Page 103 - Entrepreneur - USA (January - February 2020)

patients with blisters and burns from cryotherapy. “But I wish [cryother- But, he says, there’s another way to look at it, too. “iCryo franchises are
apy practitioners] would walk back some of these outrageous claims. Cryo appealing because they’re affordable and easy to operate,” says Hayes. “Get
bars have grown quickly—and so has the misinformation.” in at the right time and you can make your investment back in a matter of
To entice customers without attracting regulators, iCryo and its com- a couple of years.” In five years, you might be able to roll your money right
petitors are often forced to rely on vague claims. “It gives your body that into the next boomlet.
natural reboot it needs from time to time, like shutting down and restart- Wellness and fitness trends are, of course, notoriously fickle. In recent
ing a computer or cellphone,” says Kyle Jones, cofounder and COO of years, health-seeking consumers have fallen for and then promptly forgot-
iCryo. “We’re shocking the central nervous system.” On its website, US ten both oxygen bars and colonics studios. In 2009, the year the first cryo-
Cryotherapy, a competing franchise, claims it can “systematically reduce therapy machine landed in the U.S., the country boasted more than 18,000
pain, inflammation, and muscle soreness,” while Orange Cryo, another tanning salons. A decade later, that number had fallen below 8,000. Before
franchisor, offers “rejuvenation of the body at the cellular level.” CrossFit, we had Buns of Steel. Before SoulCycle, we had Jazzercise. We
Oftentimes, it may not matter how much of this is scientifically verifi- had Zumba. We had Sweatin’ to the Oldies. And now we have cryotherapy.
able. Wellness fads tend to run on belief. For as little as $10 or as much as To open his iCryo, Mobley is spending more than half a million dollars.
$50, people can book cryo sessions at salons and strip malls around the It’s money he earned by selling his industrial-painting company. And if his
country—and if they walk out feeling healthier, they’re happy. Meanwhile, projections pan out, he’ll have that money back in 18 months to two years.
business owners expect science to eventually catch up. “It took eight to 12 But he says he’s not doing this just for the quick buck. Until recently, his
years before massage became mainstream and people started to under- wife, Paula, suffered from rheumatoid arthritis. “She was doing cryo for
stand its benefits,” says Jones. almost a year, and then she went into complete remission,” he says. “She
But will these kinds of businesses last eight to 12 years? That’s really the was able to stop all medication, everything.” Paula’s doctors were aston-
multimillion-dollar question. And there’s no way to know the answer. ished. “This is incredible!” said one. “Whatever you did, keep doing it.” And
“It’s tough to tell,” says John Hayes, Ph.D., a professor of franchise lead- that’s when Mobley started shopping for an iCryo franchise.
ership at Palm Beach Atlantic University. “You’re taking a risk when you So, no, he doesn’t believe he’s found a fad. The way he sees it, he’s invest-
buy into a franchise that doesn’t serve an established behavior or deliver a ing in an important new treatment technology that’s in the early stages of
service that people require on a regular basis.” awareness. “I think it’s going to be a game changer,” he says.