When Kate Franklin, an experience retail marketer and general manager decided that she wanted new challenges in her professional life she chose to look at franchises that included activities she loved in her personal life.
“In 2005, I decided that I wanted to tone up and lose weight, so I hired a personal trainer to help me do so,” said Kate. “Little did I know that I would enjoy it so much that I would go on to qualify as a personal trainer myself and ultimately, sign up to open my very own énergie Fitness For Women club!”
Kate has had an interest in health and fitness for many years and when she decided to open her own business she looked at 
several different franchises on the market. “I was originally drawn to the énergie brand as many years before I had been a member of a gym in Leighton Buzzard owned by a gentleman called Jan. I thought his club was great and when I heard that he was managing director of énergie clubs, I was immediately interested.
“However, once I saw the women’s only version, énergie Fitness For Women, I was certain that this was the franchise for me. It addressed many of the issues that women care about including quick workouts with guaranteed results and I loved the formula!” Kate said.
In January 2008, Kate signed on the dotted line and is very happy with her decision, “énergie Fitness For Women has a great management team who are very honest, very open and very professional which gives me confidence in our success.” The next phase for Kate is to find her ideal premises, get marketing and to get open.
“Having worked in retail I know that finding the right location is critical to success and can cut marketing and promotion significantly , but also you’ve got to negotiate the right rent on the premises otherwise your bottom line is lost,” she commented.
Kate’s ideal property would be close to Milton Keynes’s city centre, but she thinks she’ll need to find an unusual unit to make it work.
“Milton Keynes is unlike many other towns and cities in that the commercial districts are very self-contained rather than a sprawl around the centre and I need to find accessible premises that have good parking, are well lit at night and can accommodate the equipment required for the club. So far I’ve seen a shop unit on three floors in Newport Pagnell that I liked, but ultimately couldn’t make work space wise and some free standing office units which I’m not sure are right,” said Kate.
Having set herself the target of finding premises by May 2008, the hunt is on to find her club and open in time to make the most of the pre-holiday market, when everyone wants to tone up.
The next time we’ll hear from Kate she’ll have her premises and be entering her pre-opening programme which includes the fitting out of her club, pre-opening marketing and signing up those precious first members!
Click here to find out more about the énergie Fitness For Women franchise opportunity >>
