A top-performing player always knows his game. Because he has been trained by those, who know the perfect game plan. Thus, the future star players will instinctively realize who could be their best bet, when it comes to training and playing with. PickUp USA Fitness – A Basketball focused fitness club.
You say the name, you join them, and then play your top game. They are there for you forever, with all the best ways to support you, owning your play business, with their decade honed and forty franchisees old, nationwide playbook.
Jordan Meinster, the CEO of PickUp USA Fitness, has started the first location in Irwindale and is currently leading the company in its nationwide franchising campaign.
He oversees the marketing, operations, real estate, finance, and development teams at PickUp USA Franchise Company. He also oversees the operations at PickUp USA’s corporate-run stores.
So, when Insights Success was searching for “The 10 Disruptive Franchises of 2022,” we always knew that we had to catch this fantastic leader and pick up a discussion with him.
Mr Meinster too, was very big-hearted to accommodate our list of queries, which most of the wishful future franchise collaborator’s also have.
Here are his insightful answers.
What makes your company a preferred franchise choice over your competitors?
PickUp USA Fitness is the premier franchise opportunity for basketball enthusiasts. Our gym offers private basketball training, group basketball training, full weight and cardio rooms, PickUp basketball with referees, basketball tournaments, and full-service youth programs. For people looking to start a business focused on basketball, we are a great option.
Tell us more about your franchising opportunities, eligibility criteria, and benefits that a probable franchisee may receive.
PickUp USA Fitness has franchise opportunities across the United States. We have awarded 40 franchises and are increasing our development schedule. To be eligible to franchise with us, we are looking for people who are passionate about our service offerings and who will be actively involved in running their club.
Selected franchisees benefit from having a playbook to follow on every element of their business from financing to site selection to marketing, sales, and operations. We also have a 365 day a year support team in place with dedicated representatives at every step of the journey. We work as hard as our franchisees.
How did the COVID-19 pandemic impact your daily operations and what were the challenges that you faced?
In March of 2020, all of our gyms suspended operations due to public health orders. Within a few months, the gyms started opening. Our anticipation was that the membership count, attendance, and revenue would drop. We planned for the worst.
As the gyms started reopening, we were thrilled that most of the members enthusiastically came back to the gym. 2020 turned into our best year ever for systemwide sales, and 2021 beat 2020 as our best year-to-date.
We implemented comprehensive cleaning and safety procedures and helped our franchisees plan for cash flow disruptions during the closures. We made it through COVID-19 as a stronger company and are poised for continued growth.
When it comes to adapting to the evolving customer needs and trends, do you think it is necessary to align one’s business with the latest technological developments? If yes, how does your company cater to this necessity?
Basketball is inherently low-tech. You need a ball, a court, and some hoops. That said, we have incorporated a ton of technology into our operations to benefit our franchisees and our customers.
A big part of this is our PickUp USA University™ program that serves as the foundation for our franchisee knowledge development. We have heavily invested in our learning management software to ensure that our franchisees have all of the tools necessary to train their teams and run their clubs. We have also invested in customer amenities, including our proprietary queuing system, The Casey Queue™, which organizes our basketball games and keeps tracks of wins, etc.
We continue to invest in technology to ensure our members get the world-class service they expect from our brand and that the franchise owners have the tools to operate their clubs in an efficient and profitable fashion.
As an established franchise leader, what would be your advice to the budding entrepreneurs planning to own franchise business?
Owning a franchise business is a great way to be in the business for yourself, be your own boss, do something you are passionate about; all the while having a team and an established brand supporting you at every step of the way. If you’re willing to put in the work, you can be a very successful business owner. It takes hustle but the payoffs can be huge.
How do you envision scaling your company’s operations in 2022?
We signed a lot of new franchise owners in 2021 into our system and we anticipate opening several new clubs in new and existing markets for us in 2022. Our brand has a ton of momentum right now and we’ve built an army of top-notch franchise owners to help us scale our concept.
