Compound Insights: Comparing the Annual Boutique Fitness Benchmark Reports

The Annual Boutique Fitness Benchmark Report is the most comprehensive analysis of business data in the fitness industry. Each year, we refine our reporting and analysis based on feedback from the community. With that, the third annual report that was recently released is the most thorough collection of key takeaways so far. To better understand how the industry is changing year over year, we zoomed out and compared the past three boutique fitness reports.

This year’s report depicted 424 survey responses, over 200 more than last year’s report. This increase in survey respondents improves the validity of our data and means more gym owners like yourself are actively engaged in this process. The more survey responses we receive each year, the more people we are able to help! While the number of survey respondents is different with each year’s report, the Zen Planner team meticulously analyzes the raw data we receive and investigates any obvious reporting errors. If a data point is clearly inaccurate and causing our averages to appear unrealistic, we remove it.

Note: We call the most profitable boutique fitness businesses in our report “Thrivers.”

Average Monthly Profits

Like all sections of the benchmark reports, the financial data section will depend on a variety of factors. As mentioned above, the number of respondents has changed each year, and that change affects the financial data (for the better in this case). Since our first Annual Boutique Fitness Benchmark Report was released, reported average monthly profits have significantly increased year to year.

In the third annual report, the average monthly profit for Thrivers was $35,544.33.
In the second annual report, the average monthly profit for Thrivers was $20,791.
In the first annual report, the average monthly profit for Thrivers was $8,217.

As we survey more and more Thrivers, we are starting to paint a clearer picture, a simple recipe for profitability. That is, Thrivers are reporting higher monthly revenues and lower monthly expenses.

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Median Number of Members

Since we just told you that average monthly profits have exponentially increased year to year, you are probably assuming that the median number of members has too. Surprisingly, the median number of reported members for Thrivers has decreased with each year’s report. What could this data be telling us?

First, we have to acknowledge that gym owners may be defining “member” differently. However, even with that possibility, the big takeaways here are:
1. Thrivers are maximizing their member relationships and especially commanding higher prices.
2. Thrivers are finding supplemental revenue streams outside of the traditional membership model like personal training, events and retail merchandise.

In the third annual report, Thrivers had a median of 110 gym members.
In the second annual report, Thrivers had a median of 143 gym members.
In the first annual report, Thrivers had a median of 154 gym members.

Median Membership Pricing

As we near the end of this report comparison, it’s important to highlight one of the biggest takeaways from each year’s report. That is, Thrivers charge premium prices. There is a pattern to each of these comparisons, and median membership pricing fits right in. Since the first Annual Boutique Fitness Benchmark Report, the median unlimited memberships price for Thrivers has increased year to year.

In the third annual report, Thrivers charged a median price of $179.50 for unlimited memberships.
In the second annual report, Thrivers charged a median price of $163 for unlimited memberships.
In the first annual report, Thrivers charged a median price of $135 for unlimited memberships.

Connecting the Dots
The overarching theme of the Annual Boutique Fitness Benchmark Report is to uncover how the most profitable businesses are operated and provide boutique fitness business owners with “benchmark” data points to shoot for.

We hope these reports continue to educate and inspire the boutique fitness community, and we think these insights can be drilled down to a few main points.

Higher Prices + Lower Expenses = More Profits
More Profits + Your Passion = Community Impact

Dive into the data on your own, download the third Annual Boutique Fitness Benchmark Report.