New concept has gym junkies in a spin

Like all the best ideas, you’ll wish you’d thought of this  first.

Kate Kendall and her business partner Ben Lucas have pioneered a new gym  concept.

Like all great ideas, most people’s reaction to the new Flow Athletic gym in  Sydney’s Paddington is, ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’

Although many gyms offer both yoga and fitness classes, as far as founders  Kate Kendall and former NRL player Ben Lucas are aware, their business is the  first to combine strength, cardio and yoga in one class.

The pair opened their first gym this year and have plans to set up three  studios in five years, as well as an online version of the business within 12  months.

Ben Lucas training in his gym.

Lucas met Kendall,  whose background is in advertising, when he started  attending her yoga classes as part of training for an ultra-marathon to increase  flexibility.

He then started training her and it dawned on them how beneficial yoga was  for standard fitness training and vice versa. Thus the idea for Flow Athletic  was born.

“The pillars of our business are around spin classes for cardio, TRX [a  fitness system that builds strength] and yoga. A class which is 30 minutes of  spin and 30 minutes of yoga is very popular,” Lucas says.

They chose the trendy suburb of Paddington as the location for the first gym  because it’s a progressive area that is well suited to a new style of fitness  training.

“People are attracted to our product; we haven’t had to tailor it,” Lucas  says.  “[People living in] other areas may not have got what we’re doing – they  would have thought, ‘I like it, but where are the treadmills?’ ”

Paddington’s sense of community is another reason why they decided to locate  the business there. Lucas says the idea for the gym is for it to be a social hub  rather than a place where people come in, use  the treadmill and leave.

He  funded the setting up of the business by selling three smaller gyms he  owned. He and Kendall  aim to attract 1,200 clients in their first year. Lucas  says they are hitting their targets of growing by 10 per cent of total volume  every fortnight.

Indeed, initially the business had so many inquiries it was difficult to keep  up with them all. But adding staff   has helped them meet demand.

Set-up costs were not high as the gym does not rely on expensive equipment,  but Lucas and Kendall  spent considerable time on the fitout.

“We spent time in the States . . . and we went through every nut, bolt, screw  and square inch of carpet. That was the most labour-intensive part of setting up  the business and we’ve created a very high-end fitout, which suits the area,”  says Lucas.

Kendall says an essential ingredient of the business’s success is its staff,  which numbers 11.

“It’s important everyone reflects our team values. We interviewed most of our  team ‘heroes’ at least three times, which is fairly unusual in the fitness  industry. We have to be careful because they are the face of the business.

“We look for team players who have infectious energy; people who are really  inspirational who continue to learn and develop.”

Lucas  says team members’ ability to communicate is paramount. “I’ve seen  lots of intelligent people in the fitness business who can’t communicate; it’s  really important to be able to convey your knowledge.”

Says Kendall:  “We’re looking for people who care. Being able to teach a  great class is important, but it’s also about personality and having staff  people can talk to.”

Both Kendall and Lucas  take classes – about 20 to 30 per cent of the  schedule – because they believe it’s up to them to set the benchmark and also  because as a start-up, it’s one way to keep overheads down. They hope to open  their second studio within 12 months.

When it comes to their advice to other people thinking about starting a  business, Kendall  says it’s important to be open to change and learning, as  well as flexible.

“Do your homework about your location, market and product and be adaptable to  change,” advises Lucas.