“I bought an existing business, an independent gym, and ran it for two years in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. The clients are middle aged men and women looking to get fit and lose weight.”

When Ashley Walz bought the business there were 220 financial clients and he doubled that in two years.

“But there were a couple of reasons I wanted to join a franchise. I loved the 24 hour concept – it’s really popular – and I also wanted to reinvent the club and do something different but I didn’t have the money.”

He looked at the options and chose Anytime Fitness, joining in December 2009.

“I liked the track record around the world. I liked the fact there was an Australian connection and the team are very helpful.

“I’ve just spent $200,000 on equipment which I got on lease through Anytime Fitness. The landlord also wanted a more modern fit out and Anytime provided a design outline and assistance in setting this up. There was a model to follow.

“One of the problems with my business was that I had to do everything myself. There’s a lot done for you when youÕre in franchising and it helps to be able to fall back on the system. I’m not having to spend time thinking up ad campaigns or marketing programs.”

Walz says the biggest challenge was the construction of the new gym. “We demolished the old site, moved the equipment to another part of the building, and traded through the three months it took to build the new gym,” he explains.

“We changed our mentality from being a big box gym for everyone, with classes and a creche, to being more boutique and focusing on cardio and weights.”

He admits dealing with existing clients through the changeover was hard.

“If I had the time again, I’d start from scratch with a new venue. The gym had been there for 18 years so we had to manage client expectations. But we went from a non-air conditioned gym to air conditioning with great new equipment.

“A year ago there was just me and my gym, I was just one of several and only known by a few people. Obviously as the Anytime Fitness brand grows, people will recognise our size and we’ll get better recognition.”

Another benefit is the uniform colour scheme and equipment, says Walz. Clients can go to any other club in the network and know what it will be like and what equipment will be there.

“It’s like the McDonalds of fitness.”

In the last two months the business has added 135 new clients and seen a retention rate of 95 percent.

“I decreased the size of the gym, but I decreased the monthly membership price by $3, down to $54.95. This matched up with new equipment, 24 hour opening, it’s all been good.

“I’m only looking to the end of this financial year – I want to reach 600 members by then and will cap it. Once we hit that we can focus on retaining membership.

“We did big promotions and sales over the change period and we do promos every month. Now it’s about keeping everybody motivated.”

Walz is already keen to open a second gym and has his sights set on a portfolio of three franchises, if he can find the sites.

“I have two full time staff working on a roster, since the rebrand with Anytime Fitness I haven’t worked the gym regularly. I have three children under the age of six and now I can step away and spend time with my young family.”