• SMB Deal Hunter
  • Posts
  • 🎙️He owns 4 gyms but he's never been to any of them. (Here's How) | Bill Haig

🎙️He owns 4 gyms but he's never been to any of them. (Here's How) | Bill Haig

Author

Helen Guo
November 21, 2025

Hello SMB Deal Hunters!

This week’s episode with Bill Haig is one of the most impressive absentee owner stories we’ve featured.

Bill owns 4 gym locations in Northern Virginia….

But he’s never been inside any of them.

That’s a lot of first time business buyers’ dream. A ‘passive business’. But how did he get here?

Bill was an Army officer who bought his first gym with zero fitness experience right after his MBA.

And after spending the first few years in the business, he was able to work himself completely out of the day-to-day.

In the episode, we talk about that and…

🔥 What he learned in his first year of being involved in the business. (And some serious skeletons in the closet)

🔥 How he fixed the gym’s broken business model to one that made it possible for him to scale to 4 locations.

🔥 The "fetal moment" he went through after taking over the business, where he was doubting whether he’d made the right call.

He also shares some unforgettable moments like...

"I have a visceral moment seared in my memory of getting a text message at 10:00 PM from one of our trainers who had the 4:00 AM class. And he had gotten poached by Orange Theory from us, and he was like. Good luck. 

And so I was sitting there like, yeah, this is exactly what I signed up for. Like I'll be training the 4:00 AM class and I think I had the 4:00 AM class for a few weeks until we could find someone else."

— Bill

He did such a good job working himself out of the business & was such a superstar, we ended up bringing him on as an M&A advisor and eventually COO at SMB Deal Hunter.

And for our audio-only listeners, jump in and listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts!

Alumni Spotlight

They did all of that within 6 months of joining the program.

They had decided to buy a business after feeling trapped in their 9-5s and had wanted to have control over their own finances and their time.

In the case study, we dive into how they succeeded and…

✅ How they went from a year of frustrated searching to finding and closing a deal in 6 months.

✅ The 4 key challenges they had to overcome to close their deal (and how they almost walked away multiple times)

✅ The 2 key takeaways for you, as someone who might also want to own a $1M+ business in the next 6-12 months

And these were their words for the community after they closed…

So, if you want me and my team to work with you to find, finance, and acquire a million-dollar cash-flowing business in the next 6-12 months, you might be interested in the Pro program.

COMMUNITY PERKS

• Ready to buy and operate a $1M+ business? Get expert help at every step.

• Want to invest passively in SMB acquisitions? Get access to investment opportunities.

• Get a personal introduction to my preferred SBA 7(a) lender, non-SBA lenders, Quality of Earnings providers, or legal counsel

• Raising capital for your deal? I’ll connect you with investors from the SMB Deal Hunter Community.

• Interested in selling your business? I’ll help you connect with buyers from the SMB Deal Hunter Community.

THAT’S A WRAP

Want me to interview you for my podcast? Hit reply.

See you next week with some new deals!

How was today's newsletter?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

Disclaimer

This publication is a newsletter only and the information provided herein is the opinion of our editors and writers only. Any transaction or opportunity of any kind is provided for information only; SMB Deal Hunter does not verify nor confirm information. SMB Deal Hunter is not making any offer to readers to participate in any transaction or opportunity described herein.