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Escaping the USSR to $200M a Year!
Robert Torpey
August 10, 2023
Read time: 3 minutes
Good morning! It's Thursday, August 10th - Today we are discussing Bedros Keuilian and how he went from a life of poverty to making $200M+ a year!
THE FEATURE
Escaping the USSR to $200M a Year!
If you’re a fan of rags to riches stories, nothing beats that of Bedros Keuilian.
In 1980, Keuilian’s father made the bold decision to betray his Communist Party membership and flee the Soviet Union. Upon arriving in the United States, the Keuilian family didn’t speak English, had no money, and had lived in Section 8 housing.
Keuilian went from dumpster diving for food as a child to operating an empire that makes him $200M+– let’s figure out how he did it.
So, Who is Bedros Keuilian?
Keuilian found his passion for fitness as a high schooler and went on to become a personal trainer. However, he needed to work as a fry cook and a bouncer to fuel his fitness career– that is until he met Jim Franco.
Jim Franco was a successful entrepreneur and one of Keuilian’s personal training clients. In exchange for tips on entrepreneurship, Keuilian gave him free training sessions. Eventually, Franco lent Keuilian money so he could start his own gym in San Diego County.
Fueled by his passion for fitness and entrepreneurial wisdom, Keuilian is now the founder and president of Fit Body Boot Camp– a fitness chain with over 600 locations and an estimated annual revenue of $155.6M.
While Fit Body Boot Camp is a massive success in its own right, Keuilian owns 6 other businesses and has equity in a dozen others. Here are some of his most notable ventures:
Empire Mastermind– An entrepreneurship and lifestyle coaching service that generates $20M annually with programs like Operation Black Site that cost $20K a year for members.
TrueLean Nutrition– Keuilian’s supplement that’s promoted across his social media accounts with millions of followers.
LTD Project– A consulting firm that assists entrepreneurs in leadership and team development to scale their businesses.
How Keuilian Wins
Use every tool at your disposal
With all the digital tools available to entrepreneurs, Keuilian believes that entrepreneurs must make full use of them to avoid operating blind.
Across all his business ventures, he uses platforms like Shopify, Stripe, Highrise, Maropost, and more to keep a pulse on his consumers.
When people use his websites, he wants to know how much they scroll, which products they view the most, and how much time they spend on each page. In doing so, he can optimize his web pages to drive consumer interest and sales.
Follow your passion
While many would consider this advice to be cliche, Keuilian believes it is absolutely essential. Being an entrepreneur is not easy, and if you don’t have a passion for what you’re doing, you’ll inevitably give up at the first obstacle.
For example, Fit Body Boot Camp lost 218 franchises during the pandemic. If Keuilian didn’t have a legitimate passion for the work he was doing in the fitness industry, he admits that he’d likely have liquidated the business and given up.
Lesson: Keep it Simple
To Keuilian, every business can find success by creating standard operating procedures around four key aspects:
Drive Leads
Convert to sales
Satisfy consumer desire
Make consumers evangelical so they stay, pay, and refer
Many aspiring entrepreneurs get overwhelmed by the countless tips and tricks supplied by business influencers. But for Keuilian, startups should solely focus on creating solid processes and recruiting the right people to run them.
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