An entrepreneur does not have to be married to a single industry, especially if he starts a business with a proven model such as franchises. Rodolfo Alcalá and Iván Barrón, owners of an Anytime Fitness unit and an automotive business, which have been operating for 15 years, give an account of this.
Their story as entrepreneurs began when they were 24 years old and decided to open a quality assurance service for the automotive industry. After seven years of running this business, they hit some bumps and set out to explore other industries. It was when the information of Anytime Fitnessa chain of gyms that has 5,000 branches around the world and more than 5 million users.
In Mexico, this American franchise is famous for being a pioneer in providing access to its clubs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It has been operating in the country since 2009. It currently has 80 units in different states of the Republic.
“My partner and I wanted a gym, but we really didn’t know how that type of business worked. For this reason, we began to investigate more about Anytime Fitness and we saw that it is a very serious franchise and one of the most important in the world”, Rodolfo Alcalá, franchisee of the brand in Torreón, Coahuila, pointed out in an interview.
Both entrepreneurs are engineers by profession and saw that they definitely did not have the time to develop a gym on their own. Then they considered that the most appropriate thing was to start with a franchise. “We need someone to take us by the hand and have the entire business very well structured and with standardized processes,” they remember having analyzed and that was the case.
“I approached Anytime Fitness corporate and they started sending me information. We cheered up and said: Go! We throw ourselves a debt. The three partners (my dad, Iván and I) with a lot of faith and hope that we could do things; and above all knowing that we had all the support from the brand that was interested in consolidating the city of Torreón”, explains the interviewee.
It’s not all money
The gym industry gives franchisees of Anytime Fitness satisfactions that go beyond money, such as emotional rewards for the fact of working for the purpose of transforming lives through exercise, one of the values of the brand.
“Having a gym is very good business; not only for the economic side, but for the social side because what you are selling here is health. That fills you up a lot as a person. Knowing that you are contributing a grain of sand so that the people around you are healthier and have a better quality of life”, shares Rodolfo.
What they enjoy most about owning an Anytime Fitness gym is the friendly, pleasant and warm environment of the business itself. They have learned to be friends with the clients and that at the end of the day pays off in the permanence of the people.
“The brand changed our minds because we were very serious in our dealings with customers and now we have a friendlier attitude. That has been one of the main changes we have made.”
The work-life balance
A business of this type is very benign in the sense that it is not so stressful if you compare it, for example, with a restaurant franchise where you have to work Saturdays and Sundays, and after hours, which is exhausting.
“Being an Anytime Fitness franchisee is a bit more relaxing. We have technological platforms that help you manage your entire business, and one of them even makes the automatic payment for each of the gyms. The only thing they ask is that you see that your manager is selling memberships and personalized training”, explains Rodolfo.
Learning the Anytime Fitness business will take anywhere from three to six months. “Once you know it, you can run your franchise without going overboard with an hour or two of work a week. It really is a very light business that will not take its toll on your body or mind. It’s not stressful,” says Rodolfo.
The lifestyle of the Anytime Fitness gym owners is that of a relaxed person, who runs their business responsibly, but without being all stressed. “It can even be fun to run a gym if you like to connect with people, exercise and lead a healthy life. It is very good to be involved in a business like this”, says the franchisee.
It should be noted that Anytime Fitness It has been in the top 10 of the best franchises in the world for 15 consecutive years, with operations in 40 countries. In fact, the franchise received the Global Franchise Award for Best Fitness Franchise of 2023 in March at the International Franchise Association (IFA) convention in Las Vegas, Nevada.¨ If you want to be an Anytime Fitness franchisee, the The first step is to contact Adalif López, expansion manager at [email protected] and request a business presentation (20 minutes), which can be via zoom or in person.
