Anytime Fitness Franchise Cost High, Revenue Low (2024)
This article is based on the video featured above, originally recorded for Vetted Biz Youtube Channel.
Anytime Fitness is a Minnesota-based fitness chain that offers access to one-on-one, small, and large group training in exchange for a membership fee. Anytime Fitness is the fourth largest fitness brand in the United States and currently has over 2,300 locations across the United States. It has over 4,000 locations worldwide in over 50 countries, making it one of the largest names in the fitness industry. Prospective franchisees will be happy to hear that Anytime Fitness operates under the franchising model, meaning nearly all of their centers are franchised.
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Anytime Fitness has two types of fitness centers. Regular Anytime Fitness centers are typically between 4,000 and 6,000 square feet. Anytime Fitness Express centers are typically between 1,500 and 4,000 square feet and are located in towns with fewer than 7,000 people.
Stepping into the fitness industry can be a daunting task considering the significant start-up costs and the increasingly competitive nature of the industry. This article will break down the Financial Disclosure Document for Anytime Fitness and provide all the information that prospective franchisees should know before making an investment decision.
How Is Anytime Fitness Positioned in the Fitness Center Industry?
The fitness center industry is well-established and highly competitive in America. Anytime Fitness expects its franchisees to compete with nationally established chain centers, such as 24 Hour Fitness and Planet Fitness, as well as local fitness centers and personal training studios.
How Much Does a Franchise Cost?
The cost of an Anytime Fitness franchise is estimated to be between $381,575 and $783,897 for standard locations and $290,746 to $584,441 for Fitness Express locations.
A breakdown of the costs is shown below. These costs are estimates based on costs incurred by recently opened Anytime Fitness franchises. Additionally, these costs are based on the lease for a “vanilla shell” or “as is” space for the operation of the Fitness Centers. All costs presented in the table are nonrefundable.
Your Estimated Initial Investment
| Type Of Expenditure | Amount – Anytime Fitness Low | Amount – Anytime Fitness High | To Whom Payment Is to Be Made |
| Initial Franchise/Development Fee | $42,500 | Us | |
| Travel and Training Expenses | $3,000 | $3,500 | Vendors |
| Deposit and Leashold Improvements | $7,871 | $371,142 | Third Parties |
| 3 months’ rent | $23,614 | $28,116 | Third Parties |
| Architect/Design Fees | $6,000 | $16,080 | Architect |
| Fitness Equipment | $153,010 | Us, affiliates, or Vendors | |
| Technology Equipment Package | $34,805 | $36,224 | Us, affiliates, or Vendors |
| Supplies | $3,575 | Vendors | |
| Interior & Exterior Signs | $24,000 | $26,000 | Us or Vendors |
| Miscellaneous Opening Costs | $10,000 | $11,000 | Vendors |
| Pre-Sale/Grand Opening Advertising | $11,000 | $23,000 | Us or Vendors |
| Insurance/Bond | $2,900 | $3,450 | Vendors |
| Furniture & Fixtures | $13,000 | $15,300 | Vendors |
| Additional Funds – 3 months | $46,300 | $51,000 | Suppliers, Utilities, etc. |
| Total | $381,575 | $783,897 | |
Franchise Requirements
The Anytime Fitness Franchise must be operated in compliance with the Franchise Agreement. Franchised centers must ensure that all purchased equipment, supplies, and services meet the company specifications as outlined in the Operations Manual. Such purchased equipment, which includes weights, furnishings, uniforms, and software, is expected to represent over 90% of the total purchases that a franchisee will need to make to begin operations.
Additionally, Anytime Fitness expects new franchisees to participate in a Training Program before opening their shop. This training program will be either held online or at company headquarters in Minnesota and provides the skills necessary to properly operate an Anytime Fitness center. A full breakdown of the training program, broken down by hours of training, is shown below.
