Team Training, Life Changing

More than forty years after Entrepreneur's first Franchise 500 ranking, the franchise industry is still going strong and more competitive than ever. More than 1,100 companies applied for this year's ranking, and those that rose to the top reveal the latest trends as well as the companies that continue to evolve to keep going strong year after year.* 

The last few years have seen an explosion in the health and fitness industry. Off the back of people wanting to live better, fitness and health club memberships in the US grew 37% in the last decade,* reaching a whopping 62.5 million. About one in five Americans has a gym membership, and this growth isn’t slowing. The industry is predicted to expand to 230 million memberships worldwide by 2030. A huge portion of this growth will come from franchise chains, with the Association of Fitness Studios naming franchising the top industry trend last year.**

If you know F45 Training at all, you know that we’re passionate about fitness—but we’re also nuts about business and franchising in particular. So, we decided to take a look at which franchise trends will be big and making news in the new year. Using a recent study from Entrepreneur Magazine, we’ve shortlisted a few franchise categories to watch in terms of opportunity and growth. 

While there are people out there who are extremely self-motivated and happy to put in the work it takes to get as fit as possible, many of us could do with the help of a trainer or coach. Having someone alongside you as you train—who knows your fitness level, goals, and has experience programming workouts—can get you through a plateau or kickstart your fitness journey. 

To stay ahead of the pack, it helps to know what’s coming around the corner. As F45 Training continues to set the pace for fitness franchising, we’re always on the lookout for exciting developments and learnings—both in terms of fitness as well as the business side of franchising. 

With the modern world of work changing from day to day, franchising is becoming an increasingly popular investment opportunity. Many corporate employees are looking to strike a better work/life balance and follow life paths they love. 

In the modern world, we’re increasingly time-poor. Holding down a good job, keeping your family healthy and happy and getting to spend time with friends are all difficult things to balance while you’re being pulled in a million different directions. And aside from all this, you also need to find time to look after your health and well-being. 

Our F45 Training Dubai Marina owner, Travis Krug, explains what F45 means to him and why he's so thankful to be a part of the F45 franchisee family. 

Instagram vs LinkedIn vs Facebook vs time spent on the studio floor. Should you post and share more brand content or focus on your individual studio? For F45 franchisees, social media can come with many questions and opportunities, so much so that it can be difficult getting the balance right. Of course, while this varies from studio to studio, F45 has worked hard to optimize our social communication and ensure that franchisees have everything they need for social success at their fingertips. 

At F45 Training, we never stop pushing, tweaking, improving and perfecting our training system and member experience. It’s part of our commitment to constantly innovate and perfect our product—and one of the reasons we’re one of the world’s fastest-growing fitness networks.

Hear from Siyuan Zhang, owner of F45 Training Jiading Central, about his F45 franchise experience.

HIIT, or high-intensity interval training, is an exercise methodology that’s getting a lot of press at the moment. It's appearing across your favorite social feeds, in the news, at all sorts of gyms, living rooms and fitness studios around the world. Simply put, HIIT can be defined as short, sharp bursts of work, paired with brief rest periods.

One of the most important things to consider when opening a franchise is where your business will be located. Sure, many new businesses and start-ups these days can happily live in the virtual world and, as technology progresses, working like this will become easier. Certain products and businesses will always need a physical, brick-and-mortar presence, though, and F45 Training is definitely one of them.  

While it’s hard to attribute the rapid expansion of F45 to a single thing, a large part of the brand’s success can be filed under a constant drive to innovate. 

At F45 Training, we’re always working to create a better product for our franchisees and members. It means constantly refining our workouts and approach to training, incorporating the latest technology, and making sure that our members see rapid results and love every second they spend in the studio. 

With F45 Training’s rapid and continued growth in established health and fitness markets like the U.S., there’s a real possibility of these territories becoming saturated and further growth getting tricky. Fortunately, the F45 model isn't under the pressure currently felt by big-box gyms and traditional fitness centers. By evolving our member experience and product, we will continue to lead the industry and tap into current fitness trends & opportunities that allow our business and franchisees to succeed.                                                                                                                                   

Functional fitness is a trend that’s really going from strength to strength. Just look at the fitness industry—the F45 Training family has grown to almost 2,000 studios around the world and millions of people recently tuned in for this year’s CrossFit Games.

