Editorial

Women's Fitness Franchise Reveals the Secrets to its Success!

Contours Express is not the first or the biggest women’s fitness franchise, but they believe they have made refinements to the concept that makes their opportunity the best one around – not only for their Gym members but for their franchisees.

Bill Helton, President of Contours Express, says that most people become franchisees because they have a passion for helping others. “We realize that the 30 minutes a woman takes to workout is often the only time she gets to herself during the day. She may have things or people in her daily life that she needs to take a break from, so when she works out she wants to do it in an enjoyable atmosphere with friendly people. We tell our franchisees that you don’t have to hug your clients but when someone walks in the door, you should look like you want to hug them; they should feel that kind of warmth in your greeting.”

Contours Express has over 400 units sold with about 300 already open. They also have an additional 300 units in other countries. The company began Franchising in 1998 so they have had time to really evaluate what works best and have used that knowledge to improve the business. “And, unlike our major competition,” says Helton, “we still have territories available.”

One of the biggest differences between our Franchise and others women’s fitness clubs such as Curves^®, says Helton, is that the circuit equipment in a Contours Express club is designed and sized specifically for women and uses real weights, not hydraulics. “With hydraulic machines you need to push faster and faster to get more resistance,” he explains. “Since each person has a limit to how fast they can push, their workout is also limited. With the weights we use on our machines, you only need to increase the weight to improve your workout. This way a workout can grow with you and you will never plateau, which is a major problem for women using the hydraulic machines at other fitness centers. Because our clients get better and faster results, our membership retention is better.”

Helton started with Contours Express as a franchisee in Florida . Later he became an area developer and has been the company’s president since 2003. “It was immediately evident that this was a great fit for me,” says Helton. “As a franchisee I liked being able to help my clients and now I can help franchisees become successful. It’s very fulfilling.”

Contours Express is dedicated to helping franchisees get off to a running start. They offer a five-day, in-depth training session at the company headquarters in Nicholasville (near Lexington), Kentucky. “Besides training them to run their business,” says Helton, “we have them spend a lot of time on our equipment. By the time they’ve finished training, they’re certified in our cardio-fit program.” Additional training is provided up until opening and at that time a trainer will be on-site with the franchisee. After opening, the franchisee is fully supported with monthly calls, weekly conference calls, on-going field training, marketing design support and an annual convention.

“We have a Director of Real Estate who helps a franchisee not only find a location but also negotiate the lease. “Our typical locations are 1,200 to 1,500 sq ft,” says Helton. “We locate our clubs in strip centers, usually ones with a grocery store. Our number one consideration is convenience because we know that many women will not drive 20 minutes for a 30 minute workout. Marketing will primarily target a ten-minute radius around the club to be most cost-effective.”

And, speaking of marketing, this is another area Contours Express has worked on to benefit the franchisee. “We do a lot of work on marketing with the franchisee at our training sessions,” says Helton, “where we put together a 90-day marketing plan. One of our most exciting innovations has been building alliances with marketing companies which have allowed us to offer professional commercials to our franchisees which can be aired on local cable TV stations.” Contours Express also offers an on-line marketing library with materials that can be edited and customized by the franchisee.

These clubs can easily be run by one full-time (usually the owner) and a couple of part-time employees. Hours for business are typically 8-1 and then 3-8, Monday through Friday and then 8-Noon on Saturday. The club will have 16 stations in the circuit and owners can add optional equipment like exercise bikes as desired. Because clients are typically in and out in about half an hour, a club can serve a large number of clients each day.

Franchisees do not need to have a fitness background because these aspects are covered at training. What they do need to have is both a passion for helping people and a desire to provide the best customer service possible. “We can teach sales and bookkeeping and marketing,” adds Helton, “but you can’t teach a person to be passionate about their business.” Current franchisees come from all areas, including former nurses, teachers and executives. “What they have in common,” says Helton, “is a desire to do something both fun and rewarding.”

This is not only a business for women, it’s also a business by women – 85% o the current Franchises are owned by women. “The biggest difference, besides our equipment, between Contours Express and other women’s fitness franchises,” says Helton, “is that we are really dedicated to the success of our franchisees. I believe that we truly live by the franchising motto: You are in business for yourself but not by yourself.”

Fitness is a large and steadily-growing industry and more and more women are interested in finding a women’s gym where they can work not only on appearance but also on their health. Contours Express was developed to work for every fitness level and to help women lose weight, gain appropriate muscle mass and increase bone density.