Most gym owners hire a general manager too late, then give them too little to do. The right time to hire a GM is typically when your gym hits $35,000 to $50,000 in monthly revenue and you've personally taken on too many roles to do any of them well. The right GM owns operations, staff management, and member experience, freeing you to focus on growth, strategy, and the parts of the business only you can do.
Hiring and keeping great coaches is the hardest operational problem in boutique fitness. The gyms that get it right do four things consistently: they hire on character first and skill second, they pay fairly with a clear structure, they invest in onboarding, and they hold regular 1-on-1s. This guide covers when to hire your first coach, where to find them, what to pay, and how to manage the ones you have.
