Anytime Fitness recently received honors from CNNMoney.com as well as its hometown newspaper.
CNNMoney.com listed Anytime Fitness as one of its 10 great franchise bets. The news organization, a service of CNN, Fortune and Money magazines, cited the Hastings, MN-based company’s growth rate, with almost 1,600 clubs opened in less than 10 years, and the low loan failure rate among its franchisees. Of 147 SBA-backed loans between 2005 and 2010, Anytime Fitness franchisees experienced only four defaults, CNNMoney.com reported.
“The success of any franchise is largely dependent upon the prosperity of its individual franchisees,” Dave Mortensen, president and co-founder of Anytime Fitness, said in a statement. “That’s why we focus so much on providing our franchisees with the tools and the support they need to be successful.”
Anytime Fitness franchisees pay a monthly flat fee of $499 to the company and are not charged a percentage of sales, which differs from other franchise systems, CNNMoney.com reported. Start-up costs for an Anytime club run between $46,299 and $321,899.
“We work closely with our club owners to ensure that expense expectations and proper capitalization are in place well in advance of club openings,” said Tim Smith, director of financing for Anytime Fitness. “This, in combination with the superb coaching provided by our team of franchise consultants, gives our franchisees a strong advantage in becoming cash flow positive in a short amount of time.”
The other franchise companies CNNMoney.com noted were Little Caesars, Jimmy John’s, Days Inn, Subway, Massage Envy, Dairy Queen, Super 8 Motel, Wingstop and Servpro. Only franchises with at least 70 SBA-backed loans in the past five years were included.
On Sunday, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune named Anytime Fitness one of the top 100 workplaces in Minnesota. The survey was based on employee opinions about company leadership, communication, career opportunities, workplace environment, managerial skills, pay and benefits. The analysis included responses from more than 60,000 employees at Minnesota public, private and nonprofit organizations.