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This channel (presented by Two-Brain Business) is packed with business tools for gym owners and CrossFit affiliates. We provide actionable, data-backed business advice for all gym owners, including those who own personal training studios, fitness franchises, and strength and conditioning gyms.
Food for Thought Friday - What to Do When a Staff Member Messes Up
Everyone makes mistakes.
But how should you handle it if an employee makes the same mistake over and over?
The answer: Have a plan in place. Here, Greg Strauch shares his.
Why Two Croatian Gym Owners Invested a Year's Salary in the Incubator
Igor Jelcic and Dino Molnar both own CrossFit gyms in Croatia, where the cost of the Incubator translates to roughly an entire year's salary for the average Croatian.
Both Igor and Dino experienced some tough times in the early days of their businesses. Igor's gym, 20350 Athletics, was on the brink of total failure, and while Dino had new members joining CrossFit Rijeka each month, he had trouble keeping them around.
Each of the gym owners had been longtime fans and followers of Two-Brain Business but hesitated to buy in because of the price. But after taking the leap, both said the investment was totally worth it—and both ended up more than doubling their monthly revenues.
Links:
https://crossfit20350.com/
https://www.facebook.com/crossfitrijeka/
https://growyournutritionbusiness.com
Timeline:
3:23 – Finding CrossFit on YouTube, opening a gym and losing a partner.
5:24 – Reaching an ultimatum: Join Two-Brain for a year’s salary or close the doors.
7:30 – “I would pay even 10k now for the things that I know now.”
9:03 – Using ads for personal training to increase revenue by 300%.
12:35 – The reward for trying something new: more than doubling your revenue.
15:37 – The future of 20350 Athletics.
20:33 – Bringing CrossFit to a regular gym, getting fired and starting CrossFit Reijka.
23:15 – Opening with 50 members and 12-hour workdays.
24:20 – Stuck at the 100-member mark: A problem of retention.
25:34 – Finding answers within Two-Brain content.
27:53 – Taking the plunge into Incubation.
30:03 – Signing on 15-17 new members with a $20 ad.
31:38 – How those 15-17 members turned into 45.
34:28 – The key to retention: providing a great experience.
Two-Brain Radio: Bridging Functional and Aesthetic Fitness With Dave Lipson
In this episode, Sean Woodland speaks with the co-founder of Thundrbro, Dave Lipson.
Dave is a former CrossFit Seminar Staff member and CrossFit Games competitor. He's also husband to 2014 Fittest Woman on Earth, Camille Leblanc-Bazinet, and the co-founder of Thundrbro: A training and lifestyle brand whose mission is to make the world a better place through physical training, mental toughness with a winning mindset, and elevating those around you.
Sean speaks with Dave about how he is bringing together the functional and aesthetic fitness worlds, what motivated him to do that and how hypertrophy training can help CrossFit athletes of all levels.
Links:
https://thundrbro.com
https://www.amazon.com/Founder-Farmer-Tinker-Thief-Entrepreneurs-ebook/dp/B07QH85HSX
Contact:
Instagram: @davefreakinglipson
https://www.amazon.com/Founder-Farmer-Tinker-Thief-Entrepreneurs-ebook/dp/B07QH85HSX
Timeline:
2:03 – Finding CrossFit: Is that a gym or a crack house?
4:50 – Life on the Seminar Staff: Educate, inspire and entertain.
7:25 – On loving CrossFit but learning other methodologies, too.
10:01 – The dichotomy between CrossFit and bodybuilding: Why?
11:02 – What the two fitness worlds can learn from each other.
12:32 – Defining hypertrophy training.
14:54 – How hypertrophy training can help CrossFitters.
17:55 – What does a Thundrbro workout look like?
19:07 – The 90-Day Get Huge program.
21:18 – The scalability and accessibility of the program.
24:36 – Getting turned down by CrossFit and launching a business of his own.
26:52 – Thundrbro in overview: Fitness plus bodybuilding and a worldwide online challenge.
30:17 – The response from the bodybuilding community.
32:24 – How to join Thundrbro.
Two-Brain Radio: Expanding Beyond CrossFit With John Bartholomeo
John Bartholomeo is the owner of Mohawk Valley Wellness in Marcy, New York. Mohawk Valley Wellness originally began as CrossFit Mohawk Valley eight years ago. For most of that time, the gym enjoyed steady growth due to word-of-mouth referrals. But when John decided to expand and offer programs in addition to CrossFit, he struggled to get people in the door.
