The Business of Jiu Jitsu

The business behind the gentle art - Conversations with gym/academy owners and industry leaders who are doing something unique and special to stand out.

The Business of Jiu Jitsu is a business podcast hosted by JP Levesque, with 118 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

JP Levesque hosts The Business of Jiu Jitsu, a business show with 118 episodes published.

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  The Business of Jiu Jitsu

  Ep. 119 - Staffing: Who to Hire, How to Manage Them, and When to Let Them Go

  Aug 28, 202630 min

  This episode is about staffing your academy, start to finish. I break it into three parts. First, who to hire when you're still wearing all the hats, and why your first real hire off the floor is an admin, not another coach. Second, how to actually manage staff once you've got them: roles and tasks, SOPs, objective standards, incentives, and quarterly reviews. Third, hiring and firing, how to grow coaches from inside your own room, how to onboard them, and how to know when somebody has to go. The through line: if your staff is underperforming, it's usually because you never made it clear what "performing" looks like. That's on you, not them. Why an admin is your first hire, not a coach The math on paying somebody $1,500/month and what you have to go generate to justify it Head coach + assistant for every program (two layers of redundancy, always) Roles and tasks vs. SOPs — two different documents, and why you need both Take a picture of the clean front desk. Seriously. Put it in the SOP. Making everything objectively measurable so reviews aren't "I feel like you're not trying" Bonuses and incentives that get profiles filled out and waivers signed Quarterly reviews as a relationship deposit, and knowing each person's actual motivation Reviewing coaches by walking a student's experience through the class How to give feedback without making somebody cry (learned that one the hard way) Gino Wickman's GWC screen: do they Get it, Want it, and have the Capacity? Run it. You'll find a lot of people in the wrong seat. Farming your own coaches with a paid "how to teach" course Onboarding staff the same way you onboard students — 30/60/90 with real touch points Hire slow, fire fast. And a don't-shit-where-you-eat policy. Roles, tasks, and SOPs. If it's not written down, it's not their fault it didn't happen. It's yours. Buy back your time. Read The E-Myth by Michael Gerber. Audiobook counts. Just do it. Onboard and review your staff on a cycle. You don't find your best staff members — you make them. Same as your students. Grab The Unstuck Academy, free ebook, quick read, goes deeper on a lot of this. There's also a podcast episode where I read the whole thing to you if that's more your speed. https://growjitsu.com/free-book/

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  The Business of Jiu Jitsu

  Ep. 118 - What BJJ Academy owners about increasing revenue, and how to fix it.

  Aug 14, 202623 min

  If your adults program and kids program aren't where they need to be, adding a fitness kickboxing class or a kettlebell program isn't going to fix your revenue problem. It's just going to split your attention. This episode is JP's breakdown of where academy owners actually need to focus to grow monthly recurring revenue and why the answer is almost never "start something new." In this episode: The unfinished wheel analogy and why adding new programs before your core is dialed is a losing move Why fitness kickboxing, yoga, and extra class types almost always fizzle out and what to do with that time instead The front end offer that works: a paid intro program that charges $500+ upfront and gives new students a clear outcome Why confidence in your offer comes from reps and how to get there fast The full student journey broken down: leads, trials, onboarding, retention and what needs to be in place at every step Why the sales conversation isn't scary when you prefame it before class even starts The 30, 60, and 90-day onboarding handouts that build trust and set realistic expectations The student scorecard, a 90-day check-in that coaches your students through their own progress What at-risk student follow-up actually looks like when it's documented and done consistently Why word of mouth is a gift, not a strategy and what dependable lead generation actually requires The reactivation bucket: what to do with leads who didn't join after their trial Why most gyms aren't doing any of this consistently and how one Google Drive folder changes that Want to go deeper on all of this? Download the free Unstuck Academy ebook at -htts://growjitsu.com/free-book or listen to the audiobook version right here on this podcast. Link below. https://open.spotify.com/episode/3XrZoaKELM5gSrrsnpcrRo?si=vhJvpSdgQ8uF7sHE6jAXYA

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  The Business of Jiu Jitsu

  Ep. 117 - Systemize Your Academy Before September

  Aug 7, 202633 min

  JP's back after a big move from Calgary down to the Coeur d'Alene area and he's got a timely reminder for every academy owner heading into the back half of summer. The jiu-jitsu side of your business is the cart. But without wheels and a track, you're just pushing a heavy ass cart at a snails pace. Now is the time to fix that. In this episode: The minecart analogy, why your coaching ability alone isn't enough to create growth A real gym JP is working with right now: best July on record, no paid marketing, just systems built during the summer Why you should NOT start paid ads for the first time in June, July, or August The QR code system that answers your most-asked questions so you don't have to How to build a leave-behind for prospects who say "I need to think about it" The full student journey broken down: lead → trial → onboarding → retention — and what needs to be documented at every stage Why you make great students, you don't find them What onboarding actually looks like — and why one bad roll can lose a white belt forever The retention cadence: what you should be doing daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly to keep students engaged Why following up with your own leads is still the highest-leverage thing you can do (and why nobody else will ever care as much as you) Google reviews: the most underrated free marketing move most gyms are leaving on the table How to use AI to format your SOPs without letting it write them for you Want a head start on building the backend of your academy? Download JP's free ebook — The Unstuck Academy — https://growjitsu.com/free-book. It's the starting point for leaning into the business side of your gym and getting those wheels on the cart.

