Spreading the GOOD NEWS from 2020!!!
This franchisor proves what I have always taught….the #1 reason to invest in a franchise is for the people. Widgets did not keep doors open in 2020, but strong leadership did. Listen to this amazing story of adaptation and team work and be inspired!!
If you’ve seen my video “This Fitness Brand Defied All Logic and GREW During The 2020 Pandemic,” you are already familiar with Lance Freeman, VP of Franchisor Development for Xponential Fitness. In this video, we dive even deeper into how a fitness brand thought outside the box, and with some strong leadership, turned an economic disaster into a win for their business.
Lance speaks to the value of strong leadership in the organization: “We’re fortunate to have just an incredible leader, our CEO and majority owner at Xponential, Anthony Geisler, really decided to make a strategic decision to really stand up and fight through the pandemic rather than take safe harbor and wait out the storm. And I think that strategic decision really was a game changer in terms of how we were able to get through Covid and to the other side of it. It was hard work. It was a battle. It was a combination of therapy sessions and innovations. In fact, even in that period, we opened another 250 stores on top of that. We were like Captain Ron in Forrest Gump, really kind of fighting through this storm. One of the first things he did is while most companies in franchising were being P&L-conscious and furloughing deep into their teams, we did not furlough one employee. We staffed up, in fact.”
He explains that a big contributor to the company’s success has been partnering with the right franchisees: “Good franchise owners are in the position of really choosing their partner in the market rather than having to just award the first person that comes to the table. We’re looking at this as a long term investment and we want great partners over the long term. A lot is learned by the questions that people ask, how they’re thinking about approaching the business. Are they thinking about that the 99% or the thinking about the 1% that has no bearing at all on whether they’re going to be successful at this hour? We have had so many great partners in our system now because of you and the matchmaking process that you take your candidates through.”
Regarding Xponential’s goals for 2021, Lance says this: “In Anthony’s words, we just want to keep winning, and we just want to continue to build successful partnerships with our franchisees and continue to help them grow. We want to bring new partners in that are going to really flourish in our system. And again, when you hear that is kind of unusual, especially in fitness right now, where most companies are kind of on their heels trying to figure out how to get out of this. And so we just want to continue to grow and really have a hold on this business, be the Coca-Cola or the Starbucks of fitness, really. It’s ironic to think at this point, after going through 2020, that we sit here on a path of excitement in 2021.”
Just as Lance described the importance of the franchisor aligning with the right franchisee partner, it’s equally important that you, the franchisee, aligns with a brand and model that fits your lifestyle and your goals. And that’s where The Daly Coach comes in! If you’re ready to start the conversation about YOUR future in franchising, leave a question or comment below, or e-mail me right now.