Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business?
Kalyani Capadia: K11 back then was a gym setup and management consultancy firm. The company was co-founded by Kaizzad Capadia, with a Devaki Khimji as a 50% partner. I joined and first assumed the role of a Club General Manager. Then I rose to Head of Sales, and then as the company grew, I took on the responsibility of the Chief Executive.
Our consultancy firm got a lot of jobs, and we got busy setting up gyms for people who wished to invest in the fitness industry. Setting up required expertise in real estate selection (location & internal specifications), interiors (aesthetics, fit-outs, electrical and civil work), equipment brand and profile selection, administration, sales systems, processes, management software, pre-opening marketing, pre-sales, and HR selection. Like any other business today, one of the biggest challenges was getting qualified human resource.
We decided to do some backward integration and establish a School for fitness professionals, which would provide steady human resource for the projects that we set up.
Great Companies: What are the various Services provided by K11 education Pvt Ltd
Kalyani Capadia: K11 Education Pvt Ltd deals in vocational education for fitness professionals. We are focusing on doing what we are best in and reaching out to more people who want to become fitness professionals. We are launching the Yog Prashikshak Course in the month of June 2021. Once that is done, we will start work on launching the “Group Instructors course.” We do not want to do anything that is not connected to education.
K11 education is only in the vocational education for fitness professionals.
Great Companies: What makes K11 education Pvt Ltd Ltd. different from hundreds of other Fitness Education Firms?
Kalyani Capadia: Actually, what is unique should not be unique. We, at K11, are still quite surprised that we are the only proper brick & mortar school of fitness sciences. In this tiny domain of education in fitness sciences that is provided to aspiring personal trainers, who wish to make a career in the fitness industry, we are the only ones with proper infrastructure, including fully equipped gym floors as Labs for the practical module of our course. We have specially trained teachers of exercise science, sports nutrition, pure sciences such as anatomy, exercise physiology, bio-energetics, resistance exercise specific. We also have lifting biomechanics, which is taught by Master Trainers.
We have a team of 55 Teachers and 5 Assessors. Our personal trainer’s textbook is our copyrighted IP, valued at a making cost of 1.5 Crores (CA Certified).
At 222 face-to-face hours of teaching, our syllabus is the longest in duration and hence the most extensive in the industry. Our course is recognized by Register for Exercise Professionals India (REPS India). Each student that passes our intensive assessments (theory, practicals pertaining to exercise execution, practicals pertaining to program delivery, vivas) automatically gets a one year membership with REPS India, under Category-A (Personal Trainer).
This makes his or her credentials and qualifications portable in Australia, New Zealand, UAE, South Africa, Ireland, and Poland. Portability ensures that our student who immigrates to these countries does not have to spend again on education in the abovementioned countries if he or she so chooses to work there.
Many certifications, internationally, simply comprise buying textbooks, self-studying, and giving a 125 MCQ theory paper. Giving these exams after studying from a text book cannot and should never be confused with actual education.
We can safely say that K11 is probably the only educational institution in the domain of fitness sciences, or education for aspiring personal trainers, that can truly be called as an education provider whose education will make you job ready for the global fitness industry.
Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face?
Kalyani Capadia: Honestly, I do not remember myself struggling, I have enjoyed my work so much that every struggle has been a stepping-stone, which added experience. Getting K11 internationally recognized was a challenge, and REPS India (Register for Exercise Professionals), which is part of the International Confederation of Registers for Exercise Professionals (ICREPS), made it possible to put K11 on the global map. The formation of REPS India was one of the best things that happened to K11 Education Pvt Ltd.
Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for K11 education Pvt Ltd?
Kalyani Capadia: We are working on setting up K11 practical labs all over India with our equipment partner Being Strong. The K11 labs will be equipped with Being Strong equipment. So, in the next few years, we are looking at Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Indore, Surat, Chennai, and many such cities. Students will attend personal training course lectures via online, live, interactive classrooms, and they will attend the practical’s at these labs. With the online, live classrooms, we will be getting students from all over the world, so we will be working on improving the digital platforms all the time. We are becoming a global brand. We will also be Launching the Yog Prashikshak Course and then working on launching Group Instructors course.
We have also been approached by the Kerala Government to set up our school in their skilling centers. So that is also a part of the plan. So, in next 5 years, we plan to go national as well as international.
Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?
Kalyani Capadia: I have learnt this piece of advice from Kaizzad Capadia, Director K11 Education Pvt Ltd., and I am offering the same to the ones who are starting out. Treat your customer like a King/Queen. Do everything keeping them in mind. You will always be successful. A happy customer tells 10 people and a sad customer will tell 100 so we need to keep all our customers happy.
Website : https://www.keleven.com/
Twitter : https://twitter.com/K11School
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