Episode 24: Inside the Anytime Fitness Franchise with Tony Wind — 5,600+ Locations, Flat Fees & 24/7 Profits

Franchise Business Radio (00:03.493)
We are back with another episode of the Franchise Business Radio Show powered by the Franchise Sisters. This is your co-host, Pam Curry.

Shari Currie Skjoldager (00:12.199)
and your other co-host, Sherry Curry Skulldigger.

Franchise Business Radio (00:15.537)
That’s right. The Franchise Business Radio Show is designed to be a platform to educate and bring business professionals together to serve aspiring entrepreneurs looking to invest and operate a franchise. On today’s show, we have Tony Nguyen, Director of Franchise Development for a very mature brand, Anytime Fitness.

Anytime Fitness is the world’s largest franchise brand and Tony, you’ve been with them for nine years now.

Tony Wind – Anytime Fitness (00:46.359)
I have,

Franchise Business Radio (00:47.527)
fabulous. Well, welcome to the show. Yeah, do you want to do is let’s go ahead and kick it off. I know you actually got to start with any time fitness after you saw the results of being a member. Tell us more about that.

Tony Wind – Anytime Fitness (00:49.816)
Thanks for having me.

Tony Wind – Anytime Fitness (00:59.64)
Yeah, exactly.

Yeah, so as you mentioned, I’ve been with the brand for about nine years now on the corporate side, but before that I actually started out as a member. And so my last job, back up a little further than that, I was working your stereotypical desk job. I was taking up to 150 calls a day and I was sitting down all day long and I wasn’t getting any exercise and I don’t have the willpower to pass up the free donuts on Fridays. And that’s a bad combination. So

I realized I got to a point where I kind of looked in the mirror and was like, all right, it’s time to do something different. And I was at the heaviest point in my life. so thankfully for me, there wasn’t any time fitness across the street. So I just started going on my lunch break. And then the flexibility of the brand made a huge impact for me because I was able to, you know, I realized I could go anywhere, not just the one by my work. And I could go nights, weekends, whenever I wanted to. And so I just started working out there. within the span of a couple of years, I lost 50 pounds. And then I ran a marathon and stuff that at the time felt

inconceivable and so the brand made a big impact on me and I came to corporate because I wanted to help that model spread and bring fitness to more parts of the country and been doing that ever since.

Franchise Business Radio (02:06.493)
Congratulations, that’s a big achievement, a personal achievement for sure. Let’s talk a little bit more about the brand itself and the business model. At a high level, would you please share with our listeners the story and the growth behind Anytime Fitness?

Shari Currie Skjoldager (02:07.819)
Great story.

Tony Wind – Anytime Fitness (02:08.963)
Thank you.

Tony Wind – Anytime Fitness (02:24.61)
Yeah, the growth is insane. So we’ve we’ve only been around for 23 years. It feels like more than that. But in the span of 23 years, we’ve gone from one gym started in Minnesota, one gym here, and then we’re up to 5600 locations now currently. We are in all 50 states, of course, here in the US internationally, we are up to 43 countries. And the one that surprises everybody is all seven continents were the only brand on earth on all seven continents. So yes, that includes Antarctica. And so

One of the really cool parts about the model, if you’re a member, can go to any of our gyms globally. So the bigger we get, it’s just an ever growing benefit to our members that there’s more and more places that you can go work out. that’s kind of where it all started. And then also just like, you 24 hour fitness, we’re the brand that pioneered that whole concept. And so that’s really, I think why in the beginning we grew as fast as we did was, you know, people realized they don’t need the huge box gyms that have the racquetball courts and the swimming pools and the basketball courts.

Those things are all great, but not everybody needs all that stuff. you know, just the simplicity of the model made a lot of sense to a lot of people, but also just the ability to go whenever you want. And so that’s kind of where the where the brand came from.

Shari Currie Skjoldager (03:32.661)
That’s awesome. I didn’t realize you guys were in all seven continents and you were the only ones who’ve done that. 5,600, that’s crazy. Can you share with our listeners a little bit more about the business model? So it’s this 24-7 fitness concept. How does that work in regards to if I want to work out at 2 a.m., how do I get in? And will I run into any staff as an owner? Do I need staff for those times? How does that

Tony Wind – Anytime Fitness (03:56.6)
Good question. So yeah, one of the really cool parts when you’re a franchisee, you don’t need to pay for staff to sit behind a desk when it might be slow times. And so our average gym is staffed, would say about 50 hours per week where there’s somebody there and that’s going to be, you know, a manager to sign up members and give tours and phone calls and emails and all those things. And then usually when you first get started, you also have a personal trainer, but when you first start, you’ve got two employees. That’s it.

