You’re bringing in $40,000 a month.
Revenue is solid. Client roster is full.
You’re working 60 hours weekly.
Then you look at your bank account.
$15,000. Maybe $18,000.
Where’s the rest?
The Profit Math That Doesn’t Add Up
Industry benchmarks vary wildly. Here’s what leaders in each segment actually keep:
| Practice Type | Typical Net Profit Margin | For $40K/mo Revenue | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solo Online Coach/Nutritionist | 60-85% | $24-34K | Low overhead, digital-heavy |
| 1:1 Therapy/Health Coaching | 50-70% | $20-28K | Some insurance/admin costs |
| Yoga/Group Fitness Studio | 15-30% | $6-12K | Rent, instructors eat margins |
| Retreat/Group Program Hybrid | 40-65% | $16-26K | Variable venue/marketing costs |
| Holistic Health Centers | 15-30% | $6-12K | Multi-practitioner overhead |
If you’re a solo online coach taking home $15K on $40K revenue, you should be at $24-34K.
That’s $9,000-19,000 disappearing every month.
$108,000-$228,000 over a year.
Even high-overhead models have a gap between actual and possible.
The 5 Places Wellness Practice Profit Disappears
1. Subscription Creep ($400-600/month)
The pattern:
ConvertKit. Then Calendly. Then Kajabi. Then Canva Pro. Then Dubsado. Then practice management software. Then stock photos. Then analytics tools you never open.
Each one made sense at signup.
Six months later, you’re paying for 12-15 subscriptions.
Half of them you forgot exist.
The exercise:
Open your credit card statements right now. Last 3 months.
List every recurring charge.
You’ll find:
- 3-5 subscriptions you completely forgot about
- 2-3 tools doing the exact same thing
- 4-6 features you’re paying for but never touch
Common overlap:
| What You Need | What You Might Be Paying For | Monthly Cost | Better Approach | New Cost | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Email marketing | Kajabi ($199) + ConvertKit ($79) | $278 | Pick one | $79-199 | $79-199 |
| Scheduling | Calendly ($15) + Dubsado ($40) | $55 | Pick one | $15-40 | $15-40 |
| Design | Canva Pro ($13) + Adobe ($55) | $68 | Canva Pro only | $13 | $55 |
| Video hosting | Kajabi + Vimeo ($20) | $219 | Use Kajabi’s hosting | $199 | $20 |
Kill the redundancy. Save $200-400/month.
Retreat Providers:
Common stack I see:
- Eventbrite: $15-50/month
- Retreat management software: $30-100/month
- Separate email platform: $50-100/month
Total: $95-250/month for overlapping functions.
WordPress + WooCommerce with event extensions: $30-60/month total.
Savings: $65-190/month
Group Fitness/Yoga Studios:
Common stack:
- Mindbody: $129-329/month
- Separate website: $30-50/month
- Email marketing: $30-100/month
- Social scheduler: $30-50/month
Total: $219-529/month with significant overlap.
WordPress + WooCommerce Bookings + basic email: $50-100/month.
Savings: $169-429/month
2. Manual Work You’re Not Counting ($4,000-8,000/month)
The lie:
Manual work is “free.”
No line item in the budget, so it feels like it costs nothing.
The reality:
Your time has value.
Calculate it: Annual revenue ÷ 1,560 working hours = Your hourly value
$100K/year? You’re worth $64/hour.
$150K/year? $96/hour.
Now look at what you’re doing manually:
| Manual Task | Time Weekly | Hours Monthly | Value at $100/hr | Value at $150/hr |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payment reminders | 2 hours | 8 hours | $800 | $1,200 |
| Data entry between platforms | 3 hours | 12 hours | $1,200 | $1,800 |
| Answering “where do I find…?” emails | 4 hours | 16 hours | $1,600 | $2,400 |
| Booking confirmations | 1.5 hours | 6 hours | $600 | $900 |
| Session prep (finding client notes) | 2 hours | 8 hours | $800 | $1,200 |
| Invoice creation | 1 hour | 4 hours | $400 | $600 |
| TOTAL | 13.5 hours | 54 hours | $5,400 | $8,100 |
13.5 hours weekly on tasks that could be automated.
At $100-150/hour, that’s $5,400-8,100/month.