Today, after just four months of mentorship with Two-Brain, John has totally overhauled his marketing and intro processes and recently signed up 33 new members in less than eight weeks. In this episode of Two-Brain Radio, he shares how and why he rebranded his gym to offer more than just CrossFit, how he oversees a 13,000-square-foot facility with multiple programs running simultaneously and how he uses paid advertising to reach more prospective clients.
Links:
https://mohawkvalleywellness.com/
https://growyournutritionbusiness.com
Contact:
john@mohawkvalleyfitness.com
Timeline:
3:18 – The early days, when getting members used to be easy.
5:24 – The state of the competition.
7:15 – Why seek out mentorship?
9:23 – The key to longevity: Relationship-building.
11:34 – Lessons learned from the Two-Brain Summit: Regular communication with staff.
13:27 – Expanding into a larger space and adding more service offerings.
15:13 – Struggling to sell: “We couldn’t give away a gym membership at New Year’s.”
16:26 – Programs offered and the layout today.
22:02 – Selling smiles and laughter.
22:48 – Learning how to sell from Two-Brain mentor Sherman Merricks.
23:45 – The intro process and the Prescriptive Model.
26:37 – Overhauling paid advertising and the lead-nurture process.
30:26 – The importance of tracking lead and sales metrics.
31:47 – Making your waiting area close the sale for you.
35:19 – The importance of balance: Look to the future, but don’t neglect the present.
Food for Thought Friday - Where Do You Draw The Line?
Which is a better business decision: to lump all your specialty classes into your unlimited group rate or to charge for them separately?
Though the former might seem like a great package when it comes to marketing, what it actually does is diminish the value of those services. At the same time, if you ever decide to stop offering a specialty class, your members will feel like they're now paying more for less.
Two-Brain Radio: Playing the Infinite Game
In this special episode of Two-Brain Radio, you're going to get some serious gold from Two-Brain Business Founder Chris Cooper.
Today's topic is all about what's between your ears as an entrepreneur. Is your definition of success finite or infinite? Are you worried there aren't enough clients for you and for the gym down the street? Are you confident enough in your own brand and your own story that you don't worry about what the competition is doing?
Chris addresses all that and more in this quick but deep dive into the mindset of the successful entrepreneur.
Links:
"The Infinite Game" by Simon Sinek: https://www.amazon.com/Infinite-Game-Simon-Sinek/dp/073521350X
Escaping Competition Through Authenticity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4RwgrBxG5M&feature=youtu.be
Free Intrapreneurialism 101 Guide: https://twobrainbusiness.com/free-tools/
Contact:
chris@twobrainbusiness.com
Book a free call with a mentor: https://twobrainbusiness.com/free-call-form/
Timeline:
0:36 – What is the Infinite Game?
1:59 – The five keys to success for your business.
4:21 – “You don’t have to win. You just have to last.”
5:29 – There’s enough opportunity for everybody.
6:58 – It’s not about getting clients; it’s about keeping them.
7:33 – How to compete while not worrying about the competition.
10:34 – The key question that separates rich entrepreneurs from poor ones.
14:35 – Why a Two-Brain gym on every corner would be helpful, not harmful.
17:11 – The Help First philosophy: When gyms work together, everyone gets better.
18:54 – The point of it all: Make gyms wealthy, save the world.
Two-Brain Radio: Mastering Endurance Training With Chris Hinshaw
In today’s episode of Two-Brain Radio, Sean speaks with the man known in the CrossFit world as the endurance authority—Chris Hinshaw.
Chris is a 10-time Ironman competitor and second-place finisher at the Hawaiian Ironman World Championships. He is the founder of aerobiccapacity.com and is widely considered to be one of the top endurance coaches in the world. Chris has coached 30 CrossFit Games champions and 43 CrossFit Games podium finishers—including celebrated athletes such as Mat Fraser and Rich Froning—and has been doing CrossFit himself for more than 10 years.
He talks about what motivated him to get into the world of endurance sports, why he got into coaching and what it’s like to work with the top CrossFit athletes in the world.
Links:
http://aerobiccapacity.com/
https://www.amazon.com/Founder-Farmer-Tinker-Thief-Entrepreneurs-ebook/dp/B07QH85HSX
Contact:
Instagram: @hinshaw363
Timeline:
1:53 – The definition of endurance.
3:39 – How a “skinny, uncoordinated” kid became an elite triathlete and Ironman athlete.
6:15 – Built to run.
7:48 – To be successful at any challenge, it must be a lifestyle, not a hobby.
8:57 – Developing the mental strength necessary for Ironman competition.
11:15 – From athlete to coach.
13:35 – Discovering CrossFit at CrossFit Santa Cruz Central.
14:43 – Addicted to the adrenaline.
