Growing your Fitness Brand with Franchisees in Singapore
According to an article by MarketResearch.com, the fitness and wellness industry was expected to generate $0.2bn with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.6% between 2017 and 2021. Assuming this same growth rate applies, the industry looks to generate a huge amount of revenue. With more people choosing to go to the gym compared to pre-pandemic levels according to an article by The Straits Times, this result may be even higher than predicted.
How does this impact you? Well you may be experiencing explosive growth in your fitness studio and may want to start a franchise of your own! Fret not, as we will be guiding you through the steps necessary to open a successful fitness franchise of your own.
Why Should You Open a Gym Franchise?
Well, the fitness franchising industry has seen exponential growth in Singapore with gyms such as Anytime Fitness and Gold’s Gym rapidly expanding across the tiny-island nation. Being a franchisor has many benefits to your business, these include the monetary benefits such as royalty fees and low investment cost (compared to starting your own branch). Additionally, allowing the franchisees to scale their business not only benefits the franchisee, but it also benefits your fitness brand by increasing your brand exposure.
Cost of a Franchise
While franchising your fitness brand out to a franchisee may be less costly than opening a second location on your own, there are various costs associated with franchising your fitness studio. An example would be legal fees, when it comes to obtaining the license to operate, hiring an attorney for contract purposes, as well as marketing costs for the promotion of your franchisee.
These costs cannot be underestimated as it may directly affect the cash flow of your business. Therefore, you must ensure that you have the sufficient funds to do so before deciding to become a franchisor.
Choosing the right fit
Selecting the right franchisee is also extremely important. As they will be representing your brand in the future, you would want to ensure that you select the right franchisee for your business. This ultimately comes down to the end goal and motivation of the potential franchisee as well as their suitability for your fitness brand. You wouldn’t want your franchisee to bring down your fitness brand reputation by having poor standards. Make sure to take the time to select the right franchisee and ensure that they are onboard with your vision of the future for the brand.
Providing support and guidance
Another consideration that you must take into account is the training that will be carried out for the franchisee to properly run operations as per the standard set by your existing location. Time and money will be expended in order to properly train and guide the franchisee to operate their location independently while maintaining a high standard of operation. You may have to frequently visit your franchisee to ensure that everything is going according to plan and operations run smoothly without any hiccups.
Furthermore you can ensure high standards by providing your franchisee with a guide or playbook needed for daily operations, marketing and many other aspects of the business. Your franchisee will therefore be able to refer to these documents whenever they face any minor issue instead of consulting you every step of the way.
Marketing the franchisee
One of the key benefits to the franchisee is your brand name and together the customers that come with it. Once you have selected a suitable franchisee and are ready to officially launch, it is time to leverage on your brand’s reputation and existing customer base to market your new franchise. Set aside some money for the marketing of your new location whether it be paid advertisement, conventional flyers or any other kind of advertising. You could also implement cross promotions such as offering discounts at each other’s gym for existing customers. Likewise you can do so on social media by collaborating content to attract more new customers.
An example of this would be Fitness First. They are an international gym brand that has been aggressively expanding in Singapore. Before the launch of their new locations, they would frequently promote the new locations on their social media to build up suspense of their new opening. This is a clear example of a fitness brand putting the use of their established and well-known brand which you should take notes from when you decide to open your own franchise.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are many pros and cons to opening a gym franchise. If done correctly, you would be able to reap the benefits of having a franchise, and you could very well be on your way to building your dream fitness empire. I hope that the content covered in this article has helped you on your way to opening your first gym franchise. If you are interested in articles similar to this, do check out our previous article on “How much does it cost to start a martial arts gym in Singapore?”
This article was written by Jayden Ling.