Ryan O’Neill, Co-Founder and CEO of LegitFit, has dedicated his career to helping gym owners streamline their operations, improve member experiences, and make smarter business decisions. During his appearance on the FMA Podcast, Ryan shared insights from growing LegitFit from a small start-up into a platform serving more than 1,300 gyms. Along the way, he revealed the lessons that have helped fitness business owners improve growth, retention, and profitability.

The Challenge

Like many entrepreneurs, Ryan’s journey began with a desire to solve real problems for business owners. As LegitFit grew, he spent significant time listening to gym owners and understanding the challenges they faced on a daily basis.

One of the biggest issues he identified was that many gym owners were making decisions based on instinct rather than reliable business data. While successful gym operators consistently measured performance and monitored key metrics, others often struggled to understand what was driving growth and what was limiting it.

As Ryan explained:

“What the top performing gyms are doing is they are obsessing about the data.”

Many gym owners are responsible for every aspect of their business, from coaching and sales to administration and marketing. Without clear systems and reporting, it becomes difficult to identify opportunities for improvement and sustainable growth.

Ryan also observed another common challenge: unnecessary friction in the customer journey. In many cases, gym owners were asking prospective members to provide too much information before completing a purchase or booking. This created barriers that ultimately reduced conversions.

As Ryan put it:

“Less is more.”

The Strategy

To help gym owners overcome these challenges, LegitFit focused on simplifying business operations while providing access to meaningful data that could support better decision-making.

A major part of this approach centred around helping gym owners understand the numbers behind their business. Rather than relying on assumptions, they were encouraged to track conversion rates, customer acquisition costs, retention figures, attendance trends, marketing performance and overall revenue growth. By consistently reviewing these metrics, gym owners could make more informed decisions and create a clearer path towards long-term success.

Another important strategy involved reducing friction throughout the customer journey. Through testing and optimisation, LegitFit discovered that simplifying the sign-up process could significantly improve conversion rates. Shorter forms, faster checkout experiences and integrated payment options made it easier for prospective members to take action and complete their purchase.

Ryan shared that one particular checkout improvement resulted in conversion rates doubling, highlighting the impact that small changes can have when they remove unnecessary obstacles for customers.

The company also embraced the growing opportunities presented by artificial intelligence. Ryan believes AI is helping independent fitness businesses compete more effectively by reducing administrative workloads and improving efficiency. LegitFit introduced AI-powered tools that supported areas such as member communication, programming assistance, marketing activities, data analysis and overall engagement.

One example Ryan shared involved a gym owner who used AI-assisted communication to continue sending valuable weekly updates to members without spending hours creating content.

Retention was another key focus. Ryan emphasised that marketing does not end once a customer joins a gym. Instead, successful businesses continue communicating with members, tracking engagement and creating positive experiences that encourage long-term loyalty.

As Ryan explained:

“Just because you’ve acquired that customer, you don’t stop marketing to them.”

The most successful gyms consistently invest in member engagement through regular communication, progress tracking, check-ins and feedback systems that help strengthen relationships and improve retention.

The Results

Today, LegitFit has established itself as one of the leading software platforms in the fitness industry. The business has grown from a team of around 20 employees to approximately 40, while supporting more than one million end users across its customer base.

The company now serves over 1,300 gyms and has achieved more than 50 per cent market share in Ireland. It has also expanded significantly in the United Kingdom, where it works with more than 550 gym businesses, while continuing its growth into new markets including the United States.

Beyond the numbers, Ryan believes the biggest lessons for gym owners are clear. High-performing businesses consistently track their data, simplify their systems, reduce friction for customers and place a strong emphasis on retention. They also embrace technology where it can create efficiencies and free up time to focus on growth.

Words from Ryan

Ryan credits much of LegitFit’s success to building the right team and creating systems that allow the business to scale effectively.

As he explained:

“I’ve kind of understood from the start that my job, one of my main jobs, is to replace myself over and over again with people who are better than me.”

This mindset has helped him focus on delegation, leadership and long-term scalability rather than becoming the bottleneck within the business.

He also shared a philosophy that resonates with many successful business owners:

“Systems should be freeing you. They shouldn’t be caging you.”

What’s Next?

Looking ahead, LegitFit continues to invest heavily in product development, artificial intelligence and enhanced reporting capabilities. The company remains focused on helping gym owners make better decisions through data while creating smoother experiences for both businesses and their members.

With more than 1,300 gyms already using the platform and further international expansion underway, LegitFit is well positioned to continue supporting fitness businesses as they grow and evolve.

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