From Passion to Profit: Multi-Unit Franchisee Lessons to Thrive in Franchising
Sep 17, 2025
As part of the Franchise Wisdom series I do for our Franchise Success Formulas Podcast, I interviewed Amanda Rainsberger, a Multi-Unit Franchisee from Anytime Fitness.
She turned her love of sports into a profitable business that now allows her to have financial freedom and time available to pursue other passions. The fact that she has achieved this makes me very happy, and I truly celebrate her success because that’s one of the reasons why we do what we do.
She had six gyms when she first joined the American Franchise Academy in 2024. And now, she has more than doubled her units. Not only that. Her vision as a businesswoman has also transformed. Now, she has more confidence to make decisions. She is able to organize her thoughts better to see opportunities where others see problems. And her future looks very bright.
Her story could be yours, because that’s what franchising does for people who dream of business ownership. However, success is not guaranteed; you must have the grit to work towards your goals, be resourceful, and be intelligent when making decisions, especially when you want to scale into a multi-unit enterprise.
During the interview, Amanda shared her best practices and tips for succeeding in the franchise world, along with the story of her journey and the lessons she has learned. I hope she inspires you as much as she inspires me.
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Franchisee Best Practice #1: Choosing the Right Brand and Culture Fit
Since she was a little girl, Amanda has been involved in sports and fitness. She even says that this has shaped many aspects of her personality. So when it was time to start her professional life, she was naturally drawn to these areas.
Over the years, she worked in youth & college basketball management and coaching, helped a friend open a sports and recreation center, became a strength and conditioning instructor, and directed intramural sports programs, among other jobs. On top of that, she was also a regular at the gym. However, some negative experiences with big and community gyms led her to explore other workout options.
While googling, an Anytime Fitness franchising ad popped up. She went to the page, and what she saw enticed her so much that she decided that, from that day on, she was going to start saving money.
“I liked what the brand was about and how it fitted my preferences. I like to work out in smaller settings and having my own workout space, and Anytime Fitness is the global leader in that area, with locations everywhere. So it made sense for me, and I found that personal connection.”
Aside from the boutique business model that attracted her, she also liked that becoming a franchisee meant being part of a team, which also resonated with her.
“I'm very team-oriented from my sports playing days, and I missed being on a team. You get into franchising, and you're on a team. And this is a huge global team, so I love that. Yes, you pay royalties and franchise fees, but those are less than what you would pay if you were doing things on your own, running a mom-and-pop business.”
She confirmed that she belonged in this brand once again during her first corporate annual conference.
“I didn't know the brand culture was that awesome. It just made me feel like this definitely was a great decision. I met people with similar interests, and it's just a fun group of fitness, purple people to be around”.
One of the things I learned from Amanda is that you can get a tattoo at those conferences! There’s also a tattoo booth at the corporate headquarters, and the brand allows its franchisees to do events in their clubs where employees and members can get tattoos. They can be of the Anytime logo or the “Running Man”.
Amanda got her “Running Man” tattoo in 2017, which she personalized as many others do. She has a basketball, her jersey numbers, and her pet's paw prints.
Keep learning: "The Challenge Culture" from the Former Dunkin Chairman
Franchisee Best Practice #2: Growing Strategically and Carefully
After six years of saving money, in October 2014, Amanda opened her first location in her hometown, Michigan Center, Michigan. She chose that franchise location to do something positive for the community, improve the lives of her neighbors in all aspects—physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially—, and even possibly attract other types of businesses to the area.
In 2016, she bought an Indiana gym that was up for sale to start expanding her business. The third location was opened in 2017, not far from her first one. Managing two nearby units versus a distant one made her realize it was smarter to keep the units close for easier management, so she kept growing that way, and, by 2019, she sold the Indiana gym.
Her vision was broadened when she joined our COMMAND Program in 2024, and she decided she would focus on the Michigan area to scale her franchise business in that state. Centralizing her franchise operations would also allow her managers and assistant managers to have a team to work with, so they could trade shifts and share resources to lower her costs.
“I don’t think I had that vision until I started with the American Franchise Academy. It might have been something I wanted to do, but I didn’t believe I could do it. But you got in my head.”
