November 2022 Club of the Month, presented by ABC Fitness Solutions:
Invincible Fitness, est. 2017
After being founded in 2017, Invincible Fitness is now in its third year of franchising with three locations currently open and another two under construction. After a rough start, the club began to take shape in 2018 before eventually expanding to multiple locations.
Below, Gerardo Villarreal, the owner of Invincible Fitness, shares more on his club’s beginnings, what sets it apart from other gyms and how other owners can experience similar success.
How did Invincible Fitness come about?
Invincible Fitness was founded through generosity in April of 2017 in a small Texas town when I was 19 years old. Inspired and driven to take my newly opened nutrition center business off the ground (Invincible Nutrition), I offered to train my first customer with a couple old dumbbells I had. After two weeks of training, that very first customer ended up losing seven pounds and shared her testimony with a couple of friends who lived in her area.
To my surprise, a couple women walked into my nutrition establishment shortly after, requesting more information on how they could lose a couple of pounds like their friend.
They asked for membership costs to which is something I did not have in my purview since that establishment was not a gym at the time. That day, I made a conscious decision to restructure my business and change the name from Invincible Nutrition to Invincible Fitness.
The thought of turning something small into something big put me to work by first taking my small, limited finances to websites such as Craigslist to buy used equipment from gym owners who no longer needed their outdated equipment.
I had no other option but to use what I had at my fingertips. I took all the used and outdated equipment in their current condition back to my store to sand and eventually spray painted them all one single color.
Things finally began to take shape by mid-2018. I had grown the business to such a status that I was looking into opening a second location. Motivated and eager to scale and grow, I quickly found the art of franchising would help get more locations to multiple areas nationwide by sharing my vision with likeminded people who wish to help others become healthier and happier.
What is the mission of Invincible Fitness?
The mission of Invincible Fitness is to help people unlock their full and unique potential through living healthier and happier.
What are Invincible Fitness’ key differentiators?
We’re a high class, elegant, fun and professional gym. Our gym offers 24/7 unlimited access to all locations, tailored/branded equipment to help deliver the best workouts to our customers, a functional training area, an upstairs cardio deck to bring more separation and flow into our fitness centers, a play area for kids, an elite team of personal trainers to help clients hit their goals, private restrooms with private showers, and a private sauna.
To top it off, Invincible Fitness franchisees are also fitness equipment distributors which means not only do we sell memberships so people may use our gyms, but we also provide gym equipment to gym owners so they may help people become healthier and happier. We provide gym owners with top-of-the-line, high-class branded fitness equipment.
How is Invincible Fitness more than just a gym but also a community and a place of belonging for members?
Invincible Fitness is for the people who want to get their life on track by focusing on three key areas: Nutrition, fitness and accountability.
How are you engaging with your members when they are not working out physically at Invincible Fitness?
We believe in being a helping hand to our community of members. We send words of support through email at random times of the month, and we also do monthly weigh-ins to help members track their progress.
What’s a trend you’re seeing in the fitness industry that other operators should keep on their radar?
I believe too many operators are doing the same things most fitness club operators have done thus far. That is to sit and wait for people to waltz in and sign up for the longest membership they offer without doing anything to attract that customer in to begin with. Club owners must understand every fitness center needs attention. That’s what keeps our business doors open. If you don’t get attention, you don’t make sales. Today’s currency is attention. So, the more attention you can generate, the more currency you will make.
What advice or encouragement can you give other cub owners looking to start new clubs/franchises?
My advice would be to figure out a way to have your business be multi-dimensional. What I mean by that is investigate ways how your current customer buying “X” product from you can also be a customer who buys “Y” product without having your full energy focused on just one. That’s why it must be multi-dimensional with how you’re already making money. Think about it like a latex glove. It can fit on your right hand, just as it can fit in your left.
I have always said it’s better to be a business that consistently finds ways to innovate and help customers by selling them a product that can provide great value vs. being a business that waits and wishes for things to happen.
Created in partnership with ABC Fitness Solutions. Visit abcfitness.com for more information on how they can help your fitness business.
