OHM Fitness (Unit)

Should you invest $373,500 to $885,000 in a fitness franchise built around a technology most Americans have never experienced? That question sits at the center of every serious conversation about the Ohm Fitness franchise opportunity, and it deserves a rigorous, data-driven answer rather than promotional spin. Ohm Fitness was founded in 2021 by Doug Payne, a franchise industry veteran whose resume includes foundational growth roles at Massage Envy, European Wax Center, and Orangetheory Fitness — three concepts that collectively generated billions in system-wide revenue and reshaped consumer expectations for boutique wellness. Payne co-founded the company alongside partners Eric Hamann and Steve Belknap, both of whom share a prior business history with Payne through European Wax Center and other ventures, giving the founding team a rare combination of franchise operations expertise, capital formation experience, and brand-building credibility. The franchisor entity, OHM Fitness Franchise, LLC, was formally organized as a Wyoming limited liability company on June 3, 2021, with corporate operations headquartered at 9525 E. Doubletree Ranch Rd., Unit 104A, Scottsdale, Arizona 85258. The first studio opened in Scottsdale in August 2022, and the company began selling franchises that same year, establishing a development pipeline of over 150 studios within just six months of launching franchise sales. As of 2024, Ohm Fitness had 6 total units — 4 franchised and 2 company-owned — a footprint that is early-stage by any measure but underscored by a signed development pipeline that projects more than 275 studios across the United States. The brand's name stands for "One More Hour," a philosophy rooted in the commitment to adding one additional hour of structured exercise to daily life, and its proprietary EMPower Suit — a wireless Electro Muscle Stimulation bodysuit that compresses a two-hour workout into 25 low-impact minutes — is the physical embodiment of that promise. For franchise investors evaluating emerging health and wellness concepts, Ohm Fitness occupies a genuinely differentiated market position: a technology-first boutique fitness brand with institutional-grade founding leadership and an aggressive but structured national expansion roadmap.

The global fitness market is projected to reach $147.11 billion by 2026, driven by accelerating consumer health consciousness, demographic shifts toward preventive wellness, and a generational preference for experience-based fitness over commodity gym memberships. The boutique fitness segment — the specific category in which Ohm Fitness competes — has grown disproportionately fast relative to traditional big-box gym formats, with consumers increasingly willing to pay premium price points for structured programming, coaching accountability, and community belonging. This behavioral shift is secular, not cyclical: research consistently shows that group-based fitness environments generate stronger retention rates than self-directed gym access, which translates directly into more reliable recurring revenue for membership-based franchise operators. Electro Muscle Stimulation training, while established in European markets for decades, remains in an early adoption curve in the United States, meaning Ohm Fitness is entering the domestic market at a stage where first-mover franchise operators can establish regional dominance before the category becomes crowded. The integration of technology into fitness delivery is one of the defining consumer trends of 2025 and beyond, with personalized wellness programs, wearable-adjacent devices, and high-efficiency workout formats commanding the highest growth indices within health and wellness consumer spending. Ohm Fitness's 25-minute class format specifically addresses the single most frequently cited barrier to consistent exercise participation — lack of time — which positions the brand to capture consumers who would otherwise disengage entirely from structured fitness. The competitive landscape for EMS-specific boutique fitness in the U.S. remains relatively fragmented, creating a window for a well-capitalized, franchise-structured operator with a credible founding team to establish national brand recognition before consolidation dynamics reshape the category.

Evaluating the Ohm Fitness franchise cost requires understanding both the headline numbers and the structural drivers behind the investment range. The initial franchise fee is $49,000, which sits at the higher end of the boutique fitness franchise spectrum but is commensurate with the proprietary technology and specialized equipment at the core of the operating model. Total estimated initial investment ranges from $373,500 to $885,000, a spread that reflects meaningful variability in build-out complexity, local real estate market conditions, and facility size — with build-out and improvements alone ranging from $75,000 to $400,000 depending on the condition of the leased space. The startup package, which encompasses the proprietary EMPower Suit technology and related equipment, represents a fixed cost band of $125,000 to $150,000, a line item that is non-negotiable and reflects the brand's technology-first identity. Additional pre-opening costs include a lease deposit and three months of rent ranging from $20,000 to $40,000, signage between $5,000 and $15,000, decorating and furnishings from $35,000 to $65,000, computer and POS systems from $7,500 to $10,000, grand opening marketing at $20,000 to $40,000, and an additional funds reserve for the first three months post-opening of $25,000 to $70,000. The minimum liquid capital requirement is $55,000 — a relatively accessible threshold that reflects the brand's stated goal of attracting qualified multi-unit operators rather than restricting entry exclusively to high-net-worth individuals. Ongoing fees include a royalty rate of 6.00% of gross sales and an advertising or national brand fund contribution of 5.00%, bringing the combined ongoing fee burden to 11% of gross revenue — a figure investors should model carefully against projected unit revenue when constructing their return scenarios, particularly given the absence of disclosed average unit volumes in the current Franchise Disclosure Document. Compared to category peers in boutique fitness, the 6% royalty is standard, but the 5% brand fund contribution is toward the higher end of the range, reflecting the company's investment in national brand-building during a critical early-stage growth phase. The total investment range of $373,500 to $885,000 positions Ohm Fitness as a mid-to-premium franchise investment, requiring serious capital commitment but still accessible to qualified individual investors or small investor groups without institutional backing.

