Anytime Fitness exceeds projections for first year in Australasia

Anytime Fitness master franchisees for Australia and New Zealand Justin McDonell and Jacinta McDonell Jimenez are reporting a better than expected first 12 months of business, selling more than 35 franchise territories and opening ten clubs.

When they agreed to become the first non-U.S. master franchisees for the health club giant a year ago, Justin and Jacinta recall setting “realistic” goals for themselves. As Jacinat explains, “we had faith in the business model but we knew that introducing a new brand is never easy. We thought that opening five clubs in 12 months would be a good challenge for us.”

The brother-sister team not only met that challenge but they are also on their way to an even more impressive second year.

“We’ve exceeded all of our projections thus far,” says Justin, adding “in our first 12 months of operation, we’ve sold more than 30 franchise territories in Australia. Of those territories, 10 clubs are already open and another ten clubs will be open before the end of September.”

And their achievements are not limited to Australia. They’ve experienced similar success in New Zealand.

“We currently have five territories sold in New Zealand and our first club is set to open in Christchurch in mid-August,” Jacinta explains. Other clubs are set to open in Auckland and Hamilton.

The rapid expansion in Australia and New Zealand is similar to what Anytime Fitness is experiencing in the USA and Canada. Having opened 369 clubs last year (more than one a day) Anytime Fitness is, according to the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association (IHRSA), the fastest-growing fitness club chain in the world.

Much of that success can be attributed to the company’s strong emphasis on training and corporate support.

“We offer training for new franchisees in either the United States or Australia, at the discretion of the franchisee,” says Libby Crooker, Brand Strategist for Anytime Fitness.

“We also provide new franchisees with access to a comprehensive online training manual. We call it our ‘Phase Program.’ The program helps new franchisees through every phase of development – from build-out to selling memberships to operating their clubs. We understand fully that the success of the franchise depends upon the success of individual clubs.”

Not only are Jacinta and Justin selling franchise territories at an impressive rate, they also say that the number of memberships sold within each club has succeeded expectations.

“We’ve been really well-received,” says Justin. “All of our clubs that have been open at least three months each have at least 400 members.”

Long-term, Justin and Jacinta hope to open at least another 300 clubs within the next four years. John Kersh, Vice President of International Development for Anytime Fitness, says Justin and Jacinta have set a high standard for other master franchisees.

“Within the next few years, we expect to open clubs in the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Japan, India and Mexico,” says Kersh. “It would be wonderful if master franchisees in those countries experienced the same sort of success that Justin and Jacinta are experiencing.”

Open ‘24/7’, Anytime Fitness provides 700,000 members with convenient and affordable fitness options in friendly, well-maintained facilities featuring top-quality equipment. State-of-the-art security and surveillance systems ensure member safety even during unstaffed hours at the clubs.

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