Tumbles kids’ gyms are built around a central mission: shaping the minds and bodies of the future, and hopefully along the way, filling those happy little hearts with unfettered joy … and health.
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For the Health of It
Manish Vakil, Tumbles’ founder and CEO, says that his business philosophy is based on making a “profit with a purpose,” and that purpose is fighting childhood obesity. According to the CDC, in 2019, for children and adolescents between 2–19, the rate of obesity was 18.5%, affecting 13.7 million children and adolescents. The problem is endemic, particularly in the United States, but it has been on the rise worldwide since the pandemic hit last March.
As the father of twin boys, Vakil knows lifelong habits begin in childhood and has a personal stake in keeping his family healthy. Both high blood pressure and diabetes occur in his family, and both diseases can be managed by diet and exercise.
“Statistics show that poor child health is a growing concern in our country,” says Vakil. “At Tumbles, we provide solutions to this crisis.”
From Franchisee to Franchisor
Vakil had been a Tumbles franchise owner himself for nine years when he began thinking about pivoting and purchasing the company in 2014. At the time, his sons, Sahel and Shaan were four years old, and the idea of having them combine fitness with learning and fun enticed both him and his wife, Nimisha, a nurse practitioner. Purchasing the business was a risk and leap of faith, but Vakil took out a second mortgage on his house and leaped with encouragement and enthusiasm from Nimisha.
“I first considered buying the company because I saw the financial opportunity,” Vakil says, “but I ultimately made the decision to buy the company because I recognized that Tumbles serves a meaningful mission.”
Each Tumbles franchise operates multiple business lines out of a single location. There’s a lot more than tumbling going on at Tumbles. In addition to the traditional gym classes, children and their parents can take advantage of the STEAM curriculum, which adds art to science, technology, engineering, and math for a more holistic approach; Kids Night Out evening events; birthday parties; Tumbles Zone indoor playground; and myriad camps. Vakil cheekily refers to this palette of offerings as “edutainment.”
Tumbles operates nine franchisees, and each franchise owner is treated like family because Vakil and his team know exactly what the process entails — trust, commitment, and follow-through. Vakil says his success depends on their success, and he chooses only the best. “We’re able to be highly selective in choosing our owners, which further enhances the quality of what we offer to customers,” he says.
Tumbles Love in the Time of Covid
It’s difficult to imagine that the tumult of the last year has not affected every living soul on the planet. In September 2020, Yelp reported that more than 100,000 businesses in the U.S. closed. Vakil advised some of his franchisees this was not the time to move forward with breaking ground for a new business as he told the International Business Times. One of his owners lost her space but did not want to separate from Tumbles, so Vakil is keeping her on until she finds a suitable location.
What is most amazing about Vakil’s relationship with his franchisees is that he has not charged any fees or royalties since the pandemic lockdown began in March. Not a fan of clichés, Vakil will still say, “We have been in your shoes.”
Vakil is sincere when he tells his owners that your success is our success. “A franchisor that looks at it from that perspective will really look at it as a true relationship,” he says. “It’s a long-term relationship that we want to nurture.”
Sometimes that nurturing requires saying no, as Vakil did with an enthusiastic franchisee who wanted to open in the fall. He told him that this was not the time because he did not want him to fail.
Preparing for a Post-Covid World
Vakil and his team have not slowed down since the lockdown in March. In fact, they had already had a remote team in place, so the lockdown did not affect them as much as it did traditional, office-going businesses. Nor did it hamper their global scope — Tumbles is in the process of opening facilities in Qatar and Ghana. Vakil is particularly interested in opening gym facilities for children in Middle East countries such as Saudia Arabia because they also are dealing with childhood obesity, but there are few gyms for kids.
“We eventually will be out of this pandemic,” says Vakil, “and rather than focus on the damage it’s done, we should look forward — not just for our personal good but also for the good of the world.”
