Becoming An Owner

No! Most of the franchise owner network has had little or no experience before joining The Little Gym family. Many have enjoyed careers across a broad range of sectors from accountancy and law to teaching, banking, the army and IT. There are also people who have joined us as instructors and gone on to become successful franchise owners.

Regardless of your background, we look for a passion for working with people and children and evidence of strong transferable skills that you can apply to running your own business. We'll teach you the rest!

We are very selective about who we award a The Little Gym® Franchise to. As a typical The Little Gym® franchisee you will have a strong career track record and are looking for a new challenge. Something that will allow you to move away from the inflexibility and long hours of the corporate world, spend more time with family or on hobbies, yet give you the opportunity for continued professional success.

Becoming your own boss and being in control of your own destiny will be important to you and you are prepared to work extremely hard to achieve what you desire most in life.

All our successful owners have good common business sense, a ‘can do’ attitude, work well under pressure, love managing and developing a young team, have strong leadership qualities, a natural ability to build relationships with kids, staff, parents, and their community, an appetite to learn and are financially stable.

They possess the entrepreneurial spirit that gives them the courage to leave the safety net of the corporate world and pursue their dreams. Do you feel this is true for you too?

Ultimately, your success is up to you. Once your business begins to mature it provides you with an opportunity to take a step back, own a gym franchise you are proud of, and balance it with a lifestyle your friends will envy. It all depends on your aspirations. Some owners choose to open a second location, some take a step back and work a couple of mornings a week, some spend significant time traveling while the business is operated by a Gym Director, while some are happy to continue to operate their business day to day. It’s your business and your decision.

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During the due diligence period, we recommend you speak to franchise owners in the network and ask them to share their experiences. With over 350 locations around the world, there is a wealth of personalities and experience available to help you determine if The Little Gym is the right opportunity and will meet your expectations.

Yes! The Little Gym Australia provides you with the opportunity to leverage your skills and experience with the option of opening a gym franchise in multiple locations. Approximately 40% of our owners worldwide are multiple gym owners.

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The total investment required for your The Little Gym® includes your entrance fee, start-up costs, location build out and ongoing working capital. This may be lower or higher as each site is unique. The main variables to this figure include, but are not limited to, the build out costs of your location, landlord deposit, pre-opening payroll and working capital required between opening and reaching break even. Visit our Investment Page for a full breakdown of the fees.

Should you intend to finance your business through a bank loan you would typically need to invest a minimum of 30% of the total investment, with the remaining 70% being funded by the bank.

There is an 8% management fee (of monthly gross revenue) for your ongoing use of The Little Gym system and trademarks, continuously updated business and curriculum training materials, continuous enhancements and evolution of the products and the brand, plus your business consultant who will support you on a weekly basis.

A 1% marketing fund (of monthly gross revenue) for support of marketing tools to promote your business and the brand.

Becoming an owner of a The Little Gym® is no different from any other franchised business - there are no financial guarantees and some franchisees are more successful than others. Once you get in touch we will share more financial information to help you build your own business plan and subsequently decide if The Little Gym® meets your financial expectations.

The business model of a The Little Gym® is a simple one and successful franchisees can expect to build strong revenues with a consistent cost base and predictable margins. This means you don’t need to be an expert to manage the financials. From a lifestyle perspective, as your business grows you may choose the route other franchisees have taken and take the opportunity to step back and do less hours.

With The Little Gym® your investment is not just about a future income but also the future lifestyle you’re looking for.

If your area is serviced by a high number of private schools and private nurseries and offers plenty of kids sporting and educational activities these are all strong indicators that parents are already investing in their child’s education, development and future.

An additional measure is checking that there is a population of approximately 15,000 children aged 0 - 12 years, living in households with above average income for the region within a car ride of 30 minutes of any proposed site location. These factors are also, of course, underpinned by a franchisee’s hard work and dedication to establishing their own The Little Gym®.

We understand that finding and negotiating the lease on a commercial premises is something, like most of our franchisees, you have never done before. Yet it is likely one of the most important decisions you will need to make as a The Little Gym® franchisee. On joining our network you will benefit from our in-house consultancy, training, support, advice and detailed criteria to help you select the right location and negotiate a favourable lease. Once you have signed your lease our interior design guidelines and support will help you fit out your site to create a branded and new The Little Gym®.

From the moment you join us we are on hand to help prepare you and your team for a strong opening and your continued success through our comprehensive and tailored training programme. Find out more about The Little Gym® training and support. We continually appraise and update our support and training to ensure the most effective use of our resources and this continues to evolve as we grow.

Since 1992 The Little Gym® has been a highly successful franchise and won numerous industry awards. Today, surpassing 430 locations in 33 countries, we pride ourselves on being a small exclusive network of high calibre business owners.