Most people would consider dropping out of University a sign of failure. But in 2013, for UK youth Ben Francis, it was the beginning of something remarkable.
Gymshark began as a supplements business that Ben Francis ran out of his parent’s garage, along with the help of friend Lewis Morgan. Francis and Morgan initially lacked any sort of industrial capability, so they drop shipped items. Drop shipping is when a retailer markets and sells items, but does not have any actual product in stock. Instead, they act like a middle-man, redirecting supplies from wholesalers or bulk vendors to their own customers. But this wasn’t the only savvy move that Francis made. To market his brand, Francis utilized a growing industry: Instagram modeling. While most of us may be used to seeing innumerable adds for models and the products they’re hawking, this is 2020. Instagram had only been founded in 2010 and was still very much in the process of growing in 2013. But as we have seen over the last five years or so, Instagram has become a lucrative for “influencers,” a hybrid entrepreneur that utilizes the power of the photo, of endorsement, and sex appeal. Fortunately for Francis, Gymshark was one of the first brands to began advertising its wares through Instagram, getting in almost on the ground level, so to speak.
But if you’re familiar with Gymshark, you’re probably wondering when the apparel comes in to play. Well, that would be in 2013 when Francis spent 1,000 pounds on a sewing machine and a screen printer. Initially, after dropping out and quitting his 5 pound-an-hour job at Pizza Hut, Gymshark was bringing in roughly 500 pounds a day. Their break came after a tracksuit went viral on Facebook, bringing in 30,000 pounds in 30 minutes and the rest is history.
Now, seven years later, Gymshark is worth 1.32 Billion dollars and is quite likely the premier Instagram influencer fitness clothing brand. To be Gymshark sponsored is to be graced with the proverbial stamp of approval. Francis himself is now worth 926 million dollars and was featured on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2018. No doubt he has no regrets about dropping out of University.
This is a crazy story. Neat that he was able to gain that kind of traction on social media.
This is a really cool story. I think it’s very interesting to see how the first brands on social media fare in comparison to those slightly late to the party. Cleary, the earlier timing did well for Gymshark. I even have a few friends that wear their apparel.
It always impresses me to hear a story like this where someone seems to go off the rails a bit at first glance by doing something like dropping out of college to drop ship random products with their friend, and then it turns out being the path to major success! I have no idea how people make that work because that’s certainly not within my natural conation, but it’s definitely something I can take lessons away from. It seems this may have been so successful because at the time Instagram was still not as intensely widespread, so since they were modeling apparel well, they were able to get in on the market and learn what people liked before launching their own apparel. I also am curious–did they always know how to sew? If the sewing machine really had as much to do with the success of the company as it did, I would be interested to see how exactly it came into play! Well written by the way.
Wow… this unique story is really inspiring. Lots of people struggle in school and don’t want to drop out because there is some sort of negative connotation that goes along with not receiving a degree from college. Ben Francis defies most opinions and drops out of college, contrary to everyone else’s beliefs Francis was capable of being successful. Gymshark used Instagram to further develop its brand and its appeal. I would not have guessed that this is how Gymshark came into business. I am just still impressed by Francis’ achievements.
I think his story is really inspiring and cool/ He was a high school student who found a solution to a problem. He worked very hard to make this company successful and it worked! He proved many people and stereotypes wrong that you need a college degree to be successful. His company is still growing and I see advertisements for GymShark all over social media!
Ben Francis’ journey is inspiring to follow. I know many people would see dropping out of school as a red flag, but he just used this to fuel his passion and start his business which is crazy successful now.