BackLessons from the fitness brigade
Three fitness start-ups in Bengaluru tell us why carving a niche in the industry is important, how exercising is still considered a luxury, and why customers are not always ready to experiment
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Alarge migrant working population, low average age and an eagerness to try something new has made Bengaluru one of the most exciting cities to introduce new concepts, be it in food, fashion or fitness. A city known for its technology and Internet start-ups, it has thrown up a handful of new-age entrepreneurs who have put their money in ideas to make the city folks a fit lot.
THE TRIBE FITNESS
Shwetambari Shetty, 36, was already performing in various dance shows and competitions as early as 1999 and later went on to become a zumba instructor. Sudeep Kulkarni, 27, was working with Bharat Electricals Ltd when the zumba bug bit him in 2013. He left his job to become a certified instructor. Nikita Suresh, 26, is pursuing a PhD in nutrition and is also a trained zumba instructor. When the three met at local zumba gatherings in Bengaluru, they decided to work together and visualized a studio that would be a gym, and a dance and meditation centre.
“We had to make fitness fun in order to succeed," says Kulkarni, who is also a CrossFit trainer. “We decided to focus on group activities only. World over, group activities have been extremely successful. Hence the name The Tribe."
But they had to convince banks and investors that their idea was viable. “It was hard to convince people that a fitness business can be profitable," says Shetty. “It was equally tough developing a business plan that the banks were happy with. We also spent a lot of time in getting the space ready once we had the funding." The Tribe started in the second quarter of 2014.
Spread over three floors, spanning 10,000 sq. ft, The Tribe Fitness Club offers CrossFit; zumba; yoga; TRX training; Pilates; functional training; Les Mills’ RPM (a fitness programme using stationary spinning bikes); Body Attack and Body Pump workouts; and personal training and nutrition counselling. Members have the freedom to choose what they want to do on a given day. “Everyone wants a change once in a while," says Suresh.
Even before they had completed a year, they entered into a partnership with Reebok—The Tribe trainers get fitness equipment and gear from Reebok, and Reebok puts up promotional material like posters at the gym.
Breaking into the scene: “The first person who visited the space asked, ‘Where are the machines? How are we supposed to workout?’. We had to go out on a limb to convince people that our fitness philosophy could get results for them. It was easier to get women in line with our philosophy because most hate machines and like exercising in groups. Men needed a lot of coaxing," says Shetty.
According to the trio, few people want to experiment in Bengaluru. Besides, fitness is still a luxury in India, says Shetty. “People either workout under medical advice, or to look good before their wedding. It’s not yet a part of routine life, like it is in several other parts of the world," she says.
Overcoming challenges: “But things are definitely getting better. People now know that group fitness, minus machines like treadmills, is a format that works wonders," says Shetty. “Also creating a niche product is important if you want to survive in the fitness business."
NAMMA CROSSFIT
Narayan’s friends saw potential in this venture and encouraged him to start a proper outfit, as did his wife, Hemavathi Saklaspur Suresh, who helped with the initial investment. Some of his friends came on-board as partners and coaches. With a fund of 1 crore, Narayan rented a 4,000 sq. ft terrace on Cunningham Road for his first CrossFit gym. A few pilot classes were conducted in December 2012 and January 2013, but the response was poor. “There were just five-six people the day I said I would start charging for the workouts," says Narayan. It took a couple of months for the pace
to pick up.
In the last one year, though, Namma CrossFit has trained about 1,200 people, including cricketers like Robin Uthappa and Mayank Agarwal, and Ranji player Abrar Kazi.
Three more investors came on board in 2014 and Namma CrossFit signed a deal with Puma India the same year. “The gym focuses a lot on intensive training and has associations with expert trainers. It was only natural for Puma to be associated with them," says Issac John, Puma India’s general manager, marketing.
Currently, Namma CrossFit has about 500 members, of which 300 are active.
With an operating expense of 3.5 lakh per month, Narayan wants to take Namma CrossFit to other parts of the country, and Chennai is going to be his next stop.
Breaking into the scene: “In terms of money, the investment is not huge. If the price is right, breaking even is also not too difficult. Our biggest challenge was, and still is, to get people to embrace a new idea," says Narayan. He cites the example of a homemaker who came in for a trial session earlier this year and was so intimidated by the Olympic lifts that she said, “This is not for me. It’s too tough. I am going back to my treadmill."
When they started, they also came across people “who read up everything on Google and would insist on telling us how to do our job", says Narayan.
Overcoming challenges: “If you have a good idea, try it out but be willing to modify, without giving up the basic premise," he says.
TOTAL YOGA
All the ‘chakras’ were in harmony until Pole broke his leg while playing football and had to return to Bengaluru for surgery in 2010. Singh and he decided to part ways with Thakur that year and focus their energy on creating their brand of yoga that was different from “yoga for weight loss". “We wanted to practise a form of yoga that had a holistic approach. The kind of yoga that makes people fitter and helps them meditate," says Pole.
They started out by conducting classes in Pune in 2011 and a year later moved to Singapore. By 2013, they returned to Bengaluru because Pole wanted to set up a yoga centre in his hometown. The rented a 2,000 sq. ft studio in Bengaluru and called their classes Total Yoga; Pole says they teach yoga which “influences mental, spiritual and physical aspects of one’s life".
Breaking into the scene: According to Pole, it is simple to set up a fitness business in present-day Bengaluru as the market is huge. “The difficult part is to differentiate yourself from others." Besides, another challenge was “to take yoga to the young Indian. Yoga was viewed as something that their mommies and grannies did. It was also a challenge to promote yoga as a fitness activity and not a weight-loss programme," says Pole. “People would come and tell us, ‘Yoga is only for mental peace, for my fitness needs I’d still need to go to a gym’."
Clients also thought taking up yoga would mean giving up their normal life and abstaining from alcohol and non-vegetarian food, none of which is necessarily true, adds Pole.
Overcoming challenges: Pole’s advice to those who want to join the fitness industry is to “ensure you love fitness and have sufficient experience and training before taking the plunge".
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