Training Program
| Subject | Hours of Classroom Training | Hours of On-the-job Training | Location |
| Brand Values and Philosophy | 2 | 0 | Virtual or our offices in Minnesota |
| Brand Strategy & General Marketing | 6 | 1 | Virtual or our offices in Minnesota |
| Technology, Software and Security | 3 | 3 | Virtual or our offices in Minnesota |
| Member Experience and Customer Service | 4 | 4 | Virtual or our offices in Minnesota |
| Member Sales | 5 | 5 | Virtual or our offices in Minnesota |
| Club Operations | 4 | 6 | Virtual or our offices in Minnesota |
| Staffing and Hiring | 4 | 1 | Virtual or our offices in Minnesota |
| One-On-Ones | 1 | 0 | Virtual or our offices in Minnesota |
| Financial Acumen | 1 | 2 | Virtual or our offices in Minnesota |
| Construction & Design | .5 | 0 | Virtual or our offices in Minnesota |
| Training Suite | 3.5 | 2 | Virtual or our offices in Minnesota |
| Total | 34 | 24 |
Anytime Fitness Ongoing Fees
The main fees associated with owning an Anytime Fitness franchise are as follows:
- A $699 monthly fee ($449 for Fitness Express centers),
- A $600 monthly general advertising fee ($300 for Fitness Express centers), and
- A $799 monthly base technology fee ($720 for Fitness Express centers).
Anytime Fitness reserves the right to periodically increase this fee. Franchisees who own multiple centers are given discounts for the monthly and base technology fees.
Additional minor fees, such as late charges, interest charges, and relocation fees, vary depending on location and circumstances.
Company Trends
Prospective franchisees should also consider how Anytime Fitness as a company has fared in recent years. Although past performance is no indicator of future success, recent trends in company performance can be an indicator of the underlying strength and viability of Anytime Fitness as a brand. As such, we will examine trends in the total number of centers for Anytime Fitness over the past three years, which can be understood as a proxy for the overall growth of the company.
Total Number of Fitness Centers
The total number of centers in operation by Anytime Fitness has declined over the past three years. Anytime Fitness saw a net growth of 17 centers in 2019, followed by a net decline of 94 centers and a further decline of another 27 centers in 2021. While such a trend may raise concerns about the future viability of Anytime Fitness, this decline may not be as bad as initially perceived for two reasons.
First, the coronavirus pandemic hit fitness centers hard, particularly at the start of the pandemic in the spring and summer of 2020. Fitness centers were unable to open for extended periods; as a result, many closed down. This may serve to explain the decline in the total number of stores in 2020.
Second, Anytime Fitness still operates many fitness centers across the nation. They started with 2,451 centers in 2019 and currently have 2,347 centers as of November 2021. This means that Anytime Fitness experienced a net decline of 104 fitness centers over this time period, which represents just over 4% of the number of 2019 fitness centers. Considering that the pandemic bankrupted many businesses that provided in-person services, Anytime Fitness seems to have survived the coronavirus pandemic quite well.
Systemwide Outlet Summary For Years 2019 To 2021
| Outlet Type | Year | Outlets at the Start of the Year | Outlets at the End of the Year | Net Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franchised | 2019 | 2423 | 2454 | +31 |
| 2020 | 2454 | 2361 | -93 | |
| 2021 | 2361 | 2334 | -27 | |
| Company-Owned | 2019 | 28 | 14 | -14 |
| 2020 | 14 | 13 | -1 | |
| 2021 | 13 | 13 | 0 | |
| Total Outlets | 2019 | 2451 | 2468 | +17 |
| 2020 | 2468 | 2374 | -94 | |
| 2021 | 2374 | 2347 | -27 |
How Much Do Anytime Fitness Franchises Make?
The average revenue across the 1,103 Anytime Fitness centers that implemented the Training Suite for the year ending December 31, 2021, is below. The average Anytime Fitness reported $384,958 in annual revenue.
