Archive for September, 2009
Tuesday, September 29th, 2009
We understand here at illuminate gym that not all franchises are selling a healthy product or service. In fact, I would venture to say that most franchises sell unhealthy products because the purpose of franchises are to make money rather than help people’s lives. At illuminate gym we feel we can do both by helping people become the best they can be with our ‘High Oxygen Training’. However, today I found an unnamed tanning salon franchsie that is trying to sell tanning as if it was a healthy thing that we all should be doing. The slogan literally said get your Vitamin D for the day here. I was shocked to see the a company literally was trying to sell cancer causing ultraviolet rays as something healthy for the human body. It’s true that we can get Vitamin D from ultraviolet rays from the sun. However, scientific studies show that spending 15-20 minutes outside during the day gives you enough Vitamin D for an entire day.
Please don’t misunderstand me because I do think it’s fine that this company is selling tanning salons as a franchise. I just think it’s rediculous to sell their product as if it were healthy. What if MacDonald’s started using the slogan ‘Eat a Big Mac a day to get a portion of protein your body needs’. What MacDonald’s would be failing to tell you is all the sodium, cholesterol, sugars, and saturated fats that come along with that Big Mac. And MacDonald’s knows how rediculous this is as well so they stick to making food that tastes good rather than acting as if it is healthy. Maybe cigarette companies should hire this tanning salon franchise to help them with a new pitch to sell their poduct. I can see it now… ‘Cigarettes are committed to fighting the obesity in America because they are in fact an appetite suppresent.’
At illuminate gym we understand that it must be hard to package a product or a franchise concpet when your product or service could cause cancer, heart disease, obesity and even death. However, a tanning salon should not act like sitting in a tanning bed is in some way a daily vitamin because it’s just not. At illuminate gym we’ll continue to grow our franchise concpet around health, fitness and helping people become a better version of themselves. After all, there is no excuse to not be the best you can be. Have a healthy day.
Tags: Big Mac, Fitness, fitness franchise, franchise, franchise concept, health, healthy, High Oxygen Training, MacDonald's, tanning, tanning salon, tanning salons, Vitamin D
Posted in Fitness | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 29th, 2009
As of yesterday illuminate gym has added another fitness franchise website to their advertising campaign in order to connect with as many perspective franchisees as possible. The website is www.fitnessfranchiseinfo.comand we couldn’t be more excited to add a website that specializes in offering fitness franchises to those looking for just that. As a franchisor it’s tough sometimes working with other websites because of all the different business opportunities. Some websites have a really high number of people moving through their website every single day but it’s always a concern because how many of them are actually interested in a fitness franchise or the fitness industry as a whole.
At www.fitnessfranchiseinfo.com we can rest assured that we are getting traffic to our listing by people who are truly interested in opening a fitness franchise. We are hoping that this new listing will continue to grow our lead numbers over the next few months and push the illuminate gym brand forward into new territories in the United States. Look for illuminate gym on www.fitnessfranchiseinfo.com within the next week. Thanks for reading and if you’re interested in hearing about our incredible franchise opportunities please give us a call or fill out our online application here at www.illuminategym.com .
Tags: fitness franchise, fitness franchises, fitness industry, franchise, franchise opportunities, franchise website, franchisees, franchisor, www.fitnessfranchiseinfo.com
Posted in Fitness | No Comments »
Monday, September 28th, 2009
illuminate gym has caught some insults on this web page for their view on some franchise financing that is going on currently in the franchise world. Most of these insults cannot be displayed on this web page but we would like to reiterate as a company we are not completely apposed to 401k or IRA rollover financing for franchisees. We just feel that this should be the last possible option for perspective franchisees. These are people’s retirements that they have spent years building up. Every franchisor out there knows that not everyone is cut out to be a business owner and that even the most developed franchise model is still a risk. At illuminate gym we just feel that franchises should not recommend this option to perspective franchise owners right off the bat. And if this option is put on the table to franchisees then it is the responsibility of the franchisor to describe in great detail the ramifications of this decision. If the entrepreneur wants to move forward with this risk then there is nothing wrong with this decision. As I have said before we understand that risks need to be taken to start a business but if a person’s retirement can be left alone it should be left for their retirement.
