<p class="g_eyebrow_text">BACKSTORY</p>

A Unique Modality

The uniqueness of Pilates is what drew us to it, particularly for the modality, how it provides strength and stability as a mind-body connection.  Pilates helps us with everyday activities like lifting groceries, walking up stairs, and more.  There were a lot of modalities out there that we were looking at and Pilates was so unique - anyone could do it.

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The very first Pilates class that we took there was an eighty-four year old woman who was also there for the first time. She was standing next to me and she kind of looked up at me, and said, “I'm so nervous, you guys are so young”. So we took the class and afterward I asked her how it was, and she said she loved it.  That had a big impact on our thinking that Pilates is for everybody.

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The franchisor really gave us the confidence as newbies to franchising that they we're going to have our backs and help us.  They have never let us down.

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A Family Tradition

My mom was really the inspiration. She opened something like twenty Great Clips. It was over a number of years but holy cow, that’s a lot.  What I saw from that was her experience of being with a franchise, how you're working for yourself, but not by yourself. She opened our eyes to franchising as an avenue and that combined with our own personal, entrepreneurial drive.

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<p class="g_eyebrow_text">CHALLENGE</p>

Due Diligence

The challenge was really doing the legwork and, I'm kind of a nerd, so I get into stuff, and I want to understand it all. So when it came to financing I interviewed anyone that would talk to me. I wanted to learn who they were, how they work the lending, the terms, all of it, because I didn't understand and wanted to know what options we had. Talking with different lenders, and not actually deal terms, but just what they have to offer.

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But before I met ApplePie, and doing my due diligence I actually went to Bank of America. I walked into the bank one day and told them I'm thinking of opening a franchise, and they said we don't do any lending on first year businesses. I had no idea, that was how naive I was. They talked me through how you've got to be open for a year, and if it is a franchise, there's only a small list of franchises that we lend to. They said come back after you've been open for a year and we can probably revisit.  That was an eye opener.

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<p class="g_eyebrow_text">SOLUTION</p>

The Legwork Pays Off

I met Travis and ApplePie during all the legwork and he was more like a consultant. He was guiding me, and wasn’t trying to sell me stuff. It was more, let me show you what I know about the industry, and how lending works for the franchise industry, and that kept me going back to him. I really liked that I could get conventional financing for a new business with ApplePie.

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After we built our first studio we were looking at an acquisition and I really didn't know where to begin. How do I fund that? What items would a lender need for an acquisition versus a new deal? We had never done an acquisition and ApplePie did acquisitions all the time and walked us through everything we needed.

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ApplePie has got that consultative approach and the franchise experience. I feel lucky.

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<p class="g_eyebrow_text">GROWTH</p>

A Good Partnership

Our development has gone pretty much according to plan. There were some delays of course. On our third unit had the funding lined up, we had the timeline to open. So we move forward with the loan, and then we got delayed on the opening so I was basically sitting on a loan and didn't need it. That was unique because you’ve taken the loan and you needed to make payments. That was a little bit of a hiccup and that had nothing to do with the bank or with us, it was one of those things with the lease and the landlord and their own delays.

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Last year Bank of America came to me to see if I was looking for financing and I told them all the great things about ApplePie. And they were really impressed and said, they couldn't do this and they couldn't do that. I felt it was too complicated.

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I remember closing one of our loans, and the team at ApplePie sent me the checklist and we checked all the boxes, and then it was the next steps and the dates when things were happening. And I had friends who were still going through funding and had to keep submitting more paperwork, or submitting the same thing repeatedly again. ApplePie has the experience and organization that makes for a good partnership.

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What's Next

We want to mature our six units and make sure the team and the units are dialed-in. When we get the team in place with all six studios my wife and I can take a step back.

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We have focused a lot on culture and hiring the right people. We will continue to obsess on culture and developing our teams.  

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I love the grind. We will finish growth mode and beyond that I don’t know. Maybe we’ll decide to grow some more later!

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The First Ribbon Cutting

One of my favorites moments was when our local Chamber of Commerce came to do the ribbon cutting for our first location. My wife's parents were in the studio, the mayor came to the studio and all of these people from the Chamber of Commerce showed up. That was a special moment for my wife and It was that moment where we felt like we'd really done it and we're open. My wife's parents cried and congratulated us, and so that ribbon cutting was a big milestone, and a soft spot in the journey.

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The Chamber of Commerce President, gave a little talk in the beginning, and one of the things she said was you had a choice of where you put your business and you chose it to be here in our county.and we're grateful. You're providing jobs, you're providing a service in the community. It was awesome, a great moment.