Australia’s fitness industry is proving lucrative as people seek to lead healthier lifestyles, and with such a diverse range of gym and health club franchises out there, the choice is yours.
The number of franchised gym and health club brands in Australia has increased dramatically over the past 10 years as local entrepreneurs establish their own businesses and overseas companies enter the market, and it seems the industry is showing no signs of slowing down.
According to IBISWorld’s general manager Karen Dobie, people are becoming more health conscious, which has seen the demand for gyms and health clubs increase.
“The number of venues with state-of-the-art equipment, group fitness classes and a wide range of facilities – including pools, saunas and even saltrooms – continues to grow in response to increasing consumer demand,” she said.
“Gyms have been excellent at responding to increasing and diverse working hours, opening in more locations with longer operating hours.”
IBISWorld’s research* uncovered Australians will spend $6.6 billion on the health and weight-loss industries in 2013-14, $858 million of which will go towards gym memberships alone.
This figure is expected to rise by 1.7 percent to 7.1 million in 2018-19, and the amount spent on gym memberships will increase by 3.1 percent, to more than $1 billion.
So whether you would prefer to invest in a gym that caters exclusively to women, a brand that has embraced the 24/7 concept or one that stocks your preferred equipment manufacturer, there is bound to be a brand out there that suits you.
PLUS FITNESS
Founded by Nigel Miller and John Fuller, Plus Fitness is an Australian owned brand that credits the franchising model to its rapid expansion over the past two and a half years.
“We decided to start franchising so we could expand our chain of gyms while also maintaining the customer service culture we had, which was incredibly strong and still is,” says Miller.
He believes Plus Fitness is markedly different from its competitors in the training, support staff and programs it provides.
“Franchisees receive module based training at our head office for three to four days once they come on board, and they spend time working alongside a franchisee at an existing site.
“They are then assigned a franchise support manager who walks them through the entire process, from the pre-sale of their memberships prior to opening onwards,” he explains.
Plus Fitness nurtures its franchisees so they grow and develop with the brand, and multi-unit ownership is often the norm.
“We encourage multi-unit growth and support franchisees through that process; we offer incentives for them to become multi-unit franchisees. All of our first generation franchisees are now multi-units and 30 percent of our franchise network has more than one franchise,” Miller says.
Plus Fitness clubs stock either SportsArt of Flex USA equipment, and the brand has a particularly strong relationship with the SportsArt brand.
“They deliver a top end product and offer exceptional rates for our franchisees, and that’s one of the reasons why we are able to offer a turn-key solution that comes up around 20 percent less than our competitors,” he says.
Plus Fitness’ memberships are free from additional hidden costs – everything is included in the membership fee.
“We believe our product offering is most in-tune with the consumer. There is no contract, we don’t have any administration or access card fees and we offer free time-hold, so if for example, a member is going on holiday they can suspend their membership and they don’t pay.”
Plus Fitness will continue to expand across Australia, and a member’s app is currently in the works.
“It will provide members with a personal trainer in their pocket in the sense that it will offer tips for using the gym and nutrition advice, and it is a locator so they can discover where their closest Plus Fitness is.”
JETTS FITNESS
Jetts Fitness is an Australian brand that CEO Martin Oliver explains was formed with the ‘work out on your terms’ philosophy in mind.
“It was very much about dispensing all of the issues surrounding the big box club,” he adds.
As the market becomes more and more competitive and additional gym franchises enter the market, Oliver says the overall member experience is highly important.
“We’re very much building on that ‘workout on your terms,’ with a focus on delivering high standards and quality customer service for our members, and we are really starting to make sure that the experience from a members perspective is of a high level every time they come to the gym.
“I think the quality of experience you get in the club depends on a combination of its cleanliness, the quality of the manager that you get and the standard of the equipment – it should all be reliable and working,” he explains.
He is of the belief that the franchisor and franchisee are very much in business together, and if they get the member experience right, everyone benefits.
“My whole principle around it is that if the franchisee is successful then the franchisor is successful,” Oliver says.
Franchisees can expect to receive support from regional business performance managers, a general manager of franchise, the company’s chief operating officer (COO) and Oliver himself.
“The three people most extensively involved in operations at Jetts have around 100 years of combined experience in the health and fitness industry – that counts for a lot in a market that is maturing,” he says.
Jetts members are able to hold their membership when they go away free of charge, and there are no other hidden costs, Oliver says.
“What you pay for is exactly what you get – there are no charges for holds, lockers or anything like that.”
Looking to the future, Jetts plans build around 30 new clubs each year, and it will focus on investing in good quality IT.
“We need to understand our members and their wants, desires and needs and we need to create a technology platform around the business and the member experience that allows them to engage with us how they want to engage with us, which can very personal,” Oliver explains.
ANYTIME FITNESS
Justin McDonell and Jacinta McDonell-Jiminez brought the US-based Anytime Fitness brand to Australia five years ago, where it has been well received.
It has 2300 clubs situated across 15 different countries, and McDonell says members can use them all. “They purchase a key fob, which gives them access to any club when they are travelling. It’s a good advantage for members because a lot of people do travel and get busy, so it works quite well.”
Anytime gyms are stocked with Life Fitness and Precor exercise equipment, which McDonell regards as the best in the world.
“You will find pricing-wise we are probably a couple of dollars a month more than our competitors but when you go in it’s a much better quality product that we try and focus on. We make sure our clubs are equipped with the latest and greatest equipment,” he says.
McDonell explains Anytime is different from its competitors because its gyms are not only convenient in that that are open around the clock, they are also easily accessible.
“Our clubs are likely to be located near members’ homes and they are easy to get in and out of – members swipe their key and can begin pretty much working out within one or two minutes of walking in the door.”
He says franchisees enjoy a great work/life balance, and the recent 10 Thousand Feet survey is evidence of this.
“When we look at the lifestyle factor of that survey our franchisees are working on average around 30 hours a week compared to the other franchise groups, where franchisees are doing about 50 hours.
“[The Anytime model] enables our franchisees to work less hours, and our business still operates even if a staff member is sick – members can still get into the club, you may not sign up any new members but at least the business still operates.”
He says the gym’s direct debit membership structure, which 95 percent of members are on, guarantees franchisees a regular income.
“Members pay on a month-by-month basis and it kind of just rolls over, so from an income point of view it is quite secure for the franchisee.”
Franchisees can expect to receive extensive support from head office, as well as access to an e-learning platform.
“There is an online operations manual, we do sales training, which moves through the country about every six weeks, and when the franchisee comes on board we do six weeks of intensive training in our head office,” explains McDonell.
Anytime plans to open another 150 clubs in the next 12 to 18 months, and 2014 will see it continue to focus on convenience for members.
“In January we are launching a more structured personal training system where members can actually book personal training sessions using an Iphone app.”