Summary of LIFT
My name is Kristin Bongiovanni and I am an entrepreneur, mother of two young boys, group fitness fanatic and local living enthusiast. My family and I moved to a smaller northern town in Sonoma County, California and upon moving here I immediately realized this community lacked a place where neighbors can practice self-care within our local community.
I connected with a local Yoga Instructor who was teaching classes at the Fairgrounds and a local Bootcamp Instructor who was holding workouts in the park and together we came up with the concept of LIFT where we foster living Locally, Intentionally and enjoy Fitness Together – providing another business where the residents of Cloverdale can live a little bit more locally without having to travel 20 miles for a class.
Our initial concept was more of a club for the three of us to hold, Indoor Cycling Classes, Bootcamp Classes and Yoga Classes for our community.
However, that concept rapidly shifted due to a huge demand for classes in our studio. Within 3 months we have outgrown our space. The concept phase was blown away by a huge demand for our classes and the only wany to accommodate that demand is by moving into a larger studio.
Our 1 year plan:
- LIFT needs funding to help build out our future space. Our space has already been identified and is in the same building we currently occupy. The owner of the building is very flexible on our terms within moving.
- Our Goal is to raise $50,000. The funds will be used for:
- 50% leasehold improvements – Build out of Café Counter with Wine and Beer Bar and light food options. Build out of Childcare Room and finishing/separating off the Room where classes will be held.
- 10% hiring and training new instructors and employees
- 20% working capital
- 20% fitness equipment
- Over 50% of LIFT’s clients are young parents living in and working in Cloverdale which is a community with limited access to childcare. There is a huge demand for a childcare option to accommodate young mothers trying to make it to class, improving their mental and physical health without the stress of finding childcare. In our new space we will be building out a Childcare Room.
- Cloverdale California is in the heart of Wine Country in Sonoma County, Russian River Valley and Alexander Valley and believe it or not, we do not have a wine bar. LIFT’s new space will have a café and wine bar with local wines and beers, some light food options, coffee and tea. We also have an incredible outdoor space where we will have outdoor lounge seating and firepits.
We want you to be a part of the LIFT community.
At LIFT we practice living balanced healthy lifestyles. Enjoy a fun and intense workout among friends and then grab a glass of wine and some social time after.
The LIFT Impact
The reason why LIFT is important to this community is because it helps foster that sense of community that you can not get while working out on your Peleton or home gym equipment. The outpouring of comments and support from our clients and the community has been absolutely overwhelming! The community members express gratitude that we are here to offer them such an uplifting, non-intimidating environment where they can work on feeling happier, doing more to take care of themselves, making friends and being better community members. NOTHING like LIFT has ever existed in Cloverdale before and this community was dying for a business like this to open. Several clients are saying coming to classes gives them a reason to want to get out of bed that day. We all need this space for Cloverdale and in order to really make it what it needs to be, we need to grow.
Risks & Challenges
- The risks associated with running and operating LIFT include the seasonality of the fitness industry. There are always high and low seasons for indoor fitness depending on the weather, school schedules, etc. We plan to overcome those season lows by offering outdoor running clubs, outdoor cycling clubs, kids fitness classes in the park, workshops and even fun social events to generate income and keep the community members together.
- Other risks include instructor turnover. In my past management of group fitness studios I learned there can be a high turnover in instructors because they bounce around from studio to studio. There are two ways that I feel like this is less of a risk for LIFT.
- 1. Given our location there is no competition within 20 miles so an instructor would have to have a lot of motivation to want to travel to another studio.
- 2. I am working on creating an environment at LIFT where all of the instructors feel a sense of ownership in the studio and the business.
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