You’re not “saving money” by DIY-ing everything.
You’re hemorrhaging time worth more than the automation would cost.
Wellness-Specific Examples:
Nutritionists/Dietitians:
Manual meal plan generation: 2-3 hours/client
Template library + customization: 20 min/client
For 10 clients/month: 22.5 hours saved
Therapists:
Manual session note entry: 10 min/session
Voice-to-text + templates: 3 min/session
For 60 sessions/month: 7 hours saved
Yoga/Fitness Instructors:
Manual class roster/attendance: 5 min/class
Automatic check-in system: 0 min
For 20 classes/week: 6.5 hours/month saved
3. Revenue Leaks Nobody Tracks ($2,000-6,000/month)
These don’t show up in your P&L.
They’re bookings that almost happened. Payments that should have cleared. Sessions that got no-showed.
Abandoned bookings:
Confusing booking flow loses 5-15% of potential sessions.
Especially bad for retreats with complex multi-step processes.
On $40K revenue: $2,000-6,000/month in sessions that almost happened.
Why people abandon:
- Asked for full health history before they could see your calendar
- Made them create account to book a discovery call
- Multi-step nightmare: check calendar → email you → you send link → they book
- No instant confirmation (did it work?)
- Hidden pricing
Fix: Calendar first. Name and email only. Instant confirmation. Show pricing upfront.
Recovery estimate: 3-5% = $1,200-2,000/month
Not a guarantee. Conservative estimate.
Payment failures:
Manual payment collection has higher failure rates.
Reasons: Clients forget. Card expired. “I’ll pay next week” (then forget). Awkward to chase.
Fix: Automated payment reminders (24hr, 48hr, 72hr). Card on file with auto-charge for packages. Stripe automated invoicing.
Recovery estimate: $400-800/month
No-shows:
Industry data shows no-show rates ranging from 5-15%. Often higher without strong reminder systems.
Therapy/private practice: Often 10-20% combined cancellation/no-show.
With 80 sessions/month at $150/session:
10% no-show = 8 sessions = $1,200/month lost
Fix: Automated reminders (24hr email + 2hr SMS). Calendar integration. Clear cancellation policy with one-click reschedule link.
Recovery estimate: Reduce to 5-7% = $360-600/month
Retreat-Specific Revenue Leak:
Complex multi-step booking for retreats shows higher abandonment (often 30-50%).
Typical flow:
- Email inquiry
- Availability email (12-24 hour delay)
- Response with dates (another delay)
- Payment link sent (another delay)
- Manual wire/check required
- Many drop off between steps
Fix: Online booking with instant availability. Card payment (no wire/check friction). Automated payment plans. Instant confirmation.
Recovery estimate: 15-20% of abandoned bookings
On $80K retreat with 40% abandonment, recovering 15-20% = $4,800-6,400 per retreat.
4. Inefficient Marketing Spend ($800-2,000/month wasted)
Tool overkill:
Paying for capacity you won’t use for 2-3 years.
Examples:
- Kajabi at $199/month when you have 15 clients (built for 100+)
- Enterprise SEO tools at $300/month when you’re not using the data
- Funnel builder at $200/month for one simple opt-in page
- Advanced analytics nobody reviews
The right-sizing exercise:
For each marketing tool, ask:
- Did I use this in the last 30 days? If no → cancel immediately
- Am I using features that justify this tier? If no → downgrade
- Does this overlap with another tool? If yes → pick one, cancel the other
- Could I do this with a free/cheaper alternative? Landing page in Kajabi → WordPress page (already have it). Email in Kajabi → ConvertKit alone (half the price)
Typical savings: $150-400/month
Nutritionists Example:
Common stack:
- Meal planning software: $99/month
- Recipe database: $49/month
- Client portal: $79/month
- Email platform: $50/month
Total: $277/month
Reality: Most use 60% of meal planning capacity. Recipe database could be personal Notion/Google Doc. Client portal + email could combine in one platform.
Right-sized stack: $120-150/month
Savings: $127-157/month
5. The Hidden Tax of Complexity
What scattered systems actually cost:
Mental overhead:
Which platform has this client’s info? Where did I document that? How do I do this again? Context switching between 5-8 platforms daily.
5-8 hours/month just navigating and remembering.
