Post 3.0

this is a great thread I m looking to start up a local gym soon considering there is no true jiu jitsu gym within 45 mins of where I live there is one mma gym but not sole jiu jitsu but when do you guys think it is acceptable to open a gym like at what rank even though I would continue to train and a gym that is farther away to keep progressing my own skills and talents

I've been helping the owner of my gym look at options for expansion. Right now we are in a very "bare bones" setup, renting warehouse space from another company (actually sharing the space and the other company uses half our space for storage basically). Basically every student there is from word of mouth. With all that going against it, the gym has gotten to 40 students and we're looking for a better location.

The question is, in a relatively small town, do you go for the more expensive location with high visibility and take the risk of the higher rent, or do you go with a cheaper location and put more effort into promotion to get people to find you?

. Phone Post 3.0

ImpactBjj - Build systems so that others can get trained to do what you do. Focus marketing on SEO and figure out the best way to generate leads and convert them to customers.

Get a good payment/client membership 3rd party processing company

Only do 3 month paid in full, 6 month and 1 year membership agreements

Get 1st day pictures and emails of everyone that comes in, calls, request info or shows interest.

Do a monthly newsletter and send it out to that email list

Ask everyone for referrals and build a bonus referral system

Get testimonies and before pictures of everyone who trains

Don't be afraid to charge a premium price for a premium product. It's better to have 20% that say they can't afford it.

Be okay with people who just buy a membership but never come in

Build a tiered system, like a silver, gold and platinum membership

Ask everyone to leave a review on Facebook, Yelp and Google

Don't be afraid to make money, more money and more students means more money for better equipment, bringing in great coaches and doing more for your team

Get people who are passionate about helping others, train them up and build a great staff, pay them well, but incentivize them with performance bonuses and commission

Get rid of anyone you have a bad feeling about INSTANTLY. Students, Coaches or Athletes

Keep a professional distance to your athletes and coaches.

Never give anything away at a discount. Always ends up not being worth it. They will take it for granted or it will devalue your worth in their eyes

You can have a charity or a business but not both. Keep business business. If you feel led to be charitable, do so, but make them earn it, make clear concise stipulations and hold them to it.

Read every great book on leadership and being a entrepreneur. Try 1 a month

Remember you are selling results, create vision, build value, make a friend, create a great atmosphere then follow thru

Get a mentor and join a mastermind group

- wish I read this 10 years ago, lol Phone Post 3.0

Yes, yes and yes! All this.

I've had my academy for eight years now and by far,  all the above is all you need to implement. I learned all this the hard way.

GenericAmerican - I've been helping the owner of my gym look at options for expansion. Right now we are in a very "bare bones" setup, renting warehouse space from another company (actually sharing the space and the other company uses half our space for storage basically). Basically every student there is from word of mouth. With all that going against it, the gym has gotten to 40 students and we're looking for a better location.

The question is, in a relatively small town, do you go for the more expensive location with high visibility and take the risk of the higher rent, or do you go with a cheaper location and put more effort into promotion to get people to find you?


I did the latter, and growth was slow (steady, but slow).



I wish I had done the former.  Visibility is HUGE. 



 



I also had the opportunity to move into a smaller location that was more residential (my space was an industrial warehouse).  I turned it down because it was small and we would have outgrown it quickly, but that was a mistake. I should've gone in there, swelled the numbers, and then moved to a larger and more prominent location.



 



 

Also, one other thought unrelated to the above but very important:

Your biggest job is to deliver value. Almost tied with that: tell everyone about the value you deliver.  

Sales and marketing is just about making sure the world knows you deliver value.  Set your prices according to value (not according to what people want to pay).  

Failing to deliver value is shameful. Don't ever sign people up by promising them things you don't plan to make good on.  

twinkletoesCT -


This sounds horribly cynical, but:



The folks to whom you give the most favors & free training will be the ones who give you the most grief.  



Especially the ones you're absolutely convinced will be appreciative.

Totally agree.

Now, about that free training.

The Maestro - 


Some random thoughts...



 




  1. Be mindful of where you open the gym.  If you open in an industrialized area, you are going to save significantly on the cost per sqft.  But you will not have access to kids.  Parents are hesitant in taking kids to those types of gyms.  But adults don't care so much.  If you open retail, you will have access to walk by traffic, more kids, and more visibility...but the costs will increase significantly.  You are looking at 2 to 3 times the cost of retail vs industrial.


