Verified — real FDD extraction
Not found in the SBA Franchise Directory under this name — though SBA loans to its franchisees exist; verify eligibility with your lender
Fitness Together
Fitness · independent · est. —
Fitness Together is a personal-training studio brand offering one-on-one and small-group training in private workout suites. A franchisee operates a boutique studio, employing certified trainers who deliver appointment-based sessions to individual clients.
Fitness Together net unit count declined -0.7% from 2017–2019 per its FDD Item 20.
New to franchising? Start here
A franchise is a business where you (the franchisee) pay a company (the franchisor) for the right to open and run a location using their brand and system — think a local Anytime Fitness or Taco John's owned by a small-business owner, not the corporation.
Before you can buy in, U.S. law requires the franchisor to give you a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) — a long legal filing covering its fees, finances, and history. The numbers on this page come straight from that document:
- Franchise fee — the one-time cost to buy in.
- Royalty — the ongoing cut of your sales you pay the franchisor.
- Item 20 — how many locations opened and closed, the basis for our verdict (from Proven & strong down to Distressed — or Too new to judge).
The verdict
Proven & steady
Distress
A real track record with an unremarkable region of the ledger: neither the growth nor the exits stand out, for better or worse.
Exit rate · latest year
3.5%
vs 3.8% across 34 fitness systems
Cost to open
$189K–$329K
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
27.8%
vs 14.8% avg across rated brands
Behind the verdict
the record, factor by factor · Item 20
3-yr trend · Item 20 Table 1
terminations + ceased-ops vs. all exits · Table 3
transfers vs. base · Table 3
actual vs. projected openings · Table 5
Item 19 disclosure + completeness
Systemwide units
2017–2019
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2019, 5 of 142 franchised outlets left the system — a 3.5% annualized exit rate, vs 3.8% across 34 fitness systems. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 153 | 144 | 142 |
| Opened | 1 | 5 | 5 |
| Transfers | 7 | 12 | 6 |
| Terminations | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Non-renewals | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Outlets at end | 144 | 142 | 143 |
| Net change | -9 | -2 | +1 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present
Banks have made 140 SBA-backed loans to Fitness Together franchisees since 2002. Of the 115 that have resolved, 27.8% were charged off (defaulted) rather than paid in full, versus 14.8% across 576 rated brands.
27.8%
32 of 115 resolved defaulted
75.8%
avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $
21.1%
default rate × loss severity
$190,477
what recent franchisees borrowed
47 mo
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
6 vs 14
distinct banks — pulling back
Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%)
SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO FITNESS TOGETHER BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL
The owner's side of the deal
FDD × federal loan record
A typical Fitness Together buyer since 2020 borrowed $190K through SBA — about $30K a year in debt service. Against the brand's own disclosed median unit revenue of $305K, that is 10.0% of every dollar the store takes in — before rent, payroll, food, or royalty.
Who finances it
First Bank
7.1% of this brand's loans
That lender charges off 31.8% of its loans to other franchise brands, vs 14.8% nationally.
Who buys it
55.4%
first-time franchise owners
The rest already owned at least one other franchise. Across the corpus, brands bought mostly by repeat operators charge off at roughly 10% versus 17% for brands sold mostly to newcomers.
Does experience help here?
+6.1pp
multi-unit vs single-unit owners
Owners of multiple units default at 25.7%; single-unit owners at 19.6%.
Computed from 140 SBA 7(a)/504 loans to Fitness Together franchisees joined to the brand's own FDD. Debt service assumes level amortization at the average disclosed term and rate. A lender's rate excludes its loans to this brand, so it reads the lender, not the brand.
What it costs — and what it drags
FDD Items 5–7 · fees, investment, royalty
Buying in means a $40K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $189K–$329K (Item 7). The franchisor publishes an earnings claim (Item 19) — read its methodology closely.
To open (Item 7)
$189K–$329K
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$40K
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
6%
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — cross-check against this brand's Item 19 and current-owner validation.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$60K
6% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$600K
royalties alone, excl. ad fund
This is not profit. It's the only money the FDD actually pins down — what you put in, and the royalty you owe on every dollar of sales. Your real take-home depends on labor, rent, food cost, and ramp-to-breakeven, none of which any FDD discloses.
Build a real pro-forma for Fitness Together with an independent CPAModeled risk
FDD Risk Score · modeled from the public record
Modeled from the public record, this brand sits mid-pack: riskier than 64% of systems we score.
Risk percentile
64 / 100
Measured
Modeled SBA charge-off
14.7%
Observed SBA charge-off
27.8%
Top drivers: Single-lender dependence (raises) · Investment ceiling (log) (raises) · Item 20 exit rate (lowers) · System size (log units) (raises). 50+ resolved loans and complete disclosure data — the score is checkable against the brand's observed rate. A linear scorecard built from this brand's own disclosure figures plus the federal loan record behind its franchisees; full spec and cross-validated accuracy on the methodology page. A score is context, not a verdict.
Distress signals
news-sourced · bankruptcies, closures, lawsuits
No recent closures, bankruptcies, or major lawsuits found in the news for Fitness Together. That's a good sign — but it reflects news coverage, not a guarantee.
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. An independent CPA is paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing Fitness Together's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →Fitness Together franchise questions, answered from the filings
What percentage of Fitness Together franchises closed last year?
In Fitness Together's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2019), 5 of 142 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 3.5% — compared with 3.8% across 34 fitness systems tracked here. That counts terminations, non-renewals, and "ceased operations — other reasons." There is no official failure rate, and not every exit is a failure, but this is the measurable floor.
How much does a Fitness Together franchise cost?
Per Fitness Together's 2020 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $40K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $189K–$329K (Item 7).
What royalty does Fitness Together charge?
Fitness Together charges an ongoing royalty of 6.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2020 FDD.
Does Fitness Together disclose earnings (Item 19)?
Yes — Fitness Together makes a financial performance representation in Item 19 of its 2020 FDD, reporting a median unit volume of $305K. Read it closely: franchisors choose which units and which metrics to include.
How often do SBA loans for Fitness Together franchises default?
Across 140 SBA-backed loans to Fitness Together franchisees since 2002, 32 of the 115 that have resolved were charged off — a 27.8% default rate, versus about 14.8% across all rated franchise brands. This is the lender's-eye view of franchisee failure, drawn from public SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA data and independent of the franchisor's own disclosures.