And so what’s nice about it is everybody has their own key card or because it’s 2025, you can just use your app. Now you scan in at the door, it unlocks for you locks, of course, behind you for security and you can go work out 24 hours a day whenever you want. And so we’ve got a lot of really advanced security in place to make sure it’s safe for everybody. But that is a model that has worked all around the world now.

Shari Currie Skjoldager (04:42.673)
That’s great. Is it a single revenue stream or is there other ways as an owner that I can build my financial

Tony Wind – Anytime Fitness (04:52.546)
That’s a great question. No, we got a lot of different options. So, you number one, your bread and butter is usually going to be your recurring revenue through memberships, which by the way, we let our franchisees set their own membership pricing based on in a really wide range, but based on the market you’re in, because what makes sense in New York City might be different than what makes sense in Iowa. And we recognize that and we allow a lot of flexibility there. yeah, depending on where you are in the country, you get to set that. So that’s going to be your number one revenue generator.

usually. Personal training is usually going to be number two. But we’ve got some other things we’ve been working on. a few years ago, we piloted the ability to do both physical therapy or chiropractor. And so what’s nice about it, the way that we do it is it’s kind of a store within a store concept. And so all you’re doing is basically letting somebody use a small office of your club. And so what’s nice is they pay you each month to be there. That’s number one.

But number two is they bring people through your doors that are often not your members that can become your members. So it’s a lead source that not only do you not pay for, you’re being paid for. So that program’s been awesome. And then recently, this is really hot off the press, we introduced infrared red light therapy saunas. And so that’s an additional revenue stream too. That’s not included in your base membership. And it’s something our franchisees can offer to their members that.

is a real benefit. It aids with muscle recovery and it has a lot of health benefits and it’s just something that’s been really popular in the fitness world recently and so it’s another option for our franchisees to make some money and a great option for members.

Shari Currie Skjoldager (06:25.281)
That’s great. Yeah, infrared light. Everybody’s getting into that for a lot of reasons. And you you work out and you want to have that recovery moment. So yeah, that’s nice. It’s all kind of potentially wrapped in. And if people want to add that to their service. So I guess you’ve identified a few differentiators from other 24 seven fitness centers. I don’t know if other ones are doing that or not. Can you share what else makes you different from your competitors?

Tony Wind – Anytime Fitness (06:29.229)
Yes.

Tony Wind – Anytime Fitness (06:49.358)
Yeah.

Tony Wind – Anytime Fitness (06:53.23)
Yeah, absolutely. So, you I already mentioned your one membership gets into 5,600 clubs. Nobody else even comes close to matching that. We’re the biggest by a pretty wide margin. So that’s great in itself. But also like we can go into communities of all different sizes, which is really cool too. So we can serve some communities that otherwise might be very underserved with fitness. Like we can go into communities as small as like 5,000 population.

And so, you know, that works really well and it’s going to work really well in other, the other side of the spectrum too, like in, you know, super urban densely populated areas. I’ve got one in downtown San Diego. I’ve got one in downtown Minneapolis and either side of that can work really well for very different reasons. You know, obviously you’re going to in the smaller markets, you’re going to have less competition. so, you that can work really well. And then in the bigger markets, you’ve got a lot more people to pull from, but of course there’s going to be a bit more competition, but either side of that can actually work really well.

and everything in between. that’s really nice. And then in terms of the size of our clubs, we’re pretty flexible with that. We’re what’s called a small box gym, which is we do like 3,500 to 6,500 square feet. So you don’t need the giant space and all the overhead that comes with it to be a franchisee. also have this is a unique one. And I know you work with a lot of different franchisers, but we have a flat royalty. And so I know that I personally don’t know of any other franchisers that do this, but

It’s flat. And what that means is, you know, once you’ve gotten beyond your breakeven, it’s not tied to your revenue. It’s this flat fee. So that means every dollar that comes in beyond your breakeven is going to widen your EBITDA margin and just gives your franchisees endless potential to make more money. So it’s a, it’s a pretty cool structure. And then as I mentioned, unstaffed towers, that’s a big deal because, know, like for, you know, people that maybe have, you know, kids and you’ve got activities and things going on. We recognize people have life outside of the gym sometimes.

you know, there’s a, you somebody that calls in sick, our members can still get in. That’s a really big deal. Life doesn’t shut down because, you know, somebody left an hour early or, you know, something along those lines. So it’s a, it’s a pretty unique structure.