This is 2019, a time when women around the globe are taking industries by storm. Across business, media, sports and entertainment, women are making their mark, innovating and taking the lead. We live in a world where women are looking to challenge traditional roles, push for more independence and create the perfect work-life balance.

Hear from Corban Anders, owner of F45 Training Stellenbosch in Cape Town, South Africa. 

Owning a fitness business through franchising has become an attractive proposition for not only traditional investors, but also exercise enthusiasts looking to make a big career move. 

Fitness has always been about innovation. Almost 2,000 years ago, the ancient Greeks developed stone weights with handles called “halteres,” used for resistance training and the long jump. These basic tools evolved into the thousands of different types of dumbbells we have today (plus kettlebells, maces, bands and balls). As people look for ways to get faster, fitter, stronger, and live better, they also search for ways to train smarter. It's fascinating to see how technology plays a part in where, when, and how people exercise! 

As boutique fitness studios continue to thrive and gain in popularity, F45 Training franchises are becoming increasingly attractive investment options. This is evidenced by our network having grown into a family of over 1,700 studios across 45+ different countries.

The world of work is changing. Rather than choosing a regular 9-to-5, more people are looking to become their own bosses and strike a better work-life balance. Being a franchisee can be a rewarding option for someone who would like to let his or her entrepreneurial spirit loose while having the support of a scalable model. But, how should you go about choosing the right franchise partner? 

Intermittent fasting, red-light therapy, high-intensity training, Olympic lifting, keto, yogalates...

There are always new health and fitness trends, some of which stick around for years and others that quickly fade. F45 Training loves staying on top of the latest innovations—in this article, we will look at some of the top trends and how we are making the most of them. 

At F45 Training, we often compare things to working out—because, well, we love working out, and the lessons you learn from exercise can often be applied to our daily lives. Let's compare the process of deciding if an F45 franchise is right for you to a pre-workout warm-up.

F45 Training is the world’s fastest growing fitness network—but not just because we want to continue growing and expanding our business to take on new markets and opportunities. With our vision of changing lives for the better, we know that the bigger our footprint, the more people we will reach and the more lives we can transform.

In 2015, Jarrett Slaney and Paul Smith brought a new fitness concept to Toronto's Liberty Village. The concept: an Australian company with a unique approach to integrating technology into group training classes in an effort to bridge the gap between personal training and DIY gyms. The studio was a tremendous success and quickly sparked the interest of many passionate investors in the fitness industry.

Hear from one of the owners of F45 Holloway, Hanri van der Merwe, about why she loves being an F45 franchisee.

As leaders in functional fitness and sports science, F45 believes that training shouldn’t just be done for training’s sake. That's why our Athletics and Peak Performance Department is constantly investigating the latest training concepts and fine-tuning our current workouts, exercises, and training regimens. Our goal is to give our members and franchisees the most benefit and carry-over value into their day-to-day lives. 

At F45 Training, we're focused on changing lives for the better—and not just the lives of those smiling and sweating it out on the studio floor. We’re also passionate about helping all members of our global network to grow and be able to reach the goals they set for themselves, both in life and business.

Opening a franchise often seems like a very attractive business choice. If you get it right, you could enjoy the freedom of owning your own business, coupled with the benefits of working off a proven model and piggybacking on a familiar brand that customers already love.

Switch on, double click, swipe right, and you can be in a yoga class, following along to a guided kettlebell workout, trying plyometrics, or enjoying having a coach in your ear as you push for that personal best. Add a piece of wearable tech for a level of customization as algorithms track improvements in time, exertion and capacity.

The decision to choose and buy a franchise is a very complex process and is influenced by a range of different variables. Many people have influence over whether or not a franchise sells and the ability of the business to grow and continue to create value.

Technology is amazing. It connects us to friends and family, gives us fresh insights and information on topics we’re passionate about, and even makes day-to-day tasks easy. It won't be long before previously everyday duties, like driving a car or vacuuming a carpet, will take care of themselves.

We had a chance to chat with our F45 Causeway Bay owner, Kevin Ho, about his F45 franchise journey thus far. 

F45 truly exemplifies 'Team Training, Life Changing.' We hear so many amazing and inspirational stories from our members, all of which make being an F45 Training franchisee so rewarding. Knowing you are making a difference in your members' lives is extremely fulfilling, and it's a big reason why our franchisees love what they do. In this article, three of our F45 Glen Ellyn members share how F45 helped them during their battles with breast cancer. 

