Will Bartholomew is the owner of D1 Training, a $20 million dollar a year business. At the age of 22, the former fullback of the Tennessee Volunteers was signed by the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent. But his dreams of playing in the NFL were shattered when he blew out his knee in a 2001 practice.
Returning home to Nashville, Bartholomew took to rehabbing at a local gym. However, this stint did not last long. As you guys can guess from the title of this post, the general manager of the community gym kicked him out for making too much noise whilst power lifting.
Bartholomew was disappointed that he couldn't train like he did at Tennessee. Training loudly and aggressively, with a coach by his side, was the way Bartholomew had always done it. That's when he decided that he was going to create his own place to workout.
He started by training middle-school athletes, but soon he was receiving a lot of interest in his programs. So Bartholomew took the $30,000 dollar insurance payment he received from injuring his knee and leased out a a 2500-square-foot facility in Franklin, Tenn., where he laid turf and bought some weight equipment. From there, the business began to expand at a rapid clip.
It grew so fast in fact, that by 2005 former Volunteer Peyton Manning became a partner in the Nashville facility. Other athletes like Phillip Rivers and A.J. Hawk, also became partners in their hometown D1 Training facilities. Eventually Bartholomew couldn't handle the torrent of inquiries from athletes wanting to open up their own D1 gyms, so he converted many of his existing partnerships, and now derives most of his income from selling franchises for around $300,000 to $500,000.
As of writing this post, D1 has 32 franchise locations and four corporate ones with 10 more locations in development.
So what do you guys think?
Good concept, great execution. This seems like another crossfit fad, which doesn't mean that it won't be successful as crossfit was(is?) Just browsing the website I do think it has an advantage over crossfit in that ex college athletes want a place to train and lift heavy weights. As an ex-D1 athlete, crossfit's strength periodization is TERRIBLE.
I am very jealous as I've wanted to open a place like this for a while. No elipticals, treadmills, weights under 15lbs and power racks as far as the eye can see with some sprints incorporated in.
It's a great idea with great branding, and I think it could succeed for the same reasons crossfit did.
Just like crossfit and Ironman, their market isn't actual athletes, but rather regular people with deep pockets who want to feel like they're athletes. The killer feature here is that they have real athletes coming in and working as trainers, strengthening the athlete feeling. Provided there are enough of the athlete-wannabe people around who haven't gone for crossfit or triathlons yet, there's a lot of money to be made here.
I literally was just writing up an idea for a gym like this. I guess it's true when they say there is nothing new under the sun.
Kind of as an aside, I'm always skeptical of businesses with primary revenue being the sales of franchises rather than organic revenue or long-term annual franchise fees (indicative of a successful model).
Very interesting and great story. However to me it seems that the key was he was a ex pro football player who knows how to train as an athlete. Hardcore gyms have existed for years where you can grunt all you want no machines just squat racks, weights, and barbells. They don't tend to be advertised since the members tend to be loyal & in most cases people are intimidated. He had great vision, followed through, has the right connections & has found a nich market geared towards athletes & not your regular weight lifter. I wonder if it will last but I do wish him the best.
In US, does anyone who goes to the gym of takes some classes is considered an "athlete"?
No, working out on the regular does not make someone an athlete. If you are involved in some level of competition is generally when one is considered an athelete. However, you can be athletic without being an athlete.
No, but some people perceive themselves as athletes if they complete a push up or walk up the stairs. It is pathetic.
I've always worked out at a place like this. It's great, turf strip and nothing but racks and free weights. It's always clean and never crowded because you have to pick a time slot and most people are there to train for a sport. Its def pricey compared to a traditional gym but it's worth it. Plus I've always trained like an athlete so its all I know, I just don't go as hard now that I'm a NARP
I think it's really impressive he, with no business experience, built a business that made $1M, but the spectacular profits and franchising came after Peyton Manning joined...Imagine what you could do with a famous person signing onto your business.
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