With the help of UpGrads Entrepreneurship Programme, Engineer Sameer Aggarwal has turned his passion for fitness into a startup called ClassHoppr
I have always wanted to start something that involves fitness, and I believed my independent attitude would lead me towards it. Everyone today is trying different workout methods to stay in better shape, but there are always difficulties considering modern-day lifestyles.
This gave me an idea to initiate ClassHoppr, an online platform with offline engagements that enables members to enjoy varied forms of physical workouts.
It’s a mix of fun and fitness. We offer unique online and offline training programmes at the user’s convenience. The mantra we stick to is ‘One Pass, Unlimited Options’, which enables combining gym classes of different providers into one class-pass. ClassHoppr has online and offline choice of workouts and the main modes of communication for these are training videos and expert articles.
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The UpGrad Entrepreneurship Program has been a propelling force in my journey. I joined UpGrad because I wanted to scale my venture to the next level. The program helped me get clarity along the way, connected me to investors and guided me on my business plan throughout. It helped me develop a holistic approach to understanding markets.
ClassHopprs’ key revenue drivers are subscriptions, events, and corporates. The subscriptions usually drive 20 to 30 per cent of margin on monthly, quarterly, and half-yearly membership and unique online and offline training programs. Events usually include flagship calendar events like triathlons, zumbathons, and marathon training programs.
Corporates include quarterly/annual wellness contracts and reward coupons. The monthly subscription model goal (online payment) is based on training programs and revenue is generated through events and workshops as well as corporate tie-ups.
We believe in engaging with our customers. The awareness subscription should lead to retention and better revenue for us. Customer relationship is of key importance and to better it we provide a single point of contact for users, this point of contact keeps the users informed about new courses and studios and locations.
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ClassHopprs key activities include provision of web and mobile platform, studio and customer service collections, and payment. These provide back-end infrastructure to studio plan events and workshops, and nutrition and dietician services.
ClassHoppr has over 1,200 registered users and 700 subscribers, 9 employees and 4 core team members. In April 2016, we expanded to Ghatkopar and Andheri, as well.
Our journey so far
In January, we associated with key players in the industry such as trainers and studios, and we expanded studio acquisition from Thane to Powai. Our biggest success was the Powai Fitness Carnival 2016 for 5,000 users.
In March,we did a pilot test by launching in selected zip codes in Mumbai with a 300 plus user base across 100 studios. By April we expanded to Ghatkopar and Andheri in Mumbai and also partnered with a team in Singapore to conduct a pilot run.
In June 2016, we started Planning Mumbai’s First Triathlon Flagship Event for 2,000 users and partnered with a team in Indore to conduct a pilot run in September 2016.
In July, for product enhancement to incorporate event registration, point system, referral, and promo, we were elated to have Hindustan Times as media partners for our ClassHoppr Triathlon Event.
Our vision kept growing, and soon in August we started planning the World’s Biggest Zumbathon Event for 15,000 users. In November, we started looking towards B2B tie ups.
I believe with a greater vision and confidence our team at ClassHoppr will keep bringing uniqueness and fun to all our subscribers. For the future we aim to breakeven with 20,000 users and INR 50 Cr (US$7.35 million) revenue by December 2017.
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By Sameer Aggarwal
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