Community Builders Speak Series: Our mission is to help people be fitter and happier!
This Community Builders Speak Series was inspired by the first article I wrote a couple of weeks back on The What, Why and How of Community Building. I have had the privilege to meet amazing people in the fitness and wellness space in the last two years and I wanted to highlight what these self-employed individuals understood as Community Building and how they were building Community in their respective businesses.
I am hoping that by speaking to these entrepreneurs/business owners and sharing their story, it can bring greater relevance to others, and will inspire and motivate others to understand the true meaning of Community Building, from a non-social services and non-sales angled approach.
Many are already building Community with their client and follower base, but they do not even know it! This series is for you to learn from different individuals in different stages of their entrepreneurial and Community building journey, and apply it to our own situations, and hopefully reap the benefits from it.
Ross Stewart Campbell — CEO and Founder — FIT SUMMIT
Today I speak to Ross Stewart Campbell, Founder and CEO — FIT Summit.
Below is our conversation that has been transcribed and edited for you.
Tell me more about yourself and your business
I am the Founder and CEO of a business to business network covering fitness, wellness, corporate wellness, hospitality and spa — FIT Summit.
I am originally from Scotland. My career started in London running business and investment events across multiple industries, and it eventually brought me to Asia and Singapore. Ten years ago, I cofounded a large oil and gas events/media company based on a global network of financiers, investors and advisors. I sold my interests in the company a few years ago to our largest shareholder before taking a break to rediscover my purpose, and to challenge myself to something new.
It was during this period that I started a gym business — The Jungle, and in doing so was approached to also became a lululemon ambassador, which resonated well with me for their values of positivity, community and inclusion. When I was running the gym, I had the opportunity to meet a large number of business owners; boutique studios, big box, tech companies, equipment suppliers, and many others. I soon realised that there was a lack of connectivity across a highly fragmented fitness industry in Asia. This sparked the idea for FIT Summit, which is now two years old. We wanted to initially build a Community that connected the ecosystem across Asia, but in these past two years, have now become fully international, catering to a global audience.
How large is your Community and how did you manage to grow so quickly?
We focus on five core industries; fitness, wellness, corporate wellness, hospitality and spa. We have circa 25,000 executives in our Community, covering every vertical and every sub-vertical representing over 4,000 companies from 60 countries.
I have 15 years’ experience of building events and communities, so I understand what is required to scale. As with all events companies, there has to be not just the element of the face-to-face connectivity, but also online connectivity (networking groups, email introductions and social media engagement). The creation of continuous, relevant and exclusive content for the benefit of the Community is fundamental for anyone looking to grow and engage a Community (not just for an events company).
The content we generate is both exclusive and highly sought after. We understand the business of fitness and wellness, and we provide companies with market insight and perspective they cannot find easily. This information allows owners, managers and investors to have greater insight on how they can grow their respective businesses, regardless of company size, age or geography.
How do you measure the success of your Community?
Revenue and scale are natural identifiers for our Community growth. The number of sponsors and exhibitors, the size and seniority of companies, and number of attendees for each event are all key denominators. The scale of our content distribution and readership are also good measures because we have analytics to show increased readership month-on-month. How well received we are in new markets, the perception as a go-to-source even in other markets, is also something equitable to success. So far, we have managed to organise events not just in Singapore, but also in Indonesia, Hong Kong and Thailand.
How did you manage such a feat with a lean team of five?
The FIT Summit team was recruited based on their believe that they could help build a better connected fitness and wellness community. Our WHY is to increase the success of, the investment potential of, and the commercialisation of fitness and wellness as an industry. Our mission is to help businesses grow and in turn help more people become fitter and happier. They each had to be able to see the value directly to want to be involved in the network with the aligned end goal to make the fitness and wellness industry better.
With the mission in mind of helping businesses grow. They automatically became ambassadors for the industry and also businesses within the Community. The FIT Summit team helps to promote all good news in the industry, including new companies and businesses who are joining the Community. They comment on stories, they create stories, and fuelling the connectivity and ambassadorial work is their daily engagement. We have now become recognised as the facilitators of growth in the industry. Everyone in my team is a Community Builder for the fitness and wellness industry. We outsource every non-Community aspect of our business (accounting, web design, web development, video editing, graphic design).
Where are you on your milestone growth plans?
Before Covid struck the world, we were on track for a record year with a 300% year-on-year revenue increase. We were also anticipating sell-out events for 2020 and 2021. But Covid inevitably caused financial difficulties and we had to quickly pivot and move into the digital space. There were sacrifices we had to make to ensure that the team was not affected.
As much as FIT Summit is Community-based network, my core Community is my team of employees. Without the team, the network cannot function. And this would mean that we cannot complete our mission to help the fitness and wellness industry grow. We had to pull together extra resources and investments for the team to stay together, stay energised, stay engaged and most importantly to stay motivated. We recognised our importance in helping our industry recover.
