Here’s why you should consider a fitness franchise
Make the leap, take the plunge, stretch yourself and chase your dreams. Investing in a fitness franchise could transform your conked-out career into an energetic enterprise.
Demand for health and wellbeing, activity and fitness provision is exploding, but the way people exercise is changing quickly. Like any curve in business, the moment to hop aboard is as it steepens. With workout habits transforming in the post-COVID world, the time to consider a fitness franchise is now.
The shape of the fitness industry for franchising
Our desire to get active during and after COVID-19 lockdowns showed no signs of abating. The industry has bounced back from periods of closure, with certain sectors forecast to enjoy strong growth. Take a look at these examples:
- The home fitness sector is expected to experience a 4.7% growth in revenue by 2027.
- The corporate wellness market, including employee fitness, nutrition and weight management programmes, is forecast to grow by 9.1% by 2026 to a total of USD 94.6.
- In today’s connected age, the worldwide demand for fitness apps and wearable devices is predicted to grow by almost 26% by 2025.
Where will we be getting fit in the future?
COVID-19 caused a wobble in the core sectors of the fitness industry. Deloitte’s 2021 report on the European health and fitness market reported a drop of 15.4% in members of gyms, studios and health clubs.
People are still exercising, but many are doing it in different places. In the USA, the number of people reporting that they now prefer at-home fitness as their primary method of exercise has increased by 218.3% since the pandemic. In the UK, almost half of people who exercise now say they prefer to do so at home.
Those people still exercising are doing it in alternative ways too. The virtual fitness market, with trainers delivering online or virtual workouts, is expected to soar by 30% by 2026.
What’s more, if the future of fitness franchises is in younger markets, then a whopping 81% of people aged under 40 (i.e. millennials and gen-Zers) now say they prefer to work out within their own four walls.
All of these are fitness trends that you can invest in and target with a franchise.
Niche, boutique and internet sectors are bouncing
Exercise and wellbeing businesses are no longer the preserve of large health clubs either. Online classes and more personalised fitness instruction have helped small studios compete more effectively for a bigger clientele pool. Customers have become comfortable with the flexibility and convenience offered by remote exercise.
That boom made household names of exercise coaches who took to the internet and social media to launch online classes. Exercise equipment manufacturers like Peloton and Tonal transformed from startups to global fitness brands while activity apps such as Strava became enormous.
Fitness niches for the budding franchisee include cardio dance classes, physical therapy sessions for people with health needs, strength conditioning, pilates, Zumba and yoga. Niche offerings tend to target certain groups of people. It could be teenagers, older adults, men or women.
Likewise, boutique gyms occupying a smaller space have become increasingly popular. Franchise opportunities that target just a few types of workouts with a handful of participants in group exercise sessions lend themselves more naturally to a community feel than larger gyms.
Fitness franchising opportunities
The fitness industry offers a diverse range of investment opportunities for the prospective franchisee across a wide variety of different areas. All can be delivered in innovative and flexible ways to meet our ongoing appetite to get active and become our best selves.
As a prospective fitness business franchisee, you may already have an idea of the markets you can target. You know what the people at your local gym both want and enjoy and you are already in the heart of a local community. Whether it’s your friends and family or the people you meet at the school gates every day, you’re ideally placed to understand their exercise expectations, needs and goals. What’s more, you already have a potential customer base right there in front of you. You can fit your business around their lifestyles and your own.
Franchising offers ease of entry for budding fitness entrepreneurs. You receive the added assurance of buying into an established business and brand. Support and resources are available from the get-go as you grow your own business.
Whether you’re a fitness freak who could turn your passion into a career, you’re working in the industry already and want to branch out with your own business, or you’re an investor who has identified the exercise and wellbeing market as an opportunity, get in touch today to find out how you can buy into the fitness revolution with a franchise.