HOW TO OPEN A GYM│& START A SUCCESSFUL FITNESS BUSINESS

all right this video totally

off-the-cuff this podcast totally

off-the-cuff so whether you're listening

to it or watching it buckle up because

it could be good and it could be bad but

I'm gonna teach you today I'm gonna tell

you actually I'm gonna tell you how I

would start a successful fitness

business in 2020 okay so I'm gonna break

it down to a few simple steps so maybe

you're out there and you're thinking I

want to start a fitness business like

Bret because I know that a lot of people

out there sometimes think it's cool even

though I have a hard time believing and

understanding it's not some people think

it's pretty cool that Bret started a

fitness business he coaches all these

people he has a gym and bla bla bla bla

bla they think it's cool so maybe you're

out there maybe you want to be a

personal trainer and train general

population people or maybe you would

like to Train athletes maybe you're like

Britt who is a soccer player and you'd

really love to strength train soccer

female soccer players so they don't have

a CL injuries and you can help prevent

that teach them how to accelerate and

decelerate maybe you're a bodybuilding

coach maybe you'd like to have a body

building style gym or maybe you're

somebody who just wants to coach boot

camps outside and do something like that

so I'm gonna teach you what I would do

so scenario number one if I would like

to just train people who need to lose

weight get in shape and change their

overall lifestyle I would not go open a

gym I would not go buy a gym or a

fitness facility and I would not go

waste

tons of money I'm buying big bulky

inexpensive equipment I would not go

sign a lease I would not even look into

it I wouldn't I wouldn't even think

about it there's two things I would do

first right now it is May 16th to 2020

kind of a hard time to be able to go

train inside anywhere so the first thing

I would do is I would plan for the next

three to six months or for the remainder

of 2020 if you're somewhere warm at

least I would be planning on training

people outdoors so

I would get rid of my crappy car the

most expensive thing that I would

purchase would be a truck lease I would

go least some sort of a truck a for

Ranger forward f150 whatever I could

load some battle ropes and a few sleds

in from maybe reps fitness or even Titan

Fitness if it's a sled I think you can't

go wrong tight and fitness actually has

some good ropes so I'd get maybe six

battle ropes I would get six little

sleds I would get six medicine balls I

would get six ab mats and six pairs of

10 or 15 pound dumbbells and some mats

and I would go and be a traveling boot

camp coach I would be training outdoors

I would be training in parking lots I

would be training at beaches when I'm

able to do that I'd set my client's

distance apart I would make sure that

they brought their own water bottles I

would make sure that it was a workout

that was convenient for them to wear it

would be maybe 30 to 45 minutes and that

would be my expenses I'd have a leased

truck for maybe 200 bucks a month I'd

maybe put $2,500 worth of equipment into

the back of that maybe some cones things

like that I would probably have some

colons and some agility ladders and some

jump ropes I mean these things are so

inexpensive you can't even believe it

and guess what I would do I would go

train people

I'd go coach people I'd sign them up I'd

set up a Shopify account I would set up

maybe a click funnel to promote it and

let people know what they're gonna be

getting into I'd have a free MailChimp

email list and I would have a Facebook

account an Instagram account and I'd

maybe run some inexpensive ads because

you can reach a lot of people in a

targeted area or wherever I wanted to

train people let's say it was in

Wisconsin and I wanted to do Milwaukee

and Mequon and Brown Deer and Shorewood

and I took that and I would maybe spend

on 50 100 bucks of ads I'd spend more

money on that then I would gym equipment

and I would focus on service I would

focus on the process and the experience

from the client to when they sign up to

that week workout right but you know I'm

not that the workouts gonna be weak weak

but the workout would be the most

weakest part of what I actually do I

would have a daily system for sending

clients messages and taking pictures of

clients and doing weekly progress

tracking with them

especially in 2020 when people need more

than anything friendship and leadership

and accountability and people that they

can talk to in relationship I would send

them messages and text messages daily

motivation every morning at the same

time I would hit him we would meet for

our workouts three four days a week

outdoors to get a really good sweat and

or maybe more if I was just starting off

I would charge them I wouldn't charge

them cheap I would charge all those

people maybe 200 to $250 maybe 300

dollars a month for what we're gonna do

because I'm really gonna lead them and I

would focus on trying to get maybe 30

people well we got we got 30 we got 250

bucks 250 bucks times 30 people I'm

gonna train in while summer that's

$7,500 a month guess what my overhead is

little insurance right I maybe have a

$50 a month insurance policy that