That's powerful. That’s why I say that when franchisees go through our program, they get answers to their questions, which brings them clarity. Having a clear path of how to accomplish that growth builds their confidence and equips them to go out there and conquer the world!
I also love that now Amanda has clarity on what she can say yes to and what she can say no to. That allows her to make quick decisions and take advantage of real opportunities while discarding those that don't align with her strategy and skills. And that's fabulous!
Franchisee Best Practice #3: Have a Leadership Bench Ready
By 2021, she acquired another location that happened to be in Belleville, a town where one of her longtime employees lived, so she relocated that employee to take over that unit. This was really smart of her because instead of being an issue, that opening leadership position became an incentive for the employee.
Having a leadership bench gave her the confidence to move forward with that growth. And I can tell that this has truly made a difference in her multi-unit journey.
Keep learning: Internal vs. External Hiring in Franchising. 5 Factors to Consider
Franchisee Best Practice #4: Identify Opportunities, Not Just Problems
Amanda’s next acquisition was a Canton gym in Michigan. When she acquired it, it was losing $78,000 a year. Three years later, she was able to turn it around, and now it is making a little over $80,000 a year in profit.
“It interested me because I like those challenges. I look for locations that meet my skill set so that I know that I can turn it around. I ask myself, ‘Can I turn it around without being there every single day?’ Can my operations and leadership skills motivate and inspire the team to do what needs to be done to turn around that location?’ If it does, then I consider it a fit.”
“If it's so bad that we're gonna have to be there every day in addition to the normal team, that's having more than a couple of units, and it's nearly impossible. So you gotta look for scenarios where the skill set is there and it's a reasonable time-wise where it's gonna fit.”
She was also interested in that particular location because she could identify many top-level opportunities to get action done quickly and improve them. It’s what she calls “reverse engineering”.
“One of the really helpful things I did way back that helped me build my knowledge was that I taught myself what a failing gym is versus what a successful gym is, tied to the financials, the KPIs, the locations, and other critical drivers. So now, when I look at the units, I can pick on those opportunities and see if I can fix them”.
To mention a few: The equipment was old, so she could renovate it. The gym wasn't staffed correctly, which was another easy fix. There was no marketing either, and she could facilitate that. Once these happened, she could increase the leads and the member engagement. She also ensured that good systems and operations were in place and executed over time to move the needle and turn around that location.
“You don't have to do a turnaround overnight”, she said. I agree: as long as you have the capital to sustain it, or the unit is not below break-even, you have time to get it there.
Because of this “reverse engineer” way of thinking, she’s now able to discern what successful financial looks like, what a successful lease looks like, and what is a good franchise location, and she uses that as the baseline to know what to stay away from, discover potential acquisition opportunities, as well as areas of improvement she needs to address in her own units.
However, I have to say that identifying those opportunities is only possible if you have a much deeper understanding of your brand. You need to really master its business model, the staffing, the service processes, and the image of what makes a winning franchise unit, on top of managing the expenses of that unit as well.
Franchisee Best Practice #5: Delegate & Trust your Team
In the past year and a half, Amanda more than doubled her units, so it was time to hire a District Manager so that she could delegate operations to them. That made a big difference in her life as a franchise business owner, because she now has more time to enjoy her other passions, which include spending time with her three fur babies, traveling, and sailing.
“I definitely still have room to improve in the delegation area, but delegating gives you freedom back as an owner, and it also allows you to thrive more because you have some additional time where you're able to brainstorm and be more creative as you’re looking at higher-level things within the company.”
I couldn’t agree more. When you delegate operations, you become more strategic and thoughtful, which then allows you to focus on growth and acquisition opportunities that come your way. But to do that confidently, you need a team to handle your daily tasks and leaders that you can trust. Only then will you be able to think about the future of your business.
Franchisee Best Practice #6: Have your Business Systems in Place
Another best practice Amanda shared with us is to ensure the business systems are in place in each of your units, especially if you see the possibility of scaling in the future.
She’s right. Setting your business systems up from the beginning will allow a smooth transition so you can scale and grow without having to rework everything later.
What are those “business systems”? When you buy a franchise, you acquire the right to duplicate a brand and the necessary brand systems to do so and generate revenue. These include:
- The product or service the brand has developed for which people are willing to give you money.
