Is now a good time to invest in a fitness franchise?

Brian Duckett writes:

That’s a question better asked of a fitness sector expert, the franchisor in question or its franchisees, but it serves to make the wider point that research is vital into all aspects of the business into which you are thinking of investing.

There seem to be a lot of fitness franchises around at the moment and many of them seem to be expanding quite rapidly, but whether that makes it a good or bad time to invest I cannot say.

The best way to decide is to ask the various franchisors’ staff as many questions as you can and to back that up by meeting or speaking with as many of its existing franchisees as possible. Take a wide sample of those who have been in the system a long time and those who have recently joined, even with some who have left if you can track them down. The process is much easier these days, thanks to the various search engines and social media.

Remember, however, that you can’t please all the people all the time, so be prepared to find some franchisees who found the opportunity wasn’t quite what they expected. That doesn’t mean it’s not a good time for you.

Brian Duckett is chairman of The Franchising Centre, part of the world’s largest network of specialist franchise consultants.