February 2, 2023

Client Spotlight – GYMGUYZ

Today we interviewed one of our many astounding clients, Josh York, founder of GYMGUYZ, for an inside look to his journey in franchising and his experience working with SMB Franchising Advisors. Check out the highlights from our talk below and learn what advice he would give to others looking to franchise.

In a few sentences, can you describe what your brand does and what your company is all
about?
We bring the workout to you – there’s no brick-and-mortar. We’re in-home, on-site, and virtual,
and we’re the largest in the world. We service over 1,350 cities throughout the US, Canada, and
the United Kingdom. We literally bring it anywhere… and what do we do? We help people, we
change people’s lives, and we do it on a daily basis. There’s no better feeling in the world.

Why did you choose to franchise your business?
I was on a call the other day and on the phone call I met the daughter of the franchise owner
who worked for McDonald’s and came up with the idea of the Happy Meal. That’s why I love
franchising—a lot of great minds and people come up with great ideas together. And at the end
of the day, I like to say everyone can learn from everyone. When you bring a lot of great people
together and you all have the same vision and obsession, it just makes things grow that much faster.

Why did you choose to partner with SMB Franchise Advisors?
I met Steve at a show in Long Island a couple of years before I decided to franchise. I love Steve.
He is an incredible human being and his team is incredible. I told him I was interested in
franchising and he said, ‘Sounds great but you’re a little early and there are some things you
need to do so you can actually franchise,’ and I had no idea where to start so he told me what I
needed to do – set things up with better systems and be able to scale it. Upon taking his advice, I went back to
Steve and said ‘I’m ready’ and from there started franchising.

How many units did you have before SMB, and how have you grown following the
partnership? Can you provide some details about your brand’s growth and
development? Franchise growth in Q1 2023?
We’ve grown like crazy. We’ve closed over 20 locations in Q1 and we’re on track to do the
same in Q2. It’s going to be a huge year for us. We will open up anywhere from 75 to 100 new
locations. Honestly, it was really crazy how fast the business took off. The one thing I loved about SMB is
that Steve is always willing to help, he is always available. We had just gotten approved for
franchising and I was nervous to go away on vacation – I didn’t want to go because it was my
first time leaving the business in 8 years… Steve told us not to be worried and we’d sign some
people on when I got back. The first night we got to Cabo, I’m in a buffet line and I’m getting
dessert. I loaded up my plate with brownies and walked back to my table and this guy is
looking at me and joked, ‘Are you eating all the brownies?’ We started talking and he
asked, ‘What do you do for a living?’ I started telling him about the company and how I
just started franchising and he said his son would love this. It’s 11 o’clock at night and I call
Steve. He picks up, he was sleeping and he asks what’s the matter. I said, ‘Steve, wake up!
I have someone interested in the franchise, what do I do?’. Two weeks later, Steve and I met
them in New Jersey and we signed the first franchise. I told that story to Entrepreneur
Magazine… and we started to take off like crazy.

What advice do you have for people looking to franchise?
You’ve got to be solving a problem, that’s number one. There has to be demand for it, that’s
number two. Number three is you’ve got to be very mentally tough…being in business,
especially going into franchising, is very painful. If you look at the real stats out there, they’re
pretty crazy. The average franchisor sells 10 units in 10 years. 70% don’t even sell one. It is not
easy.