How to Stay Fit as a Consultant?

[Guest Vanderbilt Student]

Hi,

I am a Vanderbilt student conducting primary research for my Entrepreneurship class. My group was tasked with coming up with a business plan that solves the pain points of a certain market segment. A few of my group members interned for consulting firms this past summer, traveling Monday-Thursday. They realized that it was hard to stay in shape and effectively train in the hotel gyms without the luxury of a personal trainer like they were used to at their home gym.

What experiences have you had with staying fit while either on the road or working crazy hours at your home office? Is there anything that you wish existed to help with staying fit? Would a sort of "Uber for personal trainers," or a platform where you could request personal trainers to come to your hotel or office gym at any time of day be appealing to you?

Please let me know any and all thoughts you may have.

Thank you for your time,

Vanderbilt Senior

[Tom Spencer]

Hey Vanderbilt Senior, 

In my experience, staying semi-fit requires a moderate time commitment of 30 minutes per day (the hard part is staying consistent).  I personally recommend this plan for physical fitness called 5BX (or XBX for women): https://www.spencertom.com/hub/files/file/94-plan-for-physical-fitness/

That being said, I know lots of people like going to the gym, it's more social, and getting a personal trainer is an easy way to stay on track.  You would need to look into it but an "Uber for personal trainers" seems on its face like it wouldn't be a very scaleable business model. Although, it may get traction in major metro areas and be more viable once we have autonomous vehicles since the cost of delivering the personal trainer to specific locations will fall dramatically.

In the mean time, it may be worth asking yourself "what value does a personal trainer provide to people in the gym?"  Motivation and knowledge are two big things. These might best be provided through an app.  For example, take a look at these fitness apps.

[Guest Mike Ni]

Hi Vanderbilt Senior,

it is a very interesting topic to explore indeed. I have a story to share.

I create 'Sportopia' in 2017, an Uber like online platform to connect gym goers who are frequent travellers, GYM chain stores,  Personal trainers and Physiotherapiests in Australia by providing 'One-Pass for All' services to GYM goers. My venture got some traction in major cities only (Sydney, Melbourne), not others.  It is pretty clear to me that the value proposistion of Uber like gym services solves some pain points.  However, how to scale up the business is something we havent yet figured out. I am tring to have some trial of this business model in Shanghai, China which is heavilily populated. I am expecting to see some results in several months.

Regards

Mike Ni