Amazing story that I've been following for a while. Gymshark is for me, one of the best stories of humble beginnings to an absolute superstar brand. Ben Francis the founder literally started by making his own gym clothes in his garage. His story is one of hard work mixed with being a visionary.
When he couldn't find anything he liked the look of on the high street, he literally set up a workshop in his parents garage with a sewing machine (which his grandmother taught him how to use) and a screen printer. He had to juggle being a full-time university student and a night time pizza delivery driver to make ends meet.
He managed to make around 10 pieces a day, but had to work around his degree and part-time job. At first, he was just making clothes they he wanted to wear himself and enjoyed learning how to create and fulfil the orders he had received, and priced items based on what sounded about right. It took him launching an unsuccessful food supplements business and others when he was younger to find his niche in the market (which I believe was even a dropshipping site).
If you haven't followed his story, then I'd recommend his YouTube channel where he has been documenting his growth as a person and as a brand. His story is absolutely inspiring. Within 9 years of building the Gymshark brand, he is now has a net worth of $1bn from a clothing brand and has a genuine shot at taking on the big boys like Nike, Adidas etc.
So how did he do it (I've pulled this out of a forbes article which has summarised it perfectly):
Staying Humble - keeping things as simple as possible for as long as possible, scale with demand. Never underestimate the contribution of those around you.
Focusing on Customer Needs - Gymshark has a clear target audience of 18-25-year-olds whose lives revolve around fitness, fashion and music. They do not deviate from the audience and everything they do is aimed at their needs. Customers are looked after. In 2015 Gymshark suffered a website outage on Black Friday, resulting in customers not being able to get their deals. Whilst this might have broken many companies, Gymshark’s founder personally hand-wrote 2500 apology letters to customers, including discounts, who weren’t able to purchase during the crash.
Being visionaries - Part of Gymshark’s mission statement reads: “In everything we do, be true to our own vision and respectful of others. We are here to bring ideas to life. There is no idea too big, or too small… We are not future-proof. We are the future.”
Building an influencer community - Gymshark were the earliest adopters of the influencer marketing model, partnering with YouTubers including Lex Griffin and Nikki Blackketter. Now, the brand markets products through its community of Instagram influencers and YouTubers and sponsors a range of athletes, each of whom operate at the top of their game. The athletes include Irish professional boxer Katie Taylor and Ross Edgley, who in 2018 became the first person to swim (1780 miles) all the way around Great Britain.
Francis said, “From the point of view of the athletes we work with, we want to create a real, strong team that speaks to our values. And we work with them for a long, sustained period of time.”
Assembling a dream team - The brand’s HQ houses 500 team members and aims to “create a culture where every morning feels like Christmas morning” according to Hewitt. The Solihull campus also has Gymshark Lifting Club, a state-of-the-art strength training centre reserved for team members and invitation-only athletes. Although Francis is founder and owner, he has opted out of the CEO role, explaining the decision in a YouTube video called “I’m not Gymshark’s CEO anymore” and recognising, “The most difficult thing for me was learning to trust others to do the things in the business that I used to do.” He also asserted, “You need to constantly be around people who give you a reality check, people who are better than you.” and admitted he rarely communicates via email, saying it’s too slow and he prefers to talk to his team.
Documenting everything - Gymshark uses its busy social media channels to document its entire journey. Videos and images appear regularly, whenever it opens a new premises or takes a new step. There are professionally filmed and edited walkthroughs of Gymshark HQ, Gymshark Lifting Club, plus the in-person events and behind-the-scenes photoshoots by different members of the team. There are topical updates in response to C0VlD-19 and how it affected their community and fans, as well as explainers of the decision behind getting involved in certain campaigns and opting out of others.
Building the founder’s profile - Francis has his own YouTube channel, with 162k followers, where he answers in-depth Q&As about his company and role, including how he grew the business and challenges he overcomes. He also uses it to announce news and share his own journey. Francis works with so many influencers, it makes sense that he practices what he preaches. Video titles include, “My favourite apps for running Gymshark”, “Full explanation: the future of Gymshark” and “Creating the world’s greatest office”. It’s content of substance and it amasses messages of support, congratulations and secures customer loyalty.