At illuminate gym we just feel that as a franchise we need to be responsible in the way we convey business to our franchisees. After all, people are coming to us for our expert opinions and advice on how to start and run a successful franchise unit. If we steer them the wrong way or in a direction without explaining the ramifications we feel that is completely unethical. Now I’m not trying to judge other fitness franchises out there for making this decision to push this type of financing because I don’t have the privilege of hearing the actual conversations between franchisor and perspective franchisee. However, if these other fitness franchises are not explaining the position they are putting the franchisee in then they are in the wrong. Here is the question I always ask myself as a business person and franchisor; ‘If I was in the same position as my franchisee would I do what I am telling them to do?’ If the answer is unequivocally ‘no’ then I wouldn’t say it to my franchisees. I hope this has helped some of the people who have not been in favor of some of my earlier posts. Thanks for reading and have a healthy day!
Tags: 401k, 401k rollover, business, financing, fitness franchise, fitness franchises, franchise, franchisee, franchisees, franchises, franchisor, IRA, IRA rollover, retirments
Posted in Franchise updates | No Comments »
Monday, September 28th, 2009
For More Information:
David Sedbrook
1-877-427-2615
Franchise@illuminategym.com
www.illuminategym.com
illuminate gym offers a different kind of franchise financing
DENVER—September, 2009—illuminate gym, affordable personal training featuring unique High Oxygen Training (HOT), announcing publicly that it is offering creative ways to help franchisees get their business off the ground in a tough credit market.
illuminate gym is no different than most other fitness franchises in the way that we’re all having trouble finding ways to get franchisees aprooved for the funds to start their own business. At illuminate gym we became a part of the SBA registry earlier this year but like many other franchises we’ve found it’s tough to get people’s SBA loans accepted by banks. Because of this issue it seems a new sort of financing has been born where accountants roll over people’s 401k or IRA plans into usable cash for start-up money. At illuminate gym our staff has heard these options are being pushed by many franchises, but illuminate gym isn’t sure this is the best path for people to take because of the possible penalties that can be incurred by such financing programs. So illuminate gym has tried to create its own financing methods for qualified franchisees.
One of the biggest investments a franchise owner will make at illuminate gym is equipment costs. So illuminate gym has begun acquiring their own equipment to offer to qualified and motivated franchisees in an attempt to keep their franchisees start-up costs down. “At illuminate gym we’re interested in building a brand which means we’re directly connected to each of our franchisees’ long term success. In other words, it’s better for us to invest in our franchisees to ensure we give them the best chance to build a profitable business,” David Sedbrook CEO and founder of illuminate gym said. Now illuminate gym has even taken it a step further by also offering to invest $10,000 into each franchisees’ business to help their future franchisees with other miscellaneous costs to start up their own illuminate gym.
These are all attempts by the illuminate gym franchise to keep their franchisees’ initial cost down rather than tapping into their retirement funds. “We just feel that it’s short sided to ask people to tap into their savings to start an illuminate gym. We obviously know that as an entrepreneur you have to take a risk, but draining a 401k or an IRA is a risk we would prefer our franchisees don’t take. Our goal is to build a better life for everyone that comes into contact with illuminate gym. In other words, we want to help our franchisees build a better retirement plan rather than depleting it… And we feel we can help our franchisees with this process,” David Sedbrook said. illuminate gym feels they are on the cutting edge of franchise development because of their approach to franchisees which they call a partnership. This new way of helping franchisees with start- up costs could make IGDC (illuminate gym Development Company) an invested partner with their future franchisees. www.illuminategym.com
Tags: 401k, banks, fitness franchise, franchise, franchisee, franchisees, investment, IRA, partnership, SBA loan, SBA rgistry
Posted in Fitness | No Comments »
Sunday, September 27th, 2009
A lot of our competitors in the fitness franchise world and our perspective franchisees want to know what’s up with this ‘High Oxygen Training’? High Oxygen Training is more of a fitness philosophy within the craft of personal training that gets serious results and helps personal trainers keep their workouts efficient for their clients.
