Comments on: 123 FIT: Franchisees Debate Viability of Franchise, 30 Minute Fitness Biz

By: Maria

Maria — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 20:57:36 +0000

Ok my gosh, lets back up for a minute – Barb has real concerns lets not attack her business ethics, I would be psst to if I had an investement that went sour because of corporate lack of professionalism and business sense. Quiznos may know fast food, but what of health club?

After all – it was not just Barbs club that went under it was all 123 Fits, so Rita are you saying that all owners of 123 Fit were ignorant!!!. I beg to differ I was there – and from what I saw – lack of business sense.
I was shocked to hear Ray was involved – I worked for Family Fitness for 15 years, and Ray has always ran an excellent franchise. He may have given 123 Fit the concept. but Corporate chose to do what they wanted.

I’ll give an example – Family Fitness survived because of it’s concept, 2 weeks free, and 1 month free – lots of personal service and lots of referrals.
Door hanger were a very small percentage of our sales, the referrals and the personal touch is what kept us above the rest. I suggest the club franchise owner and corporate at Parker CO. to do the same,one on one marketing they refused, Instead they wanted us to sell this outragous membershps,
before even trying the club. Many people in Parker were psst at 123 Fit and how they handle everything. I left the club because I brought in 60 members and never saw a dime of commissions… I have the contractts to prove it and I did it all through referrals. It was a joke. I saw the writing on the wall, within 3 month he went under. If Ray really had his hands on these clubs, they would still be around – 123 Fit gave the impressions that Ray was behind them, not true – I new better. So Rita, am assuming you are related to Ray – instead of faulting the franchisers of 123 Fit who lost their shirts,
Give them some helpful advise – And lets not forget the reason Family Fitness did so well, it was after all a fmaily run business …. no outsider really had a franchise with Ray. So if you really want to help the 123 Fit owners, why don’t you offer them franchise in your clubs – or maybe they should contact Jack La Lanne, the Pioneer of health clubs. I’ve been watching clubs pop up all around me for the past few years, Lifetime Fitness, Mountainside Fitness… but I can tell you this, none will survive -unlike Family Fitness – their concept is all about money and not personal touch. Today anyone can be a personal trainer, it’s a joke to me, that they even charge for that service. Back in the day with Family Fitness the instructors as they were called,were part of your membership and had to read a huge manual before even becoming an instructor. There is room for great health clubs – just go back to the basics. Barb don’t give up your dream, peruse your own clubs, the concept is easy. Keep the initiation fee feasible, low dues and lots of personal touch– work your referrals, – find your target market yourself it’s not hard. Work those markets like a politician, become a positive influence in your neighborhood working with the area businesses and merchants is your best bet.. That’s how we did it back in the days with Family Fitness, people haven’t change – they still need to feel cared for and service plays a big factor. Trust me, you do this and the money will come – members will come to you – These big clubs are missing the boat on all levels. Don’t give up – don’t sit back and accept what happen with 123 Fit go out and create your own success. Infact their is a hugh need for the ederly in Parker, no one caters to them – this market is untapped, and am sure other thier are other places like this. The baby boomers are ready for their own place, not hugh clubs with balsting music and glitter, but somewhere they can get serious results.

I’ve been looking to get to the health club business, but quess what..I get turned down because am older and over qulified. When the truth is I’m interview with 21 year managers who are afraid I may take away their jobs.
How sad is that…

Good Luck

By: Barb

Barb — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 23:13:37 +0000

We closed the doors on Jan. 12th 2008. We were open eight and half months. We tried to make up for the lost of the cost of the build out. I knew if we didn’t make it up we had no chance. We tried everything to make it work. Unfortunately we were not allowed to get in the hospitals, churches and schools. We got kicked out of parking lots. Some businesses told us not to keep showing up because there were signs on the doors said no soliciting. We found later we were not suppose to be putting flyers on cars. Some areas do not allow this. We got phone calls with very upset people about putting flyers on their cars. A new restaurant opened after we did and I gave them free week passes all the time. When I asked the manager he told me he never saw them. All I can think is they threw them in the trash. Holding the sign where traffic worked good. Nothing was better than personal notes to people. Our summer was busy. We thought we had a chance. When school started in Sept. it died. People went on hold which is not a good thing to keep a business running. Since we couldn’t make up for the lost on the build out we ran out of money. The cost of running a club is alot more than we were told. We had contest and I believed I developed a sense of community. Ladies many times worked out before lunch than ate lunch with me. I personally lost 30 pounds to be an example to everyone. The summer was alot of fun. We sincerely tried to make it work when we should of never opened. The club is not the business the numbers are. Even if we never opened we would of had to go bankrupt because of the lease and the royalties. We lost two houses that we had to set us up for retirement. Their gone. We went from living a comfortable life to living in WA. with no heat and barely enough money to buy the food we are use to eating. There is good explanations why this happened. Which I can’t share all the details but the zor did not give us the support and the advice we thought we would get. Good zors are there for their zees. I am happy you are with a good one. It sound like it anyways. I have worked with the public all my life. After a month in business our area director said, “You are own you own.” Why go the franchising route if their not going to help you? Instead we feel like we were lied to and taken advantage of.

By: ritajwilson

ritajwilson — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 20:10:28 +0000

How long were you open?

By: Barb

Barb — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 19:49:03 +0000

Sorry about the typos. Following the system is an excuse to throw the blame on the zee. Every failing system says the same thing. They didn’t follow the system. It is so obvious. They are making excuses for their failure to care about their zees.

