Battle of the women’s fitness franchises

The race is on. The Contours franchise has tapped into the enormous baby boomers market – and now they’re hot on the heels of segment giant, the Fernwood franchise .

“In the short space of 18 months we have grown the network from 174 members to over 8000,” says womens health franchise co-founder Peter Hammond. “This is pretty remarkable.”

At the end of the 04/05 financial year, Contours had 12 franchisees. This was expected to reach a total of 82 by the end of June - a 583 per cent increase in franchise sales.

“In essence Contours’ success is based on a fool-proof franchise model,” says Hammond. “We offer our franchisees an entire operating system as well as an Australian-based team to support them in set-up, training, day-to-day operations and marketing. In return they are able to offer their members a fitness program at an affordable cost that works.”

According to Hammond, an initial investment of less than $100,000 and low monthly expenses means that Contours franchisees can soon break even and enjoy predictable monthly revenues. Some franchisees have moved quickly to open two or more studios.

“Our first franchisee opened in Bendigo in March 2005 and broke even in the first two months of operation,” says Hammond. “She now has three successful studios operating in regional NSW and Victoria, and another two due to open in the next six months.”

There are now plans to move the fitness franchise into New Zealand and parts of Asia.

“The response to the Contours concept in Australia has been phenomenal and we’ve found that potential growth in neighbouring countries is just as promising,” says Hammond. “We expect to open our first franchise in New Zealand in the next six months.”