Franchise Friday – 215 with Joe Flanders and Manish Vakil

In this episode, Melissa Pang speaks with Joe Flanders and Manish Vakil of Tumbles Kids Fitness Gym

Joe Flanders is the Chief Operations Officer (COO) of Tumbles and is the go-to guru for streamlining processes and overseeing franchisee operations support. He manages the interior design and buildout of Tumbles locations, finds and facilitates third-party partnerships for equipment, designs our STEAM curriculum, maintains the integrity of our brand identity, and develops strategies to grow our program offerings and meet the changing needs of our customers. With 14 years of experience as a franchisee owner-operator, Joe brings a wealth of franchising and kid’s business experience to the Tumbles family. Joe has a Bachelor of Business Administration in Management from the University of Georgia, where he spent four years playing trumpet in, and as a soloist for the Redcoat Marching Band in front of over 86,000 adoring fans. Go Dawgs! For Joe, helping shape the minds and bodies of kids isn’t just a career calling—it’s a family affair. His wife, Katerina, is a biology teacher and educational specialist in curriculum development and has presented science and literacy topics both nationally with the NSTA and internationally through programs offered by Columbia University. And his three kids—Lexi (15), Nate (12) and Maddie (9)—are competitive year-round swimmers with Olympic aspirations. Joe and his family love to travel, especially if their trips incorporate active endeavors, including hiking, swimming and enjoying nature.

According to Joe Flanders: “I’m actually a commercial pilot, I came to franchising to help my family out who had just entered into the business as franchisees of another kid’s brand. grew that business. I thought it would be really cool to bring my STEM background to the kids’ space., I’m a bit of a science and math nerd, I did not see that here in the North Atlanta market, created a business that didn’t do as well as I wanted it to do. as a little bleeding edge. Talked to a trusted advisor, this gentleman right here, Manish. And I ended up actually pivoting that business into a learning center model. I did for about a decade and then ultimately ended up wanting to do something a little bit more. I wanted to do something that brought smiles to kids’ faces I wanted to bring something that really had more of a valuable impact on the community. And the idea of Tumbles was just so very appealing to me. So got out of the business of being an owner-operator and joined Tumbles.”

Manish Vakil is the founder and CEO of Tumbles and ensures that Tumbles’ success is about more than making money—it’s also about fighting obesity and making a difference in the lives of kids and families worldwide. Manish oversees all aspects of the company—from helping franchisees build profitable businesses to expanding our mission around the globe to ensuring our programs make every kid who walks through our doors smile. Manish has a B.S. in Finance from Rutgers University and over 15 years of experience in franchise sales, operations, marketing, price negotiation and accounting. In addition, he has a history of owning and operating a variety of profitable kid-focused businesses, including a tutoring center, kids’ gym and children’s STEM education program prior to founding Tumbles. When he isn’t busy helping Tumbles’ franchisees build successful businesses and bringing fun fitness and STEAM education programs based on developmental milestones to kids around the world, you’ll find Manish playing tennis, watching movies or experiencing new people and cultures while traveling the globe with his wife and twin boys.

According to Manish Vakil: “Franchising is one side that we have. The other side is our mission is combating childhood obesity. People say profit leads to purpose, in our businesses it is more purpose that is leading to profit. And that’s a key differentiator, especially when you’re dealing with first time business owners that are coming to it. When people tell you well get into business for the passion, with Tumbles that’s very easy to find. I don’t want anybody who doesn’t like kids. I realized more and more is, in order for our mission, which is shaping the minds and bodies of the future, we need people who have a, a purpose driven mindset. The idea of having this purpose allows you to enjoy what you do, and then profits automatically follow because you enjoy going to work. And having those types of people coming in and they have a vested interest, because they have their money in the business as well. In order to find these people, you have a vested interest, everyone’s interests are completely aligned top to bottom. And there’s no better way than franchising. Because when people are coming in, we get to train them. We have the systems in place, you get to work with people with the same philosophy. It makes a hell of a lot of fun. Especially when you can say Monday is my favorite day of the week. Because all these people who are coming in as franchisees, new business owners, we get to work with them. They’re excited, the passion is there. And that makes it all worthwhile. and the fact that we are making kids smile, your franchisees are coming in, we’re all smiling and having a blast.”

Tumbles is a growing kids’ gym and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) franchise.

Our mission is both simple and ambitious: Shaping the minds and bodies of the future. Based on developmental milestones, our proven programs encourage kids to get active, take measured risks, explore independently, and interact with their peers in a fun, safe and clean environment.

Before Tumbles, Manish began in the kids’ franchise industry with a children’s STEM education program and went on to open two complementary businesses: a tutoring center and a kids’ gym. While the businesses were successful, Manish had to manage three separate companies – each with their own brand, location, operating cost, and staff.

He started to think of ways to streamline his efforts with a franchise business that would combine several programs for kids all under one roof – and the idea for Tumbles was born. Having multiple programs in one location meant the entire space would be used – and making money – morning, noon and night, seven days a week. In addition, it would offer convenience to busy families by providing fun programs for multiple kids all in one place. Best of all, Tumbles would only have to market to a family once, which would keep expenses low and revenue high.

As Melissa observed: I do think that’s an important distinction and a differentiator for Tumbles as well. We talk a lot about franchising as a vehicle. Our clients are looking at self-sufficiency, and they’re exploring different ways to do that. A lot of them are coming from a job environment, that classic kind of nine to five We are saying listen, there’s other ways to get to self-sufficiency, whether it’s a startup, whether it’s buying an existing business, you know, some stocks or investments, you could, you know, make money there as well. Why was franchising the vehicle, that you looked into and followed that path?

More About our Host, Melissa Pang