The basic principles behind illuminate gym’s brand of personal training is we want to cut the rest time within workouts so we get our clients’ bodies in an aerobic state. Weight training has always been thought of as an anaerobic movement and now with ‘High Oxygen Training’ we have changed the face of weight lifting forever. This type of training helps our future franchisees with branding their personal training to the community rather than just calling their training ‘personal training’ like every other fitness franchise or personal training franchise around. In fact, I opened the original illuminate gym a few blocks away from a well known personal training franchise and our results were staggering. Today I’m not even sure how this particular fitness franchise is keeping their doors open because every time I drive by I see a dark gym floor with no one inside. I think at illuminate gym we can credit some of our success to our brand of fitness and how we present it to the surrounding community.
I do want you to know that our personal training methods or ‘High Oxygen Training’ can be done by any competent personal trainer (who should be certified) with a little training from us here at illuminate gym. We also offer on the phone training and testing via the Internet for all new personal trainers who are hired by an illuminate gym owner to ensure that our clients are getting the best ‘High Oxygen Training’ we have to offer. If you have any other questions about ‘High Oxygen Training’ or owning an illuminate gym franchise please give us a call at 1-877-427-2615 or fill out our contact us form at www.illuminategym.com. Have a healthy day!
Tags: fitness franchise, gym franchise, High Oxygen Training, personal trainer, personal trainers, personal training, personal training franchise, personal training gym
Posted in personal training | No Comments »
Sunday, September 27th, 2009
So we have run into a horrible economy over the past 18 months and though their are very positive signs that we are pulling out of this economic slump the residuals still remain. Because of this franchises have scrambled to find other ways of getting franchisees to buy into their franchise. Even fitness franchises have started to follow this trend. Here at illuminate gym we have the same abilities other franchises do to make this happen because realistically it’s always third party accountants who are getting this done for franchisees. This is true because franchisors don’t want to be responsible for rolling over a 4o1k plan or an IRA and costing their franchisees a lot of money in penalties if the process is done incorrectly. However, this type of financing of franchises has come under a lot of scrutiny by the business community. The economy is down and starting a business is always risking so to ask people to fund the new business with their nest egg is tough to do.
At illuminate gym we don’t push this type of financing on perspective franchisees we know can’t get funding for a franchise unit. However, we do understand that many older franchises out there have seen major dips in franchise sales which is pushing them to make hard decisions like cutting back their staffs or offering alternative financing options. As the CEO and founder here at illuminate gym I just feel like this type of financing can open the door for some major issues for franchises in the future because the thinking behind it is so short sided. Starting a business and even a proven franchise is still a risk…. Now part of being an entrepreneur is obviously taking risks, however, using your retirement to become a franchise owner and then failing could mean major lawsuits and bad press for any franchise. Some of the bad press that comes the way of the franchise may be warranted but some of it may not. Any of us who have worked in the franchise world for anytime at all know that sometimes franchisees fail because they are really just not cut out to own a business. I know in my career I have seen it with a lot of franchisees even in the MOST proven franchise models.
The reason I wrote this blog today was I received an email from a perspective franchisee who has been speaking with multiple fitness franchises and all of them have offered this type of financing to him accept us. For us here at illuminate gym we would prefer to find the right franchisee and actually help them fund their business through us rather than them drain their retirement to start a business. That being said if a franchisee absolutely wanted to go this route we would allow it and open the doors to these alternative forms of financing but we would also explain the ramifications of such a plan of attack.
