By Matthew McCreary, Entrepreneur
"Get more exercise" was one of the most popular New Year's resolutions, second only to "eat healthier." It's been a few months since millions of people started pursuing those goals and heading to the gym, but if your resolution was to own a business in the new year, it's not too late -- a fitness franchise may be for you.
Anytime Fitness
Entrepreneur Franchise 500 Rank: 20
Initial investment: $107,524 to $722,796
Initial franchise fee: $21,000 to $42,500
New units in 2018: 426 units (+11.7 percent)
Anytime Fitness is a global business that had 2,398 U.S. and 1,645 international franchises at the start of 2018, along with 38 company-owned locations. In 2007, the total number of locations was just 455.
The total cost of investment can vary widely based on your current real estate, where you'd like to build and the type of Anytime Fitness franchise. (A total investment in Anytime Fitness Express could run you anywhere from $107,273 to $512,194, and an Anytime Fitness Standard could cost you between $130,753 and $722,546.)
Orangetheory Fitness
Entrepreneur Franchise 500 Rank: 25
Initial investment: $563,529 to $999,121
Initial franchise fee: $59,950
New units in 2018: 269 units (36.8 percent)
Orangetheory Fitness focuses on fitness classes that can include treadmills, rowing machines and free weights. The company, which was founded in 2010, also requires class participants to wear heart rate monitors so they can see their health information during the workout. Orangetheory is looking to add franchises worldwide.
Planet Fitness
Entrepreneur Franchise 500 Rank: 7
Initial investment: $969,600 to $4,242,500
Initial franchise fee: $20,000
New units in 2018: 197 units (14 percent)
A Planet Fitness franchise can easily cost seven figures and significantly more than any other business on this list. However, according to the company website, franchisees can expect a greater than 25 percent return on investment in a franchise's second year, even after royalties and advertising. That comes from a median annual membership revenue of around $1.7 million and a median operating income of $567,000.
Crunch
Entrepreneur Franchise 500 Rank: 148
Initial investment: $304,500 to $1,984,500
Initial franchise fee: $25,000
New units in 2018: 55 units (29.9 percent)
Crunch Franchise was founded in 2010, but despite its relative youth as a business and relatively high investment price tag, Crunch had already grown to 239 units by the start of 2018. According to its website, Crunch's growth results largely from its approximate $1.9 million average gross sales per unit and 6,440 median members.
Crunch has franchise opportunities in all 50 states, but the amount of availability in each state varies.
Jazzercise
Entrepreneur Franchise 500 Rank: 94
Initial investment: $2,405 to $17,155
Initial franchise fee: $1,250
New units in 2018: -147 units (-1.6 percent)
A Jazzercise franchise can cost as little as $2,500, which is around 42 times less expensive than Anytime Fitness, the second most affordable franchise on this list. The reason for that is simple: You don't need to own a physical location to become a Jazzercise instructor, and as the website puts it, "every certified instructor is a franchisee."
That more accessible level of investment is also why there were more than 8,000 franchises across the world at the start of 2017. That number is greater than the total number of franchises for the other four businesses on this list combined.
