StretchLab President on Franchise’s Flexible Model [Full Q&A]

Building a company from the ground up is a difficult process. Forging a new market can especially be a stretch.

StretchLab, which has grown to 900-plus global locations since opening in Los Angeles in 2015, specializes in “assisted stretching.” Unlike yoga studios, StretchLab appointments are all one-on-one; unlike physical therapy clinics, it’s for general nonprescription wellness.

StretchLab president Verdine Baker told b. how the company’s franchise model and use of digital advertising helped it to grow.

b: What got you interested in working with StretchLab?

Baker: I played soccer in high school and in college, and certainly had been stretched by athletic trainers and professionals. So it was just kind of that initial intrigue of, “Oh yeah, I’m familiar with this.” Also knowing that there’s not a whole lot of independent stretching studios around [or] access to that service to communities around the world.

b: How did your background at Crunch Fitness serve you in your role at StretchLab?

Baker: I worked at Crunch for 10-plus years, starting out as a member — trying to sneak into the gym — all the way to membership advisor, membership director, and ran clubs as general manager. I really leaned into the sales processes, [and] operations of the health and wellness business. I think of Crunch as where I developed my operational chops in a sense.

A lot of the skill sets and … processes, systems, that I’ve learned or implemented “big box,” I’ve brought over to that boutique fitness setting. Not all of them work [for both], right? But a lot of the community-building tools, building a member base, building engagement — those things translate across whether you need 5,000 members or you need 300 people. … I don’t necessarily think it’s all that different.

What’s unique for us as a brand — and, really, as a vertical — is that it is something that’s new. So, whether it’s big box or boutique, if it’s a modality that’s well known, the presentation of the product is, “Hey, we do this. Would you like it?” … When you’re trying to engage in growing a vertical … it needs to be an education process that comes along with our branding and marketing message. So that’s probably the biggest difference.

b: Have social media and digital advertising been beneficial in terms of that sort of teaching? 

Baker: Absolutely. … It’s been a huge support into gaining that brand recognition, vertical recognition, and leveraging those different mediums to tell our story. We also teach our owners how to leverage those tools, and we continue to learn also as a brand. … We’re really focused on building the vertical to where it is widely recognized and accepted as a modality in health and wellness. That journey has to take some time. There has to be adoption. 

You have to have people achieving real results … to validate it. That creates the sustainability of this brand and this vertical that we’re looking for.

b: When you’re talking to a new franchisee, what are the topline points to determine success, location by location?

Baker: Our team goes through a vetting process with any candidate that comes into the system. Then we take them through what we call a confirmation experience where we’re exposing them to the different systems of support, tools that we have for them to operate the business, and so forth. This is all information-gathering for them to educate themselves to make a decision whether this is the right fit or not.

First and foremost, you have to be energized about what we’re doing. That passion doesn’t necessarily have to be for StretchLab, but it has to be for something that’s related to building a business, creating employment opportunities for your community, serving your community in some capacity, because our business is people. They are going to hire a team that is going to service people. Because boutique fitness is a small business in general. It’s different. When you add in that it’s a one-on-one modality that no one’s ever done before, it’s imperative that you follow the system to be successful.

b: Why do you think the franchise model works for StretchLab?

Baker: It’s that nice in-between. The true entrepreneur … gets to make all the rules, but you also assume all the liabilities, right? On the other side of the spectrum, as an employee, you don’t have any liabilities but you don’t get to make any other rules or dictate your environment. 

Franchising, in general, meets that world in-between where you … bring that entrepreneurial mindset — because you have to execute, you have to do what you need to do as a business owner — but you’re not spawning everything from yourself. You have systems and processes.

b: To what degree does location determine a franchise’s success? 

Baker: It’s a factor, but I don’t think it’s the only determinant factor. We have studios not in the most prime locations that outperform studios that are in the most prime locations.

So yes, we carefully vet locations to ensure that they fit our criteria. We welcome other health and wellness modalities that could be our neighbors for some cross-pollination and partnerships — and also [for] the eyeballs that are getting into our studios. We find that most of our members are also doing something else. … We’re not entirely dependent on walking traffic, because we’re not built for that. … We don’t have the expectation of the services being rendered on that same day.

b: If a franchisee needs to prioritize physical advertising versus digital advertising, how important is each for getting discovered?

Baker: We have to do both. Our franchisees are required to spend on [their own] digital advertising in addition to the digital advertising that we do on the national level. However, digital advertising only works as good as your organic efforts are going to be. It has to be in combination of those.

b: What are the benchmarks of strong digital advertising?

Baker: For simplicity, we really look at our cost-per-lead and our cost-per-acquisition as a way to guide some of our decision-making. … For studios, we’re really looking at the mix. We’re looking at total leads, and then we’re looking at their mix between digital and organic. That helps us guide our support to those studios and how to improve on those different channels.

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