Nexgen Fitness

Nothing.....

NexGen Fitness told me total investment was $350K with 10% down and easy SBA financing. Reality was $650K+ and 20% down. I took a 401K loan to pay $54,900 in upfront fees and personally negotiated a written refund clause as protection. After 18 months, 6+ bank denials, and actually getting SBA approved, the loan fell through due to circumstances entirely beyond my control. The CEO refused to honor the refund clause he signed — first saying "We don't do refunds," then claiming an old approval email voided my rights, then offering to extend my franchise agreement indefinitely with no timeline. I rejected it. He and his attorney are now non-responsive to my lawyer. The existing owners who gave me glowing references during due diligence had nothing good to say a year later. I am not the only franchisee in a legal dispute with this company. Based on my personal experience, I would not recommend this franchise to anyone.

Business model is clean but hard to scale vertically.

I want to share my experience with NexGen Fitness as a franchisee. I am not here to attack anyone. I am sharing this because I wish someone had shared it with me before I signed. How It Started: In August 2024, I attended the Dallas Franchise Expo and met The CEO, Sales Executive, and the full NexGen Fitness marketing team. It was a polished and convincing pitch. After follow-up calls with Ryan, I attended a Discovery Day where we toured a NexGen location in Frisco, TX and sat down with Bryan to discuss the numbers. I liked the initial numbers and went ahead and signed the agreement. But before signing the agreement, I made sure to have a return clause put in in case I am unable to close a bank loan because I am using the Franchise fee $54900 as my downpayment.(Took a 401K loan for this. I know....dumb) The Financing Ordeal After signing, NexGen referred me to their preferred lender. The application looked promising for two months. During that time I was actively touring locations and signed a Letter of Intent on a property. Then the loan was denied. I lost that location as a result. I then applied to 4 to 5 additional banks. Every single one denied me — primarily because of my lack of experience in the fitness industry and the inability to meet the 20% down payment on a $650,000+ loan(Fun fact: Till day the CEO thinks it takes only 350K to start a location - delusional). Why? Because the 350K budget is not event enough to get to break even for a semi-absentee owner. First Rejection: In July 2025, after exhausting these options, I asked The CEO for my refund and trigger the exit clause. His response was direct: "We don't do refunds." He offered no contractual basis for this. When I asked for a clear definition of how many banks I needed to try before the refund clause applied, I was given no answer and told to keep applying. Round 2: Well, fu$$. At this point I know something was off, but I like fitness industry and this business model was clean so I kept moving forward in good faith. Finally got a loan approved after a two months of Govt. shutdowns. Then in February 2026, my lender informed me I needed to close the loan before March 1 due to a published SBA regulatory change, or I would lose eligibility to reapply. Around the same time, I learned my job was being phased out. I disclosed this to the bank as I was legally required to do. Bank rescinded my approval. I immediately informed The CEO on a call and asked for my refund. His response was: "I have an approval email from the bank. I don't need to trigger a refund." He was using the fact that I had previously received SBA approval — an approval that no longer existed — as grounds to deny the refund I was contractually owed. After a week, The CEO came back with a counter-offer: he would extend my franchise agreement indefinitely, with no defined timeline for me to open a location. I rejected this immediately. I wanted the money I was contractually owed, not an open-ended obligation with no exit. Some owners and their bulls***: During my due diligence I spoke to many existing NexGen owners. Nobody raised any red flags. Everyone seemed fine. I spoke to those same owners a year later. Not a single one had anything positive to say. So where were all these facts a year ago? I'll let you draw your own conclusions about what happens when you call the reference list a franchisor hand-picks for you. I have also since become aware that other franchisees are in legal disputes with NexGen Fitness as well. I am not alone in this experience.