B3 CROSSFIT AND BODY BY BORIS CASE STUDY
BUSINESS PROFILE
B3 CrossFit and Body by Boris (B3) is a dynamic training facility located in Gainesville, FL. Owned and run by Chris “Boris” Marhefka, B3 provides functional fitness, boot camps, personal training and Olympic lifting for their athletes.
Early on, Chris recognized that community is the heart of a successful gym, so he embraced the vision of building the best fitness community in the world. Today B3 is made up of close to 200 active members and is described as friendly, welcoming and supportive. Chris is overjoyed that B3 can help people live healthier, happier lives.
CHALLENGE
In the beginning, B3 didn’t have athlete management software, so Chris described things as very unorganized. “We didn’t have the basic tools in place that a gym needs to thrive,” he said. “No automations to help with lead and athlete communication, so I had to send emails one at a time. No attendance or workout tracking, so we used pen and paper for check-ins and managing our member roster. No calendar or system for reserving classes, so it was hard to plan for size and coaching staff.”
Another problem was that their athletes had to swipe or use PayPal to pay for their membership each month. Chris did his best to track everything on spreadsheets, but with so many manual tasks and programs, he was overwhelmed. “It was hard to keep things updated and accurate, so mistakes happened. Plus I spent all my time on basic admin work, which meant no time for strategic projects,” Chris explained. “I knew we needed to make a change, or we wouldn’t succeed.”
Chris heard about Zen Planner and decided to give them a try. That was four years ago, and he’s been a happy customer ever since.
SOLUTION
From the start, Chris took advantage of all of Zen Planner’s automations. He automated basic athlete emails, membership renewals and all his lead follow up. Then he automated his billing and payment processing so athletes could pay their membership fees automatically each month.
“With Zen Planner, I no longer have to send individual emails or collect and deposit payments. Athlete check-in and attendance tracking are effortless now too. Automating those routine tasks gave me more time to work on growing my business,” Chris said. “I had about 20 extra hours each week, so I was finally able to ramp up my marketing programs and focus on developing my coaches and team. These were all things I had wanted to do before but could never find the time.”
Chris began using reports to manage his business, rather than just reacting to things as they came up. “We had an organized database and accurate reports, and I was able to predict future revenue with our recurring billing,” Chris said. “I didn’t realize how much Zen Planner would help me scale my business. I was able to systematize everything and transition the way I ran things from a hobby to a business.”
B3 is a great success today, in large part because of their strong and supportive community and systematized business processes. Chris recently launched a meal delivery business and has an upcoming reality show in the works. (Stay tuned for more on this soon!) “With Zen Planner, my business is efficient, organized and automated. I wouldn’t have gotten where I am today without Zen Planner.”