By: Barb

Barb — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 19:44:10 +0000

It is obivious your system was tried and proven. If you are successful I am very happy for you. Since yours is not a fitness business I don’t think your advice is applicable. Persistance is good. There is a point where when you do something over and over and it isn’t working you have to do something else. I am not making excuses. It is the reality of what was happening. If something is not working in is pure insanity to do it over and over and over. There is a point where you have to try something else. The proof is in all the zees who have went out of business. Even before the recession. Everyone said the same thing. The first generation is just about wiped out. Only a few are left.
I wish you continued success and may you prosper because you must be doing something right. I have been out of business for over a year. I know what went on. I still have relationships with some of my club members who miss the gym.
Following the system is an excuse that zors use to throw the blame off the zee. If you are in a flawed system it will not work. Tell that to all the zees in 123 Fit who have closed their doors. One lady closed her doors after a few weeks. Could it be that the numbers we had before we opened were not true. Could it be the zor gouged the zees so much that they could not reach success. Like one area director told a zee that never opened, “You can go out anytime.” Real good of him after they paid the franchise fee, bought a second one for a deal of $1000. They never opened and are having to sell their home. Their build out came back $50,000 more than the original bid. You are not listening are you? By the way our’s came back $50,000 more than what corporate said it would be. Is there a pattern here.
Stick to what your doing because it is working for you. Just because you say you are successful doesn’t mean you are. All I know is I wish you well and hope you never get hurt in any way.

By: ritajwilson

ritajwilson — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 18:58:04 +0000

My name is Rita Wilson and I own Weight Loss Centers (non-exercise). I have been in the business for 6 years, followed the formula of the franchisor and succeeded.It is a different company, and I cannot speak for 123, but everything you give is excuses on here.

It sounds like you are too busy keeping up with everyone else’s gym, how could you have given it 100%? Sometimes, to cut through the clutter in marketing you have to be persistent. You may get turned away, but that is no reason to give up! Giving up is for losers. Didnt you want to be a winner with your franchise? You can’t just try the zors suggestion once and say it does not work. My centers do over 5 million a year in gross sales and I have a 25% net. But I have been hung up on, told to remove email lists and to never call back, but my staff is persistent.

This is truly a case of not following the system. No wonder you were a failure with your franchise. You did not play by the rules.

By: Barb

Barb — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 16:32:06 +0000

Why do you think people buy franchises? Hoping to get advice. While we were there there was no good sound business advice. If this is the case they need to put on the UFOC, “We do not give you any advice.” They did say “We give you advice when we see it appropriate,” The key word is appropriate.
The problem is Ray Wilson wasn’t there and the leader had no knowledge in building a fitness franchise.
YOu must be one of the area directors or VP. 128 sold, 21 open. Everyone was bad, right?
It was the business people in our club that pointed out was wrong. The door hangers were expensive and it took weeks to put our that many door hangers. There was other door hangers that were from other fitness centers and yoga, jazzercise and other fitness bussinesses. People were not happy us putting something on their door. People were not happy us putting flyers on their cars. We got kicked out of parking lots, businesses, churches would not call us back, schools would not call us back, hospitals would not call or allow us to talk to Human Resources. You know why? Then other fitness businesses would be at their door. It was obvious their marketing strategy was fruitless. Remember we did pre-sales before we opened. Did it their way. It was costly and not many responded.
YOu must be Lisa. You tried to sell your club. You are not always there because I have tried to call you many times while we were in the club. Why don’t you just come out and talk and reveal your identity. Spokane claims your hardly there in Moses Lake. Your husband is either golfing and you are rarely there. Which explains why you were not there when we visited your club. It was on a Sat. afternoon before we signed the agreement.

By: ritajwilson

ritajwilson — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 15:49:56 +0000

Obviously, you were not knowledgeable in setting up a business either, or you would be thriving. Your mistake was not following the operating system. Maybe if you would have done the door hanger over and over with frequency, you would have gained momentum. You should have listened to the SOR for advice. I listen to mine and have reaped the rewards. In reviewing all your posts above, it appears you were so worried about who was closing, who was in bad financial shape, and “investigating”, there is no way you could have had a strong hand on the wheel of you own business. As a franchisee, your business is to follow the system, not create your own.

By: Barb

Barb — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 06:09:02 +0000

The problem is we listened to our zor from the beginning. A franchise consultant would be better than 123 Fit. My oldest daughter who is a business major would give us good advice, much better than the way they got us started. When the trust is gone from early in the business I doubt if you would of done any better. They were suppose to be our leaders. They lead us to fail from the beginning. It is obivious after you are out of the middle of the storm.

By: Barb

Barb — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 06:02:01 +0000

We did at the beginning. We put out 5,000 door hangers and only got 1 member. It was expensive.
You are probably with a good zor. Good zors are there for you to reach success. Instead this zor gouged us at the beginning. Messing up our numbers from the beginning. They implied good faith in business and what a nightmare. Not only for me but many zees who went in business with them. They sold 128 clubs, many SNO’s and only 21 left. All the zees that went to training are out. Only one SNO. He was the lucky one. Like Sean Kelly says when it is a win, win, win deal you are dealing with a good zor. This zor was not good. If you believe all zors are good than you live in dream world. When we signed the agreement there wasn’t alot of bad things on the internet. To be honest after studying the franchising world there is only a handful that is good. They all have the bomb clauses that allow them to lie and steal and cheat people. Until franchising cleans up their act it isn’t safe. Until lawyers study franchising in law school than people will be safer. Even the FTC warning doesn’t cut it. Franchise lawyers is not considered a speciality therefore what is our chances of getting good advice. The warning from the FTC says “lawyers.” Not all lawyer’s are qualified to give sound advice. Killer franchise lawyers is a small sector.
Franchising is a brilliant concept when done open, honest and ethically.