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FRANCHISE: Trainers On Site

says now.

FRANCHISEE: Sean Ruetas, Richmond Hill, Ont.

www.trainersonsite.com

hen personal trainer Sean Ruetas worked for a student painting franchise in his university days, he recognized the credibility that automatically came with the company name. “It made selling easier because the company was perceived to be tried, tested and true,” he

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So when Ruetas became disillusioned with his job in the financial industry a few years ago and started looking at job possibilities in the fitness world, he natu- rally investigated a number of franchises. In August of 2008, he decided to invest his money in a Trainers On Site franchise – currently about $4,000 – aſter meeting and being impressed with

president Rob Foster and his company. Ruetas’s terri- tory covers about half of the town of Richmond Hill, just north of Toronto. Though it is a challenging time for new businesses, he is enjoying the fulfillment that comes with the territory. “I get a high from helping people,” he says. When people come back and tell me I made a difference, I know I’m supposed to be doing this.”

small segment of the nearly 5,000 clubs in the Canadian fitness industry.

Franchising versus licensing

Franchising should not be confused

with licensing. While all franchisees are in effect licensees, not all licensees are franchisees. Several of the previ- ously mentioned chain club opera- tors operate under an older “license provisions” of the corporate entity. And company-owned clubs like 24 Hour Fitness, L A Fitness and Lifetime Fitness in the U.S. and Bally, Just Ladies Fitness and She’s Fit in Canada should not be confused as franchise opera- tions either. In every franchise arrangement, the

franchisor (the owner and developer of the franchise system) licenses franchi- sees to use trademarks, service marks, logos, operational systems, and/or ad- vertising owned or developed by the franchisor. In some systems, franchised busi-

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here has been a consis- tent movement towards franchising in the U. S. fitness industry, and it is likely that it will become a more-discussed topic in

Canada in the future. At present, there are fewer than a

dozen fitness club franchisers oper- ating in Canada. Among them are Results, Exec-U-Fit, Trainers Onsite, Fitness On The Go, Fitness Together, Snap Fitness, Anytime Fitness, Curves, Gold’s Gym and possibly some World Gym and Powerhouse Gym operations. Franchises currently represent a rather

nesses are operated using only the franchisor’s brand name. Examples of this include McDonald’s, Burger King, H&R Block and Subway. In oth- er franchise systems, the franchised brand is used in tandem with a trade name which the franchisee establish- es. Examples include Century 21/ABC Real Estate Company, ProForma/John Smith Business Products and Tri-State SuperCoups. The purported benefit is that including the common brand enables both participants to prof- it from the advertising and goodwill generated. Some companies call themselves

franchisors, and while they are set up to be franchisors do not necessarily act

If you are considering entering a franchise agreement, ask yourself these questions first:

tion of initial materials, support docu- mentation and full disclosure?

1. 2.

3. 4.

Does the franchisor provide referrals?

What are the agreements in the franchisor/franchisee relationship?

What are the initial fees, royalties, service fees, license fees, adver-

tising fees and other fees that the fran- chisee must pay during the life of the agreement?

5. 6.

What is the life of the agreement? (Most internet franchise sites rec-

ommend no more than an initial five-year term with stated terms thereaſter.)

Does the franchisor supply all of the support systems, business sys-

tems, signage, logos, policies, operating guidelines, blueprints and floor plans for standard facilities as per the franchise agreement?

March/April 2009 Fitness Business Canada 31

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