Fixing the First Big Stumbles

Orangetheory's first franchise units weren't working. Here's how the brand stepped back, readjusted, and unlocked massive growth

- JASON FEIFER

Expansion can either be the best thing for your business, or the absolute worst. It all comes down to this question: Are you really prepared for your new locations to be successful?

Back in 2010, when Orangetheory pany entering the franchise fitness space, its cofounders thought they'd prepared for success. But then their new units started failing.

"We just weren't getting the same traction, and we was a new com- weren't happy with the level of the customer experience," said CEO and cofounder David Long in a 2019 interview. "We were alarmed and questioning whether or not we could really scale this brand."

To fix the problem, they had to pause expansion, step back, and deeply investigate what was going wrong. What they discovered changed the course of Orangetheory-and ultimately put it on track to become one of the dominant players in the fitness space.

Here, Long explains the problem they faced, how they solved it, and why their experience is an important lesson for anyone looking to franchise.

Orangetheory started with a single, successful fitness studio-but when you opened your first franchise locations, you couldn't replicate the success. What did you do?

We stopped opening any more franchise stores for a period of time. We did consumer serving and net promoter score serving very early on. We were getting initial feedback. We were going into the studios with our team.

And what did you see?

At the time, coaches at each location helped develop their programming for each day. Some of their workouts were just too advanced for the audience. The modifications to make it more accessible just weren't being utilized. You can imagine that a coach could drive a consumer away from the brand, because the workout was too hard in the beginning.