Why You Need To Invest In Community As A BJJ Gym Owner

Community may be the most important and biggest profit-generating aspect of your BJJ gym. 

A business survives and thrives on two main things; gaining new customers and retaining current ones.

A healthy community provides both, and does so the cheapest of any other method.

It should be a main focus of your business planning and effort.

Let’s understand why.

Retention Equals Growth

Every gym owner understands the importance of retaining members. 

For every member you lose you must acquire a new one just to break even. 

If you pay to acquire the new member, you no longer break even. You must convert and retain them to make up for the lost acquisition cost.

So, even if you’re acquiring dozens of leads each month and converting new members, but you’re bleeding current ones, you are not growing.

Growth only happens when you can add members to your current base.

A thriving community means people enjoy coming to your location and will likely stick around. Even if your service isn’t as good as it could be, simply by having a strong community people will remain just for that.

So, a healthy community allows you to grow by retaining what you have.

I once worked at a gym that was known for its engaged community that acted as a network for friends, dating, business, and everything else that human relationships deliver. The community was so strong that people kept their memberships active even when they no longer used the gym’s services, got hurt, or started looking elsewhere for their workouts.

A strong community can be an entire part of the offering of joining your gym. It provides value beyond learning a martial art or a good workout, which can be priceless.

Engaged Members Equals Referrals Equals Growth

Happy members are more likely to refer their friends and family to your business. Members are happy when they see results, feel seen by the business, and feel like they belong.

For some people, the gym is their only social connection. By providing a community to connect and engage, people are meeting one of their most important needs, to socialize and be part of a group.

If people are happy they want others to join, which means they will refer their friends…for free.

A referral means two things, a happy member who will stay and a free lead.

Remember, retention and converted leads equals growth. 

So, community not only adds to your retention, it increases your leads. 

Not only are these leads free, they are the best quality leads you can get, as the trust is built into the relationship of the new lead and the referring member.

These are free, warm leads that are most likely to convert and stay longer as members.

Investing in community is your path to growth.

Set It and Forget It

Really? Set it and forget it? Well, kind of. 

When you put the effort into building a flourishing community at your gym it will eventually run itself.

To start, it’s up to the gym owner to create the atmosphere at the gym, plan the events, and determine what is acceptable behavior between members.

Once this is established and people understand the culture and vibe it will sustain itself.

Inevitably, an eager member to two will elect themselves to plan events and coordinate things in the community. You can even assign a member to help here.

Remember that gym I worked for? There were events each and every weekend…baseball games, beach outings, BBQs, hikes, ski trips. Most organized by the members independently of the gym.

The owners eventually only set up 2 major events per year, one in summer and one for the holidays.

And in fact, they only showed up to one of them, the holiday party where they gave out awards.

They did such a great job in the beginning that the community ran itself. 

Meaning, all of the retention, referral, and growth rewards were on autopilot driven by the members themselves!

Of course, it’s always a good idea to remain present, but if done right, you can eventually take the gas off of building and running your community.

Final Thoughts

Although community may be an afterthought in the main offering of your business, it should be a primary focus.

A well established community is a self-sustaining loop of retention, leads, and growth.

A healthy community equals retained customers and new referrals, which adds up to growth.

Much of this can be done for free, with minimum effort on the gym owner’s part.

Pot lucks, outdoor events, and meet-ups are essentially free and only take planning.

Adding investment, like UFC nights, catering, and renting spaces are smart investments for the growth of your business.

Shoot for one community event every four to six weeks.

Keeping this rate will also give an opportunity to welcome new members deeper into the community and therefore stick around longer.

Make community a primary part of your business and watch it grow year after year.

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