How Much Is My Gym Really Worth? The Seller’s Valuation Manual
$24.99
You know what you put into your gym. A buyer runs different math — and the two numbers are rarely close. This manual teaches the buyer’s method end to end: how SDE is built and verified, how the multiple is placed (and what moves it), how the free Gym Valuation Calculator gets its range, two fully worked valuations, deal structure, the value killers and which ones you can fix, an honest ready-to-sell triage, and a 36-month preparation runway — with fill-in worksheets throughout.
Every owner thinking about selling has a number in his head, built on what he paid, what he built, and what he needs. Buyers value a gym on what the business can produce for them — predictable future cash flow, at a price that reflects the risk. The gap between those two numbers is not an insult. It is a list of specific, mostly fixable things.
How Much Is My Gym Really Worth? The Seller's Valuation Manual walks through the buyer's method the way Jim Thomas uses it in brokerage triage, built from his published valuation guidance and paired with the free Gym Valuation Calculator on the gyms-for-sale site.
Inside the manual:
- The buyer's frame — why investment is not value, cash flow is value, and risk is a discount.
- The math — SDE built line by line with an honest add-back standard, the multiple explained, SDE vs. EBITDA, and the "every gym gets 3x" mistake.
- The six factors that move your multiple — recurring revenue, profit over revenue, owner dependence (including the disappear-for-30-days test), retention, your lease, and provable financials — plus the truth about equipment value.
- The calculator, decoded — how the free Gym Valuation Calculator builds its range, how to reconcile it with published 2.5x-4x guidance, and what it cannot see.
- Two worked examples — two gyms with identical $150,000 SDE worth $225,000 apart, and a full start-to-finish valuation with the multiple placed factor by factor.
- Deal structure — seller financing, what is included, paid-in-full liabilities, your transition role, and the broker fee stated plainly.
- The value killers, sorted — which ones are fixable and on what timeline.
- The honest triage — the two deciders used on every seller (profitability at a real level, and the lease) and the door that fits each outcome: brokerage, self-listing on the gyms-for-sale site, or fixing the business first through consulting.
- The 36-month runway and the sale process itself, plus four worksheets: build your SDE, score your multiple, document readiness, and your ranked fix list.
Who this is for: independent gym owners thinking about selling in the next one to three years — and owners who simply want to know what their business would be worth to someone else.
What this is not: This manual teaches the valuation method. It is not an appraisal or a broker opinion of value for a specific business, and it is not financial advice. A live sale needs live numbers, your actual lease, and your market.
Details: 21-page PDF manual, delivered as an instant digital download after checkout.
Digital download: the PDF is delivered electronically after checkout (download link on the confirmation page and by email). No shipping applies. Questions before you buy? Call 214-629-7223.
