Interview with Matthew Goodman, Active Future Franchisor
- Name: Matthew Goodman
- Franchise: Active Future
Tell us a bit about yourself
My original career was in builders merchants but I had no passion for it, I wanted to do something that I loved to do and not just work for money. I had always been involved in Sport and sports coaching so I took the step to start my own coaching business. I have always been interested in, and my research area is the environments that lead to drop out in sport. To this end, I created a business that would look to address this huge social issue. I now wake up every day loving the work that we do rather than being stuck in a career that was unfulfilling.
Can you tell us about Active Future
We undertook years of research on all the different products starting in around 2017. We wanted to create a whole different movement opportunity business that was not focused on sporty kids and traditional sports. We have a long term aim of improving the lives of 1 million people per week through movement and the franchising route will help us reach that goal quicker than a traditional organic route. We currently have 24 franchisees all working across the UK to bring non traditional movement to their local communities.
Who is your target market?
Our ecosystem of products is very large and as a result we have a number of target markets. From Education Departments, to Local and National Government Funded Projects and of course to families within our local communities. Demand for all services is huge and by following the correct processes it is reasonably simple to tap into this demand.
Why is Active Future a great investment for potential franchisees?
First of all it now a tried and tested model, it is so robust we now offer a risk free guarantee. It is not just a great financial investment it is a great social investment. You get to run a business with an amazing social impact in your local community whilst getting rewarded financially for doing so.
What differentiates Active Future from the competition?
Our organisation is a research based one using the latest coaching theory to shape its practice. Our support packages for franchisees is market leading. Once you buy into the network you join a family of like-minded people all driving to improve their local community. We believe so strongly in our product we guarantee it.
What qualities do you look for in a franchisee?
We have a very simple equation, effort x process = results. If you undertake these two things your success if guaranteed. We do not care what your background is, as long you are motivated by our social aims to get more and more people moving.
What other challenges have you had to overcome and adapt to over the years?
The largest challenge we have had to overcome is Covid, this hit at the time we started to launch our offer. This in effect put us back a good 18 months. Coaching theory continually changes and we need to ensure that we keep up to0 date with this and to ensure our processes reflect this so it is always a huge work in process. The other challenge, is to keep up with technological developments, this is particularly challenging as we continue to grow and expand as it makes the job even larger.
What have been Active Future’s biggest successes to date?
Last summer we engaged over 30,000 children in the HAF Programme and this summer we will engage at least 50,000 children. We have been involved with so many wonderful projects to engage people in movement.
What does the future hold for Active Future?
We will continue to grow organically of a maximum of 20 franchisees per year. We only take on candidates who truly believe in our why so this always restricts our growth as we need to make sure we get the right people on the bus. We are looking to continue to grow our ecosystem so that more and more people can be impacted.
What advice would you give to someone considering franchising their business?
Make sure you do your research, test your products and test them again. Get people to test your processes, are they easy to follow? Make sure your agreements are watertight. Be clear on what you’re trying to achieve, develop your core values and align all people to them.
If you had to do it all again, what would you do differently?
I wouldn’t use an external agency to market to potential franchisees. I would keep it all in house. I would have utilised technology much quicker and put our wonderful management team in place from the start.
