The 24-hour gym king: How Brendon Levenson created Jetts Fitness

Name: Brendon Levenson

Company: Jetts Fitness Australia

Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland

Australians love their sport.

On a Friday night, local pubs around the country are flooded, as eager fans flock to watch the AFL, NRL or whatever sport’s on the big screen.

But we’re not all elite athletes. We have careers, families, hobbies and responsibilities and sometimes fitting in exercise can be a challenge. It’s this gap which gave Brendon Levenson the motivation to create the multi-million dollar 24/7 gym empire Jetts Fitness.

In 2007, Levenson and his wife, Cristy, set out to open a gym with a difference. The couple started with a blank page, wrote the word “customer” in the middle and consequently developed all their ideas and policies around this philosophy.

The basis of the 24-hour model was to focus on what the customer wants most – flexibility. Most customers don’t want classes for every exercise imaginable. They just want to come when they have the time.

The company reached customer capacity within six months. The pair quickly developed a plan – to put a Jetts club within eight minutes of 80% of Australians.

Operating on a franchise model, Jetts now has 206 gyms across Australia and New Zealand and 750 staff and franchise partners. Last financial year, Jetts had a turnover of $74 million and it’s on track this year to make $90 million.

Levenson talked to SmartCompany about his customer-focused philosophy, strategic business growth and building a business from his passion, sport.

Mornings

Running one of the country’s fastest growing companies is no easy task and Levenson likes to start the day feeling focused.

“I start the day with 10 minutes of stretching and breathing exercises, which is great for getting me focused on the present and setting me up for the day.”

Levenson and his wife have two children and after he’s feeling centred, he helps get the kids ready for school.

“Cristy does the mad rush to get them ready and I usually do the drop off.”

“Between 8.30am to 9.30am it’s typically workout time, and then I start my work day around 10am with a project that I have prioritised for the day,” he says.

Daily life

After completing his daily prioritised project, Levenson responds to emails and meets with his team to run through the day’s priorities, before attending meetings or working on other projects.

Levenson says it’s important not to allow yourself to become too distracted throughout the day.

“I have learnt to use email sparingly and my phone has been on silent for three years, so this gives me plenty of time to get stuck into what needs to be done without too many distractions.”

Most of his days are spent working on projects and strategic planning.

“I am fortunate that Jetts has a great team in place who manage the day-to-day operations, which has freed me up to do what I love – coming up with new ideas and looking at how we can expand into new areas or markets,” he says.

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