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  The Business of Jiu Jitsu

  Ep. 112.5 - 10 Years of Academy Owneship - The FULL Episode with - CJ Hollet

  May 21, 202641 min

  We had technical difficulties on the previous recording so this is a NEW recording and the full episode. Most BJJ academy owners burn out somewhere between year 3 and year 7. Not because the jiu jitsu is hard — because the people part is. The communication, the boundary-setting, losing core members, staying in one piece, knowing who to let through the door. Heads up: this is a shorter episode — we ran into some technical difficulties partway through the recording, but the conversation was too good to shelve. In this episode of The Business of Jiu Jitsu, JP Levesque sits down with his own professor, CJ Hollett, who just crossed the 10-year mark running his BJJ academy. CJ breaks down what actually keeps an academy owner in the game a decade in, how jiu jitsu training methodology has evolved over the past 10 years (and where the "let them work" mentality came from), how to coach white belts and women so they don't quit, and the #1 attribute every great BJJ coach needs. The conversation also gets into the personality side of running an academy — why some people probably shouldn't be coaches at all, why patience and communication matter more than technique when it comes to retention, what CJ would tell himself 10 years ago about losing core members, how to pick your rolls and keep your body in one piece as an owner on the mat every day, and the red flags students should watch for when picking a jiu jitsu academy. If you run a BJJ academy, are thinking about opening one, or want an honest look at what a full decade of academy ownership actually feels like — this one's for you. JP Levesque is the founder of Grow Jitsu. He helps BJJ academy owners clean up their business model, student journey, and simple owner-run marketing so they can grow past the 80–150 student ceiling without selling out the art or burning out. Timestamps: 00:00 – Intro: 10 years in the game with CJ Hollett 01:00 – What keeps you going a decade later 02:30 – How jiu jitsu training has evolved 04:30 – The rise of the "let them work" mentality 05:55 – Coaching white belts so they don't quit 08:20 – The #1 attribute of a great coach 10:20 – Why some people shouldn't be coaches at all 11:50 – Proudest moments after 10 years of ownership 12:40 – How to keep your body in one piece as an owner 15:00 – Red flags in an academy 17:20 – Green flags of a good academy 19:00 – What CJ would tell himself 10 years ago 21:30 – Why losing a core member never stops hurting 22:30 – Advice for anyone opening an academy today 25:00 – Who actually sticks with it long-term 28:00 – Belt promotions and how to structure them 34:30 – Teaching structure: curriculum vs. organic 37:00 – Merch, gis, and not forcing students to buy yours 39:00 – How to make a new student feel like part of the team Want help applying this to your academy? Book a free BJJ Growth Plan Call: https://growjitsu.com/call

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  The Business of Jiu Jitsu

  Ep. 112 - 10 Years of BJJ Academy Ownership with CJ Hollett

  May 14, 202615 min

  Most BJJ academy owners burn out somewhere between year 3 and year 7. Not because the jiu jitsu is hard — because the people part is. The communication, the boundary-setting, losing core members, staying in one piece, knowing who to let through the door. Heads up: this is a shorter episode — we ran into some technical difficulties partway through the recording, but the conversation was too good to shelve. In this episode of The Business of Jiu Jitsu, JP Levesque sits down with his own professor, CJ Hollett, who just crossed the 10-year mark running his BJJ academy. CJ breaks down what actually keeps an academy owner in the game a decade in, how jiu jitsu training methodology has evolved over the past 10 years (and where the "let them work" mentality came from), how to coach white belts and women so they don't quit, and the #1 attribute every great BJJ coach needs. The conversation also gets into the personality side of running an academy — why some people probably shouldn't be coaches at all, why patience and communication matter more than technique when it comes to retention, what CJ would tell himself 10 years ago about losing core members, how to pick your rolls and keep your body in one piece as an owner on the mat every day, and the red flags students should watch for when picking a jiu jitsu academy. If you run a BJJ academy, are thinking about opening one, or want an honest look at what a full decade of academy ownership actually feels like — this one's for you. JP Levesque is the founder of Grow Jitsu. He helps BJJ academy owners clean up their business model, student journey, and simple owner-run marketing so they can grow past the 80–150 student ceiling without selling out the art or burning out. Timestamps: 00:00 – Intro: 10 years in the game with CJ Hollett 01:00 – What keeps you going a decade later 02:30 – How jiu jitsu training has evolved 04:30 – The rise of the "let them work" mentality 05:55 – Coaching white belts so they don't quit 08:20 – The #1 attribute of a great coach 10:20 – Why some people shouldn't be coaches at all 11:50 – Proudest moments after 10 years of ownership 12:40 – How to keep your body in one piece as an owner 15:00 – Red flags in an academy 17:20 – Green flags of a good academy 19:00 – What CJ would tell himself 10 years ago 21:30 – Why losing a core member never stops hurting 22:30 – Advice for anyone opening an academy today 25:00 – Who actually sticks with it long-term 28:00 – Belt promotions and how to structure them 34:30 – Teaching structure: curriculum vs. organic 37:00 – Merch, gis, and not forcing students to buy yours 39:00 – How to make a new student feel like part of the team Want help applying this to your academy? Book a free BJJ Growth Plan Call: https://growjitsu.com/call

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