Andrew Gundlach’s data could speak for itself: 34 Anytime Fitness locations, 230 employees, an average membership base of 28,000, $19.5 million in revenue, and an average lifetime value of $1,246.90 per member. He’s achieved those numbers by never settling for average. It’s a trait that earned him the 2020 Medium Company Executive of the Year award.
As owner/president of Argent Companies/Anytime Fitness of Southern Wisconsin, Gundlach was one of the first Anytime Fitness franchisees to offer members personal training for their first month at no additional cost, which has resulted in more than 2,000 new physical therapy clients and more than 200,000 training sessions over the past year.
Not only does Gundlach offer his members a month of free training, but he also ensures their training experience is of the highest quality. Breaking from industry standards, all of Gundlach’s trainers are full-time, salaried employees with benefits. By investing in his training staff, he’s reduced trainer turnover, resulting in higher quality training experiences for gym members.
The company’s growth and profitability are also on an upward trend because Gundlach is constantly investing in his clubs with ongoing remodels, updates, and new technologies.
Now, after 13 years of growing his Anytime Fitness business, Gundlach is expanding his holdings to include real estate and another franchise fitness concept, Basecamp Fitness. The first Madison Basecamp Fitness was set to open at the end of 2019, and by expanding into another fitness brand, Gundlach looks to capture an even larger share of the fitness market in Madison.
One year ago, Gundlach opened his 34th Anytime Fitness location in Richland Center, making him the largest sole proprietor of Anytime Fitness gyms. Additionally, in 2019, Mario Sanchez, a trainer at Gundlach’s Middleton gym, was selected as one of the top three Anytime Fitness trainers in the United States, which is a credit to the system Gundlach has created to develop exceptional personal trainers.
Gundlach began his professional career at Pizza Hut of Southern Wisconsin. His mentor quickly became the company’s CEO Jim Williams. To Williams, running a successful business was all about focusing on people — both customers and employees, notes Gundlach. “Before we talked about sales and results, our conversations and meetings always focused on people first. This really hit home for me and made going to work at Pizza Hut each day so rewarding. This people-first approach has been ingrained in me and is something I immediately brought to Anytime Fitness.”
That’s important because Gundlach says there have been times in business where he’s focused too much on the numbers and not enough on people and company culture, and each time he’s done that the business has felt the effect. “Strictly focusing on numbers, sales, and profit almost always has the opposite of the intended effect, so I’ve learned to always try to look at the human component first.
“Our company was founded on the idea of having a passion for people, and one of my top duties is to ensure our future leaders embrace servant leadership,” Gundlach continues. “Our company culture must always come first and be our top priority before sales and profit. Often new leaders focus too much on the numbers side of the business because it is easy to measure. My job is to ensure that our current and future leaders embrace the importance of company culture and employee happiness.”
Two local business leaders Gundlach admires for their ability to develop company culture are Patrick DePaula, chef and owner of Salvatore’s Tomato Pies, and Tim O’Brien, the owner of The Healthy Place, formerly Apple Wellness.
“Watching [DePaula] grow his business, from his original small location in Sun Prairie to soon three locations, has been exciting,” remarks Gundlach. “I know how labor intensive and tough it can be to find great employees and success in the restaurant business. From his community involvement after the Sun Prairie tragedy in 2018 to his continued commitment to locally sourcing his food and supporting our local farmers and vendors, it means a lot to see the effort that he has made to support Dane County.”
Gundlach admires O’Brien for several reasons. “I had the pleasure of meeting Tim over 10 years ago when I was just starting my business and he was a district manager at GNC. Tim has since grown his own company to four area locations and spends a lot of his time out in the community doing health and wellness education.”
Gundlach says one of the challenges he enjoys most about leadership is the opportunity to stretch himself and his impact. The better the business does and the further he goes as a leader, he explains, the more people he can bring along with him.
The flip side is that as he’s grown his team, more of his time tends to be employee facing, “which I love, but it means less time spent working directly with our members.
“Being selected by my peers for this award is very humbling,” adds Gundlach. “Dane County is home to so many great companies and leaders that I have always looked up to and respected, and to win this award among so many deserving people was very unexpected.”
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