Feel the Burn

FEEL THE BURN

Sports and Fitness Franchises Are in High-Growth Mode. Here’s why.

by Christopher Connor

Everyone, no matter what their age, seems to be focused on healthy living these days. Fitness, of course, is a big part of that. With an increasing demand for overall well-being, the franchise market segment for sports and fitness seems to be growing at an all-time high. Modern, boutique fitness studios are replacing one-size-fits-all mega gyms, and they’re taking far more creative approaches to health and exercise than the treadmill ever did.

People are doing fun and even odd things to get in shape (who doesn’t like creative approaches to business?)! A great example of this is the Italian-born women’s fitness franchise, Figurella, who uses “bubble workouts” and detoxing pods to help women boost metabolism and shape their bodies while being contained in specially designed chambers. Talk about innovative!

One thing I’ve seen over the years is that the franchise investors who succeed in fitness franchising tend to have a personal interest in health and fitness as well. If this is a market segment that appeals to you, look at your personal interests and lifestyle and see whether your passion lines up with your business interests. Opening a boutique gym certainly has its benefits, starting with a significantly lower average initial investment that’s required to open a fitness franchise. The boutique’s smaller space, lower amount of equipment, and workouts that don’t rely on equipment has brought the fitness franchise investment range down to $150,000-$250,000, giving fitness franchises a lower financial bar.

WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW

Fitness franchising has gone “community based.” People are enjoying working out and getting in shape together now more than ever before. My firm, Franchise Marketing Systems, is seeing this firsthand with the incredible fitness brand, Rockbox Fitness. Rockbox is the brainchild of Roger Martin and Steve Halloran, of Charlotte, North Carolina. They leveraged Halloran’s background in fitness and gym management and Martin’s strategic business experience to create not only a great workout experience, but also an incredible business model. Rockbox has taken a boxing and kick boxing workout and injected it with blasting sound systems, cool lighting, and targeted equipment like sleds, which you don’t find at every gym. The key to Rockbox’s success has been getting people together in a room where they interact and have fun together. The group becomes it’s own best advocate and starts keeping people accountable for showing up and putting their best into each workout.

Brands like South Beach Boxing, Better Body Bootcamp, TITLE Boxing Club, and 9Round Fitness, have followed Rockbox’s fitness model and experienced similar success. This incredible trend could possibly be attributed to the wild success by brands such as Orangetheory and F45 Fitness, which also combine targeted workouts with interesting environments and community. These franchise systems proved that people enjoy the community side of fitness and chose to work out with others in a class setting, instead of opting for a big-box brand like Gold’s Gym and Powerhouse, who had essentially gone out of favor in the last decade.

From a franchise perspective, what makes the sports and fitness market so appealing is also the lifestyle side of working in the fitness market. When you find a franchise brand and business model that works, you can feel great going to work every day helping people live healthier lives. The day-to-day responsibilities of a fitness franchise mirror those of other fixed-location businesses, but the interaction with customers, the product you are selling, and the work atmosphere is a lot more fun.

Conner leads the Franchise Marketing System’s team in business consulting and franchise development projects. For more information, contact Chris.Conner@FMSFranchise.com