In a perfect scenerio illuminate gym will never be involved with this type of financing because as I said before it is so short sided and desperate of a fitness franchise or any franchise to push this on their franchisees. At illuminate gym we would prefer to keep our staff smaller and wait until the credit markets re-adjust so entrepreneurs can start doing business again. Thanks for reading and have a healthy day!
Tags: 4o1k, credit markets, finance, financing, fitness franchise, franchise, franchisee, franchisor, gym franchise, IRA
Posted in Franchise updates | 2 Comments »
Sunday, September 27th, 2009
Grab-N-Go Espresso has had 5 of its baristas arrested for prostitution after multiple complaints came into the Everett, Washington Police Department. Supposedly, 5 women at the coffee shop franchise were selling a whole lot more than just espresso. The franchise location had 5 women ranging from ages 18-24 who were also offering to take off their clothes during the process of making espresso for $80.00 and also a few counts of licking whipped cream off of … well… you know. The Police Department in Everett has done a 2 month sting on the coffee shop franchise and arrested all 5 baristas on prostitution and lewd acts because the coffee shop does not have the permits to run a strip club inside.
At illuminate gym we like to keep up with the national franchise world and though this has little to do with health and fitness we thought those people interested in a franchise or just franchise news should hear about this amazing development at the Grab-N-Go Bikini Hut. I guess there was a little more grabbing than espresso going on for the past year in Everette, Washington and the only question we’re left with is how’s the coffee taste?
This is a different blog than we ever released here at the illuminate gym franchise site and I hope you enjoyed the story as much as I did… And to all of you interested in opening an illuminate gym we have never had an issue with any of our employees or personal trainers with prostitution, lewd acts or any other broken law. Thank God for that. Have a healthy day and if anyone offers you an espresso for $80.00 I would just assume there are police watching and you’re name will soon be John.
Tags: coffee franchise, franchise, franchise news, illuminate gym, personal trainers, prostitution
Posted in Franchise updates | No Comments »
Sunday, September 27th, 2009
So it’s the question that so many fitness professionals and personal trainers here from their clients looking to lose weight? “Can I continue to drink wine and still lose weight?” They then give excuses like they have to drink because their job requires for them to meet clients or associates in places where drinking is a must or they just can’t miss that happy hour they head to with their friends every Friday night.
Today the question was posed to me as a franchisor… What will you tell your future franchisees to tell their clients and personal trainers about the consumption of wine, after all it is said to be lower in carbohydrates than many liquors and beer? My answer is simple and easy for the personal trainers that work for me and my future franchisees… Everything is fine in moderation… the key being moderation. If you are a person who drinks wine 4 nights a week your success in losing weight will probably be limited. If you want to know why then just add up all the hollow calories you are taking in over a week of time and then multiply it by 52 and you’ll find how staggering your wine consumption is. Now if you’re a person who goes out for a cocktail on Friday night or has a glass of wine or two at a dinner a week then I see nothing wrong with it. However, for those in the fitness world who hear about the health benefits from those clients who love their wine remember that their are many other studies that show that drinking wine daily has no real benefit to your heart.
So in conclusion I would tell all personal trainers and member of the fitness industry to work with clients and try and deter them from drinking too much alcohol but allow them to live their own lifestyles. Just be sure if your clients don’t see results because of their drinking to bring them up when they feel their workouts are doing nothing with their personal trainer. I’ve seen it happen many times in my fitness career as a personal trainer and a gym owner. Personal trainers can show the way but clients need to follow. Thanks for reading about illuminate gym and our franchise opportunities.
