How This Young Entrepreneur Built A $100 Million Fitness Brand In Just Ten Years

Key Concepts

• Entrepreneurship, e-commerce, brand building, community building, influencer marketing, fitness industry, sports apparel, nutrition supplements, customer acquisition, customer retention, supply chain management, retail partnerships, online vs. offline sales, risk management, data analysis, innovation, international expansion.

Early Entrepreneurial Ventures (Gaming and Instagram)

• Gaming Business (Age 14): Lucas started a gaming business where he charged $1 for players to join his friend list and play with him for 24 hours. This was his first experience with earning money and building something.
• Fitness Page on Instagram: He created the first fitness page on Instagram, focusing on community vibes and inspiration. It grew organically and became a platform for others to post.
• Instagram Advertising: He realized the potential for advertising on Instagram and started charging people to be featured on his page. This was the beginning of advertising on Instagram.
• Team Formation: He brought in his brother and a friend from the gym to expand the Instagram business, creating more pages and growing their following.

Personalized Training Plans

• Addressing a Market Gap: Recognizing the high cost of personal trainers, they created personalized training plans with a certified nutritionist and personal trainer.
• Targeting Younger Audience: These plans were sold to a younger audience who couldn't afford traditional personal training.
• Transition to New Products: After a year, the training plans' popularity declined, leading them to create and sell a tea product for six months.

Women's Best (2015)

• Identifying a Gap: They noticed a lack of fitness products and community focused on women, leading to the creation of Women's Best in August 2015.
• Initial Focus on Supplements: The brand started with supplements, aiming to build a community of women empowering each other, regardless of their fitness goals.
• Expansion into Sportswear (2019): Women's Best expanded into sportswear, offering fitness gear for various activities, including lifting, training, and lifestyle garments.
• Early Revenue: The company generated one to two million in revenue in the first few months and 10 million euros in the first full year.
• US Market Challenge: The majority of customers were in the United States, while the warehouse was in Germany, creating logistical challenges.
• Shipping Solution: They took a risk by committing to high shipping volumes with carriers to secure competitive rates, despite uncertainty about meeting those volumes.
• Organic Growth and Influencer Marketing: The brand grew organically and through influencer marketing, focusing on athletes who aligned with their message.
• Community Building: The community aspect, where women uplifted each other, was a key differentiator.

Evolution of Social Media Marketing

• Algorithm Changes: Social media marketing has changed drastically, with algorithms making it harder to reach people organically.
• Increased Costs: Brands now need to pay more for engagement.
• Customer-Centric Approach: Success requires understanding what customers want and using clever strategies to remain cost-effective.

Growth and Innovation at Women's Best

• COVID-19 Impact: The COVID-19 pandemic gave the health industry a significant boost.
• Customer Base and Product Sales: Women's Best has served around 2.5 million unique customers and sold over 20 million products.
• Increased R&D: The brand invests heavily in research and development, leading to more innovative products.
• Personalized Nutrition: They analyze women's blood to understand how supplements affect their bodies.
• Revenue Split: Sportswear accounts for approximately 60% of revenue, while nutrition supplements contribute 40%, with seasonal variations.
• Customer Retention: Early market entry and customer trust have been crucial for customer retention.
• Best-Selling Products: Vitamin supplements and seamless leggings are among the best-selling products.

Brick-and-Mortar Store

• Pop-Up Store Experiment: Initially, they opened a pop-up store in Innsbruck to gain customer insights.
• Transition to Permanent Store: The store performed well, leading them to convert it into a permanent location.
• Future Expansion: They plan to expand their store presence to major cities with a high concentration of customers.
• Benefits of Physical Presence: Physical stores allow customers to experience the brand and products in person.

Retail Partnerships (Vitamin Shop)

• Initial Success: Retail partnerships, such as with Vitamin Shop, initially boosted the business.
• Supply Chain Issues: Supply chain issues during the COVID-19 pandemic made it difficult to maintain retail partnerships.
• Shift to Online Focus: They decided to exit retail and focus on their online shop to maintain control over products, pricing, and marketing.
• Building Own Stores: They prioritized building their own stores over being in other retailers' stores.

Advice on Retail for Startups

• Brand Situation Matters: The decision to go retail depends on the brand's situation, whether starting directly in retail or having a strong online presence.
• Retail Footprint: Retail provides a large footprint, reaching customers not accessible online.
• Retail is Not Passive: Being in retail doesn't guarantee sales; investment in marketing and store placement is crucial.
• Retailer Goals: Retail chains prioritize their revenue, so brands must drive customers to the store.
• Potential Struggles: Retail can be challenging but can also significantly grow the brand quickly.

Owner Active (2020)

• Rationale: Women's Best focused solely on women, they partnered with athlete Chrissy Chella to create Owner Active, focusing on premium sportswear for both genders.
• Leveraging Existing Infrastructure: Owner Active benefited from Women's Best's existing logistics, web infrastructure, supplier relationships, and customer service.
• Avoiding Past Mistakes: They avoided the mistakes made with Women's Best, leading to smoother operations and fewer quality issues.
• Rapid Growth: Owner Active has doubled its revenue each year, reaching $100 million in revenue last year.

Future Plans

• Enjoy the Journey: Lucas is excited to continue the journey with his co-founders, focusing on enjoying the process.
• Market Potential: He sees significant potential in existing markets.
• Community Engagement: Plans include building more stores and engaging more closely with the community.
• Product Innovation: Continued focus on product innovation.

Notable Quotes

• "I think for me a mistake h is only a mistake if you do it twice it's only a learning if you just like make one mistake and you just you just you know need to go on and always uh continue" - Lucas Courtzman on the importance of learning from mistakes.

Technical Terms and Concepts

• Conversion Rate: The percentage of website visitors who make a purchase.
• E-commerce: Buying and selling goods and services online.
• Influencer Marketing: Collaborating with influencers to promote products.
• R&D: Research and development, the process of innovating and improving products.
• Supply Chain: The network of organizations and activities involved in producing and delivering a product.