IS BUTTERFLY LIFE A GREAT FITNESS FRANCHISE?
May 10, 2007 by Sean Kelly
Filed under Business
Read interviews with Butterfly Life franchisees at UnhappyFranchisee.com
We sent out emails to fitness franchise owners, managers, employees, and customers asking which fitness franchise is best, and why. Our first responses were regarding a fitness franchise called “Butterfly Life.”
One commenter wrote:
Butterfly Life is the hottest new fitness franchise to hit since Curve’s… With all 3 aspects of health and wellness under one roof. Diet, Exercise and Well-Being is the combination to SUCCESS!!! Join the movement to make Butterfly Life the #1 Fitness Franchise across the Country!
Phil Gerst said:
The best fitness franchise for Women’s Fitness is Butterfly Life. We’ve been open for 8 1/2 months and have signed over 200 members. Our members are seeing results – losing weight and inches, feeling better and having more energy. The excerise equipment is designed by a women for women and use stacked weight with 12 levels – not the cheap hydraulic stuff. The members really like group exercise classes – and with more than 40 different classes – including step, dance, kick/box, and ball – cardio classes, Pilates and yoga classes and sclupting classes – there is something for everyone. Add BFL’s excellent diet program and nutrition counselling and you have a winning formula for members’ success and ours.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? IS BUTTERFLY LIFE A GREAT FITNESS FRANCHISE? LEAVE A COMMENT AND TELL US WHAT YOU THINK!
I am hearing from insiders that Butterfly Life is in trouble financially and is looking for a buyer. If you’re buying you should check this out in DETAIL. If they can’t find private investment, Curves or Contours Express might just buy them out and shut them down as a way to appease their own franchisees. this is my opinion.
Run, run, run away! I am an experienced business owner and recently decided to purchase a Butterfly franchise to add to my portfolio. While the concept is good, this company is trying to grow way beyond its current capacity and I have been so disappointed in the competance and professionalism of the corporate staff that I have now decided not to open a club.
Wait a year or two and let this company catch up with its own growth before you put your money on the line.
I know there has been a claim filed with the Dept. of Corporations in California against Butterfly Life regarding misrepresentation. It was filed by the AAFD (American Association of Franchisees and Dealers). The AAFD is a national organization and has been in existence for 15 years. Anyone looking to buy a franchise should contact the AAFD before making any decisions. There are many people who have purchased a Butterfly Life franchise that are sorry they did so. The original President and Director are no longer there, unfortunately. You are right Leigh, the corporate staff has always lacked competence and professionalism from the beginning. It is unfortunate that the UFOC doesn’t have all the contact information of the original franchisees. Although, I think you can get this information from the AAFD at 800-733-9858 ex 101. Be wise and call before pursuing this venture!
Run far away and don’t look back. Corporate makes this look like a really sweet deal. They leave you with the impression the you will breakeven in six months. There are many clubs all over the US that find a year or two later they are not even close to breaking even. Most of these clubs have closed are in the process of closing. Corporate will tell you for an extra fee they will come take over your club and you can walk away. This off course on top of the money you have already poured into it. Great deal for corporate they haven’t had to spend a dime opening a club. You on the other hand will have probably spent close to your life savings. Talk about you money pit!
I agree RUN, RUN. This group is a slick con moving across the country. I have heard of so many closures and personal bankruptcies from former franchisees. The sales pitch to get you to buy does not come close to the reality of the deal. They take your money and ignore you!! Don’t go there.
WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Save yourself a lift time of debt and hearache. Before you purchase a Butterfly Life franchise please please PLEASE contact the AAFD, http://www.aafd.org, to get pertinent information about those who run this franchise, especially Mark Golob. His morals and values are definitely lacking…….he only believes in money and gets it by harrassing potential franchisees with verbal lies that can never be proven since the Franchise Agreement contains all the legal mumbo jumbo that is needed to protect him.
The best fitness franchise for Women’s Fitness is Butterfly Life. We’ve been open for 8 1/2 months and have signed over 200 members. Our members are seeing results – losing weight and inches, feeling better and having more energy. The excerise equipment is designed by a women for women and use stacked weight with 12 levels – not the cheap hydraulic stuff. The members really like group exercise classes – and with more than 40 different classes – including step, dance, kick/box, and ball – cardio classes, Pilates and yoga classes and sclupting classes – there is something for everyone. Add BFL’s excellent diet program and nutrition counselling and you have a winning formula for members’ success and ours.
Great, Phil. Which location do you own?
