The Smart Franchisee - Franchise, Business, Lifestyle

Today I am speaking with Tim Arpin Vice President of Franchise Development at Anytime Fitness. You probably have a local Anytime Fitness in your area, you might even be a member. But have you ever thought of owning one? With approximately 3000 locations domestically, and 5000 locations in 35 countries internationally Anytime Fitness is the largest co-ed fitness franchise in the world. But there is still room for growth! Tim shares that they open about 200 locations a year and are looking to add another 3000-4000 locations in the next 10 years. 

If the name didn’t already give it away Anytime Fitness offers just last, 24 hour access to the gym. (Just in case you have a middle of the night craving to go for a run and lift some weights). Their goal is to bring the benefits of fitness to everyone, the tag line says it all “Let’s Make Healthy Happen”. During my chat with Tim we find out why he is so passionate about his Franchisees.

Tim shares with us the companies core beliefs. People, Purpose, Profits, and Play. How Anytime Fitness maintains a close relationship with its franchisees, and more importantly what type of franchisee they are looking for.  

Tim and I also chat about Anytime Fitness’s gym layout and why they are able to be successful in smaller more well designed locations, the areas where the model works best, and how they focus on their members and health.

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Steve Curtindale a uBreakiFix Franchisee talks with me about why he converted his electronic repair shop into a uBreakiFix. Why would someone want to pay royalties and spend thousands of dollars to restructure and redesign their already profitable business. Growth. Steve spent a little over 3 years growing his mom and pop store from $0 to $40K in revenue a month but he wanted to expand his business and running it all by himself without a system or support would make it impossible. Steve shares his experience of owning his own business to then converting it to a franchise and his reasoning for it, the challenges he faced while transitioning his business and why culture is crucial for  success.Visit us at www.thesmartfranchisee.com. As always don't forget to leave us a review and subscribe.

Minhthe Nguyen a uBreakiFix Franchisee talks with me about what it was like to leave his engineering job at Tesla and go into business for himself. Minhthe was spending 7 days a week at work clocking in well over 40 hours. He finally came to an inflection point in his career. Continue this path and sacrifice time with his family or take a leap of faith and start his own business. At the end of 2014 Minhthe went all in and bought an area to develop 15 uBreakiFix stores. Having opened 5 locations since then, one of which is the top 3 in nation, Minhthe shares a lot of knowledge with us. Learn how he grew his locations from the ground up, his philosophy on making a store profitable, and how he creates a high performing team. Visit us at www.thesmartfranchisee.com and please don't forget to leave us a review and hit that subscribe button!

Brenda Johnston a uBreakiFix Franchisee talks with me about what it’s like to buy a business. By profession Brenda is a pediatric nurse but she always had a passion for technology. When Brenda was introduced to uBreakiFix a light bulb went off and she realized it was time to take the “tinkering” she had been doing her whole life seriously. She left behind the stable income and benefits and followed her dreams. Brenda has 2 uBreakiFix locations and will be opening a 3rd location soon. Learn about the challenges she faces in business, how she ensures growth of not only herself but her team, and the advice she would give a new franchisee to set them up for success. Visit us at www.thesmartfranchisee.com and please don’t forget to leave a review and subscribe.

Todd Evans VP of Franchising chats with us about uBreakiFix. By serving the users of tech, uBreakiFix has been able to help their customers stay connected to their world with quick turn-around time on repairs all while helping franchisees drive customers and revenue in the door. Todd shares with me the 4 types of franchisees he is looking for, how uBreakiFix helps franchisees generate more revenue with partnerships with Google and Samsung (just to mention a few), and how uBreakiFix sets new and existing franchisees up for success. uBreakiFix has been franchising since 2013 and currently has 513 locations (in North America) with an additional 461 location to be opened in the next 36 months. Visit us at www.thesmartfranchisee.com and please don’t forget to leave a review and subscribe.

David Perez didn't know anything about this tax industry before he got into Liberty Tax. What does it take to win in a business you know nothing about? A lot of hard work, adapting to the needs of clients, and most importantly scrappiness. 10 years and 8 stores later David's story shows us the power of a franchise system and just how motivated you need to be to win.  Visit www.thesmartfranchisee.com and don't forget to rate and subscribe!

Tim Magerle was tired of not being the boss of his own time. He learned early on that the corporate ladder he was so frantically climbing did not always lead to the top floor. Frustrated with not being able to spend time with is growing family, Tim, with guidance from his father, opened his first Liberty Tax 12 years ago. We learn about his struggles through the first few years of business, how he sets a culture in his 7 stores, and how he was able to spend time with his children all while growing his business. Visit us at www.thesmartfranchisee.com. Don't forget to rate and subscribe!

JR Cecil shares his story of losing his job to realizing his full potential. JR share his experience with owning 3 Liberty Tax locations and what it has done for his financial independence. Visit www.thesmartfranchisee.com

Parul Gupta speaks with me on why she chose to get into the tax business. She shares the struggles she had early on, how she built her 4 Liberty Tax stores from the ground up and how she no longer has to trade time for money. Oh and she did all this while raising two young children! Learn about how she organizes her business structure, makes time for one on one coaching with her team, and how she is able to prioritize her time. Visit www.thesmartfranchisee.com  and don’t forget to rate and subscribe. 

Brian Ashcraft from Liberty Tax Corporate shares his insight into the tax industry, what Liberty Tax is looking for in a franchisee, and what sets Liberty Tax Service apart from the competition. Liberty Tax Service has been franchising for more than 20 years with 3000 offices nationwide and millions of customers served, the tax franchise is looking forward to a future of growth. The CEO of the company, Nicole Ossenfort a former Franchisee, has brought with her a franchisee (and customer) first driven model at Liberty Tax. Visit us at www.thesmartfranchisee.com don’t forget to rate and subscribe!