The 100+ studio chain Body Fit Training recently won the Fit Summit APAC Franchise of the Year award for 2020, taking top slot over runner-up Snap Fitness and third place F45.
Founder and joint CEO Cameron Falloon, a former strength and conditioning coach for high profile AFL and soccer teams, told Inside Franchise Business Executive the brand’s elite athlete-style progressive method of training is appealing to everyday Aussies.
“We have 250 units sold and 107 open, with 36 studios launched during Covid last year. It’s a $15m revenue business and member growth has at least doubled annually with expected member numbers of 40,000 by the end of 2021.”
Falloon pointed to head office and support staff growth that is supplementing the rapid expansion of the network in Australia, and overseas.
“We’ve got 16 head office staff now, and some full time outsourced contractors. We’re about to expand again with five key positions.
“We’re looking for a head of sales in US, and a New Zealand appointment. In New Zealand we have six outlets open, strong sales, and it’s been managed from here.
“The US is a huge opportunity. Our Santa Monica studio has been open about 18 months, it’s partly company owned and partly owned by the studio manager. We’ve also got a Fort Lauderdale studio, open seven months, and this is fully franchised.
“There are three studios sold in Canada, and we’re talking to a group in the UK about individual franchises.”
Falloon said the network’s growth has been a validation of the model – and the time taken to get it right.
“We researched models and talked to other franchisee to understand their pain points. We asked ourselves, what do we want to stand for? We decided that if anyone said anything about us as franchisors, we would want it to be that we are fair.”
After three years in the marketplace the branding is now evolving with an abbreviated BFT replacing the full name.
