KX Pilates founder describes eight years of business growth

Aaron Smith, the founder of KX Pilates, has described the growth of his group from its foundation in 2010, to the current operation of 42 franchised studios across Australia.

Smith was just 26 when he returned from London with an idea to transform exercise. Living and working abroad as a personal trainer and sports scientist, Smith discovered dynamic Pilates in London and immediately knew he wanted to bring the style back to Australia.

In 2010, Smith (pictured) founded the KX Group by establishing the first KX Pilates studio in the Melbourne suburb of Malvern. He had no formal business qualifications and was totally following his gut instinct that his idea could make a massive mark on the fitness industry in Australia.

Smith wanted to improve the sector with a boutique workout style that combines creative flare with a modern sense of style. Referencing the Japanese concept of ‘Kaizen’ - continuous improvement (the systematical achievement of achieve small, incremental changes in processes in order to improve efficiency and quality) – Smith used a Kaizen-style eXperience or 'KX' for his brand, with his centres offer a fast paced, high intensity, body-toning workout in 50 minutes.

After his initial success at Malvern, Smith opened a second and then a third KX location. Realising the potential of the brand, Smith decided to franchise the model in 2013. Now, KX has 42 studios across Australia.

Speaking to Business News Australia, Smith explained how not only rhe KX concept, but the people he works with have been key to his business’ growth, advising that “hard work and amazing people” have underpinned his success.

He recalled “we started out in 2010 with one studio that I worked in tirelessly for the first 12 to 24 months.

“In the second year I opened studio two, and in the third and fourth years I opened up three more studios with one of my trainers. We really kind of grew our name and reputation in Melbourne. Then I started franchising in 2013, I opened up a Sydney flagship in late 2013 and moved to Sydney.

“From then on its just been finding amazing people and we've been really lucky with organic growth in the company but 80% of our existing owners come through the client route or trainers who want to go to the next level and have their own business.”

Commenting on how KX Pilates differentiates itself from competitors, Smitn advised “we offer group fitness classes of 12 people max per class, so we push ourselves in the personalised boutique fitness scene.

“The base of the company has a solid foundation with our vision our mission and our values being extremely strong. We spend a lot of time, money and energy making sure that our staff and our trainers are really well looked after. They are incentivised and given a progression path where they can potentially lead their own business, which many have done.

“We run dynamic Pilates which is a lot more intense and quite different to what's out there in the market today. Pilates is traditionally very clinical, slow and boring. We revamped that with pumping music, and young, dynamic people working for us that provide an exceptional experience to our clients.”

Looking to the future, Smith added “we've got 42 studios currently, and we'll have close to 50 soon. The only states we're not in at the moment are Canberra and Tasmania. We have a goal of 500 studios globally. Australia can probably only have 100-120 studios but the growth we see is definitely overseas.”

Click here to read the original interview in Business News Australia. 

Lower image shows the Japanese word of Kaizen. 

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