While there is help available for businesses through the coronavirus crisis, it’s the ones that are able to come up with innovative ways to keep trading that are likely to emerge the strongest.
That certainly applies to Fairview gym Rônin CrossFit, which is owned and run by Eamonn Boylan – a local man who started the business back in 2010 after spending just over a decade in the Irish Army.
Eamonn’s military background and a decade runnng the gym appear to have served him well, because he has shown great resourcefulness to keep the show on the road while his premises are closed – using group Zoom sessions and one-to-one calls to help his clients keep up their training. He even sent them home with equipment before the lockdown.
“We closed the guts of a week before we told to close, and I decided to take the business online as best I could because I knew there was going to be no other option for people,” he says.
“I made a plan, changed our programme around and gave out all of the equipment I could to members on loan – a single dumbbell, a single kettle bell, any sort of weight that they could take. Over the course of a few evenings, people came in and loaded up their cars.”
Eamonn now offers a range of services from home to all of his usual clients, including mindfulness, and special yoga and weightlifting sessions led by industry experts – as well as his main workouts. He’s also he’s worked hard at making everything accessible, running classes seven days a week.
“The workout programme goes out on our Facebook group, and three times per day we run live classes – at 7am, 12pm and 6:30pm,” he explains. “Like in the gym, it's the same class throughout the day but people jump on as best suits their schedule. That's the best type of CrossFit training we can offer now, modified with the equipment and space they have at home.
“Outside of that, I've been doing check-in calls to have a conversation about where they're at with their training and on a personal level, checking how their family are getting on. Between childcare here and my wife working full-time that's been quite time-consuming – every one of the calls ends up being 30 minutes-plus but I love being able to do it.
“Then I've created a custom month-long challenge and 30-40% of the members have taken it up. It's a separate app with tasks to hit throughout the day, and there's a leaderboard to add a bit of fun and competitiveness. It's been working really well.”
Eamonn is especially keen to look after his older members, as his seniors group contains some of hs most loyal – and most vulnerable – trainers.
“They’re 60 to 70-plus and they're quite regular in the gym,” says Eamonn. “I added classes to their schedule when we went fully into this isolation buzz and I waived all of their fees, so they've been training free since we closed.
“These guys are a bit more isolated and restricted in their movements – they can't see grandkids or family because of the risks. Every day when I finish the class they're straight on the WhatsApp group, saying: 'Thanks so much, this is amazing, it's the only thing I have going...'.”
Naturally enough, Eamonn’s income has taken a hit. As well as waiving some fees and offering staged discounts to members over time, he has seen a slight reduction in his client base.
However, he says it’s manageable thanks to the loyalty of his customers – not to mention the effort he’s putting in. That should enable Rônin CrossFit to go from strength to strength once the crisis is behind us.
"Over the first two weeks I was down 5-10% of the core membership, and obviously any of the face-to-face stuff outside the membership took a big hit,” he says.
“[But] the support is absolutely unbelievable, and the amount of value that people are getting from this, outside of the actual fitness, is huge
“The membership is a small group and I have no problem being completely honest and open with them. At the end of the day, it's everything to me.”
Eamonn is offering free trial classes to new customers - sign up at ronincrossfit.ie
