Vision PT - on the road to success

Posted on Monday 16th Nov 09

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Andrew Simmons is passionate about helping people with obesity or type 2 diabetes to lose weight and adopt a healthier lifestyle. It's a passion that's seen him establish a franchise network of 35 personal training studios across New South Wales and Queensland dedicated to tackling Australia's obesity epidemic.

Simmons started out as a personal trainer working within a commercial gym. At the weekends he also worked for the international fitness program company Les Mills, who choreograph workout routines and license them to gyms in over 70 countries. Simmons was impressed by Les Mills' systematic approach to fitness and the supportive environment it offered to employees.

"I loved how when I was part of the Les Mills organization, I was part of a team of people who were helpful and supportive of each other," he explains. "When I worked in the gym as a personal trainer it was dog eat dog. All the personal trainers on the gym floor were in constant competition for clients."

Simmons' desire to create a more supportive environment for fitness professionals led him to form Vision Personal Training in August 1999. The company planned to continue operating within the large commercial gym in Sydney's Sutherland Shire where Simmons was working, but to employ its own team of trainers and centralise the allocation of clients to avoid the endless competition. The plan proved successful for a time, but after Fitness First purchased the gym, the concept foundered. 

"I wanted to grow a team of trainers who would work for us inside the commercial gym," explains Simmons. "But then Fitness First came on board and changed all the rules on personal training. They wanted everyone in the gym to work for Fitness First instead of a separate private company, which meant that we would no longer have been able to grow as a business in our own right. We had no option but to leave."

Vision relocated its trainers and clients to its first fitness studio in Caringbah in 2001. "Our first gym was basically a 500 square metre factory," explains Simmons. "We operated as a personal training studio - people would come and see a personal trainer at least once a week, but then they could also use the studio's facilities outside of their one-on-one sessions."

The Vision fitness studio had the added advantage of being much less crowded than the commercial gym environment and considerably less intimidating for a lot of its clientele. It was also better suited to Vision's holistic approach to personal training, which aims to offer a complete weight-loss solution that includes nutritional advice and emotional support in addition to an effective exercise program.

Simmons sold his first franchise 2004, but the decision to go down the franchising route was taken much earlier. His experience with Les Mills had shown him how to effectively systemise training programs and maintain standards across a large company, while his experience with Fitness First highlighted the importance of offering his employees the potential for personal growth.

"It was pretty early on that I realised that franchising was what I wanted to do," explains Simmons. "I got the idea when I was with the Les Mills company. Also, when they kicked us out of the gym, I realised that unless I provide my trainers with the opportunity to grow, they'll end up leaving to start up their own studios in competition to us." 

Vision's first franchise was opened in Randwick in Sydney's east and its first franchisee was recruited from within the organization. According to Simmons, the company continues to recruit the majority of its franchisees internally, both as a means to further the careers of its star employees and as a way of ensuring its franchisees' commitment to the company's culture.

"The culture is the most important thing," says Simmons. "We've developed a culture of people who really want to help people get great results. Our people need to be passionate about helping people with obesity and diabetes type 2 - or diabesity as it's now called. That's my passion. If you don't actually want to help people with this epidemic, then you're not right for our business. We want to make sure that all of our franchise owners understand our culture, and understand what our standards and expected service levels are. Ideally, we need them to have experience as a trainer first, so they can better achieve that understanding."

According to Simmons, the company's success in recruiting franchisees internally means Vision's marketing budget for the sale of franchises has yet to pass the $5,000 mark. He also believes that it helps ensure that he's installing the right people to guarantee his business' future. "We've tried it with a couple of people who we've taken on from the outside, but it's more difficult because they need more support and training," he explains. "If they come from within Vision, they've already proved themselves. A lot of our clients come through word-of-mouth referrals. If you help each other get great results, the business will grow like a little virus."

Simmons is equally keen for his franchisees and employees to feel part of the Vision family. "It's very much a family," he says. "The brother-in-law of one of our franchise owners is a computer programmer, so we worked with him to create our own computer software. We use the software program to design and update our management reporting systems, our personal training programs and our exercise and nutrition plans so that we maintain consistency across the group. I always say that the business systems we've developed are our Ferrari, what we need in our franchise owners is great drivers."

In addition to overseeing the franchise operation, Simmons also continues to run the first studio Vision opened in Caringbah. "I still own that and that is where our franchise operation is run out of," he says. "My philosophy is that I need to stay in touch with what the franchise owners go through day to day. A lot of franchisors focus on opening as many outlets as they can and they lose touch with the day-to-day operation of their business. I don't want to do that."

Since opening its first franchise in July 2004, Vision has grown to include 27 studios in New South Wales and a further five in Queensland. The rate of growth has accelerated in the past two years. Two studios were opened in 2005 and another three in 2006, while 2007 saw 11 new sites open and 2008 has seen the opening of 13 new franchises, including Vision's four Gold Coast studios, its first outside Sydney.

The company also boasts a growing number of multi-franchise operators. "We've got one guy who runs five studios and another who runs three," says Simmons. "One of my franchise owners has actually bought into the franchise operation, so I've even got a new partner now."

While the long-term plan involves developing a national presence, Simmons is in no hurry. "We'd like to take Vision national," he explains. "But what I've learned over the years is that I don't want to spread myself too thin, too fast. I'm not interested in opening a studio in Melbourne or Perth until we've got our existing businesses cemented. We've just taken on a Brisbane franchise and I want to make sure that before we go anywhere else we get more studios there, so the existing Brisbane franchisee has other local franchise owners to bounce off. The plan is to continue our NSW development, spread throughout Queensland and maybe then we'll start looking at the other States."