Growth
Successful gym owners understand that building a thriving fitness business requires more than just passion—it demands data-driven decision making. The difference between struggling gym owners and those crushing their revenue goals often comes down to tracking these five critical metrics.
They're the exact indicators that top fitness industry experts analyze to determine if a business is healthy, profitable, and scalable.
At Gym Launch, we’ve spent almost a decade working directly with thousands of gym owners worldwide. Most gym owners are leaving serious money on the table by ignoring these numbers. Let's break down what data you should be tracking in order to make informed decisions for your gym.
This metric is straightforward but powerful: How much does it cost to bring a new member through the doors?
CAC includes everything it takes to convert someone from "never heard of you" to handing you their credit card…
Why it matters: If it costs $100 to acquire a client who only pays $300 lifetime, the business is in trouble. After operating expenses, there's no profit left to scale.
Gym owners have two options in this case to increase their profitability:
How to calculate it: Total monthly marketing expenses ÷ Number of new members sold that month
Example: $2,000 in marketing costs ÷ 10 new members = $200 CAC
The lower the CAC, the better. The only way to improve it is to track it.
This metric tracks how much cash a business collects from a new member in their first 30 days.
Cash is the lifeblood of any business. Without consistent cash flow, it's impossible to sustain operations, invest in growth, or generate actual profit.
Why it matters: If the CAC is $200 but the gym only collects $150 in the first month, they're starting each client relationship in the negative. Even if clients eventually become profitable, most churn happens in the first 90 days—meaning many leave before the gym breaks even.
How to increase the 30-day cash cycle:
The first 30 days are when new members are most motivated—highly profitbale gym owners capitalize on this excitement to improve client results and boost cash flow simultaneously.
The growth formula: If $500 is collected within the first 30 days, and the CAC is $100, that $400 difference can be reinvested to acquire four more clients, creating exponential growth.
LTV measures how much revenue a gym will collect from an average member over their entire relationship with the business.
Why it matters: This metric reveals the true value of a gym's offering in the marketplace. It combines pricing strategy and member retention rates to show the long-term health of the business.
Real-world comparison:
Which gym can spend more to acquire clients? Which one is more valuable? Gym 2, every time.
Low-LTV gyms need extremely high volume and rock-bottom acquisition costs to succeed. High-LTV gyms have more options—they can spend more to acquire quality clients or pocket more profit.
How to increase LTV:
Top-performing gym owners don't fall into the trap of thinking all they need is more members and all of their problems will be solved.
This is where data-driven gym owners get serious. Instead of looking at overall churn, cohort churn breaks down exactly when in their journey members tend to leave.
How it works: Take all churn data from the past 12 months. Group members by how long they stayed before canceling:
Why it matters: This pinpoints exactly where the client experience is breaking down.
Example analysis: If 25% of churn happens in months 1-2, the onboarding process needs work. The gym might be:
If most churn happens in months 7-8, the gym might need:
Instead of blindly trying to "fix churn," cohort analysis gives gym owners precision to address specific issues at exact points in the client journey.
This metric reveals how profitable each class or session actually is.
The formula: (Revenue per session - Cost to deliver session) ÷ Revenue per session = Gross margin percentage
The golden rule: Maintain a MINIMUM 80% gross margin per session.
Why it matters: That empty noon class being kept for those three loyal members? If the gross margin is below 80%, the gym is likely losing money after accounting for all other expenses (rent, utilities, etc.).
Example: If a session generates $100 revenue and it costs $20 to pay the trainer, that's an 80% gross margin.
When sessions fall below this threshold, gym owners have two options:
Profitable gym owners typically cut underperforming classes. This reduces payroll, eliminates money-losing sessions, and creates a tighter, more profitable schedule.
These five metrics give gym owners incredible clarity into their business's true health:
If you’ve been running on gut feeling and basic monthly revenue numbers, start tracking these 5 metrics and we promise you’ll feel more in control of your business and see major changes- FAST.
As the fitness industry continues to evolve, gym owners who master these numbers will always come out on top.
