Ben Francis: Founder of Gymshark

Ben Francis was born in 1992 in Bromsgrove, England. He lived a quiet and simple life as a child, investing his time into computers, sports, and other fitness related activities. Ben had always had an entrepreneurial driven mind which can be seen from his early business endeavors such as an online company that sold car number plates. After this attempt at building a business he decided to attend university for international business. He made it two years in school but, like many entrepreneurs, ended up dropping out. Ben final two business ideas were more accessioned with his niche of fitness, and they were both fitness applications. These ended up failing as well, but they were crucial into his final and biggest successful business which was Gymshark.

Gymshark is an gym and fitness apparel brand that Ben started in his parents garage. Due to Ben only being 19, he had to start drop shipping supplies from vendors, which lead to him making his first sale after weeks into his new business venture. Gymshark was starting to gain some popularity, but the big event that allowed the brand to take off was when during and after a fitness trade show in Birmingham. After the show finished, Gymshark blew-up on Facebook and other social media platforms, netting Ben around $30,000 dollars in sales in just half an hour. The business then started to grow exponentially after this event. The brand soon took to social media influencers, which is one of their main marketing tactics. Over, Gymshark took off during the early 2010’s and kept growing from there.

Gymshark now is a brand valued at over a billion dollars and is still growing to this day. As well as being sold in over 131 countries and being featured in hundreds of magazines, being one of the most influential fitness brands in the world. Ben Francis created a brand which promoted fitness and has scaled to all corners of the health and wellness industry. Being able to envision a business that not only embodies one’s values, but also empowers people to pursue their fitness goals is such an inspiration. All young entrepreneurs should strive and learn from Ben’s story. The story of how a fitness brand started out of a garage and ending up becoming a billion dollar business. Ben’s zero to one story should motivate all young entrepreneurs to follow their goals and dreams abut creating a business, brand, or product. And who knows, maybe their brand could become the next Gymshark.