Want to Know How I Went From Struggling to Make 2k/Month . . . To Now Growing a 7-Figure Fitness Franchise of 25+ Studios?
…Starting From Scratch With ZERO Money, Connections or Investors?
Here’s the timeline of events that got me here (short-version!)
2012 – Opened My First Group Training Studio
And the money came rolling in!
Wait… no. It didn’t.
To my utter shock and amazement, my credentials did not influence people to throw their credit cards at me.
And when I went a few months making barely any money, I knew I had a problem.
A few months later again, when I was behind on rent and about to be evicted if I didn’t pay up in a week. . . I knew I had a BIG problem.
At this point I worked my ass off every day.
I hustled for leads every day.
Took sales appointments.
Coached the sessions.
Tried building websites.
I was overworked and underpaid.
But at least I learned a lot about being a great coach and retaining clients through this time!
2014: Cracking The Code
Soon after, I hired a business mentor, and leap-frogged my success by taking the models that were already proven to work.
Getting into that mastermind cost me every penny I had in savings.
But it paid off big time.
Now I knew how to generate leads and sales on demand, I was able to open a larger 4000 square foot facility.
I outsourced the coaching from day one, and ever since I’ve been “retired” from fitness coaching. So I could work ON the business, not IN it.
Around this time I developed my marketing skills to include media and PR.
This allowed us to get the gym featured in Mens’ Health magazine (print) as well as national TV and radio, several times (all free of charge).
So I invested in even more mentors to learn how to hold live seminars, and how to sell your services from the stage.
This method went crazy and one time we attracted 500 people to our gym in a single week (but we only had 150 chairs – d’oh!)
I trained my coaches how to deliver the fitness presentation AND ask for the sale.
This way, I could take more holidays and time away from the gym, and it would still keep growing by dozens of clients every week without me being there.
Here’s a shot of one of the better organized seminars, done by my awesome team!
I also levelled up my skills in leadership, team recruitment and systems building.
(Being a multi-million pound gym owner is NOT just about marketing!)
2016: Exiting The Gym & Traveling The World
Within 6 months of opening, the gym was packed full of clients and required none of my time.
I sold up the gym to a partner, and then explored the next chapter of my life.
I spent most of 2016 to 2018 mentoring other gym owners and personal trainers some of the strategies I had learned.
I spoke all over the world at events in USA, UK, Canada, Thailand and Europe.
I shared my secrets with hundreds of gym owners and coaches, helping them plug in the best marketing, sales, retention and scaling strategies.
I then put all my strategies and systems together into the “Fitness Business Blueprint” – the ultimate “bible” for any studio owner who wants the complete A-Z of launching, growing and scaling a high-profit studio.
2018: Fatherhood & Getting Back into Gyms…
At this time, I also became a father.
My priorities in life suddenly shifted away from travel and buying lavish items… and more focused on long-term wealth, legacy and security for my family.
Don’t get me wrong. . . I love the sports cars and expensive watches, and there’s nothing wrong with that stuff.
But for me, having a child just opened my perspective to more fulfilling joys in life and made me aim higher.
In 2018, a young man came to one of my Business Mastermind events for studio owners.
His name was James Calderbank.
James had just opened a studio called “TransformHub”.
He knew he had potential to do great things.
And he was smart enough to invest in a mentor, and get shown the way rather than re-invent the wheel.
We became great friends, and I saw incredible potential in him.
He was ambitious, dedicated, energetic and ready to work. All at the age of just 25.
We became business partners in the TransformHub, so we could work together to create the best and biggest group training business in the UK!
The second TransformHub location was opened.
And we became obsessed with creating a gym program and operational system that could scale.
In 2020 we were getting ready to open location number 3…
2020: The Pandemic
We both know what a crazy time this was.
Hub #3 was due to open in April.
In March, the UK was put into lockdown.
We were confused.
Disappointed.
Anxious, even a little scared of course.
But me and James had a choice to make.
Would we be able to last with the gyms closed for an indefinite amount of time?
Or should we ‘pull the plug’ and pivot into something else, like online training?
Everyone was saying this is the “end of gyms”.
We didn’t believe that.
We believed that after the pandemic was over, people would RUSH back to gyms – more so than ever.
We believed people would value their health, mental wellbeing and social community even more.
So we decided to do something that most people thought was crazy…
We began investing our cash into buying out struggling studios and gyms.
In the middle of the pandemic, we told people we were looking to acquire new studios.
Of course this was the best time to buy, to get some bargain deals.
Some gym owners sold and partnered with us, or else they would have gone under completely.
Our bet paid off.
After 8 months total in lockdown, we reopened with 5 locations raring to go, ready to be scaled into profit!
We also decided to open a franchise model, so that struggling gym owners had another way out – they could instead partner with us, help us grow the brand and in return keep doing what they love with their clients.
We closed 2021 with 10 TransformHub locations.
We doubled again in 2022 to finish with 20 locations.
And an amazing family of franchise partners who own successful Hubs around the UK.
Which brings us to today…
Today I mentor a fitness business owners want to launch or grow their studios quickly with the proven models I’ve replicated over and over again, for more than 10 years.
I’ve come from my first studio as a complete noob… to now co-owning one of the fastest-growing fitness chains in the UK.
So I know what challenges you’re facing.
And I know what mistakes you’re likely to make, or be making right now.
If you want to know exactly how to:
Get DOZENS of new client sales every month from Facebook ads
Close clients over the phone at 60% conversion rate
Grow a loyal & competent team so you can take more time off & provide jobs
Scale your business to multiple locations or online
Manage your finances so your business is always profitable & safe during recessions
Put systems in place so you have more freedom
Build the GO-TO fitness brand in your area quickly with social media & content marketing
Then I’m happy to help you.
Right now, you’re probably looking for one of 3 things:
- Content– useful information and strategies
- Contact – to engage with me and ask a question
- Coaching – you’re serious and ready to change your life, and want to see how you and I can do that together
Here’s what I suggest you go next, based on what you’re looking for:
If you’re seeking some more content, to learn more about my methods and how we scale gyms and bootcamps around the world, then listen to my podcast – The Fitness Business Blueprint
[voted in “Top 20 Best Fitness Business Podcasts on The Planet” by Feedspot]:
If you’re sick of wasting hours trying “organic” marketing & doing “free challenges”… and instead want a faster, easier way of getting clients, check out this FREE course about exactly how we use Facebook Ads and HIGH-TICKET Fitness Transformation Contests to close 50 new clients every month:
And if you’re sick and tired of trying to “figure it out” on your own… and you believe that hiring your own coach is the fastest way to see massive success..
Then, I invite you to explore the 400k Fitness Business MASTERMIND.
This is a group of like-mindedwho are OBSESSED with being in the top 1% – and creating a minimum of 400k/year.
Its only £8/day and I’ll give you £2,963 worth of studio building courses JUST for trying it out for one month!
Get my Elite collection of 6 studio-scaling programs for FREE just for taking a trial of the Mastermind!