- The service process to deliver that product or service.
- The image that implies everything that you see around, touch, smell, and experience from the brand, from the logo, the furniture, the lobbies, the floors, the uniforms, etc.
- The marketing to promote the brand.
However, what you don’t get from the franchisor is the business systems, which help you make a profit from your business. These include:
- The team systems to build your dream team in each unit.
- The sales systems to increase the number of customers and transaction tickets.
- The control systems to manage your costs and reduce waste.
- The scale systems to grow.
As she was headed into the multi-unit expansion, Amanda had questions about many of these things.
“I had the basics to start, but I lacked strong business systems, even having a bachelor's and master's degree, and prior business experience. Things could have been smoother and easier if I had an even stronger side in the business systems. Of course, I improved them over time, but I really, really dug deep with the American Franchise Academy this last year.”
“Business system-wise, my charter is better now, and I can tie that back to everything we do. My dashboards and reporting are better and more visible to employees. I have a strategic marketing action plan for our Unit Managers, and we follow up on it. We have a troubleshooting guide for critical drivers so my team can understand and move those KPIs.”
She also created her management manual to put her business policies, processes, and procedures in one place, and then housed that in a shared document for her team.
Franchisee Best Practice #7: Keep Innovation in Mind
Amanda shared that her first location had a renovation this last spring, where she added “all the goodies” and the extras, such as a couple of saunas, a recovery room, the Normatech Compression Boots, hot-cold therapy, and vibration & heat therapy for the back.
She also mentioned that she was really excited about the upcoming full renovation of the Canton gym. The unit will have brand-new equipment and offer some of the new services like physical therapy, nutrition, and recovery.
In the past years, the brand has invested a lot of time and effort in innovation to keep up with the times, especially on the technology side, and she’s really thankful for that.
“When Anytime Fitness started as a franchise, they were the first to come out with the 24/7 convenient gym model, and they did that concept for a long time. The shift to become more of a holistic health coaching started in 2015. We’re climbing that mountain to get there and have all the renovations and all the additional services, but it will take a while because there are over 5,000 locations globally.”
Franchisee Best Practice #8: Be Resourceful
Even though Amanda had been in franchising for over 10 years, she still had questions on her mind, and she needed help sorting out her multi-unit franchising ideas.
“I tend to get bored after a while, and I needed to find new ways to challenge myself. I wondered what I could do within this brand to keep it fun and still be passionate about it, and I also wanted to learn more about multi-unit franchising. While searching for answers and resources, I came across the American Franchise Academy and decided to attend your Masterclass.”
“The things you said and the topics you talked about… it just put light bulbs on in my head! And the way you think communicated really well to me. Within probably 10 minutes, I knew I wanted to work with you”.
After that experience, she joined our COMMAND Program, our Multi-Unit Franchise Ownership Certification for growing franchisees.
“I learned a ton. I was able to strengthen my business systems in a manner that could better prepare me for scaling with multiple units within the brand. 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. Just putting action plans in place has helped a ton, too, to move the needle.”
She also completed the LEAD Program, our Multi-Unit Leadership Certification, and the MANAGE 1.0 Program, focused on basic unit management. Currently, she is an alumnus of the 2.0 Advanced program.
Aside from our training programs, she advises franchisees to work hand in hand with their franchisor and franchise business consultant and use the resources they provide.
“If you're gonna get into franchising, you're on the same team. If you're not open to being on that team, don't get into franchising.”
A lot of things have changed for Amanda in the year and a half that she’s been with us. Not only has she gone from six to 14 units, but she also now has District Managers, and many of her team members have been successfully promoted because now she has the structure to offer that career path for them.
Knowing her and her personality, I know she would have eventually achieved her goals, but it would have taken her a lot of time to figure things out. Not waiting until that learning curve and experience happened to elevate her business is priceless. And it really excites me the big difference that we were able to make in her life and in her franchise business.
She has even thought about going multi-brand, but she’s taking it slow to ensure the time is right and analyze her options to find her next passion.
“Do I want to keep challenging myself and growing? Yes, I do. But I'm not going to do something just for money, because then it's not fun. If I don't do something I'm passionate about, I will probably not be successful.”
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