![]() I love The Little Gym because I know I can reach out to any owner past or present and we'll support one another. Plus, COVID-19 hit soon after I purchased this gym. We had to rebuild our team three or four times within the first year and a half. One of those two people is now my gym director, and she's amazing. When I took over, within three months, I lost the entire staff except for two people. For some people, they didn't embrace the change well, despite the fact I'd been an owner for nine years at that time. I also had to gain the trust of the families in our gym by updating the facility and equipment and doing more team training. With my third location, I had to invest quite a bit of money into revamping the facility I had hoped it would take off like it did in Fayetteville, but it took the first year to develop that presence. We also had to invest more in marketing online. The team and I had to get out in the community and attend grassroots events and festivals, as well as develop partnerships with some schools. It also took some time to grow our brand in the Wilmington community. I spent a lot of hours on the road driving back and forth in that first year to make it successful.Īdditionally, my husband was deployed around the time I opened the second location, so all the parenting duties fell on me as well. I had to really trust my director at that time who'd helped me with my first location. My second location in Wilmington is an hour and 45 minutes away from my home in Fayetteville. A friend of mine who was in the process of opening her second business suggested a local bank. I was shocked since our gym was profitable within three years. However, the bank I'd been with for years turned me down. When I opened the second gym in Wilmington in 2014, I thought money wouldn't be an issue. You also need additional money for staff training, marketing, equipment, and other initial expenses. To open a Little Gym, you have to pay the franchise fee for the brand. Money was the biggest challenge in getting the first location My mother helped me out with a small loan as well from her insurance policy from my dad's death. Around that time, my father also died, so it was a hard time. After that, I applied for smaller loan types and was approved. Instead of focusing on one big loan, he told me to try getting smaller loans. I spent two years going to various banks and calling private investors just to be told no each time.įinally, I got a word of advice from a financial expert I called. To me, failure was not an option, and I was determined to make this work. We ended up taking out a home-equity loan to pay our franchise fee of $64,000. I'll never forget when we received approval from one bank and two weeks later, the bank manager was laid off. The majority of businesses had little faith in this business type. Around the time I decided to become a franchise owner, the 2008 recession hit I visited a few other locations and I loved the program, so I knew it was for us. I took my son who was two at the time to visit one in the Raleigh area, and he loved it. I'd never heard of one and found they had them practically everywhere but Fayetteville. I had a friend who suggested I check out The Little Gym. But there was that part of me that longed for something more, and eventually, I began looking at opportunities for a franchise.Īs my son got older, I realized we didn't have a lot to do in Fayetteville for kids. It started out with me reselling items I found in thrift stores and some electronics. While home, I began an eBay business, which I stopped when I opened The Little Gym. I stayed home with our son for a few years, but I was always itching to do something I didn't want to have to commute an hour and a half to work while worrying about childcare for my toddler, so I decided to give up my career and put energy into being a mom. My husband and I eventually decided to start our family and return to Fayetteville, North Carolina, when he got stationed back at Fort Bragg. I loved what I did but didn't always love the overnight hours. For about 10 years I worked as a news producer and reporter in several TV station markets around North Carolina, Florida, and Georgia Here's how I got into the franchise business. In 2021, the Fayetteville gym made $607,700 in revenue, while the Wilmington gym made $406,930 and the Cary gym made $476,3200 - making the average revenue per gym $432,500 last year. This story is available exclusively to InsiderĪnd start reading now. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.
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