Client Work — Active

Gym Management Platform

            Laravel + Mobile Client
            Active engagement
            2024 — Present
        

Problem

A fitness business was running members, plans, and class schedules by hand — spreadsheets, paper sign-in sheets, manual billing. Errors were common: double-booked classes, missed payments, no-shows with no waitlist. Admin overhead was 15+ hours/week.

Solution

Member management and class scheduling on a Laravel backend, with a mobile client (React Native) so members handle check-ins and bookings themselves.

Architecture

Backend: Laravel 11 + MySQL
Mobile: React Native (Expo) + TypeScript
Auth: Laravel Sanctum + JWT
Payments: Stripe Connect for recurring memberships
Notifications: Expo Push (iOS/Android) + Twilio SMS fallback
Infrastructure: Docker + GitHub Actions + AWS ECS Fargate + RDS MySQL

Key Features

Member Portal (Mobile App)

View/book/cancel classes with real-time availability
View membership status, billing history, upcoming renewals
Digital membership card with QR check-in
Push notifications: class reminders, waitlist openings, billing alerts

Admin Dashboard (Web)

Member management: CRUD, status, notes, tags
Class scheduling: recurring, one-off, waitlists, capacity rules
Membership plans: trial, monthly, annual, punch cards, corporate
Billing: Stripe Connect, automated retries, dunning emails
Reports: revenue, attendance, churn, LTV, capacity utilization

Check-In System

QR code on member app scanned at front desk (iPad kiosk) or self-scan at entrance. Offline-first: queues sync when online. Duplicate check-in prevention.

Waitlist Automation

When a spot opens, next person on waitlist gets push + SMS. 10-min window to confirm. Auto-promotes if no response.

Results

Admin time: 15 hrs/week to 2 hrs/week
No-shows: Reduced 65% (automated reminders + waitlist)
Billing errors: Near zero (Stripe automation)
Member satisfaction: 4.8/5 app store rating
Revenue recovery: $2,300/mo from failed payment retries

Key Technical Decisions

Expo over bare React Native: Faster iteration, OTA updates, no native build pipeline for most changes
Stripe Connect over custom billing: Handles PCI, retries, dunning, webhooks — saved months of dev time
MySQL over PostgreSQL: Team familiarity, cheaper RDS, JSON support sufficient
Expo Push over FCM/APNs directly: Unified API, handles token rotation, delivery receipts

Ongoing

Current roadmap: multi-location support, personal training booking, nutrition tracking integration, Apple Watch companion app.

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