Phil has to say that he is an area representative! Just how much do they pay you PHIL!
Great PHIL! Are you making a salary for yourself? How much in debt are you? Did you spend your life savings? I think you are in denial.
Hi, We opened our BL in July. Very far from breaking even but it’s still early and we really want to make this work! If anyone would like to contact me or my partner (Ada) please send us an e-mail [email withheld] or phone us in Mountain View, CA.
Hey Phil!
Your blog is the same ad you posted before. Where are you located……would love to make contact with you regarding your profitability. You should contact Ada in Mountain View….she’s on the Butterfly Life website……….I’m sure you know it well. Again, what state are you in?
Our experience with corporate has been very positive. Jeanne Spatola has been with us 100%. She always has a “fix” for whatever is not going as we would hope. She is available 24/7 – I don’t know how she does that. We love her and wouldn’t be where we are without her.
Cathy Galli is also the best. She is so responsive to our requests and questions – we count on her for just about everything. If she doesn’t know the answer, she gets it for us.
The postcards have been great, as well. Our only problem with them was that we need more than $29/month to make it. A lot of our members signed up for the special, and with the “No Enrollment” and “No Processing” for charter members going at the same time, we just weren’t making any money. We have raised our membership dues to $39/$49/$59 and members haven’t flinched. We do get good responses to the postcards, but we also get responses from some small local magazines/newspapers/flyers. I guess my only complaint is that corporate could have been more realistic about how much money we needed to start up, how long it takes to build a member base that will pay the rent, the differences in rents in different areas (ours is particularly high at $6700,) and how the promotions are going to affect clubs with higher overhead. I think you are already taking steps in your training with the conference call meetings prior to u niversity training. Spending more time on marketing and sales is essential. Jamie and I weren’t prepared for all that has to be done in that area. We are learning as we go, and Jeanne has been so helpful in that department, but I wish I had been better prepared for the onslaught of advertisers who bombarded me with stuff that is essentially worthless. Part of our situation, of course, is that Jamie and I have never owned our own business and should have studied up on it before we plunged in. However, we are doing fine, and loving every minute of it.
So, bottom line, we are very grateful to corporate for all the support you have shown. I feel that you care and want us to succeed and are doing everything you can to help us make it happen.
Sincerely,
Susan Hackett and Jamie Hoover
Butterfly Life Folsom
Susan:
Good to hear your franchise experience is positive. Not being realistic with start-up expenses or the amount and intensity of marketing necessary are common complaints in the fitness franchise area (and other areas as well).
Do you have much direct competition in Folsom? Are you area representatives as well as franchisees?
Just wait Susan and Jamie……..it will all come tumbling down……….you’ll be so far in debt you won’t know which way to turn.
Are you kidding Susan? Corporate is going tell as little as they can get away with. They just want to sell a franchise to start colllecting their monthly franchise fee. They don’t a care where you put you center as long as they are getting there monthly fee. They sure as heck don’t care if you succeed otherwise they would be putting the 40% of your franchise fee into advertising so people know what the heck BFL is. They tell you they use part of your franchise fee for national advertising; however I haven’t seen a commercial in over a year. Oh yeah and they are gonna have a TV show. Well they have one alright if you remember to watch it. It is on for 5 minutes in selected markets…..if you blink you miss it.
My name is Cynthia Schmidt. I opened my Butterfly LIfe club in Dec 06. I so love my business. I have the greatest employees and also the greatest members. This is one of the most satisfying jobs and/or businesses I have had.
One of the great things about my business is that if I need something or have a problem I know that I call or e-mail someone from corporate office and I am going to get a response right away, often within the hour. The best part is that almost always the problem or response is something that hellps me alleviate the problem. I really appreciate this.
One of the great things that corporate does is that they send someone out periodically to help train and see that we are on track to making our business succeed. I believe that since I have opened I have had three visits from someone from corporate. Every time after they have come and helped us tweak our program, we have had big gains in memberships. The women who have come out to train have always brought great expertise with them and were considerate of the personalities and feelings of my employees. I have truly enjoyed the times that they have come and greatly appreciated the help and how the training has benefitted my business.
I could not ask for a more supportive enviroment than the one provided by the corporate office at Butterfly LIfe.
Cynthia Schmidt
Butterfly Life, Longview
Cynthia please…..you haven’t updated your website since March.
Mary Says: …the corporate staff has always lacked competence and professionalism from the beginning.
Kathy says: …There are many clubs all over the US that find a year or two later they are not even close to breaking even.
