case study
Helping Short & Sweat build a thriving fitness business
SECTOR
SECTOR
Key Market
Short & Sweat is a Quebec-based fitness app for busy people who want to integrate fitness training into their daily lives, for a healthy and sustainable lifestyle. From sending homemade exercise videos to motivate her friends during the pandemic, founder Isabelle Bonin has grown Short & Sweat into a thriving business with over 2,000 members and 6 coaches.
Short & Sweat is a Quebec-based fitness app for busy people who want to integrate fitness training into their daily lives, for a healthy and sustainable lifestyle. From sending homemade exercise videos to motivate her friends during the pandemic, founder Isabelle Bonin has grown Short & Sweat into a thriving business with over 2,000 members and 6 coaches.
THE CHALLENGE
As Short & Sweat grew, Isabelle needed a platform that could meet the expectations of her passionate new community. Facebook just wasn’t cutting it for a number of reasons:
- Facebook’s lack of automation meant that Isabelle was being pushed to the limit to try and keep up with admin tasks.
- Members were being bombarded with ads and spam containing unhealthy messages about their bodies that were at odds with Short & Sweat’s mission.
- Members loved Isabelle’s content and were keen to pay for a better experience.
Isabelle began to search for app solutions that put community first and would allow her to elevate Short & Sweat’s brand. As a Quebec business, it was vital that the app could be in French to properly serve her community.
“To begin with, I was making the videos in the morning before working as a lawyer. I found Facebook to be really manual and it was taking up so much of my time. My community were also not finding it professional. That’s why I started to look for an all-in-one app solution that would allow me to grow my business.” – Isabelle Bonin, founder of Short & Sweat
THE SOLUTION
In Disciple, Isabelle found a platform that would enable her to build Short & Sweat from side-hustle into a thriving business. Disciple offers seamless livestreaming, the ability to create a fully-branded French app and a platform that is beautiful and easy-to-use.
“I wanted an app that was focused on community because that’s what’s so special about Short & Sweat – the real friendships that form. Our members really love the app. They say that it’s beautiful and user friendly. I find it really easy to manage and it’s helping me to build new things into our offering, such as an exclusive podcast. All my videos are live so the fact that the livestreaming is so good was really important to me. I love that I can have a Freemium model which let’s people try it out before they pay for the full range of content – that way my subscribers already know they’re going to love it! It’s a big upgrade from Facebook.” – Isabelle Bonin, founder of Short & Sweat
IMPACT
The making of a thriving fitness business
I was able to quit my job when I reached 100 members, now I have over 2,000!
Isabelle shows how it is possible to build a thriving online community-led business with a great idea, hard work and the right software.
“I was able to quit my job when I reached 100 members, now I have over 2000! This growth has enabled me to take on more trainers who bring additional specialities, such as yoga, spinning and crossfit,” says Isabelle.
Isabelle is very much led by her community, constantly asking them for feedback through polls and discussions, and utilising Disciple’s new features to deliver on their wishes. This enables her to achieve excellent retention rates, as members want to keep coming back.
Working with Disciple
As one of the first communities to utilise the French language support, Isabelle has worked closely with the Disciple team. She says:
“My experience of working with the Disciple team has been excellent. They are professional and genuinely care about my problems. I find that everything is taken care of quickly and the team is very considerate of my wishes.”
What’s next for Short & Sweat?
Isabelle has big plans for the continued development of Short & Sweat. Isabelle says:
“Now that it is safe to do so, I want to meet people in real life. I am putting on a series of in-person events during the summer that will allow people to continue to connect and build friendships. I have also started a new affiliate program and we have seen the first new members join this way. Ultimately, I will keep testing new ideas to see what’s working and will continue to show up consistently. I’m excited to see Short & Sweat continue to grow!”
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