This Two-Location BJJ Academy Runs Without Its Owner. And It Is For Sale.
Ask ten buyers about martial arts gyms and nine will give you the same speech.
"It's a lifestyle business. The whole thing is the founder. The day the black belt behind the front desk walks out, the members follow him. There's nothing to buy."
That speech is correct about most gyms. It is wrong about this one, and the difference is worth understanding even if you never buy a dojo in your life.
This listing is a two-location Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu academy in a major, high-income California metro. It has grown revenue every single year since 2023. It runs on documented systems, a management team, and automated billing. The founder operates it semi-absentee today, and he built it that way on purpose.
Now he is looking for one of two outcomes: sell the academy outright, or bring on an operator with equity who can take it further than he can. Either way, this is the rarest thing in the fitness category: a gym that is an actual business.
Here is the full breakdown.
The Listing at a Glance
Business: Family-oriented Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu academy
Locations: Two. A flagship operating since 2022 and a second location opened in 2025, leased into 2029 with a renewal option
Trailing 12-Month Revenue (Jul 2025 to Jun 2026): $656,732
2025 Revenue: $558,388
2025 Adjusted SDE: $234,852 (42.1% of revenue)
Recurring membership revenue: 92.8% of trailing 12-month sales
Owner involvement: Semi-absentee, with a management team and coaching staff in place
Structure: Full sale or operator-partner arrangement, seller open to both
Financial package: Available under NDA. Reply DOJO to this email.
Why Buyers Dismiss Martial Arts Gyms (And Why They Are Wrong Here)
Objection 1: "The business is the founder."
Most gyms, yes. This one runs on a buyer-ready operations manual covering curriculum, class templates, trial conversion, onboarding, billing, facility routines, emergency procedures, and a weekly management operating system with KPI scorecards. Kids, teens, and adult programs follow documented progression paths, including a structured white-to-blue-belt curriculum. Coaches teach from the system, not from memory. The founder's stated goal, written directly into the manual, is an owner-silent operation.
Objection 2: "Gym members churn constantly."
Boutique fitness churns. Family BJJ academies retain. This academy's core is youth programs with belt exams, recognition programs, and parent trust built over years. A kid who starts at eight often trains until high school, and parents pay for structure and discipline, not for a treadmill. The revenue mix proves it: $609,755 of the trailing twelve months came from memberships. That is 92.8% recurring. ✓
Objection 3: "Lifestyle margins."
2025 adjusted SDE was $234,852 on $558,388 of revenue. That is a 42.1% SDE margin, verified line by line below. ✓ Rent, the biggest fixed cost in this category, runs roughly $107K per year across both locations combined, in one of the most expensive markets in America. The model still throws off 40%+ margins.
Objection 4: "Single-location risk."
There are two locations, and the second one is the growth story. Location two's monthly membership revenue went from $9,905 in July 2025 to $18,078 in June 2026. That is an 82.5% increase in twelve months, and it is still early in its ramp. ✓
The Numbers: Four Straight Years of Growth
Revenue:
2023: $231,942
2024: $401,252 (+73.0%) ✓
2025: $558,388 (+39.2%) ✓
H1 2026: $370,088 (+36.2% vs H1 2025's $271,745) ✓
Adjusted SDE:
2023: $126,623
2024: $194,027
2025: $234,852
H1 2026: $154,541 (a $309,082 annualized run rate)
June 2026 alone did $76,727 of revenue against $47,598 in June 2025. That is 61.2% year-over-year growth in the most recent closed month. ✓
This is not a business being dressed up for sale. This is a business accelerating into one.
The 2025 SDE Reconstruction, Line by Line
Every add-back below comes straight from the P&L. Nothing estimated, nothing hand-waved.
Net Income: $107,982
Plus: Owner wages: $45,750
Plus: Income taxes and owner loan interest paid: $75,984
Plus: Vehicle expenses: $11,651
Plus: Meals: $6,580
Plus: Travel: $3,601
Plus: One-time repairs and maintenance: $2,555
Plus: Continuing education: $457
Less: Interest and other non-operating income: ($19,708)
Total add-backs: $126,870 ✓
Adjusted SDE: $107,982 + $126,870 = $234,852 ✓
Semi-Absentee Is Not a Marketing Claim Here
"Semi-absentee" is the most abused phrase in business listings. Here is what it actually means at this academy:
A management team and coaching staff run daily classes across both locations. Payroll shows dedicated staff at each location plus coaches covering both.
Trial scheduling, member onboarding, billing, and communications are automated through the academy's membership software. Money collects itself every month.