When he couldn't find anything he liked the look of on the high street, he literally set up a workshop in his parents garage with a sewing machine (which his grandmother taught him how to use) and a screen printer. He had to juggle being a full-time university student and a night time pizza delivery driver to make ends meet.
He managed to make around 10 pieces a day, but had to work around his degree and part-time job. At first, he was just making clothes they he wanted to wear himself and enjoyed learning how to create and fulfil the orders he had received, and priced items based on what sounded about right. It took him launching an unsuccessful food supplements business and others when he was younger to find his niche in the market (which I believe was even a dropshipping site).
If you haven't followed his story, then I'd recommend his YouTube channel where he has been documenting his growth as a person and as a brand. His story is absolutely inspiring. Within 9 years of building the Gymshark brand, he is now has a net worth of $1bn from a clothing brand and has a genuine shot at taking on the big boys like Nike, Adidas etc.
So how did he do it (I've pulled this out of a forbes article which has summarised it perfectly):
Staying Humble - keeping things as simple as possible for as long as possible, scale with demand. Never underestimate the contribution of those around you.
Focusing on Customer Needs - Gymshark has a clear target audience of 18-25-year-olds whose lives revolve around fitness, fashion and music. They do not deviate from the audience and everything they do is aimed at their needs. Customers are looked after. In 2015 Gymshark suffered a website outage on Black Friday, resulting in customers not being able to get their deals. Whilst this might have broken many companies, Gymshark’s founder personally hand-wrote 2500 apology letters to customers, including discounts, who weren’t able to purchase during the crash.
Being visionaries - Part of Gymshark’s mission statement reads: “In everything we do, be true to our own vision and respectful of others. We are here to bring ideas to life. There is no idea too big, or too small… We are not future-proof. We are the future.”
Building an influencer community - Gymshark were the earliest adopters of the influencer marketing model, partnering with YouTubers including Lex Griffin and Nikki Blackketter. Now, the brand markets products through its community of Instagram influencers and YouTubers and sponsors a range of athletes, each of whom operate at the top of their game. The athletes include Irish professional boxer Katie Taylor and Ross Edgley, who in 2018 became the first person to swim (1780 miles) all the way around Great Britain.
Francis said, “From the point of view of the athletes we work with, we want to create a real, strong team that speaks to our values. And we work with them for a long, sustained period of time.”
Assembling a dream team - The brand’s HQ houses 500 team members and aims to “create a culture where every morning feels like Christmas morning” according to Hewitt. The Solihull campus also has Gymshark Lifting Club, a state-of-the-art strength training centre reserved for team members and invitation-only athletes. Although Francis is founder and owner, he has opted out of the CEO role, explaining the decision in a YouTube video called “I’m not Gymshark’s CEO anymore” and recognising, “The most difficult thing for me was learning to trust others to do the things in the business that I used to do.” He also asserted, “You need to constantly be around people who give you a reality check, people who are better than you.” and admitted he rarely communicates via email, saying it’s too slow and he prefers to talk to his team.
Documenting everything - Gymshark uses its busy social media channels to document its entire journey. Videos and images appear regularly, whenever it opens a new premises or takes a new step. There are professionally filmed and edited walkthroughs of Gymshark HQ, Gymshark Lifting Club, plus the in-person events and behind-the-scenes photoshoots by different members of the team. There are topical updates in response to C0VlD-19 and how it affected their community and fans, as well as explainers of the decision behind getting involved in certain campaigns and opting out of others.
Building the founder’s profile - Francis has his own YouTube channel, with 162k followers, where he answers in-depth Q&As about his company and role, including how he grew the business and challenges he overcomes. He also uses it to announce news and share his own journey. Francis works with so many influencers, it makes sense that he practices what he preaches. Video titles include, “My favourite apps for running Gymshark”, “Full explanation: the future of Gymshark” and “Creating the world’s greatest office”. It’s content of substance and it amasses messages of support, congratulations and secures customer loyalty.
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