How One Franchise Remains Optimistic in Hard Times

Despite the economic climate, one health franchise continues to expand internationally and attributes its success to a well thought out franchise model. According to this article, Curves is the ninth most successful franchise company in the world and they are setting their sights on Australia despite the growth their of copy cat fitness centers. Curves' founder Gavin Heaves states that, "we have a very affordable program. You know they may quit the expensive gyms, but Curves at $59 a month is one dinner out that you don’t do. So, if we as an organisation continue to go out there and say that your health is important and that they can take 30 minutes three times a week and it were actually a very affordable form of recreation, then … we actually do well during tough economic times and personally I’ve been around for 15 years, so I’ve been through a couple of recessions and if you are proactive and remind the business operators … they really have the power to maintain their business." Interestingly, Curves is quite vocal about its selection of franchisees. "we sell Curves one at a time to usually women that have numbers that are passionate about the programme and the other guys tend to sell them to investors or pretty much anybody who will put up the money. So, we’ve been able to create a community of support with 10,000 locations in 65 countries that stood the test of time."