The daily operating model for an Ohm Fitness franchisee centers on managing a boutique studio environment where group EMS classes are delivered in 25-minute sessions using the proprietary wireless EMPower Suit technology. Staffing requirements are relatively lean compared to traditional fitness facilities, with the model built around trained fitness specialists — the brand's term for class instructors — alongside studio managers who handle operational and customer experience functions. The Managing Owner, all initial managers, and every fitness specialist are required to complete Ohm Fitness's structured initial training program at least 30 days prior to the studio's scheduled opening date, ensuring operational readiness and brand consistency before the first paying member walks through the door. Training encompasses both the technical operation of EMS equipment and the coaching methodology required to deliver a safe, effective, and brand-consistent class experience, reflecting the higher-than-average training complexity associated with medical-adjacent fitness technology. On the technology infrastructure side, Ohm Fitness has partnered with Hapana, a software-as-a-service platform purpose-built for fitness brands, which provides a unified suite of point-of-sale, customer relationship management, and operational reporting tools accessible through a single sign-on interface. According to Allie Hartsworm, Director of Quality at Ohm Fitness, the Hapana platform has reduced new hire training time on operational systems from approximately 16 to 20 hours down to just 5 to 6 hours — a meaningful operational efficiency gain that reduces onboarding friction and accelerates studio readiness. Each defined territory encompasses approximately 10,000 households with a minimum annual income of $75,000, a demographic targeting criterion that reflects the premium price point of EMS fitness services and the consumer profile most likely to sustain membership retention. The brand's focused studio footprint is specifically designed to optimize revenue per square foot while reducing build-out complexity, which structurally benefits franchisees by compressing overhead relative to larger-format fitness concepts that require more square footage, more equipment, and proportionally larger staffing teams.

Item 19 financial performance data is not disclosed in the current Franchise Disclosure Document, which means Ohm Fitness has not provided average unit volume, median revenue, or top-quartile earnings claims that prospective franchisees can directly evaluate during due diligence. This absence is not unusual for an emerging franchise brand with a small unit count — at 6 total locations as of 2024, the statistical sample would be limited in predictive value regardless — but it does place additional due diligence responsibility on prospective investors to build their own revenue models using available proxies. Industry benchmarks for boutique fitness franchise concepts suggest that well-positioned studios typically target break-even within 12 to 24 months of opening, with profit margins stabilizing between 15% and 25% after the first full year of operation, contingent on factors including rent as a percentage of revenue, class utilization rates, member pricing, and staffing efficiency. Using those industry-standard margin benchmarks and the 11% combined ongoing fee structure — 6% royalty plus 5% brand fund — a franchisee would need to generate sufficient gross revenue to cover occupancy, staffing, technology costs, and ongoing fees before reaching owner-level profitability. The total investment midpoint of approximately $629,000 suggests that an investor targeting a standard 4-year payback period would need to generate approximately $157,000 in annual pre-tax owner earnings, which at a 20% margin implies roughly $785,000 in annual gross revenue per studio. The Texas expansion deal provides an instructive data point: Shivam Khanna's plan to develop 25 personal locations alongside awarding 45 licenses to other operators, with the overall Texas initiative projected to generate $300 million in economic impact and 2,800 jobs across 70 studios, implies an average economic contribution per studio that aligns directionally with revenue expectations for a premium boutique fitness concept. Until Ohm Fitness discloses Item 19 financial performance data in a future FDD cycle, sophisticated investors should stress-test multiple revenue scenarios and request access to franchisee operators for direct performance conversations during the validation phase of due diligence.

