In Dubai, everyone wants to look good, says Christian Gebler, who spotted a gap in the market and introduced a concept called Bewei, which purports to help people slim without lifting a finger. He speaks about why he left his secure job to set up Fitness Innovation Bewei Lounge.
q You worked for other companies before launching your own enterprise last year. What made you take the leap?
a The achievements in Hilti [a power tools company] in the last 10 years gave me a confident feeling that I can do it on my own.
Is it the same sort of business?
Not at all. This is in the awareness and the beauty and the sports industry. This is where my heart lies, where my passion is.
Why so?
I cannot tell you. It has always been there and I was already on my way to invest in a health club in Germany as a private investor, because I love the atmosphere and to deal and work with sporty people. Hilti came just somehow by luck and the company is just amazing. I was actually quite happy that I stayed with them so long because I learnt a lot, which I can now use in my private business.
You left a very comfortable position at a logistics company before your business was up and running. Why?
Yeah, my wife killed me nearly, because she said 'please start the other business before you make such a decision'. But if you want to run something you have to fully focus.
Your company has a lounge that uses technology which purports to help people lose weight. How much did you know about it before you bought it?
I flew to Germany and [my friend] brought me together with the Bewei family, so I had a chat with them for a few days. Then I was visiting different lounges in Germany. For us, the breakthrough was to talk to the clients. After three weeks, I was totally overwhelmed, and I thought 'just close your eyes and copy the potential to the place where we live'. It is always hot, the sun is shining and people want to look beautiful.
So you saw a gap in the market?
Exactly, and the decision was done.
If you could go back, would you have done anything differently?
I would have hired directly a PR agency, not marketing, because we are such a niche product that we tried [advertising] but it didn't work, so I think to be in the magazines really makes sense, to have a much bigger market reach.
But PR and marketing are essentially the same thing?
Yes, but at the end of the day, it is not the adverts, but the editorials that [I want].
Do you have an exit strategy in case it all goes wrong?
So far, nothing has really gone wrong in my life. In fact it is exactly the other way around.
* Gillian Duncan
