The Podcast / EP 141
Episode 141: Is Your Gym Actually an Asset? How to Build a Sellable Fitness Business.
And what would have to change for your business to give your family real options—whether you keep it, scale it, or sell it?
What this episode covers
Jeff walks through his path from college sports and enlisting after 9/11 to serving in special operations, returning to a Fortune 50 company, owning a gym for 12 years, and buying and selling around $25 million in real estate while raising four kids.
What if your gym pays you well but still isn’t something a serious buyer wants to own?
Blake and Sherman sit down with Jeff Smith , founder of Tactical Empire, to unpack what it really looks like to build something beyond a decent-paying owner job.
That mix of experience shapes how he thinks about risk, time, and why sitting in “planning mode” for a decade is so costly.
The three of them talk through leaving a mentoring organization, feeling like you’re on an island, and the moment a serious buyer asked how often the owner needed to be at the gym—exposing that the business wasn’t truly an asset.
They also get into faith, mortality, homeschooling, full-time RV life, and the tension many gym owners feel between wanting to serve and wanting to earn at a high level.
It’s aimed at owners who care about their families and clients and also want a business that gives them choices: keep it, scale it, or walk away on their terms.
You’ll Learn
How a gym can pay the owner six figures and still not be something a serious buyer wants to acquire.
Why Jeff’s time in special operations and a Fortune 50 environment pushed him toward urgency instead of long-term “planning mode.”
The difference between building yourself a job and building a business that can be run—and sold—without you on-site every day.
- Leaving the mentoring group and Jeff’s support
- Why Tactical Empire exists and who it serves
- Gym owners, service businesses, and the mastermind
- Jeff’s path: sports, 9/11 enlistment, special ops
- Corporate career, Six Sigma, and owning a gym
- Real estate deals and building multiple income streams
- Mortality, urgency, and not wasting a decade
- Homeschool dads, RV life, and family decisions
- From gym paycheck to “is this actually an asset?”
- Asset sale vs. business sale for gym owners
- Exit timelines, burnout, and planning 2–3 years out
- Debt, equity, and rethinking a paid-off house
From the show notes published with this episode. Numbers and outcomes above are the episode's own claims, not independent verification.
Gym Marketing Made Simple, hosted by Sherman Merricks. Find the show on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube. This page streams the episode audio directly above.