Ohm Fitness has demonstrated a growth trajectory that meaningfully outpaces the typical early-stage franchise in terms of pipeline development velocity, even as its open-unit count remains modest. Within six months of launching franchise sales alongside its first studio opening in August 2022, the company had established a signed development pipeline exceeding 150 studios — a lead generation and sales execution pace that reflects the founding team's deep franchise industry relationships built across Massage Envy, European Wax Center, and Orangetheory Fitness. The company has since sold rights to twelve geographic regions, with a committed pipeline exceeding 275 studios across Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, San Diego, South Florida, New Jersey, Washington D.C., North Carolina, and Texas. The Texas expansion agreement alone — 70 studios across the Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio, and Houston markets — represents the single largest territorial commitment in the brand's history and serves as an institutional validation of the concept by a franchisee with 20 years of multi-unit development experience. The South Florida territory, secured by Joshua Coba — co-founder of European Wax Center and a minority investor in Ohm Fitness — encompasses 34 franchise licenses and adds both capital and operational credibility to the brand's expansion network. On the technology and revenue diversification front, the brand has introduced the OHM Fusion Partner program, enabling existing wellness operators to integrate EMS technology without a full franchise commitment, and OHM at Home, a digital component designed to extend member engagement between studio sessions and reduce churn — both of which reflect a sophisticated "Hybrid Growth Engine" strategy that layered revenue streams on top of the core studio membership model. The competitive moat Ohm Fitness is building rests on three pillars: proprietary EMPower Suit technology that cannot be replicated without licensing, a founding team with proven brand-scaling capability across multiple national franchise systems, and a territory development model that prioritizes sophisticated multi-unit area representatives over single-unit owner-operators, which accelerates geographic coverage while maintaining operational discipline.

The ideal Ohm Fitness franchisee candidate is a multi-unit-oriented operator or investor group with prior experience in service-based businesses, a preference for technology-forward operating models, and the financial capacity to support a total investment of up to $885,000. The brand's area representative structure — exemplified by Arizona's Alexis Krisay and Melissa DiGianfilippo holding rights to 35 licenses, Shivam Khanna controlling the Texas territory with personal commitments to 25 locations, and Joshua Coba holding 34 South Florida licenses — signals that Ohm Fitness is actively prioritizing experienced, well-capitalized regional developers over entry-level single-unit investors. The territory model, anchored to approximately 10,000 households with minimum annual incomes of $75,000, targets suburban markets with strong health-and-wellness consumer spending profiles, and the brand's current development focus on the Sun Belt, Texas Triangle, Mid-Atlantic, and Southeast regions reflects both demographic growth trends and elevated boutique fitness demand in those geographies. Franchisees should anticipate an owner-operator model, at least for early-stage studio operations, given the training requirements mandating that the Managing Owner complete the full initial training program at least 30 days prior to opening. The first Arizona territory was sold before the inaugural studio even opened its doors, demonstrating that informed investors with franchise development backgrounds are willing to make early-stage commitments based on the founding team's track record rather than waiting for operational proof points.

Synthesizing the available evidence, the Ohm Fitness franchise opportunity presents a distinctive risk-reward profile that warrants serious due diligence from investors focused on emerging boutique fitness concepts with a technology differentiation story. The founding team's collective track record across Massage Envy, European Wax Center, and Orangetheory Fitness represents one of the strongest brand-building pedigrees in the modern franchise industry, and the pipeline of more than 275 committed studios suggests meaningful market validation from sophisticated multi-unit developers including European Wax Center's co-founder. The global fitness market reaching $147.11 billion by 2026, combined with the secular shift toward boutique and technology-integrated fitness formats, creates a favorable macro backdrop for the EMS category. The combined 11% ongoing fee structure — 6% royalty and 5% brand fund — requires careful unit economics modeling, particularly in the absence of Item 19 financial performance disclosures, but industry benchmarks suggest that well-managed boutique fitness studios in premium demographics can achieve 15% to 25% margins after stabilization. The Ohm Fitness franchise investment range of $373,500 to $885,000 with a $55,000 minimum liquidity threshold positions this as an accessible but serious capital commitment. PeerSense provides exclusive due diligence data including SBA lending history, FPI score, location maps with Google ratings, FDD financial data, and side-by-side comparison tools that allow investors to benchmark Ohm Fitness against competing boutique fitness franchise opportunities across every meaningful performance dimension. Explore the complete Ohm Fitness franchise profile on PeerSense to access the full suite of independent franchise intelligence data.