Boutique Fitness Benchmark Report Retrospective: Key Findings

Our annual benchmark report is one of our most ambitious market research undertakings of the year. We survey hundreds of gym and studio owners in an effort to find out what is working and what is not. Each year the findings give us a few surprises, but more importantly a few key takeaways that almost any gym or fitness business owner can implement at their facility in order to become a stronger business.

This year, a few things stuck out to us in the Boutique Fitness Industry. Check out the videos below and read on to find out more.

Don’t forget to download your free copy of the full Boutique Fitness Benchmark Report!

Facility Size

Evaluating your facility size, successful gyms have much less square footage per member than their less successful counterparts, with 21 square feet and 50 square feet respectively.

Successful gyms have a median of 143 members, while less successful gyms have a median of 60 members.

A larger space does not necessarily mean a more successful business. Based on the data in The Benchmark Report, we suggest finding more creative ways to use a smaller space, like adding additional class times before going and spending the money on a larger space.

Personal Training

Successful gyms generate more than $6,000 a month in personal training sales alone. This is a big contributor to why the most successful gyms have more than $20,000 in multi-profit. Forty-three percent of the members of the most successful gyms purchase personal training services, with 58% of personal training sales going towards personal training packages and not individual sessions. Personal training is also beneficial as it helps your members hit their goals. Personal training also helps you grow your community. When those coaches are giving one on one instruction to your members, they’re forging a tighter bond with that member, making them less likely to leave in the future.

Revenue vs Expenses

The most successful gyms generate almost $21,000 in monthly profit, while the less successful gyms actually generate a loss of about $2,400. Two of the biggest expenses a gym will have each month is paying its personnel and the rent or mortgage on its space. The struggling gyms are actually spending 124% of their monthly revenue on expenses like rent, mortgage or payroll. As a business owner, you still need to make time and develop the skills to track the financial health of your gym.

That’s a Wrap

Those are the key takeaways we’ve discovered from our latest Boutique Fitness Benchmark Report. Download the full benchmark report below to look at all of the responses and see what separates the top performing businesses from the low performers.

We’ll be gathering data for our 2019 Benchmark Reports in the coming months. If you’d like to participate in comment below or send us an email at marketing@zenplanner.com. Any feedback you have on how to improve our survey and report in future years is also appreciated.

Interested in learning what top gym owners around the world are doing to run financially successful gyms? Get your free copy of our Boutique Fitness Benchmark Report.