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We’re excited to welcome Matt Becker, founder and lead attorney at Gym Lawyers and Gym Ventures, as our guest contributor. With over a decade of experience in gym ownership and over 15 years as a licensed attorney, Matt has helped many gym owners buy and sell businesses. In this post, he offers invaluable insights on how gym owners should prepare for the future.
For many gym owners, it’s not easy to imagine selling your gym. You’ve poured sweat, time, and heart into building your community, and thinking about walking away can feel impossible. But whether it’s five years from now or 15, every owner eventually faces that moment—and the better prepared you are, the smoother (and more profitable) the process will be.
That’s where exit planning for gym owners comes in. The truth is, the gyms that sell for the highest price aren’t the ones with the fanciest equipment or biggest space. They’re the ones whose owners started planning years before they intended to sell. Our goal is to arm you with the knowledge and considerations you’ll need two to three years before your exit, so nothing catches you by surprise when it’s time to hand over the keys.
A small business exit strategy isn’t just about chasing the highest dollar amount—it’s really about clarity. Before you can create a plan, you need to understand why you want to sell in the first place. For some owners, it’s retirement and the desire to enjoy life outside the gym. For others, it’s relocation, burnout or simply the pull toward a new venture. Whatever the reason, naming it matters.
The next step is to put a timeline on your goal. Even if the date feels far away, choosing a target month and year helps you work backwards and make intentional choices along the way.
Of course, the financial outcome is part of this picture, but don’t just think about the sticker sale price. What will the sale leave you with after taxes, debts and obligations? That’s the number that really shapes your future.
Finally, there are the non-financial goals that often matter just as much. Do you want to ensure your staff keeps their jobs? Would you like the community you’ve built to continue thriving under new leadership? Those priorities should guide how you prepare and who you eventually choose to sell to.
Getting clear on these questions now will shape every decision you make in the years leading up to your exit—from how you run the gym today to how you present it to buyers tomorrow.
Most owners are surprised by their gym’s true value. Some overestimate because they’re emotionally attached; others underestimate because they don’t recognize the hidden value in recurring revenue, staff stability or strong leases.
The most accurate way to value an owner-operated gym is not EBITDA (a common misconception in our industry) but it is actually best to use Seller’s Discretionary Earnings (SDE)-Based Valuation Methods. For micro gyms, the loose general benchmark formula we recommend to gym owners interested in merely trending their financial health year-over-year is: 1.0–1.5× SDE.
But that is not a real valuation because it doesn’t account for:
Example: We’ve worked with owners who thought their gym was worth $75K, only to discover a true valuation of $175K once these factors were included.
When a buyer evaluates your gym, they aren’t just looking for strengths—they’re scanning for weaknesses. Every red flag they find becomes a reason to discount your asking price or demand tougher terms. A lease that’s about to expire or one that can’t be transferred, creates uncertainty about the gym’s future home. Messy financials or missing tax returns make buyers wonder what’s being hidden. If the business is overly dependent on you—for example, if you’re still coaching most of the classes—they’ll question whether the gym can run smoothly without you. And if revenue depends heavily on prepaid memberships or punch cards, buyers see risk instead of stability. Financial history, straightforward leases, veteran staff and recurring revenue are a few of the most common things that buyers look for in a gym.
The good news is that exit planning gives you the time to fix these issues. With two or three years of preparation, you can re-negotiate your lease, get your books CPA-ready, train and promote staff to reduce owner-dependence and shift members onto recurring autopay. Even addressing just one of these red flags can strengthen your position dramatically. By systematically eliminating risk, you make your gym far more attractive and far more valuable when it’s time to sell.
Exit planning is all about steady improvements that make your gym “plug-and-play” for the next owner. Here’s an exit planning timeline with action items you can adapt:
These steps not only increase your gym’s value but also reduce your stress while you’re still running it.
The right team makes the difference between a messy sale and a smooth, profitable exit:
Case study: One seller who re-negotiated her lease 2 years before listing increased her valuation multiple from 1.1× to 1.4×—simply by giving buyers long-term confidence.
Exit planning for gym owners isn’t just about preparing for a sale; it’s about running a stronger business today. The improvements you make (cleaner books, stronger systems, recurring revenue) benefit you immediately, even before you sell.
Owners who plan early:
It might be hard to imagine selling your gym right now, but one day you will. Starting your exit planning two to three years in advance is the smartest way to ensure you don’t leave money on the table—and that your community continues to thrive under new leadership.
At Gym Ventures, we specialize in helping gym owners prepare, value, and sell their businesses. Schedule a consultation today to start building your roadmap.
