AWATfit Rocks the Fitness Industry With New Franchise Concept
The fast-growing fitness brand is ready to let new owners in on its explosive success.
LONG ISLAND, N.Y., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- In the two short years since fitness enthusiast and entrepreneur Rich Decker founded his mobile fitness concept, AWATfit (Any Where Any Time Fitness), the business has seen explosive success in its home market of Long Island, and that was before the coronavirus pandemic forced consumers to rethink how and where they exercise. Now, fitness-oriented entrepreneurs across the country have the opportunity to replicate Decker's success for themselves with AWATfit's new franchise model.
AWATfit may be a young company, but Decker leveraged more than 30 years of experience in the industry to build the concept, and the business's early success reflects a deliberate strategy to disrupt a stagnant fitness marketplace and grow fast.
"I've done the brick-and-mortar thing, and I got sick of it," Decker said. "The whole industry hasn't changed in decades even though more people are working out than ever before. I saw a big opportunity there."
AWATfit's primary innovation is providing outdoor workouts for clients, the demand for which Decker says unites just about everyone who has ever lifted a barbell.
"Whether you're a professional athlete or just trying to get some exercise in after work, the one thing that everyone hates about going to the gym is the environment — running in place, staring at walls, and now germs. When you exercise outdoors, your energy and mood increase automatically, but most people don't have access to a full set of gym equipment outside."
AWATfit offers just that, bringing a fully loaded mobile gym built out of the back of a 20-foot pickup truck directly to clients, whether that's at their homes, the beach, a playing field or anywhere else.
And AWATfit is not a seasonal business. Decker says he's worked with clients in as low as 12-degree weather. In fact, AWAT originally stood for All Weather, All Terrain, but Decker changed that to Any Where, Any Time to make the concept less intimidating to more novice clients. "It's invigorating to exercise outdoors in the winter, and our clients are excited to have the opportunity," Decker said.
On top of providing an innovative, outdoor workout experience for clients, AWATfit's trucks also provide profound benefits for Decker and any future AWATfit owners. By eliminating the brick-and-mortar element of gym ownership, AWATfit dramatically slashes overhead and organically expands the brand's marketing footprint. Plus, franchise owners can be up and running within a month's time.
"I'll be parked in a parking lot and people will take pictures of the truck," Decker said. "It's a billboard you can't pay for. I've never had to spend millions on rent and advertising to promote this business. All I've got is a really cool website, a social media presence and a 20-foot truck."
AWATfit's trucks are poised to "blow away the brick-and-mortar gym industry," Decker says. "My youngest client is 10 years old, and my oldest is 86. That's a range you are not going to see at traditional gyms. We can reach a larger client base because we come to them, and because our services are fully customizable."
Decker expects to have little trouble finding franchisees to take his business to new markets across the country. "I'm already fielding calls every day," he said. "People want to know how they can get their own truck and start doing business." And that's not just in Long Island. Decker has already gotten inquiries from prospective owners as far away as Bogota, Columbia and Australia.
"This is an incredibly attractive prospect for someone in the fitness industry who wants to own their own business," Decker said. "There are a lot of fantastic trainers out there who don't have a lot of management experience, and we've essentially packaged up a business for them so they can hit the ground running without taking a million classes or going through a giant learning curve."
Decker plans to make the most of that eager interest from prospective franchisees, aiming to onboard up to 1,000 new franchisees in markets like California, Colorado, Florida and Michigan. And because operational costs to run the business are so low, new franchisees can get started with a modest investment. After that, they're taking ninety cents on the dollar.
As for just who Decker is looking to bring on board, he says the qualifications are simple:
"The ideal AWATfit franchisee is anybody who loves fitness and being around people," he said. "There's not much else to it. If you know your way around exercise equipment and you like to work with people, this is your shot at getting rich doing what you love to do."
To learn more about franchising with AWATfit, visit https://www.awatfit.com/franchise/.
SOURCE AWATfit
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