This Fitness Franchise Wants to Kick Your Business into High Gear The founder of the 9Round kickboxing franchise is looking for owners who love fitness as much as they love working with people.

A former IKF Light Middleweight Champion of the World, Shannon "The Cannon" Hudson knows a thing or two about kickboxing. In 2008, he combined his passion for fitness with business smarts, founding South Carolina-based 9Round, a kickboxing gym.

At 9Round, the training format combines boxing and kickboxing in 30-minute circuits. Customers move between nine different workout stations while guided and motivated by a trainer.

Hudson began franchising in 2009. Today, 9Round has more than 700 locations in the U.S. and worldwide. Hudson says the perfect 9Round franchisee is someone who loves people as much as they love fitness—no previous kickboxing experience is required.

"Some of our best operators have never owned a business or never kicked or punched in their lives prior to joining our system," Hudson says. Through 9Round's extensive franchisee training program, Hudson and his team will teach owners how to certify their own trainers in their own market, he says.

On average, it costs about $100,000 in initial fees to start up a 9Round franchise, including the $30,000 initial franchising fee.

To learn more about the 9Round franchising opportunity, check out the video above.