Earlier this year, my gym hit an all-time high of 700 athletes. For a gym in a town of just 20,000 people, our enrollment was double what I had ever expected to reach. We had worked hard for many years to develop great programs, increase our retention, and refine our marketing. However, we ran into new challenges we had never encountered before, and some of those challenges were bigger and more difficult to overcome than I had expected. They took more of my time and effort than ever before—posing the question: Do you need more athletes to meet your financial goals in 2024? 

For me, the answer turned out to be “no.” 

Challenges of Higher Enrollment 

Getting an influx of new athletes poses its challenges:

1. You’ll need more staff. 

Maybe some of you are overloaded with staff begging for more hours …OK, I’m just kidding. If this gym exists, I’d like to meet the owner, because I’m not sure I’ve talked to many gyms in the last six years who are looking to utilize the “extra” staff members they have sitting around. However, an influx of new athletes will require you to hire more staff. You’ll need more front desk staff to help accommodate parents’ questions, billing, credit card changes and declines, enrollments and make up classes, and just general admin work. You’ll also need additional coaches to meet your class ratios, ensuring you’re keeping athletes safe while they progress efficiently.

2. You’ll need more space. 

When your classes are full and you’re running multiple at one time, it can feel like an orchestrated zoo. My gym is 35,000 square feet, but there are times I can’t find a single place to host a quick parent meeting. If I got 100 new kids tomorrow, it would be challenging to place them in classes with a guarantee that those classes had enough space and equipment to properly function. (Also, remember I’m referring to 100 kids in 35,000 square feet. For some gyms, this challenge would occur with an influx of just 30-40 new athletes.)

3. You’ll need a new level of organization. 

The systems I had for 250 athletes are not the same ones that worked for 700 athletes. It’s harder to communicate and ensure kids aren’t waiting in the parking lot alone after class. You also see more billing declines that need to be remedied. Even things like taking out the trash will have to happen more frequently, requiring revised systems.

Why Revenue Matters More Than Enrollment

I don’t know a gym owner who would turn down an influx of new athletes, but too often I see gym owners who think that is the key to their financial 

“If I had more athletes, I could pay myself on time”

“If I had more athletes, I could finally move into a bigger building.”

“If I had more athletes, I could hire an all star director.” 

Today, my gym sits comfortably at 600 athletes. A 15% decrease in enrollment is typical for my gym in the summer. Lake of the Ozarks is nearby, and 75% of my program is recreational. When you have 700 athletes, 15% is 105 kids. We also didn’t see the big back-to-school boom this year that we have had for the past 12 years. However, when I look at the numbers, I’m not panicked. I’m not worried about how many athletes we have. I’m looking at what our revenue is. 

The number of athletes you have truly doesn’t matter. You can have 100 athletes paying $40 a month, or you can have 10 athletes paying $400 per month. The outcome is the same.

The number of athletes is for your pride; the amount of revenue you bring in is what matters, and the amount of profit from that revenue is what keeps your gym alive.

At Next Gen, we regularly state that our Academy can teach you how to increase your enrollment. However, a large number of our clients start their education with us and recognize they may have been looking at the wrong number all along. Their number of athletes is fine; it’s their revenue that’s too low. There are 100 ways to solve that problem in your current space, with your current staff, and with minor revisions to systems. 

Higher Profit With Fewer Athletes

An increase in revenue (and more importantly an increase in profit) can do incredible things for your gym. Though my gym is down 100 athletes from earlier this year, our revenue is nearly identical to what it was at that time. However: 

  1. My labor cost is down.
  2. My floors feel less crowded during classes.
  3. My staff have more time to focus on the individual athletes in their classes.
  4. Our equipment goes further and is spread out less among athletes and classes.

You might be asking yourself how it’s possible to do the same amount of revenue with 100 less athletes. When you have a variety of revenue sources, you can increase some while decreasing others:

  1. We focused on increasing attendance at our events, such as open gym and daytime playtime. I was already staffing these, and the space was already allotted for it, so increasing the number of attendees became a profitable source of revenue.
  2. We focused on filling empty spots in our semi-private lessons.
  3. We focused on filling birthday party slots. Though this does require additional staffing, the profit margins on birthday parties are higher than anything else in the gym. So, this was a great option for increasing both revenue and profit.
  4. We focused on filling vacancies in classes rather than starting new ones.
  5. We focused on retention. When an athlete stays longer, that’s less marketing, less staff time for onboarding, and more opportunity for that athlete to refer others regularly.

So, what do you really need—more athletes or more revenue? The items listed above are all things we coach gym owners through in the Next Gen Academy. You can do it on your own, and you’ll probably be successful, but it took me 12 years to do $1 million in revenue. What if the Academy could help you do it in five years? Would it be worth it?

To learn more about the Next Gen Academy, book a call at nextgenowners.com/book-a-call.