F45 has been a part of some really exciting things recently, all of which greatly benefit our members and franchise network. These awards, partnerships, and events are just a small portion of what we have in store for the future. Being an F45 Training franchisee means being at the forefront of this innovation and sharing in this excitement with thousands of F45’ers around the globe.

So, you’re thinking about buying into a franchise business, but wondering which one to choose? Before you sign up, here are some questions you should be asking and reasons why F45 Training might be the perfect fit for you. 

Before making any purchase decisions these days, consumers tend to go online to search for customer reviews of the business or product they’re considering. Homepages, independent review sites, and social media are the go-tos when it comes to finding out if a purchase is the right choice or not. While traditional advertising, glossy social media campaigns, and special offers are all well and good, without positive online reviews for your business, you’re missing a major piece of marketing ammo. 

With today’s unlimited access to information and opinion, there’s been a massive increase in the amount of people interested in health and fitness. As a result, the industry is one of the most dynamic and fast-paced out there. A big part of F45 Training’s success is our ability tap into the real human need for community and self-improvement, while staying at the forefront of technology and the science of functional fitness. Here are some of the latest trends we’ve been keeping an eye on:

Being a franchisee is appealing because it offers the best of both worlds—a chance to grow your own business as an entrepreneur and the security of being able to tap into the F45 franchise model.

 Being an F45 Training franchisee can be both fun and challenging, just like most worthwhile things in life. In this article, we take a look at something most of us love and do really well—getting a good workout—to see how it relates to the world of franchising. There are all sorts of parallels when it comes to planning, sticking to the workout, and making the most of the time you spend pushing through it.

 F45 Training’s regimen is not just designed to get members working as part of a team and loving every sweaty second—each workout has been specifically designed to have an impact on every aspect of daily life. Whether you’re training for a specific sport, looking to burn fat or gain quality muscle, or just need to have more energy to keep up with your kids, F45 Training has you covered. 

F45 Training is the world’s fastest-growing fitness network for many reasons, including cutting-edge programming, expert coaching, the latest technology and incredible people. All of these things come together to deliver an experience that doesn’t just produce results, but has members looking forward to every workout and wanting to tell everyone they know how amazing it all is.

The happiness and success of F45 Training franchisees are crucial to the strength and prosperity of the F45 brand. F45’s clear vision makes it easy to communicate franchise goals and company information in a positive manner—this takes pressure off the franchisees by ensuring that each franchisee receives the same set of instructions, goals and requirements. Franchisee feedback is extremely valuable to F45 HQ, as it often leads to improvements in both the franchise network and the greater F45 brand. The feedback we receive is overwhelmingly positive and leads to a collaborative, trusting relationship between F45 and our franchisees.  

Photo: Endicia

Millennials—they are the generation on everyone’s lips. You might know a Millennial, have one in your family, share an office with one, or you might even be one. 

Millennials haven’t always been given a fair rap—other generations have referred to them as self-involved, lazy and self-entitled. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Millennials are perfectly suited to the world of franchising, which is why the F45 Training franchise system provides a platform that almost seems tailor-made to their strengths and unique abilities. 

 F45 Training is all about community, both in and out of the studio. We realize that our fitness community extends far beyond the four walls of each studio, and this gives us a major competitive advantage when compared to other group fitness franchises. F45 hosts several outdoor events, such as F45 Playoffs and F45 Track, in order to engage members and franchisees in new and exciting ways.

F45 Training franchisees are entrepreneurial and committed to learning both the business aspects of an F45 franchise as well as the health and fitness side. The most successful franchisees are driven by their passion to change the lives of their members through fitness and are extremely invested in their members’ progress. While our franchisees identify with different groups—such as corporate refugees, personal trainers, entrepreneurs, and athletes—athletes are overwhelmingly drawn to F45 for its mission and values. 

 The fitness industry is one of the best industries in which to invest, and this will likely remain the case for years to come. This isn’t just because new fitness franchises are popping up all over the globe, but instead because the industry dynamic is being fueled by many important and unexpected factors. According to a Forbes article, franchisee appetites for health & wellness have “opened the floodgates to a plethora of innovation, segmentation and excitement in fitness franchise offerings.” Below are some of the top takeaways: