Are you Going Multi-Unit? 6 Things to Consider
Sep 24, 2025
Multi-Unit Franchising is a very strong trend in the US franchise industry. Not only are franchisors more interested in signing multi-area agreements, but franchisees are also pursuing this type of growth by either opening new units from scratch or acquiring underperforming locations.
Amanda Rainsberger, from Anytime Fitness, is one of those Franchisees who have found success in multi-unit franchising, using both methods to increase her number of units.
She opened her first location in October 2014. By 2024, she ran six gyms. That’s when she began working with the American Franchise Academy, joining our COMMAND Program. Now, she has more than doubled her units and has more openings & acquisitions planned for the near future.
Going multi-unit has allowed her financial and time freedom, and now she has more confidence to lead and make decisions.
How did she do it? How can franchisees grow their franchise business? What happens when a business owner enters the “multi-unit mode”?
I interviewed Amanda for our Franchise Success Formulas Podcast. These are the lessons you can learn from her success story.
But first, don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel and Podcast, and follow us on all social platforms.
Choose your Locations Wisely
Amanda’s first gym opened in her hometown, Michigan Center, Michigan. She saw this opening as an opportunity to enhance her community, and maybe even attract other business types.
Two years later, she made her first acquisition: an Indiana gym located in a high-income area, with very different demographics from her other gym. “Most people had gym equipment and stuff to work out at home. There were also a lot of diverse concepts surrounding that gym.”
A third location opened in 2017, which was not far from the first one. Overseeing two nearby units made her understand that keeping the units close together was a more efficient way to manage them. And so, while it was “a neat experience” and she learned a lot, she decided to sell the Indiana gym in 2019.
Selling that unit had another impact on her journey. Not long after she sold, COVID hit. Michigan shut everything down for six months, but being able to focus all her efforts on keeping her two gyms in Michigan afloat was crucial for her business survival.
This experience also opened her eyes to opportunity. “I thought: if I can survive being shut down for that long and going through all those rules, I can probably do some more locations, be successful, and help others at the same time. That gave me confidence coming out of 2020.”
That’s also when she decided to grow multi-unit within her state. “For now, I want to make Michigan dense and have my locations together.”
Lesson: When choosing a franchise location, analyze whether the area has the right demographics for your business. The closer you are to the ideal demographic target, the better. This increases the chances of people coming and buying from you.
Keep learning: Location vs. Market, What Matters The Most in Franchising?
If you missed part 1 of our conversation, click below to review Amanda’s success journey from sports lover to Multi-Unit Franchisee:
Have your Future Leaders Ready
In 2021, an Anytime Fitness franchisee reached out to Amanda. He was leaving the brand and was offering her the opportunity to acquire his gym.
Not only were the unit economics favorable. That location happened to be in Belleville, a town where one of her longtime employees lived.
It was a no-brainer. Instead of searching for an external gym manager and going through the onboarding and hiring process, opening that new leadership position became a motivating factor for her employee. She gave him the chance to be relocated and advance his career, which he happily accepted.
Because of this experience, Amanda has continued to develop her leadership bench to have those future leaders ready for her new openings or other acquisitions that may come her way. And because she has the structure to offer that career path for them, many of her team members have been successfully promoted. This has truly made a difference in her multi-unit journey.
Lesson: Build a leadership bench so leaders can step in when opportunities like acquisitions arise. This is essential for multi-unit franchise growth. Otherwise, you may miss opportunities because you're not ready to act.
Become a Power Delegator
When Amanda’s business was ready, she hired a District Manager. This made a big difference in her life as a multi-unit franchisee because she gained freedom back as an owner by delegating the supervision of her units to them.
Now, she uses her extra time to brainstorm ideas, boost her creativity as an entrepreneur, and assess growth opportunities; she also has more free moments to enjoy her three fur babies and outdoor activities like sailing.
But beware. Delegating means more than just asking people to do things for you or on your behalf. You must train your people and leaders properly so they can do the task equally or better than if you did it yourself.
Lesson: If you want to grow, achieve your business and personal goals, and have a more strategic role in your franchise, you must trust your team and delegate. But also, verify that the job is done with a high level of excellence.
Turnarounds Are Possible but Require Work!
As part of her multi-unit franchise growth plan, Amanda acquired a gym in Canton, Michigan. However, it was losing $78,000 a year. Why did she acquire it, then?
In her early days as a franchisee, she taught herself the difference between a failing gym and a successful one by focusing on factors like the financials, KPIs, location, and other key drivers.
Because of this, she’s now able to evaluate the true potential of a unit acquisition and discern what successful financials look like, what a successful lease looks like, and what a good franchise location is, as well as the areas of improvement she needs to address to turn the situation around—something she refers to as “reverse engineering”.
In this location, for example, she found many high-level, quick-fix opportunities that would improve the gym’s results. She renovated the equipment, staffed the gym correctly, and created a local marketing plan. She also put good business and management systems in place and ensured they were executed by the team members with consistency and excellence.
Thanks to this, the Canton unit is now making a little over $80,000 a year in profit.
Lesson: If you have a deep understanding of your brand, you can see opportunities to improve your business. But remember that turnarounds don’t happen overnight, so you must ensure you have the capital to sustain it and that the unit is not below break-even.
Solid Business Systems Will Support Your Growth
Amanda was smart enough to realize she was managing her franchise units with only basic business systems, but those needed to be stronger if she wanted to grow.
“Things could have been smoother and easier if I had made them stronger from the beginning”, she admitted. Thanks to our support and her hard work in our Multi-Unit Ownership Program, COMMAND, her charter, dashboards, and reports are now clearer and more accessible to employees.
For example, I better reframed my mission, vision, and values. I took things up a step with my dashboard to have a weekly financial report, not just monthly, in addition to the KPI dashboard. I created the salary strategy and career path for my employees.
She also developed a management manual and a troubleshooting guide for critical drivers so her team understands how to run the business and improve its KPIs.
Lesson: Having your business systems in place will pave the way for scalability and consistency across all your units. So, be sure to strengthen your operational and management systems before you start growing your organization.
Franchise MiniTip: Overcoming risks with multi-unit franchising
Train Yourself!
When Amanda joined the American Franchise Academy, she ran six units and had about 10 years of experience in the industry. Despite her success, she had questions, and she knew she needed specialized training and coaching to reach the next phase in her multi-unit franchise business.
She went all the way. Not only did she go through our COMMAND program, a Multi-Unit Ownership Certification. She also completed the LEAD Program, our Multi-Unit Leadership Certification, and the MANAGE 1.0 & 2.0 Programs, focused on basic and advanced unit management.
“I have learned a ton!” she said during our interview. “I feel better prepared to scale and open more units within the brand. Just putting action plans in place has helped me move the needle of my business.”
She has even thought about becoming a MUMBO, which means going multi-unit and multi-brand, but she says she will only do it when she feels ready to take that big step.
Amanda’s future looks very promising. She has eight unopened territories in her pipeline and plans to develop these areas strategically. She is also actively looking for other opportunities with the best leases and economics for future expansions.
She feels well-prepared to grow—not just for growth's sake—but to achieve more time and financial freedom, supported by a solid foundation of knowledge, confidence, and effective systems.
Becoming a Multi-Unit Franchisee is challenging, but with the right support, you too can succeed. Visit our program’s website to learn more about our elite training programs for Unit Managers, District Managers, and growing Franchisees, and discover how we can help you and your leaders thrive!
WATCH THIS VIDEO INTERVIEW ON YOUTUBE:
