Denis Opudo
The Zenzele Fitness Group was launched in 2014 by Tumi Phake to set premium and cost-effective health club in towns. Mr. Phake was named the winner of the 2017 Sanlam & Business Partners Entrepreneur. The headquarters of Zenele Fitness Group is situated in Sandton which is the richest square mile in Africa. The business is run under a partnership with the Wits University and group South Africa blue companies. Currently, the business has about 13 well-equipped modern gyms across South Africa. The initiative has provided job opportunity to over 130 people constituting 50 contracts based and 80 full-time staffs.
According to the founder and chief executive of gym management business, the idea was to build modern gyms in the township. He targeted mainly low and medium level markets in the country. Mr. Phake conducted intelligence fitness industry market research in South Africa, African countries and globally. The greatest business opportunity was evidenced in South Africa since people started to realize the benefit of living healthy lives. He acknowledged that the country has the highest number of patients suffering from lifestyle diseases and stress.
Most companies in the region also wanted to keep their employees fit so as to increase productivity. The major Phake’s clients comprise of the Alexander Forbes, University of the Witwatersrand, Rand Refinery, Discovery Health and Hollard Insurance. The Wits University gym is a profitable venture which has lasted for more than two years now. It is made up of the Italian brand equipment mainly from local suppliers. In terms of rating, Zenzele Fitness Group gym is among the top three in the world. The ranking is usually based on the quality and operation capacity of the business. The key impact of the business is job creation which helps in addressing unemployment among many youths.
Mr. Phake long-term goal is to build the group to last for more than 100 years. The company is focusing on opening branches in all towns in South Africa and internationally. He also managed to be chosen to attend the Harvard University entrepreneurship programme next month in the US. The event will provide a good platform for networking and the growth of entrepreneurship spirit worldwide.
