Our New Adventure

Well, I've intentionally held off on blogging about this, but I think it's finally time. As of last February, Leigh and I are now small business owners. We bought the franchise rights to open 3 fitness facilities in Houston area, and the gym is called Snap Fitness. As many of you know, the fitness industry has always been one of my passions. That doesn't mean I've always kept myself in the greatest shape, but I've always enjoyed working out and studying about health and nutrition.

Back in the early 90's, a new fitness center opened up in my hometown of Lufkin...it was and is still called LiveWell. Since that gym opened, I've always been intrigued by the idea of owning one myself one day. My Mom even remembers me talking about that in high school. However, until now, I had absolutely no idea how to even begin down that career path. Gyms are big, they are expensive, and typically it takes a lot of people to make decent money. Combine that with the fact that I'm moderately risk averse, it just seemed like something that sounded cool, but not very realistic. Since college, I knew that it some point I wanted to something on my own, but I wasn't exactly sure what that would be, or when I would do it. As each year went by I always decided it just wasn't the right time. It took me a while to figure out that there will never be the perfect time to take a risk and do something for myself.

So back in December, you may remember that I won a trip out to California with a supplement company I had been doing business with since their inception....Isatori is the name of the company. Leigh and I flew out to Santa Monica, CA, stayed a couple nights on the beach, , spent some time with the CEO of the company, and worked out with a very successful trainer at Gold Gym - Venice Beach (The Mecca). For whatever reason, that trip sort of lit a fire under me and got me thinking about gyms again. The holidays were shortly after that trip and I spent some time researching different gyms and types of gyms. The one that kept popping up was Snap Fitness. After a couple of months of research, talking with other franchisees, and lots of prayer, we decided to pull the trigger and take a chance.

So here we are 5 months later and gym #1 is open for business!! Snap is a little different concept than the big box gyms. The entire model is based on research regarding what it is that customers value most in a fitness club. The top 3 things are convenience, quality equipment, and a clean club. So what Snap does is try to put these smaller clubs as close and deep into neighborhoods as we can get. 90% of the members will come from within 2 miles of the club, so convenience is definitely one the biggest selling points. We stock the gyms with Cybex equipment, which is as good as you can buy in my opinion. Research also shows that more than 80% of members strictly use strength and cardio equipment...not the pool, the rock wall, etc.. So that's what we offer, phenominal strength and cardio equipment. Another differentiator is that we are open 24/7 allowing people to work out when they want. That doesn't mean there is someone working 24/7, but the club is open to the members all day and every day. We also don't lock members into contracts...pay as you go month-to-month. You have an option of pre-paying for discounted rates, but no long-term contracts.

We've been open a few days now and signed up a few members already. The grand opening isn't for another couple weeks when the mass marketing goes out, so this is a good start. Anyway, check us out at www.snapfitness.com/houstontx

Here's a few more pics...