By: Joshua Finley
Australian entrepreneur Steve Rollings has chased opportunities from a young age, leveraging his passions into successful ventures across fitness, food, and real estate. Now, he’s focused on using artificial intelligence to systemize and scale his businesses like never before.
From Electrician to Restaurant Owner
Steve got his start early, selling carnivorous plants at a market when he was just 15 years old. After school, he began working as an electrician but soon realized it wasn’t fulfilling. “I wasn’t happy about being an electrician, so I thought I’m gonna repeat the show,” Steve said.
An idea sparked after befriending the owner of EagleBoys Pizza. Steve decided to buy a franchise location in Australia when he was just 21, eventually owning three locations over four years. He dove into the business side of things, handling operations, admin, marketing, and more.
“90% of businesses are the same. So, I was really good at that,” Steve said.
During his 20s, Steve also did real estate development with his father in his small hometown in New South Wales. But he was itching to pursue new opportunities.
Bringing Anytime Fitness to Australia
After selling his pizza franchises, Steve took a couple years off to spend time with his four young children and ponder his next move. His passion for health and fitness ultimately led him to explore opening a gym location. But a timely conversation showed even more potential.
Steve discovered Anytime Fitness was rapidly expanding in the United States. He decided to pursue an opportunity closer to home, becoming the first person to bring Anytime Fitness to Australia.
“I was the first one outside America there in 56 countries or something,” Steve said. “There was a lot of uncertainty with it.”
Despite hitting roadblocks with risk-averse banks during the 2008 financial crisis, Steve trusted his vision. He opened 10 Anytime Fitness locations in just four years. For his innovation and success, Steve won International Franchisee of the Year in 2012.
By 2014, Steve owned around 15 gym locations and was looking to continue growing. He considered partnering for an Anytime Fitness master franchise across Asia but ultimately decided against uprooting his family. However, Steve did open individual locations in China and Malaysia during this time.
Overcoming Challenges to Find New Opportunities
Steve hasn’t been without his share of challenges along the entrepreneurial journey. He went through a difficult divorce in 2018, maintaining focus on his relationship with his children. “Everyone goes through stuff, if you look at stats, half of people get divorced,” Steve said. “So, it’s something that you got to go?”
Steve also confronted hurdles when COVID-19 hit in 2020, forcing gym closures. But his businesses remained financially stable, weathering the storm. For Steve, overcoming adversity is about maintaining perspective. “It’s about learning from it and moving forward,” he said. “If it’s a mistake, it’s not a failure.”
Now remarried, Steve currently owns around seven Anytime Fitness locations. While COVID-19 challenged his gyms, it provided new opportunities to examine his businesses.
Mining Gold from Customer Data
Steve recognized that he had not fully utilized the extensive customer database from his companies, which contains a large number of contacts and represents a valuable resource.“I’m not doing enough with this database,” Steve said. “It’s a super valuable asset of my business, and I’m just not using it enough.”
He’s shifted focus to better monetize this list, exploring partnerships to meet customer needs. Ideas include partnering on financial services, supplements, training programs, and more. “By cross promoting this database, I can create separate businesses within businesses,” Steve said.
To learn more about Steve Rollings, you can visit his LinkedIn profile here.
Published by: Khy Talara