Shari Currie Skjoldager (08:57.855)
Yeah, that’s self sufficient fitness model. Nice.

Tony Wind – Anytime Fitness (09:01.027)
Yeah.

Franchise Business Radio (09:03.374)
So you do permit semi-absentee operators then? Is that what you heard?

Tony Wind – Anytime Fitness (09:07.03)
Yeah, we sure do. Yeah. So we have, I would say it’s about a 50-50 split in our network of franchisees that want to be the person there. They want to be the operator and then ones that want to just keep their day job. And, basically you still, of course have to have a good pulse on what’s going on in your club and you have to be kind of the brains behind the operation. But if you want to hire a manager to be kind of your boots on the ground, that’s great. We have no issue with that at all. So yeah, there’s no requirement that you have to be there any set amount of time, anything like that.

Franchise Business Radio (09:34.653)
Okay, this kind of business model in my mind lends itself really nicely to multi units. Could you kind of give me an idea of how many of your franchisees are multi unit owners?

Tony Wind – Anytime Fitness (09:41.677)
Yes.

Tony Wind – Anytime Fitness (09:48.023)
Yes, we have about two thirds of our network own multiple. You can start with one, that’s okay, but a lot of people just like to start out with multiple. And if you do multiple, you reserve your territories right out of the gate. But of course you’re not gonna be expected to open them all simultaneously. You can kind of structure that one at a time. But yeah, we’ve got some big groups in our network. I’ve got one group that owns 300 clubs. I’ve got another, I’ve got several others in the hundred plus category. And I’ve got…

There’s one guy I’m going to call out here. My friend Luke Andrus is a phenomenal operator and it’s kind of cool the success stories that like he started out as a trainer in one of our clubs and Luke ended up getting an award for trainer of the year across our entire system. Then he came to work at our corporate office. Then he became a franchisee. Now he him and his partner have opened 60 clubs.

Franchise Business Radio (10:37.725)
Wow.

Tony Wind – Anytime Fitness (10:38.142)
And so it’s pretty cool. A lot of people, you you can start small, but you’re absolutely right. This model works perfectly for anybody that’s looking to scale up.

Franchise Business Radio (10:46.941)
I love to hear stories like that, that’s inspiring in itself. So, you know, it’s interesting, it’s also validating, right? It’s validating around the business model. I think another differentiator that pops out to me is I have heard that any time fitness has a very low failure rate. Can you tell us how you think you’ve achieved that? Because you’re a big system and usually there’s more failures than a bigger system.

Tony Wind – Anytime Fitness (11:05.922)
Yeah.

Tony Wind – Anytime Fitness (11:09.566)
Yeah, absolutely. No, there’s a crazy statistic that I had to, had to Google this one just to make sure it was accurate, but 81 % of independent gyms fail within the first year. That’s crazy. Our failure rate is 2.6 % annualized. And so it’s, it’s absolutely almost unheard of in any industry, but especially in fitness, it’s crazy. And it’s just a testament to, you know, we’ve got a proven model.

We’ve got an amazing support structure. So I’ll talk about that real quick, but I think this is kind of the secret behind it. But, you know, we’ve got a real estate team. They help you find your location. We’ve got a construction design team. They do all the drawings for you. You get a project manager. They oversee the timing and everything. And you get a network of a thousand plus franchisees to bounce ideas off of. Last but certainly not least, you get a franchise business coach, not just in beginning, the whole time you’re a franchisee, you’ve got this point person to go to for everything. So it’s like,

You know, we’ve done this 5,600 times around the world, not to say we’re perfect or not. We’re always trying to get better every day, but you know, we’ve got a pretty good model at this point and we’re not just going to hand you the playbook and say, good luck. We’re going to give you the playbook and say, let’s get to work and figure out how we can do this. So it’s a, I think that that failure rate is a, you know, big reason largely in part because we’ve got all this great support in place.

Franchise Business Radio (12:30.813)
So you obviously have a very large footprint. We’ve already mentioned the 5,600 units out there, which is a very mature national and global brand. When you think about, you mentioned it kind of in the different franchise formats, the different sizes, being able to go into different markets. Is there a different equipment package that goes along with the size of your unit footprint? How does that work?

Shari Currie Skjoldager (12:38.827)
large.

