KOLKATA: A fitness expert, who had given up his secure government job at Eastern Railway to pursue his entrepreneurship dream a decade ago, stumbled and fell as the pandemic broke out. Rupam Sinha (41) had to close down two of his three fitness centres and scale down his lifestyle to pay the bills, EMIs and salaries of his employees but with Covid numbers dipping, he is investing in a new and bigger gym space to rekindle his passion.
Sinha, co-owner of Physiomax gym in Salt Lake and now, at Dum Dum Gorabazar, tells his tale of resilience:
I never regretted my decision to quit a secure government job in 2009 at the age of 26. My wife Meghna stood by me as I left the job and founded the first gym outlet in Salt Lake. Soon, we opened another one in Nagerbazar and then, near Dum Dum central jail. We had started investing in other businesses.
But the pandemic forced us to almost fold up on a day’s notice. We still had Rs 8 lakh of monthly expenses at the three gyms, including salaries of 27 trainers, managers and housekeeping staff. But we didn’t dismiss any one and paid them out of our savings. But we had to shut branches.
Now seems to be a good time to start anew. We are opening a new gym with a large floor area in Dum Dum Gorabazar next month. I am still hard on cash and can offer a very basic living to my family but I will try to reclaim what I have lost.