Linda says the owner only believes in money and gets it by harrassing potential franchisees with verbal lies…
Leigh says …run, run, run away!
Yet Phil, Susan, Jamie & Cynthia praise the franchisor and the outstanding concept and support they receive.
Is everybody talking about the same company? Are there two Butterfly Lifes? I’m confused. Someone please explain.
Your comments invited at:
Will the REAL Butterfly Life Franchise Please Wave Its Wings?
I am sure it is workable if you have enough money to sustain you for several years but even then you will never break even. You will have poured so much money into it that it will takes many many years, if that, before you ever get back what you put into it. Corporate leads to believe the for very little money you can make it work and that it is possible for you to break even in six months. Corporate also leaves everything up to the franchise owner as far as their own advertising. They do not do anything to help as far as getting the name branded so people know what BFL is. Everyone is so set in their ways and used to Curves that it is hard to get your foot in the door, so to speak, to even let people know who or what Butterfly Life is. Some people think we are a Christian Book Store or a health food store for women that carrys vitnamins etc. In the long run I don’t think a future franchisee should look at this as a way to earn a living. Make sure you have a good supplemental income before diving into the endevor. It would be a good hobby for someone where money is no object and perhaps needs a write off. Someone who has a spouse with a great income already.
The concept of Butterfly Life is indeed a great thing.A lot of the comments already posted are true, but not all of them. If you want the real story and truth, go to the BFL website and call at least one club in each state that has a club open and ask the owner’s to share their success and their nightmares. You will indeed find more strugglings clubs while the Corp. people have yet to miss a pay check. Better yet find the 16+ Corp. people recently “laid off” from this growing company and get their stories. To all reading this………”it” is about to hit the fan! And it may possibly turn out to be a “no win” situations for everyone involved.
I’ve asked this on the Contours Express and Curves threads also. Does Butterfly Life and the similar clubs offer personal training for an additional fee? This would seem to be a no-brainer as both a way to increase incremental revenue and retention. Seems like retaining members would be a huge challenge after the initial enrollment period, no?
Butterfly Life (with the exception of the “previous” Linda Evans clubs) do not offer a personal trainer as an option. In our club we, as Lifestyle Coaches, try to work with each member on an individual basis as much as she needs or wants us to.
I had visits from corporate reps every few months
and followed their advise closely – still no profits.
When I was sold this bill of goods in 2005, Mark Golob must have said “BRANDING” 50 times -”Butterfly Life will soon be a household word”. We’ll have a segment on Oprah and ladies will be scrambling into your clubs. 2 years later I’m wondering “WHERE IS THE BRANDING, THE OPRAH SEGMENT AND WHERE ARE THE SCRAMBLING LADIES MARK????” Too little to late.
Empty promises = bankruptcy for many
of the franchisee’s that bought Mr. Golob’s
B.S. Sales Pitch.
My greatest wish is that all potential franchisee’s check out this franchisor thoroughly and find out the truth. Check with the AAFD like other people have recommended.
My mission is to get the word out.
I admire those of you who are open and keeping on keeping on. Many of you are doing things
“out of the box” from what corporate recommends and that is what it takes. I wish
you all the luck in the world and I hope you can at least break even – I was never able to do that and I spent twice the money they told me I needed. The best thing you can do is call other owners and see what is working for them.
Potential franchisees Run, don’t walk away from
this Franchise until they get their act together.
God Bless
Sean: There are not two different Butterfly Life’s. What you have are franchisees that are in the “honeymoon” phase with this company and those who have been plugging away at it for years with no success and eventually no money.
Mark Golob is a glorified used car salesman. They make promises about national marketing campaigns, television shows, celebrity sponsors, and nationally published books and all of the support franchises really need. They simply don’t deliver. I expected my royalty fees to help support national marketing and brand awareness, not for someone to come to my gym and sit across the desk from me and call old leads.
You buy a franchise to get the marketing synergies, brand recognition and economies of scale that you can’t get opening a business on your own. We paid big bucks to be a part of a franchise and we could have done better opening our own gym by ourselves.
Even if they’ve fooled you into thinking they offer all of this great “support” think about how much money BFL franchisees aren’t making. That’s why most people do this. You don’t do it just to meet wonderful members, help women and have great employees. Those are the bonus. Those are the things that make it great. But if you aren’t making money, if you can’t pay your rent, and you’re going into debt…you won’t be there to help anybody anyway!
