Staying fit!
That’s the buzz word of today. Everyone wants to be fit! But the problem is devoting enough time. That’s not it, the worst part is to join a gym, pay for the membership and never have the time to attend it. Would it not be great if your gym could have a “pay when you go” model? This thought had struck Mr. Ujwal Parker too.
That is how SuprGYM came into existence. Launched in July 2012, “Suprgym.com is an exclusive health and fitness platform that empowers consumers to compare and select fitness and sport centers based on facility and services while only paying for what they use. We have various gyms across different metros in India in our partner network; users can choose their choice of gym, buy a pass and use the gym without worrying about any membership costs. It is pay as you go model applied to gyms.”, says Mr Parker co-founder at SuprGYM. Today Ujwal Parker is responsible for all technology related functions and Rahul Jain is responsible for sales and marketing functions.
So who does the man who wants to make India fitter look up to as his fitness role model?
“We do look up to the ultimate man – Arnold. But we are not fitness freaks and definitely [not] body builders. We have experienced the very reason [for which] we made this platform. We have had annual memberships at gyms before but failed to utilize even 1/10th of the tenure.” says Mr Parker.
Excerpts from the interview-
Q) Why the name SuprGYM? Is there a particular reason why your gym is “supr”?
The word supr is an abbreviation for superior and is derived from out company name supr ilabs. The world suprgym as a whole is coined to define the vision of the platform to be a gateway to gym’s which can be used across the country with a single pass or membership.
Q) What problems did you face during the inception of SuprGYM? How has the journey been so far?
Our roadmap is to get to a 500+ gym partner network in the next 12 months. To explain the benefits of the brand new revenue stream to gym owners was challenging. But as our network of gym’s grows we have understood the dynamics of how we approach gym owners.
We are currently having about 25 gym chains with presence in Hyderabad and Bangalore.
Q) Do you have any tie-ups with gyms across the country?
Prominent partner gyms in our network are
Hyderabad: Dinaz’s Fitness Studio, Identity Fitness, SnapFitness
Q) What makes a gym eligible to get affiliated with SuprGYM?
We look for some basic facilities in gym to be part of our network
- Parking facility
- Air-conditioning
- Location quotient
- Gym equipment variety
- Operational timings
Q) There is tab on the website that says “SuprGYM- for employers”, would you kindly elucidate on that?
SuprGYM Workforce is a program that enables participating companies with admissions to our partner gym and sport centres while utilising all the benefits of our business model for their employees
Q) Do you believe going to a gym is better than the quaint Indian “taaleem”, where pehelwaans workout?
Perceptions will change when people understand that gym is not for the body builders only. A membership at the gym puts off many because they understand the very thing you have mentioned in your question. With our offering users can try a gym and can plan their workout around their schedule rather than pan their schedule around the gym sessions.
Q) According to you, when can an individual be termed ‘fit’? Does someone need to bulk up to attain that tag?
A person is FIT if he/she is happy. If you are comfortable enough to climb a 4 story apartment without betting tired is the simplest definition of being fit.
Q) The SuprGYM blog (http://blog.suprgym.com/) is very informative, tell us something about it. Do you write them on your own or is that done by a team?
We intend to use the blog to give informative articles to users and blogs are written by our team. We also have gym instructors from our partner network to write guest post. We will also be inviting fitness personalities in the near future to guest post on our blog.
Q) Do you think India is a fit nation otherwise? Who are some of the fittest Indians according to you?
No. We see many prominent personalities around in our day to day lives. Amitabh Bachchan, Dhoni, John Abraham to name a few
Q) How would you visualize SuprGYM, 10 years from now?
We aim to be a platform for all fitness and sports related activities across India and Asia. We aim to be able to offer a single pass which would allow users to use any gym, sports center across Asia.
Q) What are your future plans with regard to SuprGYM? Do you have plans to accommodate new features in the SuprGYM inventory?
We aim to add sports centers and facilities to the platform going forward. We also plan to have a Store section which will only showcase selected health and fitness related products chosen by our tea.
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So here are the final details if this article has been successful in motivating you to be fitter and happier in life.
SuprGYM will enable the consumer to
• Buy a 1-day Gym slot(s) at his/her convenience.
• Buy slots for various outdoor sports.
• Save on overall fitness expenditure by choosing customized memberships.
• Enjoy special offers on services showcased before anybody else.
• Collect and redeem loyalty bonus on every purchase.
So what are you waiting for?
Get your everyday gym pass, today!