At $100-150/hour: $500-1,200/month
Support overhead:
Every extra platform = more client confusion.
“I can’t log in.”
“Which password?”
“Where’s my thing?”
3-5 support conversations daily that wouldn’t exist with unified system.
10 minutes each: 30-50 min/day = 10-17 hours/month
At $100/hour: $1,000-1,700/month
All because you have too many platforms.
Industry Benchmarks: What Should You Actually Spend?
Solo Online Coaches/Nutritionists:
| Expense Category | Recommended % | Your $40K Practice |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing | 10-15% | $4,000-6,000 |
| Tech/Systems | 5-8% | $2,000-3,200 |
| Professional development | 3-5% | $1,200-2,000 |
| Insurance/Legal | 2-3% | $800-1,200 |
| TOTAL EXPENSES | 20-31% | $8,000-12,400 |
| PROFIT/SALARY | 69-80% | $27,600-32,000 |
1:1 Therapy/Coaching Practices:
| Expense Category | Recommended % | Your $40K Practice |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing | 8-12% | $3,200-4,800 |
| Tech/Systems | 8-12% | $3,200-4,800 |
| Professional development | 3-5% | $1,200-2,000 |
| Insurance/Legal | 5-8% | $2,000-3,200 |
| Admin/Support | 5-10% | $2,000-4,000 |
| TOTAL EXPENSES | 29-47% | $11,600-18,800 |
| PROFIT/SALARY | 53-71% | $21,200-28,400 |
Yoga/Fitness Studios:
| Expense Category | Recommended % | Your $40K Practice |
|---|---|---|
| Rent/Space | 15-25% | $6,000-10,000 |
| Instructor costs | 30-40% | $12,000-16,000 |
| Marketing | 5-10% | $2,000-4,000 |
| Tech/Systems | 3-5% | $1,200-2,000 |
| TOTAL EXPENSES | 68-87% | $27,200-34,800 |
| PROFIT/SALARY | 13-32% | $5,200-12,800 |
Note: These benchmarks assume other fixed expenses stay constant. Actual results vary by location, business model, and efficiency.
The Total Profit Leak Calculation (Solo Coach Example)
Let’s calculate for a $40K/month solo online wellness coach:
| Profit Leak | Conservative Monthly Cost |
|---|---|
| Subscription creep | $300 |
| Manual work (12 hrs/week at $100/hr) | $4,800 |
| Abandoned bookings (3% recovery) | $1,200 |
| Payment failures | $500 |
| No-shows (reduce from 10% to 6%) | $480 |
| Marketing tool overkill | $200 |
| Complexity tax | $800 |
| TOTAL MONTHLY LEAK | $8,280 |
Current state:
- Revenue: $40,000
- Leaks: $8,280
- Other expenses: $4,000 (insurance, software, professional dev)
- Take-home: $27,720 (69%)
After plugging leaks:
- Revenue: $40,000 (same)
- Recovered: $8,280
- Other expenses: $3,700 (reduced subscriptions)
- Take-home: $32,580 (81%)
Difference: $4,860 more monthly profit
Note: This assumes other fixed expenses remain constant and conservative recovery rates. Higher-overhead practices (studios, retreats) will see different numbers but similar patterns.
The Recovery Plan (Month by Month)
Month 1: The Subscription Audit
Action:
- List every subscription (check all credit cards, PayPal, bank accounts)
- For each one: Used in last 30 days? Y/N
- For “No” → Cancel immediately
- For “Yes” → Could I do this cheaper?
Quick-Win Automation Priorities:
| Task | Current Time | Automation Solution | Monthly Cost | Time Saved | Net Benefit* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payment reminders | 8 hr/mo | Stripe auto-invoicing | $0 | 8 hr | $800-1,200 |
| Booking confirmations | 6 hr/mo | Calendly/Acuity | $15 | 6 hr | $585-885 |
| Welcome emails | 4 hr/mo | Email autoresponder | $0-30 | 4 hr | $370-600 |
| TOTAL | 18 hr/mo | — | $15-45 | 18 hr | $1,755-2,685 |
*Net benefit calculated at $100-150/hour value
Expected recovery: $200-400/month in subscriptions + 18 hours/month (worth $1,800-2,700)
Time required: 3-4 hours once
Month 2: Fix the Biggest Revenue Leak
For most practices, this is booking flow.