Don’t let them convince you that there is a “small” group of us who just “weren’t good business people” or “picked a bad location.” From a franchisee who no longer has her club, has sold her house and owes plenty of money…RUN RUN RUN!!
Good luck and best wishes to all who are in it already. Hang in there.
Brandi: Thanks for your comment. Sorry for the failure of your business. You sound like you landed on your feet and will survive… albeit with an expensive lesson behind you.
For those of you who are still struggling to compete, I offer you this advice: Forget about national branding and television campaigns. Demand strong local store marketing tools and grassroots, inexpensive strategies. Your universe of potential members is within a 10-15 minute drive of your location. Buy a local map and a protracter. Draw a circle for a five or ten mile radius around your club and put together a plan for making sure every person in that area knows who you are, what you offer and why they should care.
Like it or not, you’ve got to become relentless promotional marketing experts… fast. Your success will come from word-of-mouth, bulletin boards, flyers, free trial cards, community involvement, direct mail, and maybe even telemarketing or some radio. Give every woman in the that circle a reason to try your club, then give them lots of reasons to keep coming back. If you have a shot at success, that’s how it’ll happen.
I hear you Sean. We did all of that and then some. But when you’ve got a Curves doing the same things to target the same women in your circle, plus they have the brand recognition and trust that comes from a truly “branded” franchise you can’t compete with that. There is a top-of-mind status that is undeniably created when you have television ads, Wendy’s partnerships, and banner ads on iVillage. When I was at the community festivals, when I was handing out flyers at neighborhood gatherings and PTA meetings I thought to myself, I could do this without paying the franchise fee.
Brandi:
I understand. I’d imagine you want to scream every time somebody says “Oh… so you’re like Curves?” And your point about the franchise fee is something would-be franchisees need to consider: Could I do this on my own? The simplicity of the concept makes it easy to knock-off, and Curves got a huge jump in the market and got the recognized name.
Too few franchisees realize that the critical marketing is done right in their neighborhood… too few franchisors provide innovative ways to win and keep customers on the local level.
Does Butterfly Life have any meaningful point-of-difference from Curves or the other competitors? Barring national TV, what should they be doing to help out the struggling franchisees?
Off the top of my head…
The monthly royalty fee should be based on membership levels or revenues as a percentage instead of the high flat fee that is assessed. You are handicapped from the very beginning before you can start making money. That is what most other franchisors do.
Next, they could provide password protected web links, Quark files, etc. at no cost for franchisees to produce lead boxes, flyers, t-shirts, ads, etc. BFL produced flyers at one point and was charging franchisees for them. Just give me the elements and I can have the neighborhood newspaper do it for free.
If franchisees have to do their own marketing and promotions, don’t force us to go through some high-end printer in California and I still have pay for shipping.
Flat fee royalties: These are used as a sales advantage, but concern me as the franchisor has less financial incentive to boost unit sales. Anyone disagree?
Marketing elements: You should certainly have been given logos and high res artwork to do flyers, though the finals may have to be reviewed and approved.
When we put together flyers for franchisee clients, we may do the customization but will send them a .pdf so they can print themselves or locally. We encourage them to barter with local quick printers (free pizzas and memberships can go a long way in trimming costs).
Sean, Back again. And Brandi, I don’t know who you are or where, but if you haven’t contacted the AAFD yet you are crazy. The fact is Sean, I could market the “heck ” locally out of my club. do all the gorilla marketing that is warranted but if I am the only point of difference in my market on and individual club owner’s ad budget why not just do it myself. The fact is you won’t find a franchisee out there who did not believe in the concept. It “is” a better Curves. I am a trainer to boot and the Couch potatoes who get off the couch can’t progress on hydraulic equipment. A 30 Minute circuit with stages of progression is great. Having said that, I go back to the business model sold. Is it realistic and achievable. Aren’t those the test points for any strategy. We all thought we had the point of difference. But an individual franchisee should not have to “brand” a product all by themselves. It is layers. The national corporate effort feeds the local and that creates a constant stream of ad impressions where the “brand ” is seen at all levels. A solid base of successful franchises is the best brand building tool and for those of you money grabbing corproate folks the best bilboard from which to sell additional franhchises.
CORPORATE!! YOU WANT ME “JOE FRANCHISEE TO BE SAYING TO MY NEIGHBOR, THIS IS THE GREATEST MONEY MAKING CONCEPT OUT THERE AND YOU SHOULD HOP ON” NOT OH MY GOD WILLTHE BANK GIVE ME ANY MORE EQUITY OUT OF MY HOUSE SO I CAN EEK OUT A FEW MORE MONTHS WAITING FOR CORPORATE TO SUPPORT THEIR OWN BRAND.
