This Aussie CrossFit Copycat Is Making Moves
But I thought kipping was a CrossFit™️ trademark???
“Give love. Not fucks.” - Me
If the past 18 months in this industry has reinforced anything within my personal values, it’s to forever care about others, embrace empathy, and passionately give zero fucks as to what anyone thinks about you.
As we close out 2021 (the year that we were all supposed to ‘get back on track’), I want to strongly encourage you to play the balancing act of caring enough and not caring at all.
It’s honestly one of the attributes that has allowed me to have any success.
I’d love for you to give it a try.
Or don’t.
I don’t really give a fuck.
xoxo
Stu
Not Gonna Lie, Australians Are Really Damn Good At Developing Franchises.
But this model looks awfully familiar…
There is no denying that Australia has become an incubator for very successful, up-and-coming global fitness brands.
The Aussies have given the fitness world F45, Zadi (women only with badass vibes), 12RND Fitness (like 9 Rounds, but three rounds harder), and MyFirstGym (yes, a gym for babies), and now the latest Aussie fitness franchise, Body Fit Training (BFT).
The Australian functional training franchise Body Fit Training will be the 10th brand for Xponential Fitness - joining existing powerhouse brands including Club Pilates, CycleBar, StretchLab, Row House, AKT, YogaSix, Pure Barre, STRIDE, and Rumble.
Founded in 2017 in Melbourne, Australia, BFT offers community-based 50-minute functional, high-energy strength, cardio, and conditioning-based classes across 13 workout programs.
Their programming aims to "...stress every energy system, train every muscle fibre type and work through different planes of movement".
In 2020, BFT received the APAC (Asia-Pacific) Franchise of the Year Award, recognizing its growth during 2020 despite national lockdowns.
Xponential Fitness purchased BFT for $44MM, acquiring all intellectual property, and plans to support their 130 open studios and 150 BFT studios expected to open within the next 12 months and grow the brand across the United States and Canada.
MY TAKE
This move makes sense to me for a few reasons:
1) BFD fills a gap within the existing Xponential Fitness portfolio.
With nine existing brands in their portfolio, Xponential Fitness was still missing a key vertical in the boutique fitness industry - a functional-fitness and strength-based fitness brand. BFD adds depth in a category they were severely lacking.
2) Introduces a franchise model to the fitness industry similar to the widely adopted CrossFit, but without the intimidation associated with the polarizing brand.
Like CrossFit, BFD allows people to get that badass vibe from lifting weights and feel the sought-after adrenaline rush of crushing a challenging strength-based workout, but they just do it smarter.
Unlike CrossFit, BFD replaces unnecessarily complex and injury-prone movements. They remove the ego and instead utilize equipment that CrossFitters mock (TRX bands, trap bar deadlifts, etc). Also with less emphasis on “going fast” for the sake of scoring, it removes the wannabe-athlete mentality and allows the everyday person to get in an awesome workout. All of these brand decisions will make BFD an accessible and intimidation-free option for boutique fitness-goers who want a workout somewhere in-between a CrossFit and an F45.
3) Adds 280 studios under their umbrella for a measly $157k each.
So, in Xponential’s purchase of BFT for $44MM, they acquired 280 studios, and with some simple math, that equates to $157,000 each per unit. Pocket change and a wise investment for the largest boutique fitness franchisor worldwide.
Now, here are the two key takeaways as a microgym owner:
First, Don't sweat these competitors; analyze them.
If you’ve been in the functional fitness game for a while, you may feel like these newer brands are ripping off what you’ve already put together.
Wrong!
BFD and others may be running a similar functional fitness style as your microgym, but their brand's scale allows for superior marketing efforts and messaging.
Sure you may have better technical knowledge of the movements, but they have a team of copywriters, designers and messaging specialists that the average microgym can’t match.
So instead of trying to compete outright, analyze what they are doing well, steal what you like, run it through your branding machine and make it your own.
Second, functional fitness was a differentiator ten years ago, not anymore.
The fitness industry is ever-evolving, and while ten years ago adopting a functional fitness programming style was enough of a differentiator, those days have passed.
You can no longer claim that your microgym is different solely because you run functional fitness. Look around you; everyone is doing it.
Instead, focus on how you're going to continue to evolve your model so that your gym doesn't look and feel like all the other uniform versions, like a BFT, that will be coming to your city soon.
