Company Overview - Klink Fitness

- Name: Graeme McCoy

- Company: Klink Fitness

- Position: Founder

- Industry: Fitness

What does your company do?

Klink specialises in the Manufacture of premium modular dumbbells. We have just recently launched our patent pending Fitlok Dumbbells in January of this year.

Tell us a bit about the background of the founders of the company?

I (Graeme) am the co-founder and managing director of Springfort Precision Engineering along with my brother-in-law. We started this business in 2018 and we have been growing steadily and have enjoyed taking on the challenge of growing a business.

Nikita is a staff nurse who specialised in Pancreatic and Liver services from 2009, and now works for Springfort (officially since October 2020) to assist in the running of the family business. Nikita was always involved in the business, but it has been great to have a role for her officially.

How did the idea for the product come about?

the Covid19 pandemic. With a lot of fitness clubs and gyms closing during the first lockdown, myself and my wife hired fitness equipment from our local gym. Unfortunately, we felt frustrated with the amount of equipment lying around. During the summer months we both enjoy getting outdoors for a workout but having to move 4 or 5 sets of dumbbells was always a chore.

My wife felt it would be fun to design a new concept of adjustable dumbbell. We undertook some market research and saw there was only a small variety of adjustable dumbbells on the market, with all them being very similar and for us, not that pleasing to the eye.

We thought it was a great opportunity to create something compact, modern and innovative that could be stored away very easily in the home. We believe we have achieved this as our dumbbell kit can easily be stored away in a neat transportable case to allow for workouts outdoors, meeting up at fitness clubs or personal trainers training their clients at different locations.

Would you have developed the business and the product if Covid had not happened?

100% no. This idea was sparked from lockdown.

What motivates you?

The challenge is something we both thrive on. We both like to be busy & this has been something new & exciting for us. We have enjoyed every process of getting our product to market. We make a very productive team.

Where is the product made?

Klink Fitlok Dumbbells are manufactured in Northern Ireland. We really want to focus on keeping all our production here in the UK and Ireland and, all being well, help our own economy recover after the last year of covid.

What advice would you give to someone thinking of taking a product to market?

Absolutely go for it. Take the leap to try something new. Have realistic expectations that the process will take time. Use good suppliers. Quality is essential, your suppliers must be reliable, understand your product and deliver on time.

What were the challenges of starting a company in Lockdown?

Difficulties came with no face-to-face meetings with suppliers. At the early stages, suppliers either closed or placed their staff on furlough so processes to longer to complete due to longer lead times. Nikita was still working as a staff nurse over the first lockdown, so we had to juggle her work, the business & our daughter not at school.

How well has the product been received?

We have had very encouraging feedback. People really like the concept. The aesthetics of the product have also been greatly received. We are delighted with the encouraging feedback.

What are you plans for the future with the company and the product?

We have plans to expand our product range. We already have a lot great ideas we want to bring to life. We both share the same vision.