Creating healthy life for wealthy profits

Aiming to provide a better fitness option to fitness enthusiasts Barbarian power gym was founded by brothers Satyajit and Devashish Chourasia in 1991. Today it is a rapidly growing brand with various franchisee models for domestic and international markets shares Devashish Chourasia, MD, Barbarian Power Gym Pvt. Ltd in an interview.

Rita C Guleria (RCG): Share with us the origin, growth and success of ‘Barbarian power Gym’.

Devashish Chourasia (DC): Barbarian power gym was founded by brothers Satyajit and Devashish Chourasia with an objective to provide a better fitness option to fitness enthusiast in 1991. Focus on result oriented training and quality of instructors helped us to achieve customer satisfaction and Barbarian Power Gym and soon became a trusted brand among numerous celebrities and thousands of customers. It has carved a niche for itself in fitness arena across India.

RCG: What inspired ‘Barbarian Power Gym’ to adopt the franchise route for expansion?

DC: The very fact fundamental of franchising - One can easily utilise his resources and bring in people do what they are good at. Franchisee route allows a brand to expand fast and the brand can still concentrate on the services, expertise and customer satisfaction. It divides the business into two parts- finance and execution. And both the parties can focus on their part and create a successful business. Our franchisee reflects our image. So we associate with only dynamic visionaries who understand the potential of fitness.

RCG: How many franchised and company owned fitness centres do you have at present? How many are expected in the near future?

DC: Presently, we have one self owned, and seven franchised fitness centres. We have recently tied up with Taj Hotels and are planning to open 30 outlets with their association in the next two years.

RCG: What all services and programs do you provide?

DC: Our gyms have different areas. The smallest one is a personal training studio in Mumbai and the largest in Indore providing: fitness, group classes, spinning, and beauty salon sports cafe.

RCG: How is your franchise apt for a prospective investor?

DC: We are known as a quality fitness provider and as soon as our centres open up we become the preferred choice of the end customer. Our branches are connected to our centralised monitoring station in Mumbai from where we keep a check on the quality rendered at various outlets. This connectivity is also used for online fitness programs, updates and consultancy. We provide our franchisees a biometric access control cum accounting software to run their centres on latest technologies. Our celebrity studded advertisement campaign benefits them. In addition, our partners may also sell our licensed apparel like barbarian clothing, sports gear and food supplements from their respective outlets and realise more profits.

RCG: What are the pre-requisites to own the brand’s franchise?

DC: For taking up the franchise of Barbarian Gym, companies or individuals need to be financially sound as the required investment ranges from Rs 25 lakh to 2 crore. They must have ideally located premises with an area of 1,000 sq. ft (personal training studio) to 15,000 sq. ft (fully featured club model). We prefer the individuals who have the capacity to invest as per our requirement for interiors, equipment and advertisements. We are open to individuals / companies who would like to expand with us on a worldwide basis.

RCG: How is ‘Barbarian Power Gym’ different from other fitness centres? What is the mantra of success for the company?

DC: We have a powerful celebrity client base. People look up to them and want the same result on their bodies. We have developed training techniques that gets you amazing result in a short time, keeping you safe from injuries at the same time and motivating you to go beyond your limits. The result speak for them and here we are today as a preferred fitness brand.

We provide our franchisees with all possible help them in establishing their businesses. We provide them consultancy on all aspects including interiors, equipment, technology, access control, and monitoring systems etc. We have a fitness academy where raw talent is inducted, taught and polished to be star instructors of tomorrow. They are given practical training with Satya who teach them the do's and don'ts of personal training. We are also launching our clothing line soon.

We are bringing cutting edge food supplement and educating the customers to buy branded and quality food for their well being.

RCG: How Barbarian Power Gym works to promote fitness and well-being across the country?

DC: Barbarian Power Gym has adopted the franchisee route to reach out to the country's fitness enthusiasts. The company currently has 10 outlets ranging from 3,000 sq. ft to 15,000 sq. ft. We are very passionate about our work and industry and we feel it’s a divine purpose to propagate fitness. The experience we have gathered should reach maximum number of people - that's our goal now.

RCG: What are your future plans? Where do you see your brand in the next five years?

DC: We can feel there are big opportunities coming our way. We have put in good 22 years into the fitness industry and there is still so much to learn. Our training, experience and expertise are our unique selling point. We want to pass our experience to our franchisees and support them in creating great business that will take the fitness industry further and the same will create a healthy life for people we make fitness a part of their lives. The future of fitness is very bright right now not even one per cent of our population is going to the gym or engaging themselves in sports on a regular basis. So there is only growth and growth ahead.