Speaking from experience, I can tell you that when I created Urban MVMNT to be a ‘white space’ model between Orangetheory and CrossFit, I spent a ton of time analyzing equipment choice and operational capacity - i.e. shorty barbells, scalable pullups via gymnastics rings and leveraging an “in-place” class experience.
While everything you do to stand apart can always be copied, your journey into create something unique will keep you ahead of the competition as they constantly wait for you to make your next move.
Medicare Fitness Network Finally Lets CrossFit Sit At The Table
Spoiler alert: I’m not sure anyone is actually eating at this table…
CrossFit announces partnership with Optum and invites affiliates to join the industry's largest Medicare Fitness Network offering.
With the partnership, program participants will be able to utilize their health insurance to help subsidize costs associated with CrossFit memberships, and affiliates will be able to start billing and collecting money from health insurance for individuals to start going to the gym.
Essentially attempting to bridge the gap between fitness and health care.
CrossFit affiliates who opt into Optum's Concierge Health program will be listed on the fitness network websites and promoted to eligible members throughout their community.
Optum states that while the process may seem complicated, they’ve installed safeguards for affiliates include the use of a VeriTap software - intended to ensure that any one person is not permitted access/ the benefits of Concierge Heath until they have gone through the appropriate steps with their doctor and/or insurance.
Full details of the Concierge Health service and CrossFit’s adoption are currently limited, but network programs are set to launch on January 1, 2022.
MY TAKE
Crossfit and Optum are not the first to create the concept of bridging the gap between fitness and health care. In fact, the collaboration between fitness and health insurance has been around for a while.
There are plenty of other boutique gyms, health clubs, and even online services that have adopted a similar model - Blue Cross Blue Shield has their own version, along with companies like Active & Fit .
So while I'm excited for CrossFit affiliate owners to now get a seat at the table, my big question is this:
Is anybody actually eating?
To learn more, I reached out to an individual who is close to this project, but I couldn’t have any of my questions answered because I wasn’t a CrossFit affiliate owner (kinda douchey, but fair enough).
So here’s simply a string of questions and thoughts I have about this effort:
How many other fitness companies (both brick and mortar + online) are on this platform? From some basic research, there looks to be a shit ton of boutiques, microgyms and online services a part of the marketplace.
With that many competitors on the same marketplace, how does one service differentiate themselves from the hundreds of others?
How many individuals (Optum members) have been successfully activated and are using fitness services found through this marketplace?
Do we have any numbers on the additional revenue generated by the participating fitness services? If the main advertising point for this program is added revenue to the participating microgyms, what types of numbers can one expect to see?
For those who are being activated into using one of the marketplace options, what demographics do they embody? It would be beneficial for a microgym to understand who is the avatar of this service so they can determine if it matches up with their own unique avatar.
What is the rate of services rendered for non-eligible participants? Meaning, how often is there a logistical misstep in which individuals are provided a service and the health insurance company does not reimburse?
Allegedly, there are currently 11+ million eligible members in 2022 through insurance and employer-based fitness programs.
That’s great.
But let’s make sure we understand the distinction between eligible and seeking before we cream our jeans over a new partnership.
Sales in the 4th quarter starting to slow down?
Here’s two ways you can leverage your current customers to jump start revenue…
The fitness industry sees a pretty consistent slow down in new client acquisition during the 4th quarter.
While October, November and December are great months for seasonal coffees, retail shopping and travel - they typically suck for the fitness industry.
This past Thursday, I went live inside of the Microgym University FB group and laid out a 20 minute game plan that covered my two favorite internal marketing plays for the 4th quarter.
1) Check-In-To-Check-Out
Essentially, you’re running a 45 day internal marketing campaign that encourages members to echo their involvement with your microgym on social media. The result: passive referrals at scale.
2) Simple, But Very Effective Stocking Stuffers
The holiday phenomenon that is buying gifts for people you don’t really know is an awkward scenario for many of us. So let’s solve that problem for your members and unload some of that retail that hasn’t moved off your shelves yet.
Make sure to watch the full video for context.
For a deeper dive into these strategies and others, get enrolled in Microgym University. $50/month. Cancel anytime. Consider it a holiday gift to your business so that you can start pairing your hard work with smart work.
Hope you enjoyed this issue. If so, would you please share it with another fitness professional?