Scaling to 400 Fitness Franchises Fast

This week, we broke format a little. Rick Mayo is the first fitness industry guest we’ve had on the show, and after years of talking with home service operators, it was a fun change of pace. Rick opened his original gym back in 1992 while still in college, and about eight years in, he and his team landed on a business model built around small group personal training instead of the usual one-on-one setup.

That model made his original location one of the highest revenue per square foot fitness facilities in the country, which put Rick on the speaking circuit, then into consulting, then into a licensing platform that scaled to 2,500 doorfronts worldwide. At the end of 2019, he pivoted the whole operation into full-on franchising under the Alloy name, right before COVID put everything on pause.

We covered how Alloy built its one-to-six personal training model around a specific customer avatar, what actually goes into vetting a franchisee and a trainer, why Rick thinks digital fitness will never replace the in-person experience, and where he sees Alloy heading on the way to 800 locations by 2030.

The Key Takeaways

Below are the most essential insights from my conversation with Rick that you can apply to your home services business today.

1. From One Gym in 1992 to a Licensing Platform in 2,500 Doorfronts

Rick opened his first gym in 1992 while still in college. About eight years later, he and his team built a small group personal training model that became one of the highest revenue per square foot fitness facilities in the country. That success put him on the speaking circuit, which turned into consulting, which eventually became a licensing platform he scaled to 2,500 locations across places like India, Dubai, and Tasmania, powering brands including CrossFit clubs, Anytime Fitness, and Gold’s Gym along the way.

“We landed on a really interesting business model probably eight or so years after we opened, because when most people hear personal training, they think one coach, one client. But we figured out a way to scale it where people could work out with their friends and we could still deliver personal training.”

— Rick

2. The One-to-Six Model, and Why Six Is the Magic Number

Alloy’s sessions run one trainer to six clients. Rick’s team landed on six deliberately: eight clients would legally make it a class rather than personal training, while four wouldn’t cover the right value proposition. Technology lets each of the six clients follow their own individualized program in the same session, so a strong athlete and a 70-year-old with a bad shoulder can train side by side without either one holding the other back.

“Six was the threshold, because if it was eight, it was a class. If it was four, we couldn’t provide the right value proposition. So everybody gets their own program, everybody gets their version of a really good, principled program.”

— Rick

3. A Healthy Location Means 130 to 150 Clients, Not More

Alloy locations run small, 1,500 to 2,000 square feet, and a healthy studio carries 130 to 150 clients. Rick ties that number to Dunbar’s Number, the idea that people can only maintain a genuinely tight relationship with about 150 others outside close friends and family. Keeping the client count in that range is what lets everybody know everybody’s name, which Rick credits for retention well above industry standard.

“In a model like that, our retention is way higher than any industry standard. And the reason is everybody knows your name and you know their names, right? It just creates a community.”

— Rick

4. The Hardest Part of Franchising Was Choosing the Right Partners

Rick says the biggest challenge in scaling Alloy hasn’t been the playbook itself, it’s choosing the right franchisees. Many candidates come out of successful corporate careers but have never been entrepreneurs, and Rick has had to learn to screen for emotional resilience and risk tolerance rather than just resume strength. Franchisees need to follow the system closely while still having the stomach to put their own money on the line.

“The aha for us has been, make sure you choose the right people. And a lot of it is based on how they’re wired. Are they emotionally resilient? All the character traits that would make someone a good entrepreneur.”

— Rick

5. Alloy Hires for Character First, Then Teaches Technique

Rick puts more weight on hiring trainers with the right personality than on technical pedigree, since clients show up more often for a coach they enjoy being around. Alloy controls the programming and algorithms corporately through a learning management system, so a new hire completes roughly six hours of coursework before working with clients. That structure means a coach doesn’t need years of certifications, just a passion for helping people and the willingness to learn the system.

“If you’re a fun person to be around and you have a passion to help people, and we can teach you how to coach exercises, that’s all you have to know.”

— Rick

6. Digital Fitness Won’t Replace In-Person, According to Rick

Asked about mirror workout devices and at-home digital training, Rick doesn’t see them replacing brick and mortar fitness anytime soon. He points to younger generations purposefully unplugging and craving in-person community as evidence that people want real human connection, not another screen. Alloy views digital tools strictly as a way to connect people more purposefully, not as a substitute for training face to face.

“We only see it as a vehicle to connect humans more purposefully, than replace the human to human connection.”

— Rick

7. Winning a Crowded Market by Targeting an Underserved Avatar

Rick doesn’t worry about competing with nine dollar big box gyms because Alloy targets a completely different customer, roughly ages 45 to 65, at an average spend around $450 a month. He compares it to a cluster of luxury car dealerships in one area: shoppers already looking for that category just need to prefer your flavor. Some of Alloy’s most successful locations sit in the same shopping centers as boot camp and general fitness competitors, and still sell out because they serve a different avatar entirely.

“You can’t be, if you try to be something to everyone, you’re nothing to anyone. Pick one that you think you’re good at, that you enjoy, that you think you understand them well, and go for it.”

— Rick

Looking Ahead

Rick’s target is 800 Alloy locations by 2030, with runway for as many as 1,800 based on his estimate of the total addressable market. With only about two percent of brick and mortar franchise concepts ever reaching 100 open locations, he considers Alloy’s current pace a flywheel: small adjustments, repeated consistently, while staying alert to AI tools that could strengthen human connection rather than replace it.

“It’s just a flywheel. It’s like small adjustments, rinse and repeat. Keep our eye out for any kind of AI widgets or things that are coming fast and furious that can really help us and again drive that human connection. That’s it, just rinse and repeat and try to do right by folks.”

— Rick