The test:
- Send your booking link to a friend
- Ask them to try booking without guidance
- Watch where they hesitate or get confused
- Every hesitation = potential lost bookings
Common fixes:
- Move calendar to front (show availability immediately)
- Reduce required fields (name + email only to book)
- Add instant confirmation (email within 60 seconds)
- Include calendar invite
- Display pricing upfront
Conservative recovery estimate: 3-5% of lost bookings
On $40K/month revenue: $1,200-2,000/month
Implementation: 2-5 hours or hire help
Month 3-6: Strategic System Consolidation
Action:
- Identify your anchor platform (where most revenue comes from)
- Map what could consolidate there
- Migrate or integrate one system per month
Example consolidation:
Before:
- Acuity (bookings): $40/month
- Kajabi (courses): $199/month
- Shopify (products): $79/month
- ConvertKit (email): $79/month
- Total: $397/month
After:
- WordPress + WooCommerce (bookings, courses, products): $30-60/month
- ConvertKit (email): $79/month
- Total: $109-139/month
Benefits:
- Save $258-288/month in subscriptions
- One client login instead of three
- Unified client data
- 8-12 hours/month less admin
Downloadable Resource: Profit Leak Calculator
What’s included:
- Subscription Audit Worksheet – Track all recurring charges, identify overlap, calculate savings
- Manual Work Time Tracker – Pre-filled common tasks, your hourly value calculator, monthly cost calculation
- Revenue Leak Estimator – Booking abandonment calculator, payment failure estimator, no-show cost calculator
- Recovery Roadmap – Month-by-month action plan, expected savings timeline, ROI calculator by practice type
How to use:
- Make a copy to your Google Drive
- Input your monthly revenue and hourly value first
- Fill in yellow highlighted cells only
- Calculator auto-fills everything else
- Use roadmap tab for implementation plan
Warning Signs You’re Leaking Profit
Check what applies:
- ☐ I don’t track exactly where my money goes each month
- ☐ I’m surprised by how little is left after expenses
- ☐ I could list maybe 8-10 subscriptions off the top of my head (there are more)
- ☐ I spend 15+ hours weekly on admin work
- ☐ I’ve never calculated my actual hourly value
- ☐ I don’t know my booking conversion rate
- ☐ I manually chase payments at least monthly
- ☐ Clients regularly ask “where do I find…?”
- ☐ I have client data scattered across 3+ platforms
- ☐ I’m working harder but not making proportionally more
Checked 3+? You’re leaking $3,000-8,000/month.
Checked 6+? Probably $6,000-15,000/month.
That’s not a sales tactic. That’s math.
Next Steps
Week 1: Get clarity
Do the subscription audit. Track one week of manual work. Calculate your actual hourly value using the formula above.
Just seeing the numbers shifts how you think about “saving money” vs “costing time.”
Week 2-4: Implement quick wins
Pick your top 3 profit leaks.
Fix them:
- Cancel 3-5 unnecessary subscriptions (30 min)
- Automate 1-2 repetitive tasks (2-4 hours)
- Fix most obvious booking friction (1-3 hours)
Month 2-3: Strategic fixes
- Consolidate platforms where possible
- Set up proper automation
- Create systems for repetitive tasks
Month 6: New baseline
You’re now keeping what industry leaders in your niche keep.
For solo coaches: 70-85% instead of 40-50% = $12,000-18,000 more monthly
For 1:1 practices: 60-70% instead of 45-55% = $6,000-10,000 more monthly
From same revenue. Just plugged the leaks.
Not sure where your biggest leaks are? Get your personalized profit leak audit.
Take this 2-minute assessment to see exactly where your practice is leaking profit and get a custom roadmap showing what to fix first for maximum ROI.
Take the Free Systems Audit (2 Minutes) →
The audit shows you:
- Your specific subscription waste
- Hidden cost of manual work at YOUR hourly value
- Revenue leaks from your booking/payment process
- Custom recovery roadmap prioritized by ROI
- Practice-type specific benchmarks
Once you’ve plugged these leaks, the next challenge is scaling without creating new chaos. Check out our guide on the tech tipping points at $20K, $40K, and $60K that break your systems—and what to do about them.