We have now developed digital event capabilities to become a hybrid events company. The initial phase of stress-testing platforms and asking the Community on what they needed, allowed us to continue to deliver connectivity. There is an increasing appetite for digital connectivity and education and we have been able to meet that demand. We know that businesses need both offline and online events to optimally connect and grow their network and in turn their business. It is too early to say though, how large or frequent the online events business will be, but it is safe to say that virtual events are here to stay.
Do you have any success stories to share from the Community you’ve built?
There are lots of ways we help companies. We help companies secure investments; we help raise their brand and profile across our Community; we help source for and connect franchise partners; we help connect for strategic partnerships and collaborations; we help with lead generation and sales; we provide inspiration and aspiration to companies and individuals alike… there are dozens of ways we can help our Community.
We are the connectivity within the ecosystem. And all this value is at no additional cost to the members. Of course we have to prioritise our sponsors because this is for the wider ecosystem growth, which in turn would benefit everyone else in the Community.
How did you identify the team?
We hire passionate people, people with ambition, and great personal skills. They need to want to be part of something that is meaningful. They must have the desire to be part of the mission to help people be happier and healthier.
To a degree skillset is almost irrelevant because they can be taught and we can help upskill, even if it means bringing in external consultants and trainers to do that. As long as they believe in the greater good/benefit, I am confident that they can be upskilled. If they are energised and enthused, it is hard to go wrong with this formula.
How have you managed remote working for your team?
We started out with no physical office. We are mindful that everyone has a different work-life balance and the company was started to be mobile and agile. There are people in the team working outside of Singapore so this arrangement also works well. Having identified the right platforms to cowork in, connect with each other and stay motivated, we are in a good place. These cost savings can then be channelled into the company for growth.
Can you share some key challenges along the way?
The end goal of the Community is something you should start with, but you must be prepared that the end goal might change. Will the goal be larger than it was before and will you be prepared for it?
When FIT Summit was started, the Asia fitness market place was the beginning goal. But it soon started to include wellness, corporate wellness, hospitality and spa just because there was a need for it as well. Also, Australasia was a natural extension for us as more and more companies from this region were expanding into Asia. That being said, quickly adding new geographies and sector demographics into any initial Community takes time, energy and resource.
The launch of digital offerings with Covid was definitely a key challenge. It got us thinking more on our business intelligence and connectivity. On how we could continue to stay globally relevant with the promotion of products and services, but at the same time remain a global thought leader. This overall rethink of our content management strategy for Community has been a fun challenge to the team and we have moved from written thought leadership content to include digital video content as well. Now we also have to consider geography and demographics because that has evolved too, but generally growing pains and all have been positive.
Would you envision different FIT Summits around the world?
We have definitely thought about “Geo-cloning”.
At the end of the day it depends on whether the market requires this Community that we are providing. In other fragmented markets like the Middle East and Africa, FIT Summit would do well. But in mature markets like the US and Western Europe, where there already is that connectivity, then lesser so. We must ask whether any region needs our product, and in what size and shape does it need to be delivered in. In some instances, it could be done with a strategic partner and there would not be a need for us to be the ones energising that particular Community.
Tips for the self-starter and entrepreneur
Know the goals of your Community, and know your ultimate end goal.
Do you want to be a small or big company? Do you want your interactions with industry to be with smaller or larger companies (or both)? If your Community is an SME or entrepreneur focused Community, then chances are it will be invisible to larger market players and you will rarely be noticed by larger companies. If you want to be acquired at the highest price, then you will need larger companies in the ecosystem to notice you. Are you providing content to that larger ecosystem? Does it offer value to the people in the Community? A small cap network is ultimately a small cap opportunity.
What is the size and scale of the companies you have in your Community? Are they buy-side centric or sale-side centric? It is about supply and demand, buyers and sellers. Do you have the alignment of relevant content for this Community?
Have influential people or brands in the network to start you off and back you up. You will need the right people to start you off, whether it is for a local or international audience.
Which other parts of the ecosystem can you partner with? Could it be neighbouring businesses serving that similar potential consumer? Or different brands and businesses aligned with your business and the Community you are trying to build.
Recognise that there are different platforms for partnership and rolling out content. Choose wisely. Just because many businesses have started using TikTok does not mean that you have to jump on if it is not relevant to your Community.
Parting Words
There is a wealth of information on the FIT Summit website and it is all free to access. There is a wide range of media for people to consume across every topic; leadership, collaboration, technology, growth and innovation. Most importantly, there are fantastic people that you can learn from, so do connect with us and continue to grow!
About Alex Loh
I am a business and life coach, business owner, loving husband and doting father.
My compass is guided by the desire to help people. I coach individuals and business owners to find purpose. Together we unlock fruitful solutions, experience growth and achieve targeted success. Having successfully built and maintained communities over the years, my focus is to help businesses and organisations harness community as the vehicle to connect, and build credibility, trust and authentic relationships.
Come speak to me about Finding Purpose, Building Communities and/or in Optimising your Life!
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Visit FIT Summit.
