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Fit.n.Grit: A story about determination

The philosophy behind Fit.n.Grit is all in the name – a healthy body combined with a strong will to succeed.

Pham Hai Phong (left) and his business partner Le Minh Ha co-founded the mobile application Fit.n.Grit.Pham Hai Phong (left) and his business partner Le Minh Ha co-founded the mobile application Fit.n.Grit.

 

RMIT Vietnam Bachelor of Business (Marketing) alumnus Pham Hai Phong is the co-founder and CEO of Fit.n.Grit.

Established in 2015, Fit.n.Grit is a mobile application offering personalised fitness and lifestyle coaching to busy professionals via a system that tracks users’ nutrition and exercise regimens. Phong and his business partner Le Minh Ha were both determined to create their own start up around the fitness industry because they shared a passion for physical training, and for helping others to achieve their desired body image.

Fit.n.Grit tracks customers’ exercise, nutrition, and behavioural data, then analyses that data to provide personalised solutions to each user.

“In our opinion, no current fitness solution in Vietnam tackles the problem of habit and lifestyle change. We see people get their motivation up, go on diets and purchase gym memberships, only to fall back into their old habits soon after,” said Phong. “We also believe that personal training is an ineffective solution in the long run, and too costly.

“Fit.n.Grit is great because the app enables one trainer to remotely train around 100 clients per week, and at what we believe is a higher standard.”

Phong and Ha are both qualified fitness instructors themselves, and both enjoy helping others to achieve their desired body shape, whether it be through weight loss or muscle gain. They have each gained bodybuilding and fitness certifications from the Vietnam Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness.

In the first days of its operation, their Fit.n.Grit app faced several challenges. Firstly, the product was too complicated for Vietnamese users to understand as they were not used to counting calories or tracking nutrition. Secondly, it took a lot of time and money to educate users on their product and how to use it. In addition, managing every aspect of a business on their own including marketing, sales, human resources, and accounting was all new to the young men at the time. It was definitely a period that tested their resolve.

However, having now overcome these initial difficulties, Phong and his business partner are managing to operate their business successfully, and currently, Fit.n.Grit is serving hundreds of users per week.

“Challenges remain ahead,” says Hai Phong, “but as long as we maintain our never-give-up spirit, Fit.n.Grit will grow stronger, and continue to serve more and more people.”

Summing up his determination to succeed, the RMIT Vietnam graduate always keeps his favourite quote, from DropBox founder Drew Houston, close to his heart. It reads: “Don’t worry about failure, you only have to be right once.”

Stories

16 Jan 2018 Author: Van Doan

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