travels with me wherever I coach people

I've got less than half of that invested

into equipment I needed a car anyways

but now I can write it off as a tax

write-off I've got all this equipment in

my car that maybe it's not expensive but

it's tons of variety and and it's plenty

enough for people who are just looking

to get in shape it's gonna keep all my

clients safe it's it's gonna be affected

by the weather a little bit but on those

days I'm gonna come up with zoom

workouts and I'm gonna go online and I'm

gonna make sure that everyone's getting

in gear and doing it doing a workout at

home and I want them not only doing it

but I want them recording it because I

want to know they're actually doing it

or I want to be looking and seeing if

they're doing it cuz the Facebook ones

are questionable so I have that I have a

little policy and I would go out and I

would promote online and I wouldn't post

videos of myself in my underpants in a

thong or I'm a boxer briefs cuz you know

I'm jacked and I'm or if I'm if I'm a

gal you know I'm sitting there and I'm

in the mirror and I'm doing the whole

pose and all that to get attention I

wouldn't be worried about that because

I'm worried about helping people and to

be honest the people that are trying to

aspire to get to the point to where they

can put their booty on the sink not that

that is anything wrong with that

those people would be more impressed

maybe by someone who actually cares

about them and not just cares about you

know spread their butt cheeks on the

Internet and Michelle would say right so

I would have a group of 30 people that

pay me to

50 bucks a month and I would buy my

number one goal money all that aside

attention audience my number one goal

would be to get them results so the only

thing I would focus on all day every day

is those thirty people and getting those

thirty people the best results they

could possibly get from you if I had to

go to the grocery store with them if I

had to make them grocery list if I had

to make them books if I had to make them

training journals like we do in our

summer program with all this stuff we're

talking a lot of stuff we do and I would

focus on the only thing I want to do is

get them before and after I want to get

them a testimonial I want to know what

that will let what life was like before

they came to top-line what it was like

while they were here and what it's

looking like it's gonna be for the rest

of their life and I would deliver

massive value I would give them the best

shape of their lives I would train them

wherever they needed to be and and

weather-permitting we'd be working every

single day for like I said I get 90 to

180 days for three to six months well

all this crazy stuff is going on if I

wanted to start that's what I would do

and I would make seven thousand five

hundred dollars a month now what else

would I do I would take some of that

seven thousand five hundred I'd go get

journals printed for him I'd go get

shaker bottles printed for them I would

go to Starbucks and I would get them a

little gift card so they can go pick up

some coffee at Starbucks or for

Milwaukee anodyne or maybe a grocery

store gift cards so I can get they're

paying me but I care about them so I'm

gonna take them be like hey I'm going to

spend $2,000 a month on them I'm just

gonna take it and spend it on them which

is a tax write-off which is something

that you can do to lower what you're

gonna have to pay in taxes anyways

because I would spend some time not only

helping them but I would some spend some

time knowing my ass from my elbow as far

as running a damn business which most of

you guys out there because you're more

worried about getting attention on the

Internet

forget that once you make money you're

either gonna pay taxes on it or you can

reinvest into your business or reinvest

into your customers I'd get free

t-shirts printed so they could all be

wearing them and promoting me and

pushing videos up Annie and I would

spend time I'd have an hour every single

day where if I'm not sending them videos

maybe writing them a chicken scratch

handwritten letter like I used to and

I'm telling them where I want to be

and I'm encouraging them to get me

referrals through the front door and I'm

encouraging them to go tell their

friends and their family and their

followers about me I'm doing internal

referral challenges for them to bring

other people to the bootcamp because

guess what if you're doing all of that

for your thirty people guess what

they're going to get you to yes they're

gonna get you your next 30 people and

you don't even have to market if you do

really good with 30 people they're going

to get you the next 30 and now you have

60 and then guess what you have to do

again you have to maybe turn your phone

off from from from this one and from

from this one and you have to stop that

for a couple days and guess what you

have to do serve the next 30 people get

them there before and afters you have to

go right back to ground zero right

you're feeling all good everybody lost

20 pounds their jeans are fitting

they're in their skinny jeans they're

braig and their pictures look good guess

what the next crop of people that you

get in who need your help

you have to go back to Ground Zero how

do you eat how do you stay motivated how

