QC Kinetix franchisee Shane Fay operates six locations in the Dallas area. He plans to open more units in that market and expand to Houston.
An alternative medicine franchise is gaining traction as it touts the benefits of biologic therapies to treat pain stemming from injury, arthritis or other chronic conditions.
QC Kinetix, a North Carolina-based company founded in 2017, offers regenerative medical treatments to address musculoskeletal conditions and joint pain, using natural biologics from blood or stem cells as an alternative to surgery. After developing a few clinics in the Carolinas, the brand began franchising in 2020 and has since grown to more than 170 units.
Today there are 10 company-owned clinics and about 165 franchise locations across 30 states. CEO Scott Hoots said the quick growth for QC Kinetix is all part of a plan to reach as many potential patients as possible.
“It made sense for us to grow fast because the regenerative health market is largely unknown to the average population,” said Hoots, who joined the company in April 2022 as founders Justin Crowell, Tyler Vail and Dr. Richard Schaffer stepped away from running the day-to-day business. “We felt like in order for us to be successful in reaching the most patients and fulfilling our mission statement, which is to help as many people as possible through the use of regenerative medicine, we needed to grow rapidly.”
Shane Fay is part of the growth story. A franchisee in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Fay has six QC Kinetix clinics open and expects to have nine in operation by this spring. With nearly 20 years of experience in consulting and after working overseas, Fay was intrigued when he learned about the company through a colleague.
“I ended up doing enough research to realize this was extremely compelling to me, to build something on my own and grow it,” Fay said. “Also, I’m very passionate about health and wellness, and the fact that we can provide alternative treatment to people with chronic pain was interesting to me.”
Scott Hoots
Fay’s target is 32 clinics in the Dallas and Houston markets. The company has agreements signed for the development of 535 locations over the next 12 years in 130 U.S. markets. Opening all those units is no small task, but Hoots said QC Kinetix is prepared.
“We’re not just an operation where we’re selling franchises, either,” Hoots said. “We’re committed to getting all of those open.”
Getting the doors open is just one step in making the brand successful, though. Because the treatment it offers is new to many, QC Kinetix is also working to educate the public. The brand hired NFL Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith as its spokesperson, and Hoots said aggressive advertising is underway and employees are trained to clearly explain the treatment.
“We have to make sure we can get through to the average person suffering from, say, arthritis,” Hoots said. “The future patient is then going to call us saying ‘I have arthritis in my knee, I heard this commercial about QC Kinetix, what does that mean for me?’ We have to quickly educate that person on that subject, and it has to happen on that call.”
The range of services that QC Kinetix offers continues to expand. It added hair loss therapy last year, and some clinics also provide treatments for low testosterone and sexual dysfunction.
“We’re always looking for additional ways to help more people avoid drugs and surgery,” Hoots said. “That can mean something related to chronic hair loss. It can mean something related to a man who’s experiencing testosterone issues. Those issues fit into our mission and model just as nicely as our original focus, which was on the muscular and skeletal issues. For us, it’s natural to expand services.”
As it’s expanded and introduced new services, Hoots said the brand has experienced successes and challenges.
“We have some markets vastly overachieving what we had dreamed they could do, and we also have some where we are really digging deep in to help those franchise owners unlock the potential they have,” Hoots said. “But we have applied a lot of really experienced team members to help support those owners to ensure that they’re just as successful as the business model we’ve presented them in the FDD.”
The cost to open a QC Kinetix clinic is between $159,030 and $300,230. Clinics typically have a footprint of between 1,700 and 2,500 square feet and are located in Class A office or medical space.