At this point forget the workout dynamics. Does this BUSINESS model work as presented!!! Is the true state of their franchise environment being correctly represented to prospective franchisiees No! It does not. and No they are not!
BR: I agree 100% about successful franchisees being the best marketing. We counsel our new franchise clients that they need to do all they can to help their first ten succeed & become great success stories & franchise evangelists. Then they need to do exactly the same for franchisees #11 – #999.
However, expecting “national” advertising support for a small start-up chain is not realistic. A recent BL press release said there are “nearly” 100 units. If each of you kicked in $26,000 you could buy 30 seconds on the Superbowl. ‘Course you’d have to kick in another $10K each to produce the spot. While that’s an extreme example, franchise companies don’t pay for national advertising out of their pockets… it’s paid for by franchisees. Be careful what you wish for or they may implement co-op ad fees (if they haven’t already).
RE: the model… how many members do you need to reach breakeven? Is there an average number across the board? Isn’t the biggest threat simply oversaturation with similar competitors?
As a former club owner who recently closed, I felt compelled to add my two cents.
Butterfly LIFE as a corporation didn’t fail with the product they put on the table, but rather in the BRANDING of that product and the dishonest approach they employed to sucker you into purchasing a franchise.
I have been in fitness for over 17 years and have worked in every conceivable fashion in the industry. I have done everything from personal training, to customer service, to membership sales, to running a club, to being the VP of Sales & Marketing for 9 clubs. My wife and I decided to look into Butterfly LIFE for our future.
We were impressed with the seminar and even more impressed when we visited a couple of clubs and saw how the whole thing works. It IS the best overall wellness formula on the market for women. I mean you cannot beat a progressive weight stack on the circuit, classes without the hassle of hiring staff to teach the classes and nutrition included.
The product is not the problem. I have read through some of the “pro” comments, and yes, we too had members with amazing results. We had members lose over 50 lbs as well and saw some of our initially apprehensive members catch on and become some of our most dedicated members. Hell, we signed up over 300 members in around 8 months and forced 1 Curves location to go under because we took around half their members away!
The biggest branding problem is their National Marketing approach. We heard about all of these wonderful national TV commercials that were supposed to make our phones “ring off the hook” and this 5 minute TV show that was supposed to “change lives”. First of all, this 5 minute was garbage and a total waste of time and money. It was on at like 8:25AM on TLC. Nobody ever saw it! My wife and I even tried to TIVO it and only found it 1 time even though it was supposed to air 6 or 7 times!
And as far as the commercials went, we MAYBE signed up 3 members from ANYTHING corporate did because the commercials were…
#1 at a time when nobody sees them
#2 squashed at the end of the time slot and most importantly
#3 did NOTHING for branding!
Butterfly LIFE tried to tell the story of people changing their lives BEFORE they ever told the people WHAT Butterfly LIFE was or HOW it could change their life too!! That’s like taking a person off the street and training them as hard as they can to be the best football player they could possibly be and sticking them on a football field and NEVER teaching them how to BLOCK OR TACKLE an opponent! Butterfly LIFE tried tell a story before they told the people WHAT WE DID or HOW IT COULD HELP them! The commercial they made to create an interest in selling their franchises was more impactful!
Also, if you had the best product on the market, wouldn’t you shout it from the rooftops? If that’s the case and having already established that Butterfly LIFE has a better product than Curves, then why is it that…
#1 everyone knows what Curves does
#2 you can find a Curves commercial during Survivor, the Amazing Race, Big Brother etc etc
#3 Curves is on a cereal box?
Answer: BRANDING!
The other area Butterfly LIFE falls short is their absolutely horrific way they sell the franchises. In the seminar we attended, Mark Golob stood up and told the group that you could open a Butterfly LIFE franchise for “about the cost of an SUV”. The inital estimates for opening a club ranged from 50-70K. I immediately asked Mark at the seminar, what does that estimate include, because it surely cannot include everything. He said that we would get “the doors open” for 50-70K.
