Power moves: which strategic partnerships can skyrocket your fitness business growth

Strategic partnerships can grow your fitness franchise by 66% in one year, placing you 2nd on AFR’s list of fastest-growing companies and 33rd fastest-growing company in APAC. At least, that was the case for Fitstop, which has seen monumental growth these last two years.

One of the fastest-growing companies in the APAC region, Fitstop’s growth is partly due to its partnership with Lift Brands, the parent company of Snap Fitness. This partnership allowed Fitstop to tap into a broader network, diversify its offerings, and accelerate its expansion.

The right partnership is the dime upon which profitability turns. Many great fitness franchises can trace their success - or failure - to their partnership selection. But the selection criteria are more specific than you might think.

Tactical vs. strategic partnerships

There's two types of partners: tactical and strategic.

Tactical partnerships

Tactical partnerships are typically formed at the franchise or local level. These partnerships are focused on driving immediate awareness and attracting customers to specific locations. For example, a fitness studio might collaborate with local cafes, nail salons, or hair salons to create joint promotions or offer cross-discounts. These partnerships are highly localized, helping to build community engagement and boost foot traffic to the studio.

Sports teams and events are one example of tactical partnerships. Look to FitStop, which partnered with the Gold Coast Titans for a campaign and became the Official Gym Partner of the Nike Melbourne Marathon Festival. Similarly, Anytime Fitness collaborated with the Movemeant Foundation and became the official gym partner for the New Zealand Warriors rugby league team, gaining exposure to their fan base; Body Fit Training (BFT) partnered with fitness race Hyrox, adding HYROX-specific training and becoming their official training center. 

Strategic partnerships

Strategic partnerships, on the other hand, are established at the headquarters (HQ) level and have a broader, long-term focus. These partnerships support the overall business by enhancing brand credibility, improving operational efficiency, or expanding market reach. 

For instance, a fitness franchise might partner with a software provider like Hapana to offer a customized digital experience explicitly tailored to its needs or collaborate with an equipment manufacturer to ensure high-quality, consistent experiences across all locations. Strategic partnerships are integral to the business's overarching growth strategy and can significantly impact its ability to scale and stay competitive.

In recent years, Planet Fitness has partnered with iFIT to create trainer-led workouts available on the Planet Fitness mobile app. Later, Planet Fitness made a minority investment in iFIT to strengthen the partnership. This strategic alliance added to Planet Fitness's digital fitness offerings and supported its growth in the digital space.

Or look to Anytime Fitness, which partnered with Apple in 2023 to provide U.S. and Canadian members access to Apple Fitness+. This allowed the brand to tap into a new customer base and offer extended digital fitness experiences.

Identifying the right partners

What makes a great partner? A partner is someone that a fitness franchise can leverage, which helps make the overall business better. It’s essential to find those who can provide real value and complement your business’s long-term goals. A great partner is not just someone who can offer immediate benefits, but one who can adapt and scale with your growth. For example, Fitstop, in assembling their tech stack, looked for options which could scale with them - no matter how rapid their expansion. 

One red flag is choosing partners for the short term instead of the long term, or partners that force your franchise outside your area of excellence. Peloton, for instance, partnered with Lululemon and TikTok to provide fitness content to both. However, this pivot has doomed Peloton - previously a big fish in the small pool of at-home equipment for high-achieving professionals; now a small fish in the endless pool of online fitness content. Choosing a partner for short-term stock surges can backfire – instead, choose partners for long-term growth. 

Here at Hapana, we partner with Ezypay and Stripe to make sure our billing scales easily for our clients who are global expanders. 

Strategic partnerships case study: KX Pilates

KX Pilates has 100+ locations across Australia, and has opened 25 new locations during the last year - with 13 of those overseas. Much of this growth is due to careful partner selection.

In 2019, KX Pilates partnered with businessman Tony Xu to create a joint venture. Xu plans to break into the postnatal wellness market with a goal of opening 1,000 studios, having already launched 12 locations in China. 

Aaron Smith, founder of KX Pilates lists some of his other partner choices: 

• Hapana provides software tailored to pilates - not just generic software, like some of the more established providers on the market.
• Balanced Body for custom equipment (“The Mercedes Benz of pilates equipment,” says Aaron) that provides an awesome customer experience but also to attract good instructors and potential owners.
• Lifeline to help KX give back, boost mental health, and drive PR and awareness back to KX.

The role of technology in partnerships

Technology is a game-changer when it comes to partnerships in the fitness world. Hapana’s tools, like member management tool CORE, make managing member relationships easy – which is key for keeping partnerships strong. With CORE, gyms can track member engagement, manage communications, and keep everything organized, helping franchises and their partners stay in sync and focused on what matters most: delivering great experiences.

Data is another big piece of the puzzle. By using tech to gather and analyze data on how partnerships are performing, gyms can see what’s working and what’s not. This insight helps them make smart decisions and fine-tune their strategies to get the most out of every collaboration. 

How Hapana can partner with your fitness franchise to scale and stay profitable 

Hapana is a world-class partner for gyms. When we first partnered with giant BFT, they ran just eight studios across Australia. Today, they’ve expanded their reach to over 300 studios worldwide. This growth has been facilitated by Hapana’s turnkey solutions, which include shell sites that enable BFT to open new territories quickly. This approach has cut down the usual time and hassle needed to launch new studios, making it easier for them to scale as fast as they can.

Do you want to stay at the forefront of innovation with a partner built for scaling?