  2. Be ready for permits.  Getting a conditional use permit for a gym can take up to 90 days.  It is minimum 60 days.  It costs between $6K and $7k just to get aprroved.  Now here's the catch.  You can't apply for the permit until you lease the building.  You can't open the gym until you're approved for the permit.  But if you lease the building, and get denied by the city, you're shit out of luck....meaning you are stuck in a lease that you can't use, unless you were bright enough to put an exit clause in there.  But if capacity is low, and demand is high, there is no way in hell the landlord will allow you to put an exit clause like that.  It's a catch 22 that kills the industry, imo.  I know gyms that spent $10K for the permit and were denied.  You don't get that money back.  What happens is that you go to the city, and you are responsible for sending out mailers to every neighboring business and residence in the area.  If some 86 year old grandman doesn't want that type of business in her neighborhood, you bettter believe she will show up to the council meeting and deny your permit.  The biggest issue is parking and home owners.  


  3. Sometimes, you are better off taking over a lease of a former gym.  Usually, they have already applied and been granted the CUP.  If so, you can take over the CUP.  You don't have to reapply because the CUP is applied to the address, not the tenant.  


  4. I've seen countless world champs fail at business.  Being great at BJJ has nothing to do with running a successful bjj gym.  Most new members have no idea what the IBJJF even is, so droning on and on about world championships is meaningless.  Create a good environment inside the gym where your members are friendly to new members and you will increase your sign-ups



I'm going through the CUP process right now and what The Maestro says, especially in 2. is gold.  My meeting with the city is in mid-June.  Wish me luck.

Papa November -
The Maestro - 


Some random thoughts...



 




  1. Be mindful of where you open the gym.  If you open in an industrialized area, you are going to save significantly on the cost per sqft.  But you will not have access to kids.  Parents are hesitant in taking kids to those types of gyms.  But adults don't care so much.  If you open retail, you will have access to walk by traffic, more kids, and more visibility...but the costs will increase significantly.  You are looking at 2 to 3 times the cost of retail vs industrial.


  2. Be ready for permits.  Getting a conditional use permit for a gym can take up to 90 days.  It is minimum 60 days.  It costs between $6K and $7k just to get aprroved.  Now here's the catch.  You can't apply for the permit until you lease the building.  You can't open the gym until you're approved for the permit.  But if you lease the building, and get denied by the city, you're shit out of luck....meaning you are stuck in a lease that you can't use, unless you were bright enough to put an exit clause in there.  But if capacity is low, and demand is high, there is no way in hell the landlord will allow you to put an exit clause like that.  It's a catch 22 that kills the industry, imo.  I know gyms that spent $10K for the permit and were denied.  You don't get that money back.  What happens is that you go to the city, and you are responsible for sending out mailers to every neighboring business and residence in the area.  If some 86 year old grandman doesn't want that type of business in her neighborhood, you bettter believe she will show up to the council meeting and deny your permit.  The biggest issue is parking and home owners.  


  3. Sometimes, you are better off taking over a lease of a former gym.  Usually, they have already applied and been granted the CUP.  If so, you can take over the CUP.  You don't have to reapply because the CUP is applied to the address, not the tenant.  


  4. I've seen countless world champs fail at business.  Being great at BJJ has nothing to do with running a successful bjj gym.  Most new members have no idea what the IBJJF even is, so droning on and on about world championships is meaningless.  Create a good environment inside the gym where your members are friendly to new members and you will increase your sign-ups



I'm going through the CUP process right now and what The Maestro says, especially in 2. is gold.  My meeting with the city is in mid-June.  Wish me luck.

Do all states/commercial property require you to get a conditional use permit? Or does that vary state by state and the type of area you are in?

UGCTT_Fillthy -

location location location

and showers.

Showers is right. You loose pretty much anyone in early morning classes who has to go to work right after and the same for lunch classes since they can't train and go back to work smelling like a sweaty gi.

These guys who work are the ones who have the money to train. Very few professional office environments have on site showers. Phone Post 3.0

Harv - 
twinkletoesCT -


This sounds horribly cynical, but:



The folks to whom you give the most favors & free training will be the ones who give you the most grief.  



Especially the ones you're absolutely convinced will be appreciative.

Totally agree.

Now, about that free training.



HA.



Not you ;)

Harv -
twinkletoesCT -

This sounds horribly cynical, but:

The folks to whom you give the most favors & free training will be the ones who give you the most grief.  

Especially the ones you're absolutely convinced will be appreciative.

Totally agree.

Now, about that free training.

Yeah very true.

The instinct of  an instructor is to bend over backwards helping people who want to train," but don't have money".

Don't do it.

These people are pretty much always a waste of time and usually not what they present themselves as. It's an immutable law of BJJ that as soon as you let such a person train, you regret it.

 

 

 

shen -


Borrowing start-up money from the Mexican mafia has very real drawbacks I honestly didn't foresee.



 



 

This did make me lol for real Phone Post 3.0