When the people inside your community want to open their own studios, you know you're doing something right. While inLIFE Wellness began as a single location in 2019, it’s quickly expanded to 62 franchises across Australia, New Zealand and the US, with another 19 studios currently in development.
None of that growth has come from franchise marketing. It's happened organically, with members and instructors choosing to open their own locations because they wanted to be part of what we’ve built.
The power of community
Sitting in the boutique studio sector, inLIFE Wellness specialises in group reformer Pilates and dynamic hybrid classes. While reformer Pilates itself has been around for more than 100 years, it’s seen significant growth over the past five years as people move away from high-intensity, high-impact exercise towards more sustainable forms of movement.
The business is guided by the mantra “Build from Within”, and the majority of studio owners reflect this. Most started as members, who went on to become either instructors (through the inLIFE Wellness Reformer Pilates Instructor Certification Program) or studio managers. Some members now own multiple studios because they love the brand and saw potential in being involved at a deeper level.
This pathway is smooth and seamless because the people who progress in this fashion understand the culture we aim to uphold and go on to promote it themselves. Community is the foundation for member retention. I have an inherent belief that people want to be part of something, and they want to feel like they are going somewhere. inLIFE Wellness provides a way to do all of this, and it stems from people immersing themselves in the community we have created.
Before starting out, someone once told me franchising would cost a large amount of money. I thought they must be mad and that it wouldn't apply to me, since I could do it better and at lower cost. As it turned out, we were both wrong. It cost a lot more than they said! Someone else told me franchising isn't worth it until you get to 40 locations, and again, I thought this wouldn't apply to me. I can now see exactly what they meant.
What I've also learned, though, is that by creating community, culture and a positive environment, I don't really have to sell franchises. People naturally want to become part of it, and it has grown organically from there.
Putting franchisees first
As well as providing a welcoming and supportive environment for our franchisees, the inLIFE Wellness model offers a few key advantages. The first is a low-cost entry point. The price of opening a studio is $200,000 (which is less than half of what most competitors require) and the ongoing operational costs are also very low.
The second is our innovative range of classes, called Fusion Pilates, which include programs such BarreFormer, Reformer Stretch, Lift and Intervals.
Our third point of difference can be found in our target market for members, which is women in their mid-30s to late 60s. This is held together by our extremely welcoming and inclusive internal culture. It's a bit like the TV show Cheers, where everybody knows your name and they are always glad you came.
For franchisees, that culture is supported by proper infrastructure. They get recruitment and talent guidance, including role frameworks, interview processes and workforce planning support, as well as proven operating systems, SOPs, studio workflows, scheduling structures and continuous optimisation so studios can run efficiently and consistently.
Initial and ongoing training is also included for franchisees and their teams, covering both technical delivery and customer experience standards, software platforms and ongoing upskilling programs.
There's also access to booking systems, CRM tools, reporting dashboards and franchise systems for tracking performance and managing clients, along with ongoing business coaching and continuous innovation to help studios stay competitive in a fast-evolving market.
We have two main avatars for a franchisee: the Owner-Operator, a Pilates instructor looking to open their own studio, and the Owner-Manager, who owns the business, doesn't instruct classes, but handles operations and studio management. Both benefit from a proven business model with ongoing support from the inLIFE Wellness HQ team.
Lessons learned
For anyone exploring franchise opportunities, my advice is simple: Get your opening costs as low as possible and build a model where the ROI is less than two years. When you think you've created a simple business model, simplify it further. Be prepared for a slow start and, ideally, grow from within, since franchise marketing is expensive and can be ineffective.
We’ve recently opened franchise applications for the first time ever as we look to expand further across Australia, New Zealand and the US. In the next five years, the goal is 300 locations in eight countries, with studio owners happy and fulfilled and doing well financially. We're adding new classes to the Fusion Pilates range, and I’m also building a retreat venue in Bali that will include its own reformer Pilates studio.
These expansions are only possible because we know the inLIFE Wellness model works. If you go about your business with good intentions and aim to build a model where franchisees succeed, the rest takes care of itself. Scale what works, not what you're still trying to fix.