do you stay encouraged throughout the

day how do you change all these bad

habits that they've been going through

for 20 years 30 years right and you

start back at Ground Zero and guess what

happens 12 years later you'll end up

like me and you help coach thousands and

thousands and thousands and thousands

and thousands of people hopefully you've

maybe added some Brit stirs to your

staff or some Blake stirs or some Blair

stirs or some Bobby Till's that will be

in here running powerlifting meets or

some danau then you'll have grown your

staff and it won't be all about you and

you'll be that trainer and coach that

loves your clients over delivers for

them and then maybe you get to the point

where you can turn it into top-line

where you have a brand where it's not

even about you right and I don't know if

I would call it my name or if I would

call it a brand either way I would take

action I know that so if your trainer

out there I wouldn't sit in hemming Hall

about that I chose this because I really

didn't want it to be Brett Somers gym

even though that's what the first

YouTube was called is called Brett

Somers gym because I'm like I'm gonna

call the place the gym I was gonna be

like hey we're going to the gym you know

but then but if the company was called

top-line so I stuck with top-line and I

didn't want it to be all about me

because I wanted eventually maybe Brett

takes over the company

right maybe there's people kicking

soccer balls off the wall there's goal

there's goalies lined up and it's this

crazy soccer facility but I knew that

one day I wanted to be bigger or right

off the bat bigger than me maybe you

should do the same thing because then

the attention you can do personal

branding and they know who you are but

you also have something that's a little

bit bigger than you so that when the

Blake comes and the Bobby comes and

whoever the Brit ster comes they can

take and they can do something with it

that you could never do on your own so

that's how I'd be thinking as I get

started instead of questioning what do I

need to I'd just be taking action start

the website what am I going to call the

domain I'll just call it I'm getting

your ass in shape calm and people will

go sign up then that's what people care

about like they care about that you're

actually doing stuff they don't care

about this and that and getting all it

because you're gonna get bogged down and

then it's gonna be two weeks into it you

won't even have a domain you won't even

have an Instagram account because you

don't know what you want to call it you

know it took a lot of years before Kanye

was one name to where it was just Kanye

right tour when you if you said the name

Jordan you know where to who are talking

about you wearing Jordans you're not

wearing Michael Jordan from North get

you're wearing Jordans you know who they

are it takes a long time for people to

have that understanding of what is what

could I Connick they make the picture

frames right nobody knows that but when

you hear iconic maybe you know it you

know Brent Nike well what's Nike you

don't know what Nike is until later on

they built their brand if Nike didn't do

what they had done and have all the

different athletes and expand over the

years you wouldn't even know it but now

you know it is Nike so one day no matter

what you call it

it could be get fit training and it

might suck that might sound stupid for a

while but if you had 20,000 clients and

you turned into the next Jillian

Michaels or Brett Somers maybe you turn

something into it and you'd be a success

so that's what I would do if I wanted to

start a quick gym now do all the exact

same things except that would change a

few things if I was a like everybody

want to be strength and conditioning

coaches you want to be you know really

want to train people what I would do in

that situation is a little bit different

I still would not open my own facility

cuz that's ridiculous because you don't

even know how to balance your own books

you can't even balance your own balance

sheet right now

so you going and taking on a big lease

is stupid you have no clue what you're

doing you have shown and proven no

commitment to yourself I'm trying to

stop you from wasting your money so

don't go and do that if I wanted to

start let's say I'm a strength and

conditioning coach and I look at rogue

Fitness every day and I'll eat FTS and I

look at the equipment and I get all

fired up about it and then I'm you know

all about training people strength

training people I would probably what I

I will try and rent space from someone

else I would I would go in somewhere

else and say hey I'm gonna give you $400

a month someone who had a gym now if it

was right now we're coming out of the

safer at home and it's all up in the air

it might be a little different but what

we're coming out of this I would look

for that if I couldn't do that to be

honest you know what I would do I would

buy two cows tall mats I would buy a

squat rack a squat stand from one of

these companies probably not wrote

Fitness for my own personal reasons

maybe I would go get a 5 3 1 squat stand

from elite FTEs or I would go to reps

fitness and get one of their rep 5000

racks I would put it in the back of a

big pickup truck that I would lease