Tags: alcohol, calories, diet, drinking, gym, illuminate gym, personal trainer, results, wine
Posted in Nutrition | No Comments »
Friday, September 25th, 2009
A matter of months ago the American people funneled billions of tax dollars into financial institutions to ensure their survival. Today as perspective franchisees make their way into the bank they are finding that it’s extremely difficult to get funding on a new business. America was built on the ingenuity of the entrepreneurial spirit and today that spirit is feeling a little weak for a lot of people looking to open a business of their own. Franchises are working hard to find new entrepreneurs to continue their growth but unfortunately many people can’t make there way into the franchise world unless they have a lot of funds behind them.
Here at illuminate gym we have had to make some changes to the organization of our company as we entered the franchising world during the last few months. We’ve had to make some concessions on initial franchise fees and royalties because here at illuminate gym we understand we are in this for the long run and the success of our franchisees and their personal trainers are everything to us. Building a successful business during these economic times means that success may have to come sooner than later meaning here at illuminate gym we are looking to build a successful franchise model that will prove to be successful for us and our franchisees long term. If a franchise is short sided I would look to another option because their main concern is getting your money up front which is usually a sign of a company who is on the decline with executives at the top who are milking for all they can before the collapse. There are many fitness franchises out there who are on this unfortunate wave and it’s too bad for people who are trying to get into the franchise world. Here at illuminate gym we can assure all of our future franchisees that we are committed to their future as much as we are committed to our own because our franchise model depends on each and every franchisees’ success. Thanks for reading and if you are interested in the franchise opportunity at illuminate gym please contact us on our application page at www.illuminategym.com. Thanks for reading.
Tags: business, economic times, economy, fitness franchise, franchise, franchise fees, franchise model, franchise opportunity, franchisee, franchisees, franchising, illuminate gym, royalties
Posted in Fitness | No Comments »
Friday, September 25th, 2009
At illuminate gym in Denver one of our personal trainers was hit with an interesting question from a client. The client has seen amazing results at this franchise location however, his personal trainer wanted to make sure that his diet was where it should be so they started to discussing his day-to-day eating habits. The client’s eating wasn’t that awful besides the fact that his diet was mostly carbohydrates while his protein levels were very low. The personal trainer recommended that the client cut out some of his carbohydrates and add in some more portions of protein.
The client took this information and started doing some research of his own. What he found was that he was getting protein from other places in his diet such as, his multi grain bread. The personal trainer at illuminate gym was shocked to here that there was protein in multi grain bread so he promptly looked it up and there it was… multi grain bread does have protein in it. So the personal trainer gave me a call to check how this could be, so I told him. The issue is not is there protein…. The issue is are their amino acids to help the protein assimilate into the human body. When we are talking about multi grain bread the answer is absolutely not. This means that though the package may tell you there is protein in the food you are about to consume, doesn’t necessarily mean your body is going to have access to these proteins because the food may lack the amino acids that make this assimilation possible.
As a side note the only plant that offers a complete protein that can be useful to the human body is ’soy’. However, many bodybuilders are against using soy proteins because it can be androgenic in the male body even though I have never been able to find empirical evidence confirming an exact amount of soy it takes to start decreasing sperm or testosterone levels. Thanks for reading and have a healthy day.
Tags: amino acids, androgenic, carbohydrates, client, complete protein, diet, illuminate gym, Nutrition, personal trainer, protein, soy
Posted in Nutrition | 3 Comments »
We understand here at illuminate gym that not all franchises are selling a healthy product or service. In fact, I would venture to say that most franchises sell unhealthy products because the purpose of franchises are to make money rather than help people’s lives. At illuminate gym we feel we can do both by helping people become the best they can be with our ‘High Oxygen Training’. However, today I found an unnamed tanning salon franchsie that is trying to sell tanning as if it was a healthy thing that we all should be doing. The slogan literally said get your Vitamin D for the day here. I was shocked to see the a company literally was trying to sell cancer causing ultraviolet rays as something healthy for the human body. It’s true that we can get Vitamin D from ultraviolet rays from the sun. However, scientific studies show that spending 15-20 minutes outside during the day gives you enough Vitamin D for an entire day.