Ep. 122 - Fun First: How East Austin Jiu Jitsu Won Best Gym in the City - With William Watts

My guest this week is William Watts, co-owner of East Austin Jiu Jitsu. Two years open, several hundred members, 250+ five-star Google reviews, and voted best gym in Austin by the Austin Chronicle readers in their first year. Not best jiu jitsu gym. Best gym, period. And they haven't spent a cent on ads. William learned the business side before he ever opened. He helped a wellness brand open 165 locations in seven years, then worked in small business lending. Now he's put it all into a book. We get into how they make it fun without making it soft, how their 12-week fundamentals cycle works, actually coaching instead of just demonstrating, and the do's and don'ts of opening and running an academy. - Why "fun" wins best gym in a city full of serious fitness people - Fun isn't goofy. Swap in "enjoyable." Solving problems and getting better is enjoyable. Being called stupid is not. - Instructors demonstrate. Coaches adjust for the person in front of them. Most gyms don't coach. - The 12-week fundamentals cycle, built around submissions and scoring positions, not guards - Why beginners need an objective: what's the point of the game? - Specific warm-ups tied to the day's technique, and telling students who the drill is actually for - Why black belts should partner with a business-minded purple belt instead of doing it all themselves - Why most owners skip the business side: it's boring, they're tired, and they don't see the value - The biggest don't when opening: never put anything in writing you're not 100% sure will happen - Time blocking. Do one thing at a time. Put the phone out of reach. - Ask students what they're working on, and connect members to each other - Paid ads are the last thing you do, not the first - Before you open: what your gym is, who it's for, and why it needs to exist. One sentence, then one page. <!--THE END--> 1. **Make it fun.** Most people want to train 2.3 times a week. Build the gym for them and the hardcore people will still work hard. 2. **Coach, don't just demonstrate.** Bodies are different. Adjust the technique for the person in front of you. 3. **Say what you'll do, then do it.** Schedule, opening date, all of it. If it's not certain, don't write it down. <!--THE END--> - East Austin Jiu Jitsu: https://www.eastaustinjiujitsu.com/ - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eastaustinjiujitsu/ - *The Jiu Jitsu Gym Operations Manual: How to Run the Best Gym in Your City Without Spending a Cent on Ads*: https://a.co/d/0dBvuXG3 Want help growing your BJJ academy? Fill out the short form below and we'll hop on a quick 15-minute check-in call to see where your business is at. 👉 https://bdmlrby8e2s.typeform.com/to/aKsaYCA5