If you’re considering opening a fitness franchise, Rick Mayo (Alloy Founder and CEO), compares the Alloy Franchise vs F45 Franchise and describes what makes these two franchises different. In this article, we compare the two fitness franchise competitors and whether it’s the right franchise opportunity for you.
Not all fitness franchises are the same. While they may seem like they provide the same amenities, facilities, and services, it might surprise you by how much they actually vary.
F45 vs Alloy Franchise Differences
1. Fitness Programming & Services
F45
F45 focuses on group circuit training and has created a series of 45-minute functional training workouts that combine elements of high-intensity interval training (HIIT), circuit training, and functional training.
Born in Australia, every F45 location around the globe runs different workouts each day and they show the same 45-minute video instruction at each location. They have videos that play in a loop at each circuit training equipment to provide examples of the exercise each day. Members all have the same workout at each club and they must book sessions several days in advance. They design high intensity workouts at higher heart rates to maximize fat burn within each 45 minutes session. Members target fat loss and building lean muscle. A certified trainer is on site to assist members with questions and adaptations, but not an actual personal training situation.
While this provides a high level of programming predictability, it doesn’t leave much room for personalization or customization. The “classes” can be very large.
The memberships are priced at about $65/week and are set by each franchise location.
Group Size: Depending on the facility and the number of participants at each circuit station, there could be 30 to 50 people taking part in the 45-minute sessions.
Trainer to Client Ratio: 1 or 2 trainers with 30 – 50 participants in the room where the circuit workout is broken down into exercise stations.
Alloy
Compared to F45, Alloy delivers small group personal training.
While F45 offers the same programming at every branch worldwide each day, Alloy provides customized prescriptions for each person in a small group of 6 clients. The small group ratio is one personal training coach to 6 clients. Allowing personalized workouts and supervision at each training session. The $30 price for each personal training client in a group setting is well below the average one-on-one personal training session of $85. Typically workout prescriptions include 2- 3 weekly in facility group training sessions supplemented with direction on how to maximize goals by utilizing the Alloy App and out-of-the-facility workouts.
This dedication to a superior personal training approach allows members to get workouts and programs designed to deliver real, long-lasting results. It also leads to the small group of 6 to become cross-motivating and more accountable to show up and achieve goals.
Group Size: 6 people take part in the small group personal training sessions.
Trainer to Client Ratio: 1 training coach to 6 clients.
2. Demographics: F45 vs. Alloy
F45
F45 fitness targets college age and young professionals between about 25-40 years of age.
Specifically, F45 studios want to attract millennials and Generation X clients. A massive 65% of F45’s client base is female.
We couldn’t find any information on whether F45 uses demographic information to help franchisees locate studios or how F45 helps new franchise owners find suitable studio space.
Alloy
Alloy’s target demographic is the Active Aging population that typically has more discretionary income. Alloy’s target market is the 45 – 60 age group that typically has more discretionary income. The clients are interested in an active lifestyle and want to be in the best shape of their lives at all stages of life – not just the young population that F45 and many other fitness businesses are trying to attract.
Alloy pays close attention to demographic metrics when they provide the Alloy facility location services to ensure investors receive the best possible chance at success by locating in their demographic target market.
For example, before encouraging franchise owners to open a new location, Alloy identifies whether its target market is present in the area. The team looks for demographics that target mature clients between the ages of 45-60 with a household income of more than $100,000 annually.
Alloy also pays attention to radius size, which pertains to how far clients have to drive to reach the facility. Alloy has found over the years that most people don’t like to drive more than about two miles to get to their fitness facility.
Finally, Alloy works closely with its real estate partners and individual franchisors to find and negotiate the perfect facility with favorable terms and complete any needed build-outs.
3. Initial Investment: F45 vs. Alloy
F45
To open an F45 franchise location, you’ll need an initial, out-of-pocket investment of about $313-$485k.
There’s a catch, though: even if you can come up with that much money, you’ll also need to meet a series of requirements, including a minimum of $300k in liquid capital or access to partners and investors.
You’ll also need to find your own commercial real estate studio (measuring at least 1830 to 3,500 square feet) for your studio.
Also, the franchise agreement is five years and may include options to renew the agreement, generally for two additional five-year terms.
Alloy
Compared to F45, Alloy offers much more flexible startup requirements.
The total investment necessary to begin operation of an Alloy Facility is $197,317 to $397,833 for a Stronger 1 business model. This includes a $60,000 initial franchise fee. Interested parties must have a net worth of at least $300k and must be able to invest a minimum of at least $125k.
Alloy’s founder requirements are also more lenient than F45’s, which opens the doors for more people to join in.
Another difference is the Alloy franchise agreement is ten years, with three subsequent successor agreement options of five years each.
4. Revenue: F45 vs. Alloy
F45
F45 has been increasing its revenue year-over-year. In 2021, the company reported $61.8 million in revenue and grew its full-year-revenue 63% over the year before – to an impressive $134 million.
Despite those numbers, the functional movement concept is still relatively new in the fitness industry. In fact, one recent study found that it has less than 25% awareness and even lower adoption – at less than 10%.
Average Client Longevity: 18 months is the average longevity of a client in the F45 program
Retention Rate: Unknown
Membership: $65 dollars per week with monthly packages available or about $260 per month. There are lower monthly package prices available and prices vary by studio location.
Lifetime Value of a Client (LTV); With the 18 month average longevity of a client at $260 per month, their LTV is lower than Alloy’s at $4,680.
Alloy
Currently, Alloy has some of the best revenue per member and retention numbers in the entire fitness industry.
And this is no accident – Alloy recently awarded its 50th franchise, and now has locations in 12 states, including Montana, Tennessee, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Ohio, Texas, Utah, Nevada, Michigan, and Missouri.
To further its success, Alloy is currently working on new franchise development deals to continue driving aggressive and upward growth in the coming years.
Pre-sales for the new franchises have been strong, and Alloy is holding nationwide franchise discovery days – all of which is good news for interested investors.
Average Client Longevity: Clients stay on average 36 months and many have been there for over 10 years. Clients stay longer with Alloy because of the small tribe dynamics and highly personalized attention.
Retention Rate: Alloy’s 97% retention rate is one of the highest in the fitness industry
Membership: Alloy averages $30 per session or approximately $300 per month
Lifetime Value of a Client (LTV): With the 36 month longevity of a client at $300 per month, Alloy has one of the highest LTV of $10,800.
As you can see, the potential is greater for ROI with higher client retention and a longer client longevity rate. Other benefits include you are not spending a lot of extra money on new client acquisition and your churn rate is lower.
The Verdict: Alloy or F45?
If you’re interested in starting a fitness franchise, both Alloy and F45 are strong options. F45 is one of the trendiest, fastest-growing fitness franchises available, but one caveat right now for F45 is they are almost sold out with limited territories available in the U.S.
On the other hand, Alloy is one of the premier personal training and small group fitness franchises in the world, with a track record of success spanning over 30 years. They still have plenty of franchise opportunities in the U.S. and internationally.
While both franchises offer support and training, Alloy stands out. Unlike F45, which requires franchise owners to come to the table with their own location, for example, Alloy provides end-to-end support designed to help new franchise owners excel beyond their wildest dreams.
Alloy also uses location-specific demographic information to make sure each franchise branch is going up in the right location, and that each franchise owner has what they need to launch a successful business.
Ready to learn more about the Alloy opportunity? Reach out to request your free information packet today. We look forward to hearing from you!
Article by: Rick Mayo
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