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I started Elite Club to help people keep fit – Ayoola

Olorungbemi Elijah Ayoola is an Agricultural and Environmental Engineering graduate from the Federal University of Technology, Akure. The 23-year-old entrepreneur from Kogi State is into…

Olorungbemi Elijah Ayoola is an Agricultural and Environmental Engineering graduate from the Federal University of Technology, Akure.

The 23-year-old entrepreneur from Kogi State is into painting and home decoration but said the passion to see people shed weight and live healthy lives made him explore the fitness business. The CEO of Elite Fitness Club, a subsidiary of Eli-March Enterprises, speaks more about this.

What’s the motivation behind your fitness business? 

To start with, a gym is all about physical activities. Physical activity stimulates various brain chemicals that may leave you feeling happier, more relaxed and less anxious. You also feel better about your appearance and yourself when you exercise regularly, which can boost your confidence and improve your self-esteem.

A lot of people want to live healthy, shed excessive weight and others, these are the things that moved me into it. The thought of seeing people running every day on the road to shed weight, and some others moulding a few weight objects to lift and build muscles, all for the sake of achieving a good body and staying healthy, drove me into this.

I also wanted to gain those muscles due to my Ectomorph body nature. I feel that my dream of having a good built up body alongside others can be accomplished with this.

For how long have you been doing this?

I have been working out for over two years now. I have had a mini-gym at home for like a year where people come from various places in and around Kuje town, FCT, to workout with me for free. Officially, we opened in August, 2020. I have three employees on my payroll; two instructors and an administrator.

What challenges do you face as a startup?

So far, the major challenge has been the issue of electricity supply not being stable or reliable with club members not getting the vibes of working out without music being played in the background. Powering a generator on average of around eight hours daily has been a big challenge. The use of a power generator to run this business is too expensive with the increase in fuel pump price.

How do you promote your business?

I operate within Kuje town, an area council in the FCT so I take advantage of Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook where I upload videos and pictures of our activities in reaching out to my contacts. These have been the major ways of promoting my business. Asides this, once in a while, we leave the gym in mass for road work to reach out to people and create a sort of awareness, giving out fliers and motivating one another.

Who are your target clients?

While everyone who just wants to keep fit and stay healthy is welcome at the gym, my target are those really looking for a good body structure. For young men wanting to build muscles, and for girls, those looking for that nice shape.

What are your expansion plans?

Well, I have other businesses that fetch money, like I run a painting and interior decorating business, I also just joined the e-commerce platform, to try and raise funds to expand my fitness club. Applying for a CBN loan is also on cards.

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