Thirty-year-old Ben Francis, founder and Cheif Executive Officer of Gymshark became one of the youngest newcomers to join the 2023 World’s Billionaires List. Shopify President Harley Finkelstein took to Twitter to congratulate Francis, who made the best of the Starter plan to make billions.
“A billionaire built on Shopify. I’ve watched Ben Francis grow from our Shopify starter plan in his parent’s garage to having a flagship on Regent Street. Proud to call him a friend and Shopify merchant since day 1,” Finkelstein said on Twitter.
A billionaire built on @Shopify.
— Harley Finkelstein (@harleyf) April 7, 2023
I've watched @BenFrancis1992 grow from our @Shopify starter plan in his parent's garage to having a flagship on Regent Street. Proud to call him a friend & @Shopify merchant since day 1. https://t.co/2WQnPH1gIo
Gymshark Journey
Francis started the sportswear brand Gymshark in his parent’s garage in 2012 and opened its first brick-and-mortar store in 2021. Thanks to his incredible success on Shopify, Francis started the physical store in London’s most popular shopping destination Regent Street.
“This is such a surreal moment. To have started this brand in my bedroom to now have a store here on Regent Street is just mind-blowing,” Francis was heard saying in a YouTube video of the inaugural event.
Gymshark’s initial success was based on social media ads and paid promotions by fitness influencers on TikTok and Instagram. In 2020, Francis sold a 21 percent stake in Gymshark to private equity firm General Atlantic. The company was then valued at $1.45 billion.
The decision resulted in Francis’ favour as the company’s net income rose to $68 million and revenue grew by 78 percent to $608 million. Francis now owns a 70 percent stake in Gymshark, which is worth $1.2 billion.
But the road was not smooth at all for Francis, who dropped out of his college with dreams of playing professional soccer. At the age of 17, he gave up his dream of soccer and joined a local gym in Birmingham. The new interest made Francis passionate about health and fitness. He took IT classes to build apps that could help users access different types of exercises and build workout calendars with little effort.
“They were basic, but they allowed me to apply my creativity to my two obsessions. Both of them entered the top charts in the UK, although, back in 2011, competition wasn’t particularly high,” Francis wrote in a blog post, talking about the rudimentary apps.
At 18, Francis enrolled himself at Aston University in Birmingham. Meanwhile, he delivered took a night job, delivering pizzas for Pizza Hut. It was just $ 8 an hour pay and Francis decided to partner with his friend Lewis Morgan to start selling supplements online on a Shopify store — Gymshark. They bought the supplements in bulk and sold them at a small margin.
When Apple started, it was adopted by architects, creatives and other sorts of cool kids. Our fans count their macros and know how to do a proper deadlift.
Ben Francis, founder and CEO, Gymshark
Selling Apparel
With little profit from selling supplements, Francis and Morgan invested in a sewing machine and screen printer to start their own fitness clothing. Morgan remained a part of Gymshark until 2020 when he sold his stake for about $130 million to General Atlantic.
“Bodybuilding wear just wasn’t available here. All my heroes were YouTubers, so I’d send them products,” Francis told Forbes in a 2020 interview.
Ten months later, the duo took a leap of faith and rented a booth at BodyPower to showcase Gymshark’s products in Europe’s biggest bodybuilding expo. “We were inundated with people who wanted to meet the athletes, wanted to see the product—and [we] sold out at the event,” Francis said.
Influencer Marketing
Gymshark gained most of its audience with the help of social media influencers. Francis sent out free gear to weightlifting influencers, who promoted Gymshark in return. Soon, the daily sales volume rose from $450 to $45,000. He followed a guerrilla marketing campaign, paying a small amount of money, like $500 a month, to fitness influencers for endorsing Gymshark’s products.
Influencer marketing is the new trend helping e-commerce companies across the globe. Small and big brands are roping in influencers to boost their sales and engagement. Add to this, influencer marketing is helping them establish a strong relationship with their target audience.
In 2018, Francis gave up the garage to open Gymshark’s new office in Solihull. He organised popups to gain regional prominence with the title: “We Lift This City”. Gymshark could offer exclusive gear to its loyal fans using these popups. It was also the year when Francis made a cut to the Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Europe List.
In 2018, the company witnessed an average growth of 62 percent. It made a revenue of $214 million and a net income of $18 million in August 2020. The enormous success attracted General Atlantic to buy a stake in Gymshark. The coronavirus pandemic forced the closing of gyms across the globe, but Gymshark continued to progress. In 2021, Gymshark opened its first American office in Denver.
Struggles
There is some struggle too. In March, Gymshark shut down most of its operations in the United States. It could have been because of an IPO, which failed to materialise on the London Stock Exchange last year. Gymshark has come in direct competition with industry giants — Nike and Lululemon.
“When Apple started, it was adopted by architects, creatives and other sorts of cool kids. Our fans count their macros and know how to do a proper deadlift,” Francis said.
Despite tough competition, Francis still has faith in his army of social media influencers.
How Influencer Marketing Helps
In an interview for Forbes, Gary Drenik asked Aspire CEO Anand Kishore about changing landscape of influencer marketing amid the rise of Shopify. He opined that the whole marketing landscape is evolving.
“Marketers are faced with rising costs, ad blockers, and the end of IFDA (among other sweeping new privacy changes), and they are looking for new ways to get in front of their target audiences – influencers are the answer,” Kishore explained in his reply.
“Influencers remain the best way to reach your target audience on social media, especially as more and more users are shopping directly through the platforms. According to a recent Prosper Insights & Analytics survey on media behaviors and influence by generation, 25% of Gen-Z and 21% of Millennial respondents said social media platforms influence their buying habits for the most common consumer products like apparel, beauty, grocery, and electronics, compared to 15% of Gen-X and 8% of Boomer respondents,” he added.