So, after researching as much as we could and budgeting 100K for start-up because I thought Mark was insane with that projection, we decided to purchase and open a franchise. News flash, we spent over $160K BEFORE the doors were open and the overage ate around 75% of the money we had budgeted for operating capital. Soon after we opened, we found out that MOST of the new club owners were in the same boat we were. So we fought and clawed and did EVERYTHING we could to stay open…even surviving a Workout World franchise that opened a month after we did and sold their charter memberships for $9 a month! But we were doomed from the start because we were out of money BECAUSE of those initial projections. Yes, we were at our break even point by the 4th month, but we had gone so far in debt to keep the line moving, closing was inevitable. Hell, even over a year later, we still closed with over 250 active members even though we had 0 money to advertise for the last 4 months we were open.
I am not here to boo-hoo about our failure. I am here to let anyone who is seriously considering purchasing a BFL franchise what to expect. To quote my wife, BFL does not stand for Butterfly LIFE…it stand for Big F_ _ _ _ _ _ Liars….I’ll let you fill in the blanks.
Sean,
Member Numbers I have heard from franchisee’s is between 300 and 360 to break even. They make sure we are set up in high rent units in
newer busy shopping centers. Most rents for clubs around me I have heard quoted $6300-$7200 for approx 2,000sq.ft. With those costs plus $1000 royalty pmts plus insurance, utilities, mandatory advertising of $1800 and personal costs if you have employees. Makes it hard to break even in 3-6 months or even 12-24 months.
Has anyone forwarded any of these blogs to anyone of any significance at BL corporate?? It seems like the obvious and right thing to do.
We all agree that the business model is good. It seems appropriate and only fair to existing franchisees to make Corporate aware that there is so much discontent. They may actually surprise you and make some necessary adjustments!
As a business owner, wouldn’t you be much wiser to fix the problem than to contribute to it by tearing down the very business you’ve invested in?
I agree that there are significant growing pains. I agree that the corporate leaders have forgotten that their franchisees are partners and are necessary and can be a terrific asset in growing the company. But these problems could be corrected, to everyone’s benefit.
Maybe its time to open up a rational, professional dialogue.
Mike: Thanks for taking the time to share your experience and to provide specifics. Your information is very instructive for would-be franchise owners looking at ANY opportunity. Investing with EYES WIDE OPEN is what FranchisePick.com is all about. It’s also instructive for franchisors truly interested in creating successful franchise system via successful franchisees (most do).
Your experience is especially alarming given your extensive background in the industry and skeptical eye. If you could fail with what you know, the newbies may be a highly endangered species.
While all I know of BL is what’s been shared here, I can say that many franchisors’ growth strategy is to get as big as they can as fast as they can so they can gain the critical mass to do the kinds of national promotions they promised prematurely. They somehow rationalize the early franchisee failures as acceptable losses… an opinion I do not share in the least. It’s a lot easier to sell franchises with the promises of tv shows and national commercials than with flyers and doorhangers. So they blow precious ad dollars producing commercials they can’t afford to air… I would have hired a firm to come up with a workable name first.
Anti Butterfly Thanks for your comments and info. Does the franchisor collect and spend the mandatory $1800 advertising, or do you spend that on your own? Where is that spent?
leigh said: Has anyone forwarded any of these blogs to anyone of any significance at BL corporate?? It seems like the obvious and right thing to do…. We all agree that the business model is good… Maybe its time to open up a rational, professional dialogue.
Well said, Leigh. My guess is that BL Corporate is not working with the AAFD in establishing a franchisee dialogue, and zees feel they need to go to outside for help, to express their frustration, or to warn others (anonymously).
My hope is that the discussions here help franchisors understand and address the very real concerns and challenges, that they join the dialogue and take the opportunity to correct what’s not working. Every company discussed here is offered the opportunity to address concerns or rebut inaccurate statements. They can contact me at info[at]ideafarm.net, or at 717-656-2107 x24.
Since Phil will not answer the questions that have been asked of him, I will tell you that as an Area Rep if he “bought into” a 50 club area his investment first was 250,000. In return for each club he promotes/has open in his terriorty he will receive 1/2 of the current franchise fees. ( Which by the way has changed many times in the past, only Corp. knows this week what that amount is) Last reported was 29,500.00. He then will receive 400.00 of the franchisee’s monthly royalty. The AR are responsible for promoting the sale of clubs.There is your 400.00 a month for advertising!!! His renewal for every club open is every 5 years @ 5,000.00.each. Where the club owner has to re-new every ten years at the rate of $10,000.00. Making note that if any club makes ten years, that is 120,000.00 in royalty alone.I am betting the club owners would love to be able to pay themselves 120,000.00 over that period.Now understand these “amounts” were the amounts told by Mark himself when he tried to convince people what a great deal this would be. Second offer: Have a 25 club area for 175,000.00. 1/2 of the franchise fee and 300.00 a month in royality. Then your show case club would be free. Free ONLY of the franchise fee, not the build out. I have heard there is another offer being put out there for AR but have not verified that. As an AR they are also responsible for the advertising and arrangements for the seminars to promote club sales. Corp. has come up with yet another plan to not have to pay for something. If the AR’s would come forward with their own personal stories( truthfully ) we would have just as many different stories about that as we do individual club owner stories.