Tony Wind – Anytime Fitness (12:57.804)
Yeah, sure. So we have a network of approved vendors. So we’ve got different packages that are going to be built out based on, we kind of have like a base equipment package that we’re going to recommend based on the size and based on the layout. So that’s part of what our construction design team does. They’re going to do the drawings and they’re going to let you know based on your layout, here’s how much equipment would fit. Here’s what’s going to make the most sense. They’re always going to leave some room though, because we want you to be able to customize it a little bit too.

As you grow, you’re going to get to see what your members want more of. And if we filled it up with equipment right away, there’s no place to pivot. We’ve actually got some pretty cool software that’s built into our cameras that is doing heat mapping. And so you can see where all your members are going and which equipment they use the most and things like that too. So you can at a glance figure out what’s most popular. And it’s like, OK, everybody likes this type of equipment. Maybe when I add some more pieces down the line, I should add some more of these.

It also works really well too, where you can see like, you know, the treadmill closest to the restroom gets used the most. So maybe I should rotate that with the other ones so it doesn’t get burnt out. but yeah, you get, you do get some flexibility based, we’re going to have recommendations based on the size and layout and everything.

Franchise Business Radio (13:59.389)
Thanks.

Franchise Business Radio (14:05.757)
That makes sense. And obviously that’s going to feed into the initial investment, the item seven. So can you walk us through what the initial investment is become a franchise owner?

Tony Wind – Anytime Fitness (14:16.145)
Yep. Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, as I mentioned, the clubs can be big or small. They can be in, you know, Nebraska or they can be in California. So you see a really wide range. But, you know, the range again for the size can be 3,500 to 6,500. That’s going to be the primary differentiator, but also the condition of the building you’re moving into, of course. But total range we see nationally is 458,000 to 908,000.

Franchise Business Radio (14:25.597)
Mm-hmm.

Tony Wind – Anytime Fitness (14:41.998)
That is including everything. So that’s factoring in, you know, from the time you sign to the time your door is open, buying all your fitness equipment, not leasing it, you own it, you have equity in it. Construction is going to be the biggest variable because we just don’t know how big or small your club is at this point. most people land in the middle of that range. And if you were to land in the middle, you can probably expect to put down maybe 125 to 150 with an SBA loan.

Shari Currie Skjoldager (15:04.458)
and

Franchise Business Radio (15:04.645)
Is that what you’re most commonly seen from a funding standpoint or SBA loan?

Tony Wind – Anytime Fitness (15:08.768)
Yeah, I would say most commonly some people will do like Rob’s rollovers and you know use part of their 401k to maybe fund part of it, but it really kind of depends on the person. I would say SBA is probably most common.

Franchise Business Radio (15:17.073)
Okay.

Franchise Business Radio (15:21.287)
Well, since we’re talking about money, we’ve got to move into the item 19, financial performance representation. What can you share with us there?

Tony Wind – Anytime Fitness (15:30.414)
Yeah, so I mean, we’re all about transparency. We have a very detailed item 19 for that reason, which includes a full profit loss statement based off of our corporate gyms, just because we can see what our corporate gyms, obviously the utility bills and everything can make sure they’re accurate. But our average, the average of our top quartile comes in at 865,000. The top club in the US is a little over 1.6 million.

And per that profit loss statement that I mentioned, the average EBITDA is around 27%. And what is really nice about it is, as I mentioned, because we have that flat royalty, it’s like the sky’s the limit. That’s the average. if you’re a middle performer versus a top performer, that EBITDA very likely is going to grow exponentially just because your expenses aren’t really going to change. You’re not really carrying much for inventory or anything else. But usually that one…

variable that’s always going to be there is going to be your royalty, but with us it’s flat. yeah, that’s kind of nice about our structure.

Franchise Business Radio (16:26.141)
next time.

Shari Currie Skjoldager (16:29.579)
That’s a really nice structure. And then you have so much of a purchase and an asset. I would think there would be some strong tax write-offs maybe in early upfront to kind of help with those P &Ls in the earlier couple of years. So, all right. This is a great model. Did we miss anything? Is there anything else that you’d like to share that our listeners should know about Anytime Fitness?

Tony Wind – Anytime Fitness (16:52.042)
Yeah, well, I forgot to tell you one fun fact that I think we have to mention here is Anytime Fitness’ logo is one of the most tattooed brand logos on the planet. That’s something that surprises a lot of people, but to the point that it’s become such a thing that inside our corporate office, we have a licensed tattoo parlor inside our office where I am right now. And at our conference, I just got back from our annual conference, they fly in five tattoo artists that tattoo the entire three-day event.

