Good morning,
Eight months ago, Lucy Sexton and Durran Dunn would have agreed: At-home workouts could never surpass the experience of going to the gym or attending a fitness class.
Then, the pandemic hit. Sexton, a New York City-based boutique fitness instructor, quickly found herself out of a job--so she teamed up with another instructor she knew, Tracy Carlinsky, to host classes on Zoom. An entrepreneurial opportunity was born: In July, the pair launched Bonded by the Burn, an online, subscription-based workout platform.
Dunn, an Atlanta-based accountant and former competitive sprinter, also spotted opportunity. He'd long dreamed of opening a gym, and Covid-19 sent prices plunging, as gym owners nationwide shut down their businesses and equipment manufacturers desperately tried to offload supply. In late June, he paid an undisclosed amount--significantly below market value, he says--to assume the lease of a gym in Marietta, Georgia, and become the proud new franchise owner of Anytime Fitness East Cobb.
Sexton's startup functions under the assumption that people won't ever want to return to in-person workout classes. Dunn says he's sure that in-person fitness will return with a vengeance, making this the perfect time to buy low. And while eventually there could be room for both approaches post-Covid, the short-term stakes are plenty high.
Read our story to learn how these entrepreneurs are placing bets on a post-pandemic future in very different ways--despite not knowing what that future might entail. |
0 Comments:
Post a Comment