Ben Francis’s Gym Shark
If you are involved in the world of athletics whatsoever, there is a very good chance you have heard of the brand Gym Shark. Even if you do not consider yourself an athletics enthusiast, you have probably walked by someone and noticed a strange looking shark logo on athletic wear. I say all this simple to emphasize the popularity of this product. At the age of 19, Ben Francis, accompanied by his friend Lewis Morgan, kickstarted Gym Shark in his parents garage. Initially, Francis partook in the massive trend of drop shipping. More specifically, he was drop shipping fitness supplements. Around a year later he pivoted due to the lack of sales, directing his attention towards performance clothing. With his sewing skills he acquired through his grandma’s teaching, and his mind for design he set off in this completely new direction. The same year, he got his product out there using the BodyPower Fitness Trade Show in Birmingham, Alabama as his outlet. Soon after, the tracksuit that he put on display there blew up on Facebook. So much so that he ended up dropping out of college and quitting his job at Pizza Hut to pursue his dream full time. His clothing began to spread all the more quickly, as social media influencers began to rep his gear. Today, Ben Francis is labeled as a “British Billionaire Businessman:” the CEO and majority owner of Gym Shark, holding onto the stake of over 70% of the company which is worth around $1.5 billion today. In the case of Ben Francis, his product is no the all-coveted 0 to 1 product that all entrepreneurs dream about stumbling across. Rather, Francis took something he was passionate about, as well as something he realized other people are passionate about, and made it stylish, comfortable, and trendy.
4 Comments
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
This is an awesome story, I had no idea Gym Shark was started by a Gen Z entrepreneur. It is such a huge brand and has such an enormous customer base that it seems like it has been established for many years already. That is just a testament to the quality of product and next level innovation and design that Gym Shark brings to the table. Especially when in such a strongly competitive and deeply established market, like the clothing industry is, it is refreshing and inspiring to see that new businesses can still make it big and break through the giants that already rule the industry.
I love Gym Shark and I had no clue that a Gen Z entrepreneur came up with it. Gym Shark is certainly a newer brand that has skyrocketed in recent years. It is impressive to hear this story and it is even more impressive that Gym Shark is as big as a success as it is, considering it has to compete with other elite brands such as Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour. I think it is interesting how he is not a 0-1 entrepreneur but still has had great success in an already established market such as clothing.
Gym Shark is such a large brand nowadays, it’s so cool to see that a Gen Z entrepreneur is behind this brand! I also think it’s so interesting that he shifted from selling fitness supplements to selling all different types of athletic clothing. This shows how one route you take in entrepreneurship can lead you into a completely new path with lots of opportunity.
Gym Shark has skyrocketed into a well-known name for Gym rats. It just goes to show you that even something that looks like a little side hustle can end up changing your life.