It was Summer 2022... Covid had passed but it's impacts could still be felt in society and even more so on the many struggling businesses.. mine being one of them. A cost of living crisis was further condemning my business to failure. I had tried everything I could think of to increase the revenue of the business I had put everything in to.

My health was starting to decline, stress levels at an all time high and whilst I was enjoying teaching Brazilian Jiu Jitsu daily to a great group of students... behind the scenes things were extremely challenging for myself but most importantly my family.

That's when several very close family members said the gym needed to be closed down. I gave it a good effort but it was done.

I am a pretty stubborn person by nature, you have to be achieve to a BJJ black belt so I did what I'm sure most of you would do and started to problem solve.

In previous attempts at fixing my situation, I had approached marketing companies claiming to get results. But these arrangerments always seemed to line their pockets and not mine. Why would I hand over hard earned revenue on the hope that they bring more members.

It was here that I started trusting my own abilities to learn and implement systems and ideas.

I read and consumed everything that I could on the subject and listened to anyone that would share their wisdom and who had walked the road before me.

Thankfully, I have turned the gym around and whilst I do not claim to know everything...I have the war wounds from years learning to run and grow a gym. This experience has been used to create Upkick.

A system that any gym owner can use to grow their gym and take control of their marketing.

Mike Summers