Interest in fitness has undeniably shot up in South Africa! In fact, it is estimated that the South African gym industry brings in over $900 (over one hundred and thirty-three billion rands) million in revenue every year, making it the highest figure in the world. As a result, a lot of prospecting entrepreneurs have since started following this trend, using innovative new business modules to turn a passion for exercise into thriving brands with venture backing and millions in annual revenue. Among them is Tumi Phake, Founder of Zenzele Fitness Group, who saw a gap in this competitive market, and capitalised on it. Today his club has transformed into a rapidly growing empire and has attracted some of South Africa’s leading blue chip companies with heavyweight investor backing!
With only a few years to his name since starting Zenzele Fitness, Phake has already received several business awards and accolades including the 2017 Small Business Entrepreneur of the Year award. He was also one of 15 entrepreneurs from Africa chosen to spend time at Harvard on a prestigious entrepreneurship programme. He is a former Mandela-Washington Fellow and is the first black person in South Africa to own a slice of the commercial fitness industry as we know it today. He has been featured by the Mail & Guardian in its Top 200 Young South African’s list where he was recognised as a South African under the age of 35 who is a ground-breaker in his industry.
With so many accolades and achievements in such a short space of time, it is evident, Phake is disrupting the SA’s fitness industry and is not close to slowing down yet. To get ahead to this level, however, does not come easy nor cheap. Phake says to survive in the fitness industry you have to be more than a fitness professional or have the skills to create and run workout programs that will help your members reach their fitness goals. Phake believes that when starting your own fitness club, you are no longer just a personal trainer or fitness professional but also a business owner. This approach has proved to be quite fruitful for Phake who can today boast 15 successful fitness clubs, raking in over R43 million in profits annually.
For Phake, making profits is just a portion of what he wanted to achieve when he started his business. Another factor that encouraged him to start a fitness club was the high rate of people suffering from health care conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity. He saw this as a challenge among South Africans and was determined to bring about solutions to address them by establishing world class but affordable health clubs in township areas.
“After doing some extensive research and market intelligence in the fitness industry in SA, I realised that this market was buzzing and that there is a massive opportunity in this country as a lot of people are starting to realise the impact of health and the value it has in their lives. With this realisation, my desire was that I wanted to be the first South African guy that was going to build world-class but affordable facilities in townships.”
He adds “Lifestyle diseases are at their old time high, things like high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity have shot up. And I think one the reasons this exacerbated is because people are not moving anymore, they are always in their cars, they eating anything everything and are gaining more weight. And so their lives spent becomes shorter. As an entrepreneur, I saw this as a problem and felt that I could be the solution,” he says.
Growing up in Thembisa, the 31 -year - old was an active sports person. Coupled with his financial background, he combined these two ingredients to start Zenzezele Fitness Club.
Zenzele Fitness offers turnkey wellness solutions and gym management services to African businesses, organizations, government establishments, and educational institutions. With high-quality equipment, management, and technology, Zenzele Fitness provides premium low-cost services for its members, increasing the accessibility of health and wellness options for South Africans.
By using top of the line equipment and working with medical experts, Zenzele Fitness is able to develop personalised programs for each of its members, manage their progress against their goals and report back to them and their employers, providing the ability to track real results within the workforce. Zenzele Fitness clients have seen a significant increase in member efficiency and productivity at work or school. With 15 facilities and more in the works, the company has over 10,000 members and its profit margins have shown substantial growth year-over-year.
When you start a fitness business journey, you have to get to grips with all aspects of running a business. These include accounting, sales, marketing, hiring, motivation, and management. These are values that Phake lives by and has yielded tremendous results in his business journey.
Zenzele Fitness has brought a new form of competition into the health and wellness industry that will ultimately drive change across the industry. Phake plans to expand Zenzele Fitness into the rest of the African continent as a publicly listed company. He envisions that the technology utilized by Zenzele Fitness will change the African industries that it will reach, by realising the goals of numerous under-developed countries to bolster the health of their societies.
Featured entrepreneurs - Tumi Phake
Age - 35
Company name - Zenezele Fitness
Year founded - 2014
Turnover - R43 Million
Start-up funding - R30 Million