Listen To Your Body (LTYB) Williamstown has overcome all pandemic obstacles and gone from 0-200 members from their opening day on November 9th, 2021. Anyone in the fitness sector understands that getting this many new sign-ups is a huge accomplishment, with breakeven memberships ranging from 100 to 110.
After 10 years in the fitness industry running a successful solo Personal Training business, Marco Monteiro decided to take the next big step and open his first LTYB studio in Williamstown.
After being approved to franchise with the brand in March 2020, the LTYB studio site selection process was unable to commence until April 2021 due to Covid lockdowns.
Despite the enquiry to the studio opening process taking almost two years, CEO Ben Fletcher said he was amazed at Monteiro’s ambition and dedication to open a successful studio despite the heavy lockdowns faced in Victoria.
“Marco couldn’t have launched a studio at a worse time, with heavy pandemic restrictions in Victoria forcing well-established local businesses to shut down,” Fletcher said.
“Fast forward to today and we are now considering closing up membership applications 12 weeks later due to reaching full capacity,”
“I have been in business for over 20 years, launching myself into the Fitness industry with only $50 in the bank, and I have since seen 100,000 members join LTYB,”
“I love seeing people overcome challenges to achieve great results and this story is a perfect reflection of the LTYB brand values: passion, commitment and professionalism.”
To highlight what an achievement this studio launch has been, Fletcher mentioned that due to the ever-changing restrictions, LTYB couldn’t execute the standard Franchise presale foundation membership launch as they didn’t feel comfortable taking clients money with uncertainty.
In addition to this, the pre-launch marketing campaign wasn’t able to be carried out before 2 weeks to the studios opening date due to lockdown. The Omicron variant ripped through Australia through December - January, with Monteiro himself contracting Covid and having to isolate. With over 45, 000 cases of Covid some days, many were hesitant to return to the gym and this further hindered people signing up for memberships.
Furthermore, outside of pandemics, the period between December and mid-January is the worst time of year for a membership push in the fitness industry.
Despite all of this, Monteiro kept a positive attitude and was determined to have a successful launch, and all of the hard work has evidently paid off. This is a clear example of dedication to franchise brand systems and processes, demonstrating incredible community engagement and retention in times of uncertainty.
The Listen To Your Body brand currently has 16 studios open Australia-wide, and is in the
pursuit of more locations both nationally and internationally.
