Personal training through essentialism: the start-up of Karel Pieters

How do you ensure that your start-up grows into a successful mature company? Poelmann van den Broek helps you with the legal issues. In this blog 'Start-ups & Downs' you can read the practical stories. For example, Karel Pieters tells how he experienced starting up his company Dedicated to Life, with which he offers personal training, coaching & nutritional advice. 

According to Karel, life is a sum of experiences. He wants to make a positive contribution to that by transforming lives. He explains, "Essentialism is what it's all about. You want to live full of energy, strength and self-confidence; with a healthy body that you are proud of. But all with the goal of leaving as much time and energy as possible for the things you care about in life. Doing exactly what it takes to do that, no more, no less. Reducing everything to its essence, that's essentialism."

For that reason, Karel also sees himself more as a lifestyle architect than just a trainer: "I help my clients design and organize their ideal life. Time management, so they actually make time to train. But also in adjusting their mindset, by breaking through limiting thoughts. Sleeping better, stress reduction: I help my clients get the most out of their lives."

Karel's start-up in brief

In early 2015, Karel took the plunge and started his business. As a personal trainer, coach and nutritionist, he made his positioning very clear, he says: "Doing less, but better. After all, anything that doesn't get you closer to your goal will get you further away from it. There is so much nonsense sold in my industry that I just wanted to reduce it very strongly to the essence."

First the downs, then the ups

In the early stages of his business, Karel immediately ran into some obstacles: "The first six months have been very tough. People have to get moving and be willing to invest in themselves, both financially and in terms of time and energy. You don't have the instant gratification like buying stuff."

The biggest problem for any new business is discovering where to get customers. A recognizable challenge for Karel: "Until one day I ended up at StartUp Nijmegen. Here I was able to spar a lot with other business owners, who had struggled with the same problems before. That was very valuable. I also met another business owner who asked me a good question, namely where I want to be in five years. To that I replied that I wanted to go on a trip around the world first before I really move forward with my business."

The pressure off

The upcoming world trip was a perfect opportunity, says Karel: "Suddenly the pressure was off, because I knew I would be traveling in seven months anyway. That made me start doing business much more freely. For example, I gave some of my first clients a 50% discount, so they would say yes faster and I could build a track record. Then all of a sudden the inquiries came in through my website and my network. A great sign that I can therefore really do business."

On January 13, 2017, his world trip was over and Karel began his entrepreneurial adventure with renewed energy: "While abroad, I thought a lot about my distinctiveness. The things that worked well before my departure I continued when I was back and with success. I very quickly reached double my set revenue goal per month. That was truly a victory."

Good advice

One of Karel's personal training clients is Erik Jansen of Poelmann van den Broek. Erik also actively thinks along with the future of Dedicated to Life, says Karel: "How I can best present my services, which target groups I can also think about, possible locations for my own boutique gym... These are things Erik advises me on. He also invites me to events, such as the Hammer Party and other networking opportunities. That connecting role is very valuable to me."

In the near future, Karel wants to open his own training location, a luxury private gym. Then he wants to roll out specific programs for professionals who want to perform optimally and work on their health. Think for example of business owners, medical specialists, accountants and, yes ... attorneys.