Beauty, health, and fitness concepts are dominating the franchise sector and it shouldn’t come as a surprise to those who are using social media platforms like Instagram. For those of us old enough to remember a time when current photos of us were not on display to the world 24/7, winter was a time when we could take a break from the gym, add on a few pounds, and then work on shedding them in the spring. This is no longer the norm, but the exception, as men and women alike receive constant reminders of their attractiveness, or lack thereof, and use it as motivation to keep up with their beauty and fitness regimens.

Concepts like Amazing Lash, OrangeTheory, and F45 Training have exploded in recent years thanks to these social media trends. But it wasn’t all that long ago that these were fledgling brands. In the early days of a franchise brand, it can be difficult for entrepreneurs to take a leap of faith on a brand with barely any history and few success stories. However, as early investors in franchise brands will attest, if you invest early in the right brand, that decision can pay dividends that wouldn’t be possible by investing in a more mature brand. The difficult part is knowing when a brand is ahead of trends or if it is showing breakout potential. We believe a huge indicator is social media.

Everybody is well aware of OrangeTheory in 2020, but in 2010, OrangeTheory had just 2 company owned locations and 0 franchises. Early franchisees that bought in before everyone else was turned on to the opportunity were able to secure prime markets and develop out entire areas. Fast forward to today, with over 1,000 locations in the U.S., it would be unlikely for you to be able to open even one franchise in your ideal market.

If you’ve looked into the beauty space at all, you’ve probably heard of Amazing Lash, but they also started in 2010 with just 1 company owned location. In fact, their first franchise didn’t open until 2013. Similar to OrangeTheory, the early investors were likely able to secure the best territories in the U.S., areas that are highly unlikely to be available in 2020.

So what’s the next big franchise to capitalize on the social media trend? It’s a one location franchise brand that beats out all of it’s much-larger competitors, including the 200+ lash franchise leader Amazing Lash, on Instagram, the most influential social media platform. With over 31,000 followers amassed from just one singular location in New York City and gross sales that are 3X that of the other lash franchise brands ($1.9M out of 1600 SF), the Lash Loft franchise has all the makings to be the next explosive franchise brand in the beauty space.