CASE STUDY
Fitstop
Sector: Franchise
Size: Medium
Service: Bookkeeping no Payroll
Fitstop is Australia’s fastest growing gym franchise: in 2020, it was hailed as one of the fastest growing franchise groups in Australia. It has more than 90 gyms in Australia and New Zealand, with plans to double that network in the coming years. There are also plans to open gyms in the US.
What they needed help with
Fitstop needed a bookkeeping team that could keep up with its astronomical growth and that could scale its services with no trouble with the growth of the Fitstop network.
The Fitstop management team were also looking for a team that could act as an authorised provider for its franchisees, due to concerns about contingent liability. Following several high-profile scandals where franchisees had failed to pay employee superannuation, Australian law now requires franchisors to be responsible for certain obligations if the franchisee fails to fulfil them. Given the rapid growth of the network – and its projected future growth – this is a potentially significant financial risk Fitstop is keen to avoid.
Finally, Fitstop was looking for a partner that could provide it with easily digestible comparative information about individual franchise performance.
iKeep’s solution
The average gym does not have a lot of budget for financial support. iKeep collaborated with Fitstop to create a custom version of our Bookkeeping Starter Pack at a fixed monthly price for all Fitstop franchise owners.
This provided clarity and transparency about bookkeeping services and costs for franchisees. It also provided reassurance to the Fitstop management team that franchisees were fulfilling their compliance obligations ,and that the franchisor was unlikely to be exposed to any contingent liabilities. The cloud-based and largely automated nature of the solution also means that it is easily scalable with the network’s growth.
Franchisees benefitted from the ability to contact a consistent accounts team who were very familiar with their businesses. Indeed, as many franchisees were first-time business owners, we guided them through their day-to-day compliance obligations as a director through 1:1 onboarding sessions and ad hoc support. Many franchise owners have been extremely grateful for this ‘hand holding’ through the early days of running their businesses.
Finally, iKeep provides a monthly consolidated site performance report to the management team as part of our management reporting package that compares site performance across the country in a map format. This is invaluable in helping the Fitstop team identify stronger and weaker performers, and where to direct additional support if necessary.
Key benefits
- Scalable, franchise-wide consistency in bookkeeping and compliance – reducing franchisor liability
- Franchise-wise comparison of financial performance – enabling support to be targeted where needed
- Support for first-time business owners on their obligations and responsibilities as directors
