By Liz Callham, AFS Community Expert

We all know that we need to measure success, right? Depending on your current software set-up, your access to data could be extremely complex or very simple. But what should you actually be measuring on a consistent basis?  Since everyone is different, that depends on what goals (monthly, quarterly, annually) you've set forth for your business.

Let’s take a step back first and look at key numbers in terms of what you are trying to grow within your business. From there you can decide what key metrics you want to measure.

First, what is your main goal as a studio owner? If you want to grow your one-on-one training as much as possible, then you want to break down your key metrics even further. If it’s to increase your group fitness penetration, then you want to know not only how many people are coming to class each day, but to each class, and know the difference between Tuesday’s class line-up versus Friday’s.

I also encourage you to measure any special event or program that you do. So many times we get too caught up in the planning of a one-day event that we miss thinking about how much money we earned for the event, what type of feedback we received for it, and if we want to run it again - how to build upon past success.

Keep in mind as well that depending on what your goals are, it might not mean running a report each day, but using yourself or frontline staff to gather data every day.

Key Departments: Most studios are going to have revenue streams for some of the following: personal training/Pilates, group fitness, small group training, membership, nutrition services and pro shop.  Below is a breakdown of key metrics for each of these departments. These are just simple ideas to get your brain moving!

  1. Personal Training: total number of paying clients, breakdown of packages purchased (think price point as well as duration [30-min versus 60-min]), new clients each month, percentage of clients training with each trainer
  2. Group Fitness: daily count from each class; use total amount per month to track against total membership to get penetration; also track types of classes (i.e. are your mind/body classes getting more overall participation versus your strength training classes)
  3. Small Group Training: daily count from each class, total number of participants, total revenue generated
  4. Pilates: this would be the same as personal training, plus an area to track group apparatus participation if applicable
  5. Membership: total number of new members, cancellations/freezes each month, type of membership sold, daily visit counts
  6. Nutrition: total revenue sold, breakdown by service (think RMR tests versus monthly follow-ups), total number of active clients
  7. Pro Shop/Apparel: track your inventory weekly and monthly to see what is being sold to assist with future orders, look at daily sales to track key days to highlight items

Be prepared to know that you may have to change your key metrics from time to time.  The overall goal of gathering these measures is to use this information for future decisions.


Liz Callham received her Bachelor’s Degrees from Illinois State University in Exercise Science and Public Relations and also completed a Masters in Business and Administration from DePaul University. She holds certifications as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist from NSCA and Health Fitness Specialist through ACSM. She also sits on the Advisory Board for the Exercise Science Department at ISU.

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