People all over the globe have become increasingly conscious about maintaining good overall health in the last couple of years. This consciousness is the result of people developing various health issues because of the sedentary lifestyle that they’ve become accustomed to due to their work nature. The rise of these health issues, which were previously not so prevalent in the population, have made people focus more on adopting a healthy lifestyle and become more proactive.
In the light of leading a healthier life, people have started going to the fitness centers and gyms, designing their diets to support their fitness goals, and in general doing everything that there is to do to maintain their health.
Despite the fact that individuals are now making efforts to achieve a healthier self, more often than not, they need a guide/personal trainer who has all the necessary knowledge to help them do so. Getting a healthier body is not a linear and easy journey; along with a lot of dedication and consistency in the routine, one needs a personalized fitness program that will suit their needs and lifestyle and also effectively help them achieve their fitness goals faster.
One such company helping people and the fitness community to get healthier through their customized personal training programs is Alloy Personal Training Franchise. With a team of certified physiologists, dieticians, therapists, and other advisory board behavioral specialists, the Alloy fitness franchise concept has been facilitating the industry and its clients.
In the following interview, Rick Mayo, the CEO, and Founder of Alloy Personal Training talks about his journey in the fitness industry and how his company has been the epitome of what you can call the true fitness expert.
Please brief our audience about Alloy Personal Training and how it is currently positioned as a leading name in the fitness industry.
When I founded Alloy in 1992, my intention was to create a business that provided clients with high-quality personalized fitness coaching. Since that time, we have built our brand and supported licensees worldwide in over 2,300 gyms and health clubs. With our franchise concept, which we launched in late 2019, we took our heritage, systems, experience, and knowledge and packaged it up as a great turnkey franchise business opportunity. We believe our brand and business model is well-positioned for a host of reasons.
The trends we see with consumers today seeking health and fitness solutions reflect the tremendous strength and appeal of our business model and brand, delivering the personalized, quality fitness coaching services people really want. Clients want to know they can trust the advice and support they receive, and they want to see results for their efforts. Clients want to be comfortable; they want to be taken care of. The Alloy Personal Franchising model delivers on these things very well.
Tell us more about your offerings, through which you have ascertained your stronghold within the personal training niche.
Over time we have learned how to scale personal training beyond a one-to-one model. The Alloy concept has combined the best aspects of group fitness and the community it creates with individual and specialized fitness training for each of our clients. This combination enables our franchisees to scale their business and reach more clients with quality fitness coaching services.
What are Alloy Personal Training’s franchise strengths, and what can a possible franchisee expect to receive?
The Alloy franchise is a very affordable business investment compared to other fitness franchises. Our model is very proven. In addition, our 30 years of hands-on experience with helping thousands of operators around the world run their fitness businesses successfully has led to our highly developed systems and processes.
We cover it all, from technology to marketing and from site selection and construction to training. Our motto, after all, is “Stronger Together,” and we believe in that, so we think our franchisees will love being a part of the Alloy culture as well.
Rick, please brief us about yourself, your journey in the industry, and how you have contributed to Alloy’s success.
I was always a fitness nut and worked my way through college as a personal trainer to help pay for my education. That inspired me to lay the groundwork for the Alloy Personal Training concept, my first-ever personal training center.
What started as a side hustle evolved over the course of almost 30 years into a really unique franchise opportunity. The finished product is a result of years of learning from major competitors in the fitness industry. I used that knowledge to streamline and build a bullet-proof business model.
When I opened the first location back in 1992, “I thought, what if I could take this amazing (personal training) service and put four walls around it?” Thankfully it didn’t take long to build a loyal customer base, and then we started getting attention from some big names in the fitness industry.
We were first approached to take our Alloy concept and essentially drop it into larger gyms and fitness studios. After a while, we started helping over 2,000 gyms and studios worldwide, from Tasmania to Dubai and everywhere in between through licensing agreements. The relationship with these global health clubs and gyms was like ‘franchising light.’ We developed our business and systemized it in a way that could be duplicated over and over again, and the result was a really unique business model that worked.
At some point, we started to reconsider how we were operating. Instead of continuing to power other brands, we decided to fully reap the rewards of franchising, which enabled us to offer a turnkey franchise package. We refined our systems even more and created a concept studio specifically for franchising in 2016. By late 2019 we began offering franchise opportunities and now have over forty locations in development. We keep awarding more franchises almost every month now.
Along the way, I have had the chance to meet a lot of great fitness business leaders and speak at conferences around the world. I also have had the honor of serving some great organizations like the American Council on Exercise, where I was an industry advisor.
It was humbling as well to be recognized by the Association of Fitness Studios in 2019 as The AFS Fitness Business of the Year. The award represents a studio or gym brand that excels in all areas of business and whose owner has demonstrated the ability to create unsurpassed customer experiences, dedicated staff, motivated clients, and leadership in their community.
It has been a great ride, and we are just getting started.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, what challenges did you face, and how did you sustain operations while ensuring the safety of your employees?
We faced a shutdown, of course, in our home location, and this led to some clients being reluctant to come into the studio and participate in our programming. However, thanks to our technology solutions which enable personal coaching for clients when they are not in the studio and the relatively small groups of people who train together physically when they are at our locations, the business was impacted not nearly as bad as other larger health clubs, studios, and gyms.
Earning our clients’ trust is something we really focus on, and after having earned it, we went fairly unscathed. Our service model is all about quality, not quantity, and with how we integrate technology into the mix, we are well prepared to thrive in the future.
What would be your advice to budding entrepreneurs who aspire to venture into the fitness and personal training space?
Today it is really important to be patient, study, and learn. We are really proud of the content we create and offer through our podcast, vlogs, and articles as well, across almost all of the various Internet platforms out there. So, information which pertains to the fitness business is available for any and all entrepreneurs thinking about getting into the fitness industry.
A real advantage obviously for a person interested in getting involved in fitness and personal training is identifying a concept like Alloy, which has figured out a proven niche. By offering a turnkey package, we can help entrepreneurs realize their dreams and reduce their risk. That is one of the great advantages of franchising in general.
How do you envision scaling your company’s operations and offerings in 2022 and beyond?
Well, we are well on our way to expanding our brand, and selecting franchising as a key aspect of our growth strategy is the key to scaling the business. Our team includes a group of highly experienced and capable folks in all aspects of operations. Of course, sticking to the values and mission of our business and helping others realize their dreams along the way is so important. We are just really excited by everything that has happened in the past few years.
