Dues per member

Definition

Monthly revenue divided by active members, the number that says what a membership is actually worth.

Why It Matters

Headline member counts hide two different businesses. A club at a low monthly rate with thousands of members depends on people who never come, and it breaks when a cheaper competitor opens; a studio at a high rate with a few hundred depends on the coach and the schedule. Compute it from the processor's drafts rather than the seller's roster, and compute it again excluding anyone whose last draft failed. Then ask what a rate increase has done historically, because that is the one lever a new owner controls in month one.