again like the first example and I would

throw some plates and I throw a bar in

there I'd throw some blast straps from

lead FCS on there I'd buy a landmine I'd

buy some bumper plates that could get

beat up as I Drive all over the city and

I train my athletes and I go to football

fields for free and I trained my

athletes weather permitting and if I

couldn't get out to the field I would go

train I'd take that squat rack I'd back

it up I'd do all the heavy lifting I

would pick the rack up I would go put it

under a pavilion at a local park I would

move some of the benches out of the way

and I would have people squatting and

dead lifting and benching and speed

benching and I would try and earn my

chops as a trainer would I charge them

next to nothing or do it for free like

some coaches I know who who just trained

people for free no I wouldn't I wouldn't

train it for free I would get a stripe

account yeah where I would get a what's

the what's the square account I get

square I get shot probably just do

Shopify and I have people painful and I

wouldn't charge them for just one I'd

say hey we're doing a 12-week program

your 12-week program is gonna be a

payment on the first of every month I'm

gonna charge you 500 bucks a month okay

now when I first started and someone was

willing to pay 500 I didn't even care at

that point how many hours or how many

sessions I wanted results so if there

they came in and said they wanted to get

faster in their 40-hour - they want to

get ready for football season or

baseball or basketball I would say

here's the 12-week program here's what

we're gonna do I'd come up with a simple

price out of charge and let's say it's

500 bucks - maybe 600 bucks that say

here's 600 bucks and I would focus on

trying to get to be honest I get like 10

to 15 clients let's just say I got 12

600 bucks times 12 $7,200 a month I have

to go find 12 people who trust me enough

to give them everything I got I'd pour

everything I could into him I would log

their workouts I would track them I

would track their numbers I'd call their

parents I would talk to their parents

I'd meet what their I would say hey I

want to talk to you once a week with

your parent or once every two weeks

probably cuz parents don't need that

much you know I'm gonna talk to you

every day here's the things you need to

do I'll be tracking their Instagram

stuff I would be trying to make sure

that they're being leaders I would talk

to them about everything I could to try

and make sure they understood that they

need to drink water and they need to eat

their meals Quinn reading Evan reading

actually get your meals into it my

client so I've been harping on to make

sure that they're eating and they're not

they're staying up till 4:00 a.m. my

clients staying up till 4:00 a.m. and

waking up at 2:00 in the afternoon so I

had to lay the wood I had to lay the

wood on these dudes and we got back to

it and I'm like hey dude if you you know

I'm gonna start scheduling your sessions

at 10:00 a.m. if you're sleeping till

2:00 because I'm gonna I'm gonna lead

you and I would take those 10 to 12

athletes and I would deliver the world's

greatest training to them that no one

else could compare with and as I got

better I would also realize hey I can

only do this so long so everybody every

every dollar I'd spend I would do the

same thing as before I reinvest it into

my client I maybe pick up a couple small

little pieces of equipment that could

travel well some hamstring sliders those

are furniture movers so those are like

12 bucks I'd go get some furniture

movers from Fleet Farm or from Home

Depot I would again I'd have some bands

that I could pick up band packs I'd keep

them real clean so they didn't get all

beat up I wouldn't just let the athletes

take them I buy some hip circles but

again we're talking inexpensive

equipment go

you'd go on Amazon I would order a

couple hip thruster pads so we can do

barbell hip thrust errs I might go on

reps fitness calm and just get a couple

of jump plyo jump boxes which would be a

little expensive but it would keep my a

fleet safe and we could jump out on the

football field I'd buy a couple light

med bells I would probably get those

from I probably get those from yeah I

probably go with elite FTS again I just

wouldn't order rogue fitness equipment

so I mean if you're sitting there and

you follow them and you get all greased

up by that their customer service is

about as good as going to the DMV so I'd

highly suggest that you would avoid that

situation just like you would because a

coronavirus and in and I would just have

that equipment and I would add a little

bit of that but really what I'd be

thinking about is the business end and

how long can I keep that up who else

could I add value to add pride call

every local high school and see if I

could coach their athletes for free for

a while or do something to develop

network and relationships with them and

to get to be a part of something so that

if I did ever open up a facility other

people would be involved I wouldn't ever

think about opening a facility until I

had a plan in place for me not coaching

time so which is hard right because I'm

telling you you'd have to coach and you

deliver all this value and I think you

should do that I think you should taste

