The Biggest Disrupter to Traditional Gyms, Mobile Workout Franchise AWATfit, Is Taking Over Florida

In the two years since fitness enthusiast and entrepreneur Richard Decker founded mobile fitness concept AWATfit (All Weather All Terrain Fitness), the business has seen explosive success in its home market of Long Island. Now, as the coronavirus pandemic forces consumers to rethink how and where they exercise, the brand is primed for growth in new markets across the country. First stop: Florida, where Decker is on the hunt for fitness-oriented entrepreneurs who can leverage the brand’s early success through AWATfit’s new franchise model.

“We deliberately built a model that can work anywhere, but Florida is just perfect for AWATfit,” Decker explained. “There’s an enormous demand for high quality exercise options throughout the state, and our mobile model allows us to reach pockets of the market that have been underserved.”

A recent study shows that 25% of Americans never plan to go back to the gym, and because so many brick-and-mortar facilities have been shut down, many of those people wouldn’t have gyms to return to if they did. AWATfit, the biggest disrupter, has now become the best solution. AWATfit’s primary innovation is providing outdoor workouts for clients, the demand for which Decker says is only growing post-COVID. AWATfit mobilizes equipment through specialty trucks and provides both individual and group training in wide-open spaces, allowing consumers the chance to exercise in the privacy and safety of their own outdoor space. The major benefit of this type of business model is that it naturally avoids so many of the sanitation and safety requirements required of traditional fitness centers; with open-air locations and minimal equipment to sanitize. 

“When we originally established the business, we intentionally set it up to be a franchise,” said Decker. “When COVID-19 hit, it quadrupled our business, adding three trucks in less than 18 months. Now, we’re continuing to target potential franchisees who are ready to take on their own business.” 

Because AWATfit conducts training sessions outdoors, Florida is a prime market due to year-round warm weather and because Floridians are notoriously active and health conscious. 

“Whether you’re a professional athlete or just trying to get some exercise in after work, the one thing that everyone hates about going to the gym is the environment — running in place, staring at walls, and now germs,” said Decker. “When you exercise outdoors, your energy and mood increase automatically, but most people don’t have access to a full set of gym equipment outside. AWATfit offers just that, bringing a fully-loaded mobile gym built out of the back of a 20-foot pickup truck directly to clients, whether that’s at their homes, the beach, a playing field or anywhere else.”

In addition to providing an innovative, outdoor workout experience for clients, AWATfit’s trucks also provide profound benefits for Decker and any future AWATfit owners in Florida or beyond. By eliminating the brick-and-mortar element of gym ownership, AWATfit dramatically slashes overhead and organically expands the brand’s marketing footprint. Plus, franchise owners can be up and running within a month’s time and generate impressive ROI. The mobile model not only avoids the health concerns of today’s gym-goers, but it forgoes the whims of difficult landlords as well. 

As of right now, AWATfit has two locations in the Hamptons, one location in Port Jefferson, NY, and another in Austin, Texas. The development rate is accelerating, however — Decker has even received calls from prospects in other states and countries like Australia and Columbia. Franchisees are taking notice of AWATfit’s sustainable and lucrative model amid the pandemic. In his first year of business, pre-COVID, Decker brought in $200,000 from his solo Hamptons location; this year he’s made close to $500,000.

“This is an incredibly attractive prospect for someone in the fitness industry who wants to own their own business,” Decker said. “There are a lot of fantastic trainers out there who don’t have a lot of management experience, and we’ve essentially packaged up a business for them so they can hit the ground running without taking a million classes or going through a giant learning curve.”

Decker plans to make the most of that eager interest from prospective franchisees, aiming to onboard up to 1,000 new franchisees in markets across the country, starting with Florida, where the brand is first targeting Miami Dade, Palm Beach, Tampa, Naples, Orlando and Jacksonville. 

“The ideal AWATfit franchisee is anybody who loves fitness and being around people,” said Decker. “There’s not much else to it. If you know your way around exercise equipment and you like to work with people, the time has never been better to join AWATfit and make money doing what you love to do.”

To learn more about franchising with AWATfit, visit https://awatfitfranchise.com/.