By Melissa Yeo

CHONG Wan Kit had been a corporate jet-setter in the franchising business for more than a decade before she finally decided 'enough was enough'.

'I got tired of chasing targets that got higher every year,' she says. 'I wanted to be my own boss.'

So in 2005 she quit her job and bought the rights to the Singapore and Malaysia franchises of Contours Express, a US-based gym that caters exclusively to women.

'I was looking specifically for women-related products and services,' she says. 'Women-related products and services are a rising trend locally and worldwide. They are in the billions in terms of market potential.'

For a monthly fee of $59, members can enjoy unlimited visits to a Contours Express fitness club, where they get personalised fitness analysis, training advice and dietary guidance to achieve their personal goals.

Training sessions last only half an hour and are held two or three times a week in small gym clubs at Choa Chu Kang, Serangoon and Amoy Street.

From burning fat to toning muscle to building stamina, Contours Express tracks each member's weight, strength, body fat and measurements, and customises a training regime to help them reach their target.

'Whatever the goal, we can personalise a programme,' says Ms Chong. 'We watch over everyone.'

The client base is all-inclusive, with the youngest member aged 15 and the oldest 67.

'There is no shortage of fitness centres for women, but most really target the younger crowd,' says Ms Chong. 'The older crowd has been quite neglected. It can quite intimidating to be a first-time gym-goer, over 40, entering a big facility. People are fearful of starting. Our message appeals to them.'

Contours Express is also open to women who have stopped exercising and need guidance on how to start regaining fitness. Eight out of 10 members stopped exercising completely in the preceding two years, the majority being women in their 40s.

'We provide a non-intimidating environment for women who have not been active for a long time to get fit,' says Ms Chong.

These include seniors, middle- aged women who are out of shape, working women with little time for exercise and women with special medical needs.

'There are 900,000 women between the ages of 30 and 65 and only 28 per cent of them are regularly active,' says Ms Chong, quoting a Singapore Sports Council survey she discovered during her research in 2005. 'There is clearly a void in the market that Contours Express fills.'

Compared with most franchises, setting up a Contours Express outlet is relatively easy and cost-efficient.

Only $100,000 of seed capital is required to cover the cost of renovation, rental deposits and equipment - a fairly modest sum compared with food and beverage franchises, which can charge franchising fees of up to $400,000.

'Everything that you need to spend until you are ready to open for business has been budgeted for,' says Ms Chong.

Asked why she has kept the start-up cost low, she replies: 'It's our philosophy. We don't make money off the initial franchise fee. When you do that, you are limiting the capability of the entrepreneur to expand the business.'

Further, with the lack of seed funding available to entrepreneurs, Ms Chong feels high start-up costs only serve to discourage them, thwarting the purpose of a franchise.

'I strongly believe that franchising businesses should be easy to run and simple to replicate,' she says. 'If they aren't, they're better off being run as subsidiaries. Franchising is supposed to be about growing the network, and the revenue should be from the ongoing royalty, not the initial fee.'

As an extension of this philosophy, Ms Chong looks for passion and responsibility in her prospective franchisees, not just a willingness to pay up.

'We are careful,' she says of recruiting franchisees. 'We want to ensure people come with the right mindset. They must be prepared not just to put in money, but also time and effort.'

Ms Chong has turned away several potential investors because they wanted to run a Contours Express outlet while continuing in their full-time corporate jobs.

Commitment is her topmost priority.

And her stringency has paid off, if the accomplishments of her current franchisees are anything to go by.

The Contours Express franchise outlet at Choa Chu Kang, run by Lim Poh Geok, was cashflow-positive from day one, with Mdm Lim looking to opening another outlet in the west by the end of the year.

Her newest franchisee, Priscilla Lim, started business in the second week of September, with more than 20 bookings for training sessions a week before the Serangoon outlet opened.

'We are looking at opening two more clubs by the end of the year, and 25-30 clubs in Singapore over the next five years,' says Ms Chong. 'They will most likely be in the heartlands.'

What do franchisees require?

'You need willpower and mental strength to be your own boss,' she says. 'Many people underestimate this. Having money is one thing; mentally, you need to be prepared to take on full ownership in making decisions and getting things done.You can't consult your management, or discuss with a committee. You are it.'

This article was first published in The Business Times on October 07, 2008.