Karmen Smith didn’t have anything to fall back on. It was September 2006 and Smith’s first Anytime Fitness franchise had just opened near West Bend, Wisc. She had purchased a small, one-bedroom apartment and furnished it with an air mattress. “I was never there,” she said. “I spent all my time in my gyms. There wasn’t any need for a real bed.”
Smith had left her job as an investment banker to enter an industry completely foreign to her. All she knew was to stick around her clubs and meet as many people as possible. “I was afraid to leave the club,” she said. “If I wasn’t there and someone dropped by, and I missed them … that was one member that I didn’t get.”
Less than six months later, in February 2007, Smith’s single-club franchise had blossomed to five clubs. Now, at 28 years old, Smith has grown her business to 11 locations with number 12 upcoming this summer.
Being a Franchisee
Smith admits that being a franchisee is a little different than opening an independent club. First off, when Smith decided to become an Anytime Fitness franchisee, she took a tour of a club that was near her home in Minneapolis, Minn.
“I was a member of a large fitness chain,” Smith said. “I drove by an Anytime Fitness and it intrigued me enough that I did an inquiry. Since I lived in Minneapolis, I was in the Anytime Fitness corporate office within a couple of days.”
Smith was easily sold on the idea of being a franchisee. She met with Chuck Runyon, the co-founder and president of Anytime Fitness, and felt that if he believed strong enough in a company, she could easily do the same.
Smith was a natural number cruncher. She had worked for a couple of years at an investment firm crunching big numbers for major corporations. The downfall to her job was she didn’t have any control over the final outcome — she was strictly the numbers person.
Once she took over her first club with Anytime Fitness, she realized that she had a lot of creative control. She went with Precor as her main supplier because they were easy to work with and weren’t in any of her competitors clubs. “They have actually been a huge partner,” she explained. “Not just from a financing stand point, but from providing great support and help. They have brought in different speakers and paid for training for my staff and I. They have really become a partner in development over the past couple of years.”
Luckily, Precor worked out for Smith, but like many other franchisees, she enjoyed the idea of running her own business. She put a lot of effort into making the locations flourish, but was caught spinning her wheels. “The biggest thing franchisees can do is to follow the franchise model,” Smith said. “In the beginning so many people feel like they know a better way, but the reason it’s a franchise is because it has a successful business plan that works.”
Corporate Wellness
Things have been very different for Smith than some franchisees. She hasn’t had to work through a regular day-job and has been able to completely focus all of her time and energy into her gyms.
She attributes that ability to being able to quickly branch out and experiment in other areas of the health club industry.
Like most owners and GMs in the industry, Smith understands the need for pursuing corporations and businesses around her clubs to gain more members and boost their bottom line. “Anytime we can get in front of people is great,” Smith said. “We’ve been pushing a corporate wellness initiative. Even though there are some corporate initiatives coming from our corporate office, we want to get in front of people locally; talk to them and have more chances with ‘lunch and learn’ educational opportunities we can provide around our clubs.”
In the early period of club creation, Smith spent time sitting in local cafes and diners, trying to get a pulse on the population. She met with city council members and the chamber of commerce. All of this time helped her when she decided to sign local businesses.
She already understands what the people in the area need. Also, she has an understanding that a healthy employee is a hard working employee. “Everyone is looking at the bottom line,” Smith said. “If we can have healthier employees, we can tell insurance companies we have a health initiative. A lot of times the insurance company will take those into account when they create premiums.”
Although, Smith set herself up in front of a lot of businesses surrounding her clubs, she still believes in grassroots marketing. She spends a lot of time talking with her members to discover how her clubs might aid their businesses or companies. “Everyone wants healthy workers, but even with that it’s about the bottom line,” Smith continued. “They save more money when they have healthy employees, they are there more and they work better.”
Joining Anytime Fitness
At any age, going into a completely different field than one is used to can be nerve wracking. However, at 24 years old, Smith was ready for anything. She thought that the small club model was unique and had a lot to offer smaller cities.
Her idea turned a small Anytime Fitness club model into a small community center. Smith searched for cities that weren’t big enough to have a community center or a YMCA. She would find centrally located real estate in the cities where she could set up a nice club and bring in as many people as possible.
The beautiful thing about creating Anytime Fitness clubs throughout northern Wisconsin was the need for health and fitness and how quickly clubs could be built. Smith said that from the time the real estate is closed, a club could be up and running within 60 days. These needs and the ability to move quickly helped propel her desire to have multiple locations.
“Things are much different now than they were a few years ago,” Smith said speaking as if she was much older than 28. “A few years ago, getting a loan was almost as easy as writing your name on the dotted line. Now it can be much more difficult for growing clubs.”
Before Smith became involved with Anytime Fitness, she exercised in a large box club. Since she became a franchisee, of course she works out at her own clubs. However, it’s the issues she has when exercising that has provided her with the most joy of owning a small fitness facility.
“The thing I love, which is unique to the smaller club model, I don’t think there is anything as gratifying as seeing a person I signed up that has lost 30 pounds,” Smith said. “It’s great to get the positive feedback.” Even with 11 locations, Smith finds time to sell memberships.
At any point in her workout, Smith could jump off a treadmill and greet a potential member or give a spot to a member she signed a few weeks earlier. It’s all of those aspects that have caused her to fall in love with being an Anytime Fitness franchisee.
In 2009 she was awarded the Anytime Fitness Club Operator of the Year award. “My staff nominated me for the honor, so that made it more gratifying,” Smith explained. “Knowing that they were behind the model and me 100 percent was one of the most gratifying moments.”
From the Farm to the Club
Smith attributes a lot of her drive and success to the farm lifestyle she experienced as a child in Hartley, Iowa. Like most farm kids growing up on a corn and bean farm, she had chores and watched her family work every day, year round, to ensure the crop got to market.
For Smith, watching the business transactions occur from growth to sell was more valuable than money. Of course, owning a club isn’t exactly like owning a farm. However, it is the same as owning a business and being an entrepreneur. On the farm Smith learned the value of working together and how to drive through hard times.
Farmers have long been known for extending a lending hand — whether it’s by loaning a tractor or helping extinguish the fire that has engulfed the new barn. Smith uses her neighborly skills to capture her audience in Wisconsin. “In Northeastern Wisconsin we market together,” she said. “We do about 80 percent of our marketing as joint marketing and we get together quarterly for training. We’ve been really fortunate to have the group that we have.”
Smith has also relied on other Anytime Fitness franchisees to help her early in her career. “I think I was very open to learning,” Smith said. “When I first started, there was another franchisee that ran the corporate stores. Every chance I got I tried to learn from them. I would call people all across the country and try and learn from everybody.”
This openness to learning has given Smith great insight into an industry she hadn’t grown up in. “I didn’t grow up in fitness,” she said. “I came at it strictly from a business point of view. Most people that are genuine are going to give you advice because they generally want to help you. If everyone took in that advice whole heartedly, I think that would help.”
Smith always sees herself involved in fitness and with Anytime Fitness in some capacity. She loves working in the industry and has found a niche for success. Her great personality and open business attitude when it comes to learning should prepare her to make a large imprint within the industry. -CS
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