Revenue can be broken down into three main streams: membership revenue, which makes up a substantial portion of revenue; personal training revenue; and pay-per-visit revenue.
| Average of All (1,103 Centers) | Median of All (1,103 Centers) | Top 1/3 Average (367 Centers) | Top 1/3 Median (367 Centers) | Middle 1/3 Average (369 Centers) | Middle 1/3 Median (369 Centers) | Bottom 1/3 Average (367 Centers) | Bottom 1/3 Median (367 Centers) | |
| Membership Revenue | $291,130 | $263,822 | $419,916 | $402,292 | $270,996 | $268,026 | $182,587 | $183,626 |
| Personal Training Revenue | $76,406 | $52,880 | $142,122 | $132,291 | $61,796 | $53,775 | $25,379 | $18,441 |
| Pay-Per-Visit Revenue | $17,422 | $13,286 | $22,252 | $15,342 | $16,340 | $13,526 | $13,680 | $11,729 |
| Total Revenue | $384,958 | $347,576 | $584,289 | $540,387 | $349,133 | $347,576 | $221,646 | $227,292 |
The average revenue across the 156 Anytime Fitness Express centers for the year ending December 31, 2021, is shown below. The average Anytime Fitness Express reported $246,246 in annual revenue.
| Average of All (156 Centers) | Median of All (156 Centers) | Top 1/3 Average (52 Centers) | Top 1/3 Median (52 Centers) | Middle 1/3 Average (52 Centers) | Middle 1/3 Median (52 Centers) | Bottom 1/3 Average (52 Centers) | Bottom 1/3 Median (52 Centers) | |
| Membership Revenue | $204,848 | $191,422 | $315,869 | $289,191 | $193,325 | $191,422 | $105,348 | $110,583 |
| Personal Training Revenue | $31,135 | $3,301 | $69,634 | $49,869 | $17,664 | $3,388 | $6,106 | $0 |
| Pay-Per-Visit Revenue | $10,264 | $7,694 | $12,317 | $11,196 | $12,350 | $9,511 | $6,124 | $4,623 |
| Total Revenue | $246,246 | $222,408 | $397,820 | $344,003 | $223,340 | $222,408 | $117,579 | $121,278 |
How Much Do Franchise Owners Make?
Due to the different initial estimated investment and total revenue of regular centers and Express centers, we will explore the investment returns for both Anytime Fitness centers and Anytime Fitness Express centers.
Beginning with the former, the average Anytime Fitness standard center had $384,958 in revenue in 2021.
We will take the midpoint investment of a Standard shop, which amounts to $582,736. Based on this midpoint investment,
- A 10% profit margin would yield estimated annual profits of $38,496. This means it would take nearly 17 years to recoup your investment.
- A 15% profit margin would yield estimated annual profits of $57,744. This means it would take just over 12 years to recoup your investment.
- A 20% profit margin would yield estimated annual profits of $76,992. This means it would take nearly 10 years to recoup your investment.
Regarding the latter, the average Anytime Fitness Express center had $246,246 in revenue in 2021.
We will take the midpoint investment of a Standard shop, which amounts to $437,593. Based on this midpoint investment,
- A 10% profit margin would yield estimated annual profits of $24,625. This means it would take nearly 20 years to recoup your investment.
- A 15% profit margin would yield estimated annual profits of $36,937. This means it would take nearly 14 years to recoup your investment.
- A 20% profit margin would yield estimated annual profits of $49,249. This means it would take nearly 11 years to recoup your investment.
Note that these calculations account for the 2 years it takes, on average, for a franchise in the fitness industry to scale up to full production. Also, note that these calculations do not account for inflation or interest rates that are compounded over the timeframe.
Many factors affect the sales, costs, and expenses of your Franchise. There is no guarantee that these numbers will be reflective of the time it takes for your Franchise to recoup your initial investment.
Is the Anytime Fitness Franchise Profit Worth the Cost?
Based solely on the Franchise Disclosure Document, owning an Anytime Fitness center may not be the best investment. While it is a large, well-established company in the fitness center industry, the 10-20 year timeframe it takes for one to expect to recoup their initial investment is a long period of time. For better investment opportunities in this industry, check out the following list of companies on Vettedbiz.com.
