New heights for BFT franchise owner
10th Mar 2023
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By Choose Franchise
With more than a decade of experience in the fitness industry as a gym instructor and personal trainer, Chris Taylor was looking for the “next step” when he crossed paths with Body Fit Training (BFT) three years ago – and hasn’t looked back since.
As owner and head coach of BFT Fairfield in Victoria, Chris opened the studio in June 2019 after running a boutique PT studio for three years, building on his background as a YMCA gym instructor.
His studio has been named Franchise of the Year for two consecutive years, in both 2021 and 2022.
“I got to a point where I was looking for career advancement and the next step; I couldn’t really make more money without working more hours, which I was already doing too much of,” Chris says.
An easy choice
Once he discovered that Cameron Falloon – former strength and conditioning coach for elite sporting teams and PT for Princess Diana – was founder and CEO of the BFT network, Chris says he was “all in”.
“It was an easy choice because I could see that it wasn’t something that was only going to be around for a couple of years.
“For me it’s all about the quality of the programming – it’s something I fully support and am happy to put my name to.”
Fuelled by science
Before opening BFT Fairfield, Chris was fast losing faith in the fitness industry and the “whole high intensity, metabolic focus” that meant gymgoers were pushing themselves harder – without necessarily seeing real results.
He says BFT’s progressive programming, which supports individuals to get fitter and stronger over six-to-eight-week training blocks, is one of the keys to its success.
“It all comes down to the science behind the programming and why we do it.
“The progressive nature of the programming means people don’t just come in and do a hard session for the sake of it being hard, they actually see the progression.
“A lot of our members have done most forms of training and when they see how we roll out the sessions and understand the structure, they say they wished they’d done this years ago.”
Cutting-edge tech
With state-of-the-art fitness equipment and heart rate technology, Chris says his coaches “know exactly who’s working too hard, and who needs to work harder”.
“We individualise every single member.
“With the combination of equipment, heart rate monitoring and coaching, every member works exactly as hard as they need to, rather than everyone just working as hard as they can to see who can last.”
Support at every step
As a franchisee, Chris says the support from BFT HQ makes the otherwise onerous task of opening and running a global fitness brand “a seamless process”.
“They don’t come in and say, ‘you have to do this and you have to do that’.
“Obviously there are protocols and frameworks you have to stick to, but you can still run the studio to your flavour. And if you do need to lean on HQ, you always know they’re going to be there to support you.”
He says without the team approach and commitment of his Fairfield staff, the studio simply “wouldn’t have been as successful as it has”.
Financial freedom
Aside from knowing he’s helping people to live healthier, happier lives, Chris says the financial benefits from owning a BFT are remarkable – so much so that his revenue stream in one month at Fairfield outperforms what he once made in one year as a private PT.
“We've got one of the highest member numbers within the network so our profit margins are pretty high but there's potential to be on a completely different financial level.
“The financial incentive is certainly a huge motivator but at the end of the day, it comes down to having a genuine interest in making people’s lives better.
“If you’ve got the right intentions, the financial kickback happens.”