the you know taste the dirt so to speak

I think you should know what it tastes

like so that when someone else comes you

can lead them because if brick comes in

she wants to be a coach and I don't know

what I'm doing I've never really went

all in I can't I can't teach them I

can't teach them how I over delivered to

all these customers and I always call it

the little things I did a little things

what are the little things same things I

was talking about before sending the

text sending the video sending the

grocery list to the point where they

knew that this dude cares something I

hold him accountable I need you there I

need you I but while they were in

working with me I'd be talking about the

next day we do that at boot camp right

now or outside say hey who's coming

tomorrow who's showing up tomorrow who's

bringing a friend in I'm pushing

referrals I'm pushing commitment I'm

pushing accountability so those are the

things I would be doing as a successful

strength and conditioning coach to start

off successful in the year 2020 we're

halfway through the year you've got six

months if anybody followed this advice

right now

should not be making anywhere less and I

would just bump the numbers up because

that's just how I did in beginning to

8333 instead of 7200 on work backwards

off of that it set my prices off that's

a maybe at 8333

for boot camp I would need 33 or 35

customers at that $250 mark and for the

athletes I'd probably need around

fifteen or sixteen people to make a

hundred thousand dollars a year

crazy one hundred thousand dollars a

year working backwards off the numbers

and that's what I would actually have to

do as far as the work and the promotion

and setting up the websites and doing

that and I would go on all in and I get

everything I had and my whole goal this

whole time I'm doing all this would be

basically accepting the fact that I'm

gonna take no money I'm gonna basically

live like like I did no car no insurance

no extra insurance no clothes I'm ever

wearing Abercrombie jeans that literally

the knees would like just they weren't

ever crowned me jeans with the holes

they were custom holes because they were

so worn out and I just didn't care about

it because I knew that if I had the

shoes and the Jordans or whatever else

then I was just some I just looked like

a dumbass basically who had cool stuff

and no one would care no one cared about

the cars no one care about any of that

they only cared that I care about them

and I was right and that's what you

would do if you wanted to be a really

successful strength and conditioning

coach or personal trainer in the rest of

2020 and make about a hundred thousand

dollars a year and basically eat dirt

for the next 12 to 24 months all while

having the game plan of setting myself

up for the future because guess what

when you're like me and you're about to

turn 34 you go yeah I mean I'm

definitely in good enough shape and I

have enough energy but I'm not going to

be getting down on my back every single

day this quarantine has taught me that

like I don't want to necessarily be

laying on the ground Sean people how to

do the exercises talking to them about

how to eat like I've been doing it for

so long it's like we're gonna eat

healthy and they're like well what is

that you know what it is you know damn

well what it is we're gonna eat fruits

and nuts and vegetables and if it wasn't

grown from the ground or killed we're

not gonna eat it how about that it's

pretty simple but at the end of the day

you know you got to start back at Ground

Zero and be patient with people and

maybe I'm getting older and maybe a

little ornery and

I don't have the time and patience to do

that sign know I had neat but if I'm

starting in your 19 20 21 22 and you

want to be this successful trainer first

of all I would do that and then the last

thing I would do is I would follow my

Instagram account and I would follow me

and I would send me messages and I would

say Brett I heard your video on how to

become a successful trainer start a

successful fitness business in 2020 and

I heard it and everything you said was

stuff that makes sense and it's cheap

and it's inexpensive and I know I can do

it and guess what you're still not going

to take action on it because like your

clients you need accountability from

someone who's been where you are so you

might reach out back Brett how can I

hire you how can you hold me accountable

and help me go through this process

because everything you said in that

video came out of your head so quick and

it seems so easy to you you didn't look

at your computer screen which has just

been sitting on Google the whole time

because we were looking up some funny

definitions before and you're like Brett

you knew all this stuff right off the

top of your head you could design a

business and how long has this been gone

so it's been going 20 minutes and we

came up with two six-figure businesses

within 20 minutes and it seemed pretty

easy for you well that's because I've

done it before and I wish I would have

done this immediately instead of waiting

till 2013 when i hook up with Pedro's

start following his stuff and get an

actual business mentor so don't just do

it alone hire the coach that's 7500 and

make it in a month