Oh yeah corporate know about this website……..they posted Cynthia’s comment with out her permission.
Sunshine: This is good information. Thanks. For those new to this, “Area Representatives” or area developers are generally a type of franchisee who assists in selling and supporting franchises within a defined area. It is important to know that AR franchisees have a vested interest in painting a rosy picture of their franchise opportunity. In extreme cases, their own stores could be losing money but they are making enough promoting franchises in their area not to let on.
Do BL area reps make claims about potential earnings or the financial performance of their clubs during the sales process?
Thank you Sean, for this site which allows BFL owners and area reps to speak the truth. Truth being the one thing Corp. does NOT want all franchisees to know. (However, I am NOT an Area Rep, nor do I own a BFL franchise.) If Cynthia’s comments were posted here without her permission, maybe that is why “Phil”, who IS an Area Rep never responded to your questions.
If the Corp. people do indeed know about this site, then they are also aware of the AAFD chapter and complaints to the Dept. of Corporations in Calif. and is why many club owners are now receiving Default Letters and Notices of Intent to Terminate. This is how they do business, threaten struggling club owners with intimidation rather than support.
Will Corp. sell your club for you? Sure!! They will release you from your personal guarantee/contract agreement and sell your struggling club to yet another unknowing “want to be” and you walk away well over 100,000.00 dollars in debt. Think: 1,000.00 a month for a 10 year agreement=120,000.00 in royalties. They are going to get their money either way. But every one remember “What goes around – comes around” and now WE are coming around. United we stand!
Sean I did not answer your question about what the BFL Area Reps say when doing their presentations, because I have never heard an AR presentation. However, I have paid for the “expensive” presentation of- HOW GREAT I AM- by Mark Golob.
Hello All,
I’ve been reading your comments as well as reading everything on the internet about this and other franchises. I am a BL franchisee but I have not yet opened. I think that those who are unhappy may be franchisee’s from the first wave of franchises that were sold in 2005, there were about 18. Hopefully, for my sake and other new franchisee’s, corporate has learned from their mistakes. Over the past 8 months I have called almost 40 franchisee’s and most were positive and gave me great advice. The ones who are struggling, also gave great advice and only 2 thought that corporate didn’t paint a full picture.
Sunshine: The recent lay-offs were only Sales staff. Corporate is focusing more on support staff for new and existing franchises. That may be why i’m hearing more positive things from owners who opened within the past year or so.
As for Curves and brand recognition. I think you all forget that there was a time when you did not know what Curves was. It took years for brand recognition. Lastly, like any business, it takes time to achieve profit level. The research that I did before buying my franchise, on all types of business, said that it can take 6 months to a couple of years to get out of the red.
Mike: I’m not understanding why you closed. you had 300 members at one point, that’s about $12000. per mo on dues alone, was your rent high? I’m sorry for all of you who are suffering and hopeful for those of us just beginning.
Thank you everyone for being so open. And yes Sunshine…Mark Golob is the Pres. of the How Great I Am club. =)
Franchisee…….I find it interesting that you have not identified yourself or the location that you will be opening in. Rumor has it that someone from Corporate has been writing here so that it appears that “all is well”. I’m not sure which new owners you have been talking to……we speak on almost a daily basis to some of them. As for Curves and their Branding….they did that right from the start and now they are everywhere you look. They were very smart about getting the name out at the beginning……their product is good but ours is better ~~ the next step if you will, our problem is that nobody knows “what” Butterfly Life is. The reason people go the franchise route is so the branding (among other things) is done for them. We would never have bought this if we had known that all we were paying for is the right to use the name ~~~ we could have started a club under another name for MUCH less money and headaches!!! Wait until you have to dish out a grand every month with or without the members to support that let alone your other expenses.
So, with that said…….who are you and where is your club going to be?
