NC Planning recently interviewed one of our successful business clients, CJ Bouchard. CJ is a franchise owner for many Planet Fitness gyms in the area. We hope that all business owners and entrepreneurs read this and can answer these questions about their own business practices.
- NC Planning: What motivated you to open up your very own gym/club?
- CJ: I was a personal trainer for 15 years and I knew at some point that I wanted to stop trading dollars for hours. I wanted something with a bigger picture. I wanted to focus my energy and expertise on opening up my own clubs.
- NC Planning: How did you decide on Planet Fitness?
- CJ: Planet Fitness started franchising in 1992. When I was looking at buying a club, Planet Fitness seemed like the right fit. It was new and they were taking over the market share. They were creating their own unique atmosphere and business model.
- NC Planning: How does your business reflect you as a person?
- CJ: Health and fitness has always been a passion. I was able to mentor managers and bring them up to the ranks. It was important for me to work with a lot of people that love the industry.
- NC Planning: What did you find were the most important factors that made your business successful?
- CJ: Surrounding myself with great people and focusing on the little things. We take pride in everything we do. We don’t focus on making money, we focus on being the best that we can be.
- NC Planning: What is one mistake you made that you would warn young entrepreneurs to be wary of?
- CJ: Not really understanding our market completely when we opened up our first locations. We’ve learned from our mistakes and have been able to reinvent ourselves and evolve. If you don’t evolve, you’re going to lose traction.
- NC Planning: What are your future plans for Planet Fitness?
- CJ: We have a 19-club area agreement. We will have 4 locations opening up in the next 8 months.
- NC Planning: Why did you initially choose NC Planning to handle your legal needs and what made you stick with them throughout the years
- CJ: I was introduced to Tom through another colleague. Tom’s insight and knowledge, in both accounting and the legal side, was right up our alley. He was growing with us while we were growing. Tom is always proactive, always on the ball. He keeps track of everything we need to do going forward.
