Modern Acupuncture Showing Signs of Huge Growth Learn winning franchise leadership strategies from a business that's grown exponentially.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Recently I wrote about what I consider to be one of the big new trends in the franchise industry, which is the emerging healthcare franchises. I point out my reasoning for this in the article "Healthcare Franchises May Be Just What the Doctor Ordered."
I continue to investigate new healthcare franchise models to feature. I was introduced to Matt Hale and Chad Everts from Modern Acupuncture, an emerging franchise that is on track to be one of the fastest growing franchises in the nation. Hale and Everts's mission, along with the company's other founders, is to "make your life better." They aim to do that through making acupuncture mainstream and improving patients' lives, through providing consistent, well-paying jobs for licensed acupuncturists and through providing an amazing business opportunity to franchisees.
Hale and Everts have a long history building successful franchise brands. Previously, Hale was both vice president of operations and a founding member of the management team at The Joint Chiropractic, with the likes of the founder of Massage Envy. Hale has also owned and operated his own franchise restaurant, giving him a deep understanding of franchising that he draws upon as CEO of Modern Acupuncture.
Everts was vice president of development and a founding member of the management team at The Joint Chiropractic for six years, also with the founder of Massage Envy. Everts became the chief development officer for ACU Development, LLC, franchisor of Modern Acupuncture in September 2016.
The company leaders have leveraged their many contacts in the franchise world to recruit experienced multi-unit operators to join the Modern Acupuncture franchise organization. What they have done so far is pretty incredible for a startup. The regional developers and franchisees on board all have serious experience with brands like European Wax Centers, Massage Envy, Amazing Lash, Hammer & Nails, The Joint and many others.
Modern Acupuncture has one operating unit in Scottsdale, Ariz. Since launching in December 2016, the company has already awarded 288 regional developer licenses and has signed over 75 individual franchise locations. The second location is slated to open in Charlotte, N.C. in September, closely followed by Colorado Springs, Colo., Austin and Houston, Texas.
Among the benefits of this model is the fact that acupuncture is a 3,000-year-old practice and Modern Acupuncture is the first to organize under one brand, offering accessibility and value to the general public.
The initial franchise fee for Modern Acupuncture is $29,500, and the total estimated initial investment ranges from $248,825 to $443,350.
Everts mentioned that acupuncture is recognized by the American Medical Association and is more popular in the mainstream today. Many are finding benefits for pain treatment as well as overall health and beauty.
Similar to many other medical careers, an acupuncturist needs a graduate degree to practice. Masters, doctorates and post-graduate certificates are available from more than 55 acupuncturist schools across the country. Hale says that there are approximately 30,000 licensed practitioners in the U.S. and the franchise owners are finding it easy to recruit great people to work in its locations.
The company states on its website that "We deliver affordable acupuncture in first-class high traffic retail shopping centers with convenient hours including nights and weekends."
Franchising has standardized many industries by organizing strong business owners under common brands and creating collaborative business environments resulting in synergistic growth. Modern Acupuncture is another great example of a franchised healthcare model bringing benefits to operators, employees and consumers.
The Modern Acupuncture founders have assembled a talented and experienced team in preparation for aggressive growth.
As I mentioned in my recent article, "5 Strategies for Franchise Leadership Development," the No. 1 factor in the success or failure of a franchise organization is leadership. Modern Acupuncture is a great example of how a franchise organization can grow when the leadership is committed and experienced. Smaller emerging franchise brands can learn from its example and implement the best practices featured in Franchise Bible, 8th Edition to join the ranks as a national, or even global, franchise brand.
This model appears to be a good fit for single unit operators as well as multi-unit franchisees. Visit the company's website to learn more about Modern Acupuncture and its franchise program.
