Contours Express vs Platoon Fitness Franchise Comparison

Below is an in-depth analysis and side-by-side comparison of Contours Express vs Platoon Fitness including start-up costs and fees, business experience requirements, training & support and financing options.

Start-Up Costs and Fees

 
Contours Express Franchise
Platoon Fitness Franchise
Investment $35,000 - $50,000$29,300 - $40,100
Franchise Fee $12,500$20,000
Royalty Fee $395/mo.6%
Advertising Fee --
Year Founded 19981999
Year Franchised 19982006
Term Of Agreement 10 years5 years
Term Of Agreement 10 years5 years
Renewal Fee --


Business Experience Requirements

 
Contours Express Franchise
Platoon Fitness Franchise
Experience --

Financing Options

 
Contours Express Franchise
Platoon Fitness Franchise
  In-House/3rd PartyIn-House/3rd Party
Franchise Fees No/NoNo/No
Start-up Costs No/NoNo/No
Equipment No/YesNo/No
Inventory No/NoNo/No
Receivables No/NoNo/No
Payroll No/NoNo/No

Training & Support

 
Contours Express Franchise
Platoon Fitness Franchise
Training -* Available at headquarters: 2 weeks

* At franchisee's location: 2 months

* Additional training 5 times a year at franchisee's location

Support Newsletter, Meetings, Toll-free phone line, Grand opening, Internet

# Protected Territory # 5 days of Training at Contours Express University # 3-Day Training at your gym # Adjustable Weight Stack Equipment # 16 Stations - 4 extra stations optional # Butt-n-Gut cd # Preferred Vendor Discounts # Unlimited Ongoing Training # Advertising and Marketing Advice # 24/7 Online Marketing Materials Library # Personal Gym Website # Prepared PowerPoint Marketing Presentations # Nutritional Counseling Program - C.O.R.E. # Site Selection Assistance

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Marketing Ad slicks-
Operations 50% of all franchisees own more than one unit

Number of employees needed to run franchised unit: 2

Absentee ownership of franchise is allowed. (50% of current franchisees are owner/operators)

* Franchise can be run from home

* Number of employees needed to run franchised unit: 2

* Absentee ownership of franchise is allowed.


Expansion Plans

 
Contours Express Franchise
Platoon Fitness Franchise
US Expansion -Yes
Canada Expansion No-
International Expansion YesYes

Company Overviews

About Contours Express

After operating coed clubs, working as consultants and working in other areas of the fitness industry, Daren Carter, Mike Widener and Charlie Woodward joined forces to create a fitness center just for women. In 1998, the partners founded Contours Express, a women-only center catering to towns with populations too small to support a full-scale, coed gym.

Contours Express members follow a 29-minute cue tape that keeps them moving through aerobic stations and strength training machines. A fitness trainer (the franchisee or an employee) works with the members during their workouts, providing motivation and other services.

Clubs, which are usually located in strip centers, are about 1,200 square feet in size and can accommodate up to 20 members at a time.

About Platoon Fitness

Can you devote the same focus to our franchise as our workout teams do to their fitness? If so, that's the kind of franchisee we're looking for! Platoon Fitness

That's right just like one of our workout teams, we expect our franchise team to be on board with the program 100%. There's simply no point in becoming a part of the team if you are not prepared to put in the effort and keep a sharp focus on the key factors needed to reach our franchise goals. The reason for our company's phenomenal success is no accident. Years of planning, testing, adjusting and refining have taught us many of the pitfalls of business ownership and allowed us to continually improve and learn through experience. A Platoon Fitness franchisee needs a clear mind to focus on the most important task at hand: running a successful business.