An Australian Franchisee Case Study
Franchisee: Simon Pickrell
Location: Gold Coast, QLD
Franchise: Jetts Fitness
Why did you go down the franchise route? And why did you choose your franchise?
I could see the potential strength of the brand and the benefits of a large network. I choose my franchise for the following reasons. In order of “importance” to myself & my wife:
- Family
- Time
- Freedom
- Financial stability
What did you do before taking up a franchise?
Hotel licensee for large-scale live entertainment venues.
How did you raise the finance?
Not something I would recommend, however, I used my investment property as equity. This itself is a massive risk, yet I had done enough research into Jetts and being an owner operator of my first club I was confident of success.
What training and support did you receive initially and ongoing?
?n the early days training was limited but brought you up to speed on the essentials, having a business background made life a lot easier. The training and support now is outstanding & continues to improve with the growth of the network and the ever increasing size of HO.
What is a typical day for you as a franchisee?
- Send & reply all my emails for the day (maybe 20 minutes)
- Breakfast with my family & morning coffee with the wife
- Morning training session at my own club (always train in your own club)
- Catch up with club manager for any pressing issues that need attention, I speak with my club manager, P.T’s & members every single day
- Home for lunch with the family
- Nap time for the kids, follow up any work related issues, (invoicing,data entry, etc, etc maybe 1 hour)
- Afternoon kid’s activities, surf, beach, ride, you get the idea.
- Late afternoon outdoor cardio session, swim, ride, run, ski, or surf
- 5pm send & reply emails (I only email twice a day. Morning & night)
- Dinner & quality time with the family
- Night, night
What challenges have you faced?
In the beginning, the biggest challenges were brand recognition and exposure. Nowadays, our biggest challenge is probably differentiating ourselves from our competitors & staying in front of them.
Has becoming a franchisee changed your life, if so how?
- YES, I now have more of everything from question 2:
- MORE Family
- MORE Time
- MORE Freedom
- MORE Financial stability
What advice would you give to someone thinking of buying their first franchise?
- Contact as many successful franchisee’s as possible
- Speak with franchisee’s that haven’t had it so easy & ask them why
- If it’s just for money, its probably not for you
- Keep your finger on the pulse & be present
- Calculate how much finance you need & then add 50K (you’ll need it)
What are your plans for the future?
- Take more trips abroad
- Teach my kids to surf
- Do more charity work, give more back
- Open another club?
- Enjoy my friends & family
Would you do it again?
Yes
Request information on franchise ownership of
Jetts franchise