Fitness Together Franchise -- A Different Model Of Fitness

Small appears to be beautiful. The stellar growth of this personal training franchise may shed light on the trends of the fitness consuming public. It was named to Entrepreneur Magazine's 2009 Franchise 500.

(Sunday, March 29, 2009) - Fitness Together being named to Entrepreneur Magazine's "Franchise 500" ranking this past January, may be a marker as to what concept ideas are viable in this challenging gym business climate.

The successful gym size appears not to be a bell shaped curve with the intimate studios at one end and the giant boxes at the other. But seems to be more of a barbell. The middle seems to be disappearing and the small, well defined concept gyms are doing well, and at the opposite, the Lifetime Fitness model, also appears to be doing well.

Fitness Together was conceptualized by its founder, Rick Sikorski, a Canada native who moved to the Phoenix area to pursue his master's in counseling psychology. But when the fitness enthusiast began noticing the flaws in public gyms--the impersonality, the crowds, the high turnover--he dropped out of his program.

So, what do you get when a psychologist designs a fitness studio? Well, it appears to be something more empathetic to the disenfranchised people, those that are too embarrassed to go on public display in big box gyms out of embarrassment about their bodies and fear of looking stupid.
Small, Private, and Accountable
The first thing Sikorski did was make his studios small and personalize. They run 1,200 to 1,500 ft2, and the relationship is very close between trainer and client.
Another important component is privacy. He has 9' separators so that clients will not be on public display. And finally, it results oriented. There's an accountability journal to keep both trainer and client on track.

This is not exactly rocket science but the system seems to work. Today, Fitness Together has sold more than 600 locations in five countries with 2008 sales exceeding $100 million.

The franchises continue to grow quickly--the numbers change every week--because they offer an alternative that's hard to find in an increasingly impersonal world. "The psychology behind the customer hasn't changed over the years," Sikorski says. "Our model is better now than ever because of the privacy and the smallness [we offer]."

As gym owners across the country are trying to respond to changing social mores, they should take a page out of this book.
About Fitness Together
Established in 1996 in response to the growing demand for personal fitness training, Fitness Together offers the latest in one-on-one personal training. Based in Highlands Ranch, CO., Fitness Together is part of Fitness Together Holdings, Inc. There are now more than 600 Fitness Together franchise locations throughout the United States, Costa Rica, Israel, Ireland, and Canada. Visit www.fitnesstogether.com

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