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Fitness Industry Trends that Stand the Test of Time
“We like to use the four categories of workout equipment,” says Dailyn Annis, Craig’s daughter who serves as operations manager, “because this gives everyone, regardless of their degree of fitness knowledge, an opportunity to get a beneficial workout, target all parts of the body and walk away feeling good.”
By sticking with the fundamentals, Craig and Dailyn believe franchise partners also profit – financially and with semi-absentee flexibility. Consider the following:
- Anti-trendiness: Vanguard Key Clubs don’t chase trends and fads, which often fade in popularity and could require significant capital investments. “If you don’t have to spend money on something new to keep up with the latest trends, you can instead reinvest in your facility and upgrade your equipment for longer-term success,” Craig says. “Our approach is based on lasting fitness industry trends that ensure sustainable growth without unnecessary spending.”
- Flexibility in equipment: While Vanguard does require franchisees to have the four categories of equipment, it doesn’t require any specific brands, and the founders do recommend warrantied, re-manufactured equipment rather than brand new, at least at the start. Craig points out that older re-manufactured equipment can be just as effective and newer higher-tech equipment can have higher maintenance costs. “Do people really care that the treadmill talks to them? No, not if the screen breaks and then the treadmill doesn’t work. So, we say, keep it simple,” he says.
- No hiring hassles: The 24/7 unstaffed gym model requires no employees as Vanguard Key Clubs uses independent contractors for cleaning and equipment maintenance and repair. Personal trainers actually pay a monthly fee to Vanguard for referrals and use of the space to work with their clients.
- Optimal work-life balance: Franchisees or their off-site managers mainly process memberships online and assist members who forget their key cards, which allows for absentee- or semi-absentee ownership of multiple locations. “We’ve nailed down the business model in a way that you can remotely run multiple full-blown, 10,000-12,000-square-foot gyms,” Craig says.
- Always in demand: Workouts focused on strength and cardio fitness will never go out of style. The global health and fitness club market size is projected to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 8.83% to $202.78 billion by 2030, according to Fortune Business Insights, which attributes the growth to increasing health consciousness and prevalence of diseases such as obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
One fitness trend Craig recognized early on was consumers’ demand for convenience and accessibility, which has only grown in importance. Increasingly sedentary lifestyles and remote work pose greater health risks, such as blood clots, cardiovascular disease and diabetes, experts say. To prevent issues associated with longer periods of sitting and computer work, Craig says, “people need to be able to fit workouts into their schedules. Vanguard Key Clubs offers that accessibility and convenience, while also allowing members to use any of our corporate locations, which currently are in New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts.”
Vanguard Key Clubs’ 24/7 unstaffed gym model isn’t unique, but it has longevity. “While many gyms are built around short-lived fitness crazes, we’ve always focused on lasting fitness industry trends. I’m not sure how many 24-hour, unstaffed fitness facilities there were when we started three decades ago, but I think it’s safe to say we’re one of the originals doing it this way. We’re at the front of the line with the concept of convenience for people, which is how we came up with the name. Vanguard: It’s your front line.”
Craig and Dailyn stress that even though Vanguard is old-school in many ways, they are open to new ideas to achieve franchisees’ financial fitness. “The objective of bringing in franchisees is to bring in a family of ideas and different experiences and different cultures so that we can pick out the best of those ideas and grow together,” he says.
For more about franchising opportunities, go to Vanguard Key Clubs’ website.