I am so concerned about what I am hearing on this web site. It has led to many panic attacks. We have one club in our area that is profitable after one year (so they say). I have purchased 3 locations and am set to open a location by the end of the year. I am torn about cutting my losses and running or sticking it out. I have some loss of confidence in corp. Where is the show, where is the book, and I am told that franchise fees go to putting together templates for marketing and not the marketing itself. Now we are in charge of marketing. So I am guessing that at 1,500 a month our marketing plan will cost us 18,000 this year. F___K! Not sure what to do??
Franchisee,
Your information has to be coming from Corporate, not based on the actual facts. The “first wave” of franchisees was in 2004, not 2005. My club never reached break even let alone a profit and I opened in late 2005, not part of the first or second wave. The UFOC had been revised and the initial franchise fee had been increased at least twice before I bought.
Corporate promotes themselves as experienced franchisees. They say they are the same folks who operated the Linda Evans centers for umpteen years. They know exactly what they are doing. They have gone through the learning curve. They are saying and doing everything intentionally because they think that is how to sell the clubs. Say anything that will get these suckers to sign on the dotted line and give us that money!
Before I bought into it, I spoke with some of the same people on this blog who warned me not to do it. But, I let Corporate fool me into thinking it was their fault (bad business people, poor locations, etc.). I know Corporate is probably telling a new batch of suckers the same lies about me. I don’t take it personally though. Like Mark told me himself when I needed help and my club was in trouble, “Sorry, it’s business.”
Pam, when you say, “we speak on almost a daily basis to some of them.” What do you mean? You harass franchise owners so that they will say something bad, are you do you twist the words around to put the “testimonials” in your favor. I would like to hear some of your “conversations” that you apparently have every day to find out if you are being accurate and the data being presented here is even valid.
ATTENTION EVERYONE: This is an unregulated site that is not controlled or monitored by anyone. I can come on hear and tell everyone that the world is flat and the sky is magenta and nobody can say anything. The people who are in charge of this are all morons. If you want to do research on a franchise, direct yourself to the http://www.aafd.org and speak to a professional. Do not come to a blog b/c all you read is a bunch of unverifiable, unreliable, questionable testimonials that may or may not have any credence to them.
Pam: My identity is not that interesting but, I understand why you want to know, i’m skeptical about these sites too. My name is Jackie, i’m from Southern CA and I don’t have a site yet, still searching. Now about the owners that i’ve talked too, they asked me not to share their identities and I won’t. I continue to call owners when I have time so maybe i’ll talk to one of your friends eventually. As for Curves and branding…I get it and I agree that BL is wasting money on that ridiculous 5 minute “TV show”, I think they are starting to “get it” too, since it’s no longer on tv. Now they need to focus on commercials that target membership. That said, Curves also took some time to be brand recognized, it wasn’t over night.
I agree with you 100%, I bought a franchise for the same reason, Branding. The reason I chose Butterfly Life over the other options is that we have a better product. I’ve talked to several Curves and Contour Express owners and they are having problems with retention because of their equipment and BL moving in the area. I’m not here to argue with anyone or downgrade the fact the some are having a hard time, I just want to hear both sides. When someone post something negative, nobody puts you down, but when someone post something positive, you immediately say it’s corporate. I think that being the first in an area is extremely difficult, those who have opened in an area BL has a presence have it easier. I’m here to learn as much as I can and share what I know. I’m really sorry that you’re having a bad time.
So, with that said…where is your club and when did you open? Is there a chance that with a little more time you will come out on top or do you see yourself going backwards. I’m just trying to figure out if timing has anything to do with an individual clubs success or failure. I mean Corporate timing, I know that clubs who opened befor 06 describe a different Corp. than what I know. Again, i’m sorry it’s not going well for you. I’m just trying to get an objective view…before I sign a lease.
Brandi: Sorry that was a typo. I know that they started selling franchises in 04. They sold 3 that year, in 05 they sold 18 and 06 there were 30+. That’s why I’m wondering if maybe by now they’ve worked out some of the kinks. The owners that I attended BLU with are in contact with me weekly and they’re doing great. I’m only asking questions because I want the option of cutting my losses before I lose. That’s why i’m trying to figure out what % of unhappy owners bought pre 06 because the people that I know and have talked to, that are happy are 06/07. Where is your club? Are there other BL’s in the area? Just curious.
Ted: Slow your roll, we know it’s not perfect but, it is what it is. If we can learn anything and follow up with more questions, even questions for corporate it helps.
Freaked Out: Did you just learn that marketing was up to you? Have you not attended BLU yet or read the agreement? Just wondering. Don’t freak, take a deep breath, you can do it.