Jamie Weeks had a successful career in finance, but he saw an opportunity to build a business that would make an impact within his community. That business is an Orangetheory Fitness franchise.
Jamie isn’t a typical franchise owner. Since beginning as a franchisee in 2014, he has grown his business to more than 25 U.S. Orangetheory studios in Oregon, Washington, Tennessee, South Carolina and Georgia. In 2017, the Orangetheory Fitness corporate team asked Jamie to help develop studios throughout the United Kingdom, thus furthering his reach overseas.
Jamie’s belief in the brand, along with his hard work, has led him to being among the most successful franchisees in fitness franchise system, a fact that Orangetheory validated when they awarded him the 2017 Franchisee of the Year honor.
Below, Jamie recounts his personal experience on scaling his Orangetheory business to the success story it is today and shares his honest opinion about what it takes to be a small business entrepreneur.
Was franchising, or owning a business, always something you envisioned for yourself?
Owning a business was something I did always imagine for myself. When you’re an entrepreneur, you just know that in your heart.
Did you research other franchise opportunities? How did you choose Orangetheory?
When I invested in Orangetheory I was 39 years old with two kids, and as I have told many of my friends, I was running towards a dad bod as fast as I could. I tried Crossfit, which was intimidating, and Flywheel, but found it repetitive. I knew group fitness was growing quickly, and I wanted to find something that was high-end but not so high end that it was exclusive. An average Orangetheory member’s class costs $12.50, which is minimal compared to the incredible value members get out of each class, which I loved. I was also really interested in the way Orangetheory incorporates technology into the experience. For example, clients wear monitors to track their heart rate in real time. For these reasons, and many others, I jumped on the opportunity to invest in the concept.
I wasn’t typically an active operator in my prior business ventures. But with Orangetheory, there were so many opportunities for me to become more involved from operations, to sales, to designing the studios, not to mention participating in the workouts; I quickly became an active operator.
Was there anything that surprised you about the process?
No, luckily the process was pretty straightforward and I wasn’t caught off guard by anything. Orangetheory as a business has an organized corporate structure, so compared to other companies I’ve invested in, this one was a fairly seamless transition.
What’s your daily routine like?
Sixty percent of everyday is spent communicating with my team. I believe this is where time is best spent as a business owner—investing time, energy, and resources into my team—helping them however I can.
As an active operator, I also spend time a significant part of each day actually running the business - from broken air conditioners, to managing the class schedule to overseeing marketing campaigns to engaging with our clients.
Typically, I work out in the afternoon. I don’t work out every day in my own studios because it’s too disruptive to the employees, and I don’t want to take a spot from one of our members during peak hours or make it more crowded than it is. So, I tend to do two or three Orangetheory workouts a week, and then work out at home the other days.
What has been the most rewarding part of your journey as a franchisee?
Orangetheory is unique because you get to have the feeling of a nonprofit by helping people help themselves, with the financial rewards of a for-profit. In many cases, members are losing over 50 pounds, eliminating the need for medications, and are happier and healthier individuals. Couples workout together and people make friends. We feel lucky to play a role in helping people better themselves every day, and make a living doing so.
I don’t know how you beat that.
How would you suggest franchisees that are new to ownership approach roadblocks?
Don’t try to be an expert in everything. Find opportunities to outsource those functions that require expertise to allow yourself to focus on your people. Human capital is most important. Keep your customers and employees happy and identify opportunities to grow your business.
For example, I’m not an accountant or a bookkeeper, so I don’t try to manage that on my own. Instead, I outsource to a company called Ceterus that specializes in outsourced bookkeeping and accounting for franchises manages all of that for me.
I can’t hire a third-party company to manage and invest in my people—so I outsource or delegate everything else.
How did you know you wanted to be an area developer?
Running 5 is running the same as 15. Running 1 is not the same as running 3, or 5. Running 2 and running 5 is completely different, but if you can run five studios successfully and still be happy at work, you can easily run 15 studios.
You own around 25 Orangetheory studios in the U.S. and are involved with the franchise’s U.K. expansion efforts. What is your advice for growing a team as the business scales up?
Invest in people early. If you do so, they will gain the necessary experience to help you take the company to the next step. If you neglect to do so, they won’t be prepared when the time comes and you need them to run the business themselves.
I tend to hire people who are new to business, new to the industry, and young—eager to learn the skills needed to successfully run Orangetheory. I invest in them early and it’s paid off for me many, many times over. I now have a team that is experienced, skilled, and will scale with the business.
Do you have plans to expand further?
Yes, we have ambitious expansion plans. Our ultimate goal is 100 or more studios open in the United States and 20 or more open studios in the UK, all within the next two years.
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Orangetheory Fitness literally exploded onto the scene. Since its opening less than 10 years ago, the Florida-based fitness franchise has grown exponentially with 1,000 studios globally in 48 states and 19 countries—and reportedly has plans to reach 1,300 studios by the end of 2018. The company is currently looking for prospective franchisees in Europe. For more details, please see the Orangetheory Fitness profile on our Franchise Europe site.