The operations manual defines every role, a weekly and monthly management cadence, KPI governance, and a role coverage matrix, so quality does not depend on any single person being in the room.
The books are clean: LLC taxed as an S corporation, QuickBooks accounting, workers' compensation in place, and monthly financial reporting packages already produced in lender-ready format.
Look at the payroll trend and you can watch the owner buying his own freedom. Employee expenses grew from $100,144 in H1 2025 to $144,264 in H1 2026 as staff took over functions the founder used to do himself. That spending is exactly why a buyer can step into this without living on the mats. The margin it temporarily compressed is the price of transferability, and it has already been paid.
The Growth Levers Already in Motion
1. Let location two finish its ramp. The second location's monthly membership revenue is up 82.5% in twelve months and did $134,377 over the trailing year against the flagship's $476,056. If it simply matures toward the flagship's level on its existing lease, that alone is a six-figure revenue lever with rent already locked in into 2029.
2. Camps, seminars, and school programs. Contract services produced $35,607 over the trailing twelve months, including $16,936 in June 2026 alone. Kids camps and school partnerships are seasonal cash machines for youth-heavy academies, and this line is just getting turned on.
3. A marketing engine that just woke up. The academy spent $21,150 on advertising in the first half of 2026, more than 2.6x its entire 2025 ad budget of $7,987. Revenue responded with 36.2% growth. The playbook works; a buyer inherits it running.
4. Retail and merchandise. Product income was $16,499 over the trailing year. Uniforms, gear, and branded merchandise in a two-location academy with a loyal family base is an obvious, low-effort expansion line.
5. The third location. The entire point of the operations manual is repeatability. The systems that opened location two are documented and ready to open location three. For an existing gym owner, that playbook may be worth as much as the cash flow.
What an SBA Deal Could Look Like
No asking price is published here; the full financial package and pricing go to qualified buyers under NDA. But to show the shape of the deal, here is an illustrative structure at a $750,000 purchase price, which would be 3.19x 2025 adjusted SDE:
Purchase Price (illustrative): $750,000
Down Payment (10%): $75,000
SBA 7(a) Loan: $675,000 at 10.5%, 10 years
Annual Debt Service: $109,298 ✓
As an owner-operator:
Adjusted SDE: $234,852
Debt Service: ($109,298)
Net Cash Flow: $125,554 ✓
DSCR: $234,852 ÷ $109,298 = 2.15x ✓
Cash-on-Cash: $125,554 ÷ $75,000 = 167.4% ✓
As a true semi-absentee owner, paying a $70,000 general manager:
SDE after manager: $164,852
Debt Service: ($109,298)
Net Cash Flow: $55,554 ✓
DSCR: $164,852 ÷ $109,298 = 1.51x ✓
Lenders want 1.25x. Our internal bar at Acquire Weekly is 1.35x. This deal clears both even after paying someone else to run it, and it clears them on 2025 numbers while 2026 is tracking 36% higher.
Who Should Buy This
The practitioner-owner. If you train BJJ and have ever wanted to own the academy instead of just paying dues to one, this is the version of that dream with real financial statements attached. You inherit curriculum, staff, and 92.8% recurring revenue instead of an empty room and a lease.
The existing gym owner. Two staffed, systematized locations bolt onto an existing operation immediately. Shared back office, shared marketing, instant density in one of the wealthiest youth-sports markets in the country.
The operator-partner. The seller is explicitly open to bringing on an operator who can scale beyond what he can manage. If you have the operating chops but not the full purchase price, there is a conversation to be had here that most listings never offer.
The Honest Ledger
We do not publish deals without naming the risks. Here they are:
H1 2026 operating margins compressed as staffing and marketing scaled ahead of revenue. That is deliberate investment in owner-independence, but a buyer should underwrite the current cost structure, not the leaner 2024 one.
The founder is a respected professor and community figure. The systems reduce key-person risk; a thoughtful transition plan eliminates it. Structure the handover period into the deal.
Both locations are leased, not owned. Terms are documented and the second location's lease runs into 2029 with an option, but lease assignment is a standard diligence item any buyer should confirm early.
Every one of these is manageable, and every one is disclosed up front because that is how we operate.
This Listing Is Confidential
To protect the seller's staff, members, and community standing, the academy's name, exact locations, and identifying details stay behind an NDA. The complete package includes four years of P&Ls, the rolling 12-month statements, the add-back schedules, the operations manual, and both leases.
Reply to this email with the word DOJO and we will send you the NDA. Once signed, the full package follows.
Serious buyers only. Proof of funds or lender pre-qualification will be requested before pricing discussions.
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