Personal benefit to fitness app
of the best ideas come from personal experiences.
And the same is true for Gold Coast entrepreneur Damien King who struck upon his latest app idea after going through a period as an unhealthy, overweight technology executive.
The former executive at Virgin Media in London, and ex-chief technology officer at Guvera, is the co-founder of Pummel – a marketplace that connects personal trainers with clients.
His extensive experience includes being the co-founder of BeeLiked Media, a social promotions platform that has delivered campaigns for National Geographic Traveler, Lonely Planet and Wotif.com.
Mr King said he started to have health issues after working long hours at corporate gigs and then going home and working on engineering for start-up concepts.
“The problem was, I found it a bit awkward coming back to the Gold Coast after working for Virgin in London, and not knowing which personal trainer to use. There were so many gyms,” he said.
He said many people found
it intimidating to visit gyms and talk to personal trainers.
“I thought it would be a great idea to have an app where you can view all the personal trainers who match your requirements/goals in your local area. So you can find a trainer who specialises in strength and conditioning, post-natal fitness, or whatever you’re looking for.”
Mr King came up with the idea last year, started writing the code for the app, and then had a product developed.
Earlier this year the app was launched on Google and Apple stores and Mr King also connected with Kadri Uljas, who became the co-founder of Pummel.
She had been working on a similar concept, but from the supplier (personal trainer) side rather than the consumer side.
“Rather than be competiMOST tors we decided to collaborate and I took her on as co-founder. She had a friend as a personal trainer and that’s why she was focused on the trainer side. So it has been really nice to get that insight.”
Mr King said many personal trainers are time poor and need assistance when it comes to digital marketing, so they can generate new client leads.
“A lot of personal trainers fail because they don’t get enough leads. They all do it because they really want to help people and have flexible jobs but often what happens is they can’t get enough work.”
Mr King said, through the app, trainers create a profile, which lists their qualifications, areas of expertise, personal information, and also includes video and photos.
He said trainers also need a way to generate passive income and Pummel can be a forum for this as well.
“One-on-one services are not scalable because there is only so much time in the day. The most successful fitness influencers have made money through sponsorships, through ebooks and other digital assets. This is what we want trainers to be able to do.”
Mr King is hoping to add a transaction feature to the app.