For many small gym owners, the story goes like this: They open their doors and begin to grow. Their membership and revenue continues to grow for a year, three years, five years, but eventually it stagnates.
They become stuck at 80 members, or 100 members, their costs have increased, and they’re not turning much of a profit. So they start looking for ways to increase their membership.
- This was the case for Katie Jobe, the owner of CrossFit Sedalia in Missouri. She turned to HybridAF after nearly a decade of gym ownership and was quickly able to increase her monthly revenue by $1,000 without adding any more work to her plate.
- And it was the case for Dan Messinger, the owner of CrossFit Breckenridge in Colorado, a gym that sees a ton of drop-ins. He added unattended access and today 20 to 25 percent of his revenue comes from drop-ins, meaning virtually hands off revenue for him.
While those are the common stories, Amalie Flower’s story is less common.
Flowers opened her gym, Breakfast Club Barbell in Medina, Ohio at the end of 2023 and immediately knew she wanted HybridAF’s unattended access capabilities as part of her offering.
A little more than a year into gym ownership, and she already has 80 members, a milestone which takes some gym owners a handful of years to reach.
She credits unattended access as a huge selling feature that has allowed her to grow as quickly as she has.
“Prospective members love the idea of 24/7 access through an app, and it helps us really sell those memberships… Members love the flexibility,” she said, adding that customer service “has always been helpful if we have an issue.”
She added: “We wanted to be able to offer open gym to our class members, but also as a stand alone option for those not taking our classes.”
Today, Flowers estimates that 75 percent of her members take advantage of the unattended access option to train.
By adding unattended access, she is able to charge a bit more for those who want to opt in. She charges an additional $35 a month for the add-on, and $50 a month for an unattended access-only membership.
Two More Things
- Easier Access
For Flowers, whose gym is located in northeast, Ohio, where temperatures often drop below freezing during the winter months, the quick access to the gym “is so helpful.”
“Having the ability to open the door quickly and not mess around with a key is something I’m proud we offer to our members and coaches,” she added. - Remote Access
Being able to open her door remotely, be it for a delivery person or otherwise, is also a nice touch, Flowers explained, saying, “I love the capability of HybridAF to open the door remotely as an admin,” she said.
Bottom line:
HybridAF makes life easier, and has helped her business grow quickly in the first fifteen months in operation.
