Why backing yourself and your business model will help you find the right partners

Two years ago, my business partners and I were on the TV show Shark Tank.

During our segment, we received offers from both Janine Allis and Steve Baxter as potential investors.

It was a difficult decision and a real crossroads in our business journey, but in the end we decided to back ourselves and our business model rather than compromise in any way to secure the investment of the sharks.

Two years later, we’ve seen a 60 per cent growth in sales in the last 12 months and have tripled the number of franchisees we have on the market, with more to come.

What we learnt from the experience is that there will come times during your business journey when you’re presented with a crossroads, and while everyone’s situation is different, my view is that you should have confidence in what you’re doing.

Building a business isn’t something that can be done successfully without a full commitment, so you may as well back that you’ve set up your business model in a way that will attract the right people who share your commitment.

In the end, it worked out for us in an unexpected but satisfying manner.

Speedfit is a fitness program for busy people, and two of our fitness clients were Neema and Sharad Shetty.

They also happen to be part of a Middle Eastern private hospital empire and the Forbes 1000 International List.

They were so impressed with the workout and its effectiveness that they invested in an individual studio in Western Australia and eventually went on to be sizeable investors in the parent company.

They are convinced about our potential to be one of Australia’s great success stories and they are exactly the kind of investors we’re looking to attract. Neema has told us that our model especially suits ‘anyone who has an interest in having their own business with low upfront costs’.

They’re an example of the investors and franchisees we work with now (including some who also own multiple F45 locations) and how they are exactly the right people we want to be working with, and though we had to pass up the glamour of Shark Tank to do it.