Of every 100 Americans, 31 go to the gym, market penetration is 31%. On the other hand, in Mexico it is 3%, that is, out of every 100 Mexicans, three go to a club to exercise.
For this reason, the boom in the fitness market is barely denoting in Mexico; and today is really an excellent time to start with a gym. For this reason, if you are looking for a franchise you should meet Anytime Fitness which operates internationally in 40 countries. In 2023, the brand received the award for the World’s Best Fitness Franchise in Las Vegas at the Global Franchise Awards.
The latest global report from Anytime Fitness based in the United States recognized Mexico as the first place in sales of franchises and openings. After Japan, Mexico is the most profitable country to set up a gym. And it is that the Mexican fitness industry offers benefits and economic benefits even more than in other developed nations.
Today Anytime Fitness operates 5,000 clubs that are open 24 hours a day and serve more than 5 million users around the globe. In Mexico they now have 80 franchises and will open eight more branches in the next two months.
In Mexico, we are just beginning to adopt the fitness lifestyle, and that is why I believe that the market will grow four or five times more in a period of 10 years.
David Rascón, CEO of Anytime Fitness Mexico.
In Colombia or Peru the penetration rate is 16%, that is, out of every 100 people, 16 go to the gym. “And in Mexico it is only 3%. I don’t know if it’s for cultural reasons or because we started late; but we remained stagnant for a long time and now we are beginning to take off”, adds the interviewee.
Healthy living is a promising business
David Rascón, CEO of Anytime Fitness Mexico has already been in this business for eight years and has seen several stages. In the first, people wanted to go to the gym to look good. Later he moved to “I do want to look good, but what interests me most is feeling good”. Today, people say: “It’s good that I look and feel good, but what I want is my mental health”.
“An investor should understand that there are a lot of people trying to adopt this type of healthy life and we have been seeing it in the sale of memberships in a very significant way,” says Rascón.
For 100% of Anytime Fitness franchisees, the gym is not their core business. There are owners of car agencies, hotels, restaurants, business consultancies, and so on.
One of the great advantages of this franchise is that it doesn’t absorb your time -says Rascón-. At Anytime Fitness things are designed so that if you have a cafeteria or a bar, for example, you can also run a gym.
“We have the computer systems and everything necessary to operate a health and fitness club in a very simple way; and you can even leave it in the hands of a manager. Therefore, one of the most attractive advantages is having a franchise with low supervision”.
An Anytime Fitness gym owner learns the business in four to six months; and then you can supervise it using one hour of your time a week. So it becomes an easy-to-operate business.
“The secret is collection. I’m going to direct your payment and if your card doesn’t go through, the purple key with which you enter the gym automatically turns off. So, you have to go and pay”, explains the manager. The collection of the 80 gyms around the country is done by the corporate. The success rate is 75%, and the other 25% is charged at a bank terminal or in cash at the same club.
The key of accompaniment
And what is the big mistake people make when they buy a franchise? “To think that you are buying the right to use the brand and the manuals. I can assure you that, even if I give you that, if you are alone in a year your gym no longer exists because the most important element is the accompaniment that the AF México corporate provides you”.
Anytime Fitness It has an office with a multidisciplinary team specialized in managing gyms, marketing, human resources, and so on. “This team will take you by the hand throughout the start-up and operation process,” says Rascón.
The Mexican Franchise Association (AMF) ensures that 80% of entrepreneurs who start their own brands fail after five years. On the contrary, if you start with a franchise, after the fifth year the probability that you will continue doing business is 80%.
Finally, we know that when you are going to invest there is uncertainty as to whether it will go well for you. At Anytime Fitness they have a fact that generates confidence: 85% of their franchisees own two gyms or more. Which is to say, the people who invested in this global franchise repeated the investment. If you want a commercial presentation write to [email protected]