you're like dude Brett I'm gonna give

you 1500 so we can scale this so I can

be prepared so I understand how to screw

the IRS every year so I can buy more

equipment so I know when it's the right

time to buy a facility when it's the

right time to expand into a facility

when it's the right time to hire an

assistant when it's the right time to

hire a trainer who can work underneath

me because now I've got a hundred

clients and now I can't do it anymore

and the things about to burst and it's

not fun anymore and I could save you

from doing that

so in 2020 follow those simple steps are

there a bunch of other little things

that would do a hundred percent hundred

percent but all those little things the

the best part about it is that a lot of

those things are free they just require

effort you can go on Instagram and type

in Milwaukee we live in Milwaukee it's

what I'm using as an example you can

type in here Flagstaff or you can type

in Scottsdale and you can go look and

you can see 60 people who are

or you can go type in a high school

football team's name or go on like in

Wisconsin we have with sports it shows

all the high school athletes names I can

take the name like we did with Blake we

can go on to top-line football training

we can type the kids name in he's a

junior really good big recruit

all-american boom we add him to the list

we add him where we add him on Instagram

then he sees what we're doing we're all

about football we're all about putting

stuff out there and he goes dang these

guys look good look they're training of

d1 guys they've got guys who have won d1

they've got guys that went to the NFL

they've worked with these guys now they

follow us back now they see our stories

every day or training 10 20 30 people a

athletes whatever it is and they're like

Dane I'd like to be a part of that they

reach out they get a sample session and

guess what then they would sign up for

training with me and then they'd be on

there and it's free but guess what

that's work are you willing to do the

work and and I think it's important too

if I'm doing it I do at a certain point

when it's just you coaching remember

this so when you're doing all this and

you're doing on you and you hit those

numbers you got the 33 bootcampers that

are outside with you doing your your

cardio 45-minute sweat session and then

you go and you're the you're the

strength coach or the personal trainer

you've got the 14 people that are doing

booty building or body building or

athlete training with you and you've got

those 14 people you're making $8,000 a

month

8333 you're making a hundred grand a

year and you go that's a lot of work now

I got to go deliver to these kinds yes

stop focusing on posting all the time

about your stuff you were doing with to

try and get clients and just focus on

putting out the content of what you're

doing with your athletes so now you

don't have to think about what you're

putting out there anymore you don't have

to be in the video all the time with

yourself anymore now your clients can be

the superstars you can post about them

in the videos you can show their

progress their transformations and how

the awesome results that they're getting

and how good they're getting and guess

what that's going to bring in the next

people and just have a plan in place for

the next group because if you add

another 20 people in there when it's

just you I fell into this trap because I

was so good at getting people in that I

would be getting so many people in and

having to start so many new people I

didn't have a system or process yet and

then some of the people who I had to

start with they didn't get the results

or they didn't get the attention or the

leadership or the accountability they

needed because I was going on to the new

people and they would feel slighted and

then they'd leave so you'd have

attrition and then those same new people

that I got I'd go get another I mean I

was good so I'd be getting I begin 20

and then I get another 20 and then I get

another 20 customers and I was good at

that but when I was the best is when I

would focus on my customers and get them

the results they needed let them bring

me the new people in and then start to

bring people around me to serve those

people and over-deliver like we talked

about in the earlier example text

messages grocery store tours going

through their cupboards throwing stuff

away taking the bread and smashing it

over my knees and throwing it out the

white breads and the sugar cereals and

the sugar snacks and the chocolate like

Britch for a got like a drawer with like

candy but cuz she likes chocolate

everyone sit on dark choc I'm taking the

dark chocolate with sea salt and I'm

airing it out I'm just launching it

right because I care about him I want to

do the right stuff so for all you guys

out there want to be a successful

strength trainer or coach that's what I

would do

I wouldn't take on the overhead I

wouldn't go online the break brought

home I'm going to open up a gym

I wouldn't go try and poach other

people's staff yet because I don't have

any damn money to pay the staff I would

just focus on what I'm doing so go be a

success reach out to me if you need

anything but if you're a trainer that's

what you need to do this one's just for

you baby

we'll catch