Thurman's franchise concept is working out
Forever a fitness buff, Orinda resident Greg Thurman half jokes that he has joined 16 gyms over 20 years, as he moved from construction site to construction site in the commercial development industry. So when business at his construction consulting firm waned as the dotcom bubble burst, he put his avocation into action. He opened a new franchise business, 21 Minute Convenience Fitness based in Walnut Creek. That was two years ago. Now the 49-year-old entrepreneur is preparing for rapid expansion as he moves his franchise concern elsewhere in the Bay Area, nationwide and into China. The concept is the latest in a growing niche of fitness centers catering to relatively well-off baby boomers who don't have much time to spend in the gym but want to get into or stay in shape. The "no-sweat" workout is completed in about 21 minutes and is done in street clothes. "I'm passionate about fitness. I have been all my life," Thurman said. He says he works out at his company's gym twice a week. Fitness is far removed from Thurman's previous incarnation in the construction industry. As a consultant on commercial development projects, he helped build Lucent Technologies Inc.'s Alameda campus, Zhone Technologies Inc.'s buildings in Oakland and other Class A office buildings. Jumping into the fitness business involved a lot more action than planning, Thurman said. The type of workout 21 Minute Convenience Fitness promotes has been around for decades in various forms, he added. The workout relies on slow, controlled, intensity training that the company says athletes have been using for years. It also incorporates short bursts of sprint interval cardiovascular training. Like other entrepreneurs, Thurman wanted to target the lucrative Baby Boomer market. He's pitching the concept as appropriate for kids as young as 10 and adults as old as 90, but it's the Generation X and boomer market he wants to lure. Thurman took guidance from his days working with technology gurus, too. He hired some Silicon Valley programmers to develop a proprietary software for the company's coaches to use with their customers. Each coach uses a handheld tablet to track customers' workouts. That improves customer service by, for example, not having to ask clients questions about previous injuries every time they work out. The software also allows the fitness centers to handle higher volumes of customers. Customers go through personalized workouts with individual coaches and must set up appointments online. "We're a technology firm that's in the fitness business," Thurman said. Thurman said he's always had an entrepreneurial bent. He likes the constant change involved in running a business. "I love it, personally," he said. "Some people can't operate in an environment with constant change." But he acknowledges it can be discouraging. Thurman likes to play a trick with himself to help him along during down times. He likes to say that there will be 247 or some random number of reasons along the way why you should get out of the business. That way, he added, when you get to number 59 you know you are just at number 59.
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