Franchise Business Radio (17:13.277)
I’m

Tony Wind – Anytime Fitness (17:20.918)
And we had a line, you should check out my LinkedIn, I posted a video of it. We had a line of people opening night that stretches really, really far. We ended up, they gave out over 100 tattoos and we had a list of hundreds of people they never got to. So it just shows you how passionate so many people are about this brand, how it’s changed their lives, that they’re willing to get this on their body. And by the way, I do have it on my tricep as well. I got that personally when I, you know, I mentioned my,

Franchise Business Radio (17:45.479)
Bye.

Tony Wind – Anytime Fitness (17:49.647)
journey in the beginning, but when I got back under 200 pounds for the first time in a really long time, I got that as a good reminder to never look back. But yeah, the other thing that I wanted to mention is a lot of people are nervous when I first talked to them they’re like, I don’t look like Arnold Schwarzenegger, I’ve never run a business, whatever the case may be. And I think the main thing I want you to understand is we have so much support built into this model. We’re be supporting you every step of the way. if you’re coming in here and you’re

ready to give it your all and you’re going to listen to the proven model and take guidance and we’re going to show you how this works, you’re going have a really high likelihood of success. So don’t be nervous. We’d love to talk to you and talk you through this.

Shari Currie Skjoldager (18:31.617)
Yeah, absolutely. That’s the value of a franchise system. You can come in with zero experience because you’re walking in the door talking with people who have decades of experience. And you guys have opened up 5,600. So you know what you’re doing. I love the tattoo. It’s a passion business. It’s a passion business.

Tony Wind – Anytime Fitness (18:44.94)
Yeah. Yep.

Yeah, isn’t that unique?

Franchise Business Radio (18:50.286)
and see you again.

Tony Wind – Anytime Fitness (18:53.644)
Yes it is. pretty unique but it’s right up there with Harley Davidson and Nike and some of those ones that you think of when you think tattoos so it’s pretty cool.

Shari Currie Skjoldager (19:02.559)
That is pretty cool. didn’t know you guys had such a following. All right. Well, thank you for being on the show. It’s been great having you. It’s really been fun learning about Anytime Fitness. How we like to wrap up our podcast is with one final question to our guests, and that is, what tips would you give to budding entrepreneurs?

Tony Wind – Anytime Fitness (19:23.182)
So there’s a Chinese proverb that I like that goes something like, the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time to plant a tree is now. And so I talked to a lot of people that wish they had gotten into this a long time ago and they’re like, did I already miss out? Is this too late? Absolutely not. You know, want to, you know, what better time than now? You can’t go back in the past. So, you know, let’s talk about this now. Do your due diligence, make sure that you, you know, feel good about the brand that you’re looking at.

And when you’re ready, make a bet on yourself and take that step. And it’s something that I’m personally looking to do myself too. I’m looking to get into franchising myself as a franchisee. So that’s something that’s hopefully coming soon.

Shari Currie Skjoldager (20:08.597)
Wow, I think you’d be great. You’ve got a great story. And I love that proverb too. I use it more often, a lot actually, because it’s great proverb.

Tony Wind – Anytime Fitness (20:11.789)
Well, thank you.

Tony Wind – Anytime Fitness (20:18.37)
Yes, absolutely.

Franchise Business Radio (20:20.199)
Well, congratulations. You have to keep us posted on this potential franchise movement that you’re willing and getting ready to be. OK. Well, again, Tony, thank you so much for being a guest on the Franchise Business Radio Show. We also want to say to our listeners, if franchise ownership is something you are considering, like Tony said, please, know, plant now. Don’t wait. Reach out to us. We would.

Shari Currie Skjoldager (20:23.294)
How?

Tony Wind – Anytime Fitness (20:28.984)
Will do.

Franchise Business Radio (20:49.809)
welcome having a free franchise consultation call with you. We also would like to give you some resources. We will give you a book, Top 10 Questions to Consider Before Investing in a Franchise. We have a full due diligence toolkit. So this isn’t something that you have to go about all by yourself. We are here as that resource coach, that business coach, and we want to…

We want to help you navigate this effort, so this process. We do like to say, investigate before you invest in a franchise.

Shari Currie Skjoldager (21:26.453)
That’s right Pam, the goal is to put you in a position to make a wise franchise decision, dodge costly mistakes, and achieve financial independence.

Franchise Business Radio (21:35.835)
That’s right. We appreciate you tuning in. This is the Franchise Sisters signing off. Fist bump!