January 08, 2025

Ep80 Finding gaps in the fitness industry in the Australian market, with Sam Waller, Stepz Fitness

Feature

Episode#80

Are there too many options already in order to invest in the Australian fitness industry?

Sam Waller started as a personal trainer turned franchisee, then became the franchisor of Stepz Fitness, growing the network carefully to 25 locations at the time of filming.

He has some strong opinions on where the gaps in the market are.

In Episode#80 - If you are not in fitness in franchising, you probably have an instinctive feeling that there are simply too many concepts out there competing against each other for the same customer.

But is this instinctive feel true? Are they actually competing for the same customer and is there much more to it?

Sam has strong views through his extensive experience and focuses our chat on the importance of a strong unique selling proposition (USP), exactly who you are serving in the market, location factors, and the lure and challenges of regional Australia.

0:00 Intro

0:44 The elephant in the room in fitness - are there too many fitness concepts?

1:05 Sam’s thinking on fitness businesses and importance of unique selling proposition

2:01 Thought deeply about who they want to attract to the business

3:10 The industry globally not doing enough to get members results

5:14 Finding gaps in the fitness industry in opening new locations

7:18 How many gyms can be opened?

8:50 One store towns and the lure of regional success potential

10:29 What to look for in a location for a gym

11:54 Knowing your customer and even suggesting people go to competitors that are a better fit

13:23 Industry is mature and brands have their own niche with more appearing

14:00 Sam would not start a gym franchise now as not enough space in his view