Franchise owner John Heifner has a long-standing relationship with Workout Anytime that’s only grown more productive as the business has evolved
Franchisor and franchisee relationships often ask the same of each party. The former provides the assets and structure to build a business, while the latter invests capital, time and manpower. It’s a standard script followed by most businesses within and beyond the fitness industry.
For Workout Anytime, the 24/7 gym brand with over 200 locations, those roles weren’t always so defined. After John Heifner launched his first location in 2011, and as things progressed, corporate started looking to him for direction just as much as he looked to them.
Leveraging the original autonomy granted to him by the brand, Heifner quickly built one of the strongest arms of the Workout Anytime franchise network. He added 2,000 members by the end of his first year, and at one point, reached 3,500, the most ever in the system.
By trusting his gut, nailing a few little things other operators might overlook and channeling the true power of a high-value, low-price (HVLP) gym, he remains a company leader and keeps his Workout Anytime buzzing all the time.
Standing Out
Heifner attributes much of his success to his gym’s close proximity to the suburbs. In a world filled with Crunch and Planet Fitness gyms, it’s how he differentiates as a smaller HVLP with large aspirations.
“My idea has always been to get in the suburbs and get where people live,” Heifner said. “You know your volume is going to be smaller, but now you’re a hometown, local community gym, and you become the place where everybody who lives in that area goes. The bigger gyms have to go where everybody’s congregating because they need 7,000 members to pay the bills. I don’t need that many, so I can get closer to the community. So, that’s where my clubs are.”
Heifner insists franchisees need to know where their competitors are, and where they might go even before they arrive. Then, they need to position their operations advantageously, whether it’s like he did in the burbs or elsewhere.
“You have to look around and ask yourself, ‘Where would you go if you were the competitor, and how can you circumvent the traffic flow so they come to you?’” he went on. “Ask yourself if people are going to drive past you to get somewhere else. Ask yourself if you’re going to have a club that’s large enough to service the people within your five-mile radius so they don’t need to go somewhere else.”
But while the Knoxville Workout Anytime tries to differentiate itself from other HVLPs geographically, it doesn’t wander economically. Heifner said Workout Anytime’s straightforward HVLP model and accessible membership pricing were the key factors that ultimately sold him on the franchise opportunity. In his eyes, they’re still pivotal business assets, and when paired with a clean and friendly environment, makes purchasing a membership a no-brainer call for consumers.
“I want you to walk through my club, and when I give you the price, you’re like, ‘There’s no way that’s right,’” Heifner said. “I want you to feel like it’s a steal.”
Lean on Weights
When it comes to differentiating from other Anytime Fitness operations, Heifner goes back to favoring flexibility. While some principles must remain intact, he believes autonomy is crucial to success at the site level.
“A Burger King is a Burger King no matter where you go in the United States but if you go to China, you’re going to have chicken and rice in your Burger King,” he said. “If you go to Maine, you’re going to get a lobster roll in your McDonald’s, but you’re not going to get that here in Tennessee. There has to be a little bit of culture and autonomy to be successful where you’re at.”
Heifner noted that in the beginning of his franchisee journey, he sensed an increased demand for strength training, and although Workout Anytime didn’t instruct him to, he added heavy dumbbells, squat racks and places to deadlift. Even as competitors entered his space, his membership numbers rebounded. He credits that to his foresight and the autonomy granted to him to leverage it.
“Weight training, to me, is the most important thing you can do as a human being to keep your body healthy, regardless of your age,” Heifner said. “Autonomy to do what’s necessary, to stay relevant and competitive, is huge. I’m not saying change your colors and do a bunch of huge changes in equipment. You should be able to walk into a Workout Anytime and see that the bones are all the same, but there’s some elements here and there that are just different region to region.”
Heifner mentioned that Workout Anytime has followed his lead since, implementing changes to incorporate more weight training across its entire network and generally offering more leeway when it comes to franchisee decision-making.
Newer Support
As one of the first Workout Anytimes, Heifner said he received only basic support from HQ while getting his operation up and off the ground. However, 15 years later, and under new ownership, that’s changed entirely.
Workout Anytime franchisees today go through a week-long education period on how to run a successful operation. The brand also reserves time for meeting with managers, where PT managers and personal trainers are also welcome. Online education resources are made available as well.
“I feel like we have really strong people in good positions,” Heifner said. “If you come in as a new franchise owner now, or even before you become a franchise owner, you can go up there, meet with them and get a better understanding of what you’re buying into.”
That should have prospective franchisees and current ones like Heifner excited. He added he and his wife will soon be the first franchisees in the system to ever re-sign their franchise agreement. Impressed with Anytime’s Fitness new ownership and its franchise-friendly nature, doing so was an easy decision.
“I think Jerry and E.J. have such a vision on how we can stay competitive in a very competitive market,” he said. “They’re allowing us some autonomy to be competitive in the areas that we service, and we really appreciate that. Of course, they’ve been franchise owners, so they know the obstacles that need to be overcome. They know things that work. They know things that don’t work. So, we’re pretty pumped up about that.”