15:56 – Meeting, learning from and assessing Jason Khalipa.
18:31 – No nonsense from Camille Leblanc-Bazinet and providing value as a coach.
20:23 – What had been missing from Khalipa’s training.
22:17 – Roles and responsibilities of athletes and coaches.
26:07 – The thing that separates the really, really good from the elite.
28:14 – On interference and taking risks for the possibility of a greater reward.
32:20 – Coaching CrossFit athletes vs. traditional endurance athletes.
35:16 – The biggest mistake people make when trying to improve endurance.
38:42 – The future of coaching elite CrossFit athletes for competition.
42:32 – The best part of the journey: reclaiming health.
Staying on Top of Your Game With Kevin Wood
Kevin Wood opened CrossFit Moncton 11 years ago in New Brunswick, Canada, making him one of Canada's most long-standing affiliate owners. When he affiliated in 2008, the aesthetic of CrossFit was a lot different: wall balls made of sand-filled basketballs and grungy gyms instead of shiny equipment and bright, colorful spaces.
Though Kevin's goal has remained the same over the years—to make people fit and healthy—he's had to adjust his mindset and operations to make his gym not just a passion project but also a business.
When Kevin joined Two-Brain Business just a few months ago, the gym had just had one of its worst months ever following a costly forced relocation. But after just one month of mentorship, the gym had its best month ever after turning $500 in ad spend into $4,000 in front-end sales. Here's how he did it—and some of the lessons he's learned after more than a decade of gym ownership.
Links:
http://crossfitmoncton.com/
https://incitetax.com/
Contact:
kevin@crossfitmoncton.com
Timeline:
3:10 – From gym teacher to gym owner.
5:38 – The early days: sand-filled basketballs and $5 workouts at the playground.
8:01 – The mission hasn’t changed: To change people’s lives with fitness.
11:28 – Turning a passion into a business: You can’t make everybody happy.
13:58 – How to make your service the best hour of your clients’ days.
15:39 – From worst to best month ever with Two-Brain Business.
17:45 – First lesson learned: Delegate tasks, not job titles.
20:24 – Overhauling the on-ramp process.
22:03 – How to sell coaches on the sales process.
24:19 – The point isn’t to take clients’ money, it’s to change their lives.
26:55 – CrossFit’s target market, then and now.
27:40 – Ask your clients what keeps them coming back. The answer might surprise you.
29:26 – It’s all about relationships ...
31:06 – … and that goes for your staff, too.
32:54 – The No-Sweat Intro: Personalize the process.
34:11 – Get comfortable with silence.
35:43 – Finding a client’s “why” isn’t just for sales; it’s for retention.
37:00 – Retention is an ongoing sales process.
38:56 – Asking for the “why” is what sets your gym apart from the big-box franchises.
Food for Thought Friday - Should You Charge Your Coaches for a Membership?
Do your coaches pay for a membership? Trade for one? Do they get paid to coach and get a free membership?
However you structure it, make sure you're trading dollar for dollar to ensure the value of your product—and their work—is appropriately measured.
Two-Brain Radio: Buying a Dying Gym With Bo Buser
Bo Buser figured it would take a few years of coaching and networking after graduating from business school before he'd be able to open his own CrossFit gym—so when he got the opportunity to buy one just three months after graduation, he eagerly took the plunge.
He had the capital to buy the gym in cash, the green light from his advisor and legal counsel overseeing the purchase agreement. But once he took the gym over and got a closer look at the books, he realized he'd purchased a dying gym.
But Bo wasn't ready to call it quits. In this episode of Two-Brain Radio, you'll learn how he saved Centennial CrossFit by slashing costs, overhauling operations and raising prices without killing his retention rate.
Links:
https://centennialcrossfit.com
https://drivennutrition.net/
Contact:
bo@centennialcrossfit.com
Timeline:
2:51 – Accelerating a three-year plan to a three-month one.
5:04 – Why take the plunge?
7:01 – How the gym fell into Bo’s lap.
8:55 – The purchasing process.
13:10 – “It looked ready to go.”
14:52 – Breaking the news to the gym’s members.
18:26 – Getting a real look at the books.
23:01 – The first big change: reducing payroll expenses.
26:48 – The key to smooth transition: transparency with staff.
29:58 – Overhauling on-ramp to improve retention and increase front-end revenue.
33:44 – Raising prices—for some members, by as much as 50 percent.
36:10 – How to tell long-term clients their membership is going up.
38:22 – Almost out of the woods: The next step? A better lease.
41:30 – The key to successfully implementing big changes in your business: Show your clients you’re invested.
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