Overcoming challenges with hard work

Gym Challlenge Meals epitomises growth and resilience to secure business award

The 2023 Women in Business and Regional Development and Mount Gambier Chamber of Commerce Awards were reimagined in their return after a three year hiatus. That hiatus coincided with COVID and the significant challenges that presented to the business community across all sectors so when the awards scheme was revamped – resilience and growth were at the heart of the criteria for the award winners.

Gym Challenge Meals was one of those award winners – taking out the Small Business category of the Business Growth and Resilience Awards – and owner Alex Marlow and his team epitomise both traits in spades.

Timing is everything in life and Alex had only just embarked on this exciting new venture of providing health, delicious meals when COVID hit.

As a business, Gym Challenge Meals (GCM) had to be resilient right from the start.

“We were forced to close GCM because of COVID after just six weeks – we opened in January 2020 and had to shut the doors along with most other business in March 202,” Alex said.

Hardly the start he was looking for and as a new business, GCM didn’t qualify for any of the job keeper support that was handed out by the government so they had to battle to stay afloat.

Still running the Mount Gambier Hospital Café at the time, Alex faced challenges he could hever have anticipated and hard decisions had to be made.

“It was a difficult time and it wasn’t really viable to continue,” Alex said. “I went into significant debt to keep the doors open when perhaps it might have been easier to walk away. There is no real secret to how we overcame this other than have a steadfast belief in what we are doing and to just keep showing up, keep producing the best quality pre-prepared meals on the market and ensure our coffee and experience for our customers at HQ is first class.”

Navigating those unprecedented challenges was only compounded by Alex working through what was a complicated economic bottom line – making his meals quality but affordable while still being able to pay the bills.

“We have the same high overheads, food costs and wage costs as other food business but we don’t have the luxury of selling our product for the price per portion like cafes or restaurant can,” Alex said. “We have to focus on selling a high volume of meals at a lower cost and run the kitchen as efficiently as possible to keep wages and costs to a minimum.”

And then there was the need to invest in better packaging to ensure the business model – customers ordering a week’s worth of meals at a time – the shelf life is now vastly improved after that investment, as well as being biodegradable and therefore more sustainable.

What started as a strictly pick up service in Mount Gambier has grown – incorporating delivery, sourcing stockists, establishing the Montebello headquarters and extending throughout the Limestone Coast and South West Victoria.

“Word of mouth has ensured that just like in Mount Gambier, our food is being enjoyed by more than just gym goers, but anyone who wants access to quality healthy preprepared meals,” Alex said. “This expansion has shown that there is an appetite for GCM outside of Mount Gambier and if this concept can work here then it really can work anywhere.”

And Alex hasn’t finishing building the GCM empire – he has big plans afoot.

“The next big horizon for GCM is to franchise the concept,” he said..” We are currently documenting all of the systems we have in place so we can replicate how the business operates and build a franchise operations manual. We are hoping that some hard working franchisees can see our concept and be excited to open their own GCM in their own town or suburb. They can own and operate their own thriving business and build their own customer base and community just like we have done here.”

Alex, who has believed in his concept all along, can’t wait to instil that confidence in others. “In my gut I always knew there was something to this concept,” he said “The plan has always been to build the concept, fine tune the procedures and then to replicate through franchise. I truly believe GCM can become a brand in multiple states and territories and the thought of helping franchisees open their own GCM excites me. That’s the plan, I have no reason to believe it won’t happen.”