100% Chiropractic, a Fast-Growing Franchise, Taps Into the Longevity Boom

With over 120 locations, 100% Chiropractic is working to bring chiropractic services in line with the modern wellness movement

Around 10 to 12 percent of Americans see a chiropractor each year. If Dr. Jason Helfrich has his way, that number will soon be much higher.

That’s not because more Americans will be in back pain, it’s because more people will come to recognize the holistic health, wellness, and longevity benefits of chiropractic care, provided they go to the right office.

“We do wonderful things for pain, but there’s so much more to function and human potential that we see when we adjust somebody and free up their bodies’ innate ability to function as it was intended to,” Dr. Helfrich tells Athletech News. “It’s super important that we get the message out to people of what chiropractic truly is about, and what it’s not about.”

“We’re focused on getting people’s bodies back to thriving at a level that some people didn’t even know they were intended to live at,” he adds.

Originally a restaurateur, Dr. Helfrich and his wife, Dr. Vanessa Helfrich, decided to change their lives in the early 2000s, moving to a new state and taking out student loans to attend chiropractic school in Iowa. After graduating, they founded 100% Chiropractic in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2004.

Over the last 20 years, the Helfrichs have turned 100% Chiropractic into a thriving nationwide business. After some initial expansion success, 100% Chiropractic began franchising in 2015, setting the stage for even more growth. Today, the brand operates over 120 locations, with offices in states stretching from New Jersey to Texas to California.

The Case for Chiropractic as a Longevity Tool

There’s reason to believe 100% Chiropractic could become even bigger, especially if Dr. Helfrich and his peers are successful in changing the narrative around chiropractic services.

100% Chiropractic is doing its part to make that goal a reality. Besides implementing sound business fundamentals he learned during his time running restaurants, Dr. Helfrich believes a focus on long-term health and longevity is what sets 100% Chiropractic apart from other chiropractic offices in the United States.

During their first visit to a 100% Chiropractic location, patients are taken through a Discovery Session, where a board-certified doctor of chiropractic reviews x-ray results, a posture analysis, health history, and health goals to develop a holistic treatment plan. The next visit is an Empowerment Session, where chiropractors educate patients on any issues they may be experiencing along with providing general education on the anatomy of the spine.

While back adjustments are obviously on offer, 100% Chiropractic also provides massages, assisted stretching therapy, cold lasers, and nutrition services for its patients.

“It’s a very thorough approach to people’s health, as opposed to, let’s get you out of neck and back pain,” Dr. Helfrich explains. “This is more like, let’s get you out of neck and back pain, but let’s get your body thriving. There are different ways we’re going to make that happen for you.”

Building a Franchise Business

Another reason for 100% Chiropractic’s impressive growth likely lies in the way the Helfrichs have approached building the business.

To grow the brand over the last two decades, the Helfrichs have taken the tricks they learned in the restaurant biz and applied them to chiropractic offices. That included systematizing 100% Chiropractic’s operational procedures from the get-go, so new business partners – and eventually, franchisees – could step in and have their own locations running smoothly from day one.

“We started to build like we had 10 locations even when we had one,” Dr. Helfrich recalls. “I was always a big believer that people run the systems, systems run the business.”

The Helfrichs also sought to get their peers involved on the business side, initially only selling franchise licenses to fellow chiropractors. Today, around half of all 100% Chiropractic franchises are owned by the chiropractors who run them.

While 100% Chiropractic now also sells franchises to non-chiropractors, it continues to stay true to its roots as it brings entrepreneurs into the fold.

“We built the company on being a franchise run by chiropractors for chiropractors,” Dr. Helfrich notes.

That strategy appears to be working. According to the brand, the average income among 100% Chiropractic clinics in 2023 was $813,365. Offices averaged 248 patient visits per week, significantly higher than the industry average of 168.

Creating a ‘Movement’

Dr. Helfrich is optimistic that soon, more people will come to recognize the benefits of chiropractic services. While only 10 to 12% of Americans regularly see a chiropractor today, it may not take much more adoption before the movement becomes truly mainstream.

“When you get to 15 to 17%, you start to really create a movement that culture understands,” he says. “(Going to a chiropractor) has long lived on the cusp of becoming the norm, with people understanding the role that chiropractic plays in their family’s healthcare. We want to push it up and over that edge.”

If that happens, expect to see franchised concepts like 100% Chiropractic become even more popular than they are today. Dr. Helfrich says the brand’s next expansion goal is to open 200 locations, although he doesn’t feel pressure to chase growth, especially amid current macroeconomic uncertainty.

At the end of the day, though, the Helfrichs have a bigger mission: they want to change the way people view chiropractic care–and healthcare in general – in America, prizing preventive care over sick (or injured) care.

“We live in a world of, you’re hurt, you take a pill and you get better. Or, if you’re not hurt, then you must be healthy. It’s just not true,” Dr. Helfrich says. “The first sign of a heart attack is a heart attack. We don’t often feel cancer inside of us developing, but it is. Pain is a poor judge of health.

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