Fitness is a booming industry in Morocco, and there are reports that the pandemic and the heightened anxiety and stress levels that accompanied the COVID crisis have even convinced many Moroccans to pick up some forms of exercise to stay physically fit and mentally sharp.
Enter Anytime Fitness, a worldwide fitness and wellbeing establishment that, while projecting to take advantage of Morocco’s apparently thriving fitness industry, is more fundamentally driven by the need to bring it to the next level.
“For me Anytime Fitness means so much more than just changing the life of my future franchisees and customers,” Zakieia Rouah, the CEO of Anytime Fitness’ North Africa Branch, told Morocco World News as she presented the group’s philosophy and ambitions.
Revolutionize is a big, even pretentious word. In the right hands, however, the idea it entails – radical change or transformation – can be rewarding and liberating. In Rouah’s telling, establishing Anytime Fitness is “a starting point of a fulfilling personal and collective journey.”
While there are already other fitness companies in Morocco, Rouah pitches Anytime Fitness’ idea of total fitness by insisting on what is bound to make the project’s business model unique: professionalism, accessibility, and community-building.
Still, Anytime Fitness’ Moroccan story has had its shares of challenges and usual bumps in the road. Among these has been gender-related issues and a culture of slow and traditional bureaucracy that often does not encourage entrepreneurship.
Despite all these hurdles, says an energized Zakieia Rouah, “the continued welcome from the people of Casablanca has been so immense that their energy is keeping me going.”
Below is an extended and redacted version of Rouah’s interview with MWN.
MWN: Can you tell us about your desire to support and help others who have always dreamed of owning their own small business?
Zakieia Rouah: I am mainly driven by the desire to make a difference in the lives of others. I like to build things, brainstorm, and come up with an idea to help those around me.
For me Anytime Fitness means so much more than just changing the life of my future franchisees and customers. Building my business made me realize the immediate difference it will bring in the lives of my family. My brothers and sisters, in the lives of my nieces and nephews, in the lives of my friends and acquaintances.
The realization that this is in itself just a starting point of a fulfilling personal and collective journey is a huge motivation for me.
MWN: What was your desire to help others lead healthier, happier lives – so that they can “pay it forward” and help others in many different ways?
Zakieia Rouah: Sports and fitness have been an important part of Moroccan life for quite a long time now. Many people in Morocco have always been involved in sports, as it connects us in an unprecedented way. Health is a gift and the Moroccans take that gift seriously and try to implement healthy practices into their lives.
The market potential in Morocco is enormous, but the implementation of fitness clubs has unfortunately not yet gone through the changes that it needs.
We see a potential in the high-end market that is greatly overpriced. These are mostly stand-alone clubs, which offer small-scale fitness, massages, spa, swimming pools, and hammams. Through all that they offer, we can see that fitness itself is not their core business value.
Low- budget gyms are the other available option. These gyms often only provide fitness and are geared toward appealing to Moroccans of all walks of life. However, hygiene, equipment, approach, personalization, and customer service are typically not a priority for this type of gym.
Anytime Fitness is the perfect gym for all your basic needs. We are accessible, clean, and offer personalized customer service all for a great price.
MWN: Can you explain your desire to help bring people closer together via fitness? There is too much conflict in the world today. Would you say that exercising together can help us see that “We’re all the same?”
Zakieia Rouah: I see that people are increasingly focusing on their health and they understand the importance of a healthy lifestyle. The healthy lifestyle is becoming more popular and with that more people are desiring to go out of their comfort zones and look for places to enhance themselves.
My parents have always been a huge source of inspiration, but I have also been greatly inspired by feeling and experiencing how beautiful we can be to one another. With this, I believe we are capable of achieving whatever we desire as long as we work towards it.
Unknown or ordinary Moroccans are a huge inspiration for me. I say this in the sense that our society is full of stories of people doing nice or beautiful things for strangers, simply out of the kindness of their hearts.
If we were to take a moment out of our busy schedule and interact with each other, we will experience that we are all the same, that life does not judge us differently because of gender, age, or color.
MWN: What Potential does Morocco have in the fitness industry?
Zakieia Rouah: The market potential in Morocco is enormous, but the implementation of fitness clubs has unfortunately not yet gone through the changes that it needs.
The fitness market in Morocco is an underpenetrated market, it has a direct impact on the economy in terms of revenue and employment, and don’t forget the ripple effect that it has on our enormous supply chain.
With Anytime Fitness we are not only contributing to the health of the Moroccan people, but we are also growing the market potential of the industry. We are actively providing new opportunities for entrepreneurs. And being the largest and the number one franchising fitness organization in the world, provides us with the possibility of aligning and securing enormous discounts on equipment, accessories and the best lease options with the biggest players in the field.
Anytime Fitness is the perfect and safest way of establishing passive income. Our franchisees reach cash flow break even after approximately six months after that with a Return on Investment of more than 32% per year. This is one of the reasons that over 60% of our franchisees go on to own more than one club. Meanwhile, what most franchisees value most is the ability to achieve financial freedom.
MWN: What do you see as the biggest challenge now that you are setting up AF Morocco? How do you deal with that?
Zakieia Rouah: The Kingdom of Morocco has been making rapid and fast changes in supporting female entrepreneurship.
In the last decade great structures in education, industry (setting up programs to support the female presence in engineering, science fields), as well as wellness and hospitality have been set up through foundations, along with one presided by our Princess Lalla Selma with great support from her husband our King Mohammed VI.
However, we still unfortunately deal with the still existing bureaucracy. This issue is still relevant to Morocco and even to the extent that it easily can be used to block new entrepreneurs. At the same time, I have to admit to myself that it is also not always easy to be a young woman.
Many business people still prefer to deal with more senior people, expecting age to be a crucial factor for finding comfort in engaging in business.
If we would also add the entire supply chain of construction companies, materials, as well as access to the best equipment, we all should be embracing this.
As a Dutch-Moroccan, I am making a huge investment and not being a multi-billion dollar investor does not make me any less important looking at the economic and social impact we are bringing to the small entrepreneurs in Morocco.
Support from both the Dutch and the Moroccan sides were very limited. However, the continued welcome from the people of Casablanca has been so immense that their energy is keeping me going and reassuring me that with their support, my team and I are determined to never give up!
MWN: What is the strength of your business model? What do you think makes your model particularly appealing or outstanding? Name three points.
Zakieia Rouah: Our global presence and the 24/7 accessibility are what in my opinion make AF a genuine model. Worldwide, people are offered the same services and we can provide high-level assistance in helping them reach their goals in and outside of the gym.
Our model is one that makes our members and franchisees the number one priority. Happy members make happy franchisees and allow the whole organization to grow and become better for our customers.
Our American HeadQuarter and our other franchises around the world are all so supportive and staffed with highly valuable and reliable staff. We never feel alone on this journey. They love Morocco and we love them too.
MWN: Do you see a difference in the business aspect because you are a woman?
Zakieia Rouah: Absolutely, they think they can take you less seriously and they assume in advance that you will not know what you are talking about. I cope by convincing or reminding myself to keep my calm and always stay true to my core principles in doing business.
My only strategy in dealing with this “hurdle” is always to be on top of my game and show that I can reach anything and all within the back of my mind to make it a fun journey. Doing business can be very harsh at times; however, it is the little things you share with your biggest clients or your supplier that make the journey one to never give up on.
But there is also a lot of respect and admiration for what we are setting up. I am often humbled to see how the reaction of some partners is in knowing we are a small young team yet perform on a very high level.
