A year ago an 18-year-old told me that his great grandfather, grandfather and father had all trained at Talwalkar’s. He is the fourth generation because his grandfather insisted that he should continue to be with us. This is the value of legacy that I cherish. - Prashant Talwalkar

Even after 70 years of being in business, Talwalkars Gymnasium was a local gym chain with 16 stores across Mumbai. But, the story changed dramatically in 2003 when the family-run business was rechristened as Talwalkars Better Value Fitness (TBVF). In the 10 years since, TBVF has muscled up—and how! It today has a turnover of Rs165-crore and over 145 state-of-the-art health clubs, spas and zumba studios across 70 cities in the country. More than 1,25,000 people across India have Talwalkar memberships. Yet, this high-powered growth routine is only the beginning, says Prashant Talwalkar, the company’s 50-year-old MD and CEO, who is also trained to be a fitness instructor and masseur. In the works is a plan to strengthen the fitness chain by adding 400 health care centres, and to introduce new leisure and sports clubs. 

Inheritance isn’t something I was allowed to take for granted. My family had 11 gyms in 1982 when I graduated from Jai Hind College, Mumbai. But, my late grandfather Vishnu Talwalkar imposed a strict rule—not to take any managerial role until I learnt all aspects of the trade. So, at the age of 19, I started as a housekeeper at one of our gyms in Mumbai. For two years, our fitness trainers, dieticians, masseurs, orthopedics, accountants and gym managers drilled into me the art and science of the fitness business. It was in 1984 that I became a manager at the Mahim branch in Mumbai. Like our other employees, I had to work my way up in the company. It was only after a decade, in 1993, that I became a partner in the family business. We had 13 branches at that time. We grew at a snail’s pace because we could manage to open an outlet only once in two or three years due to limited finances.

Increasing fashion consciousness has worked in favour of fitness industry. Every time Salman Khan or Hrithik Roshan remove their shirts in a movie, footfall increases in our gym.

But, my uncle Madhukar Talwalkar, who was also the chairman, had worked out bigger plans for the family business. He wanted us to think about growing exponentially. Under his stewardship, in 2003, we started looking for collaborators, investors and partners. We received interest from Vinayak Gawande and Anand Gawande, the promoters of Mumbai-based financial consultancy firm Better Value, and Harsha Bhatkal, publisher of the Mumbai-based Popular Prakashan. Together with them, my uncle, his son, Girish and I incorporated Talwalkars Better Value Fitness (TBVF) in 2003. There has been no looking back since. In the first five years, we opened 35 new gyms. We added spas to our brand portfolio after that, and have 11 spas now. In 2007 in Mumbai, we started our own trainingacademy for health and fitness professionals. Other than marrying my wife, opening this centre was the best thing that has ever happened to me! It is the pivot that has helped us grow and reach out to Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. 

By 2010, we had grown to 40 gyms in India. That was also the year we got listed at Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange in the month of May and were oversubscribed by 28 times. We raised Rs77 crores which we used to expand and launch weight loss programmes. We went on a major expansion spree and opened 50 more gyms in the next two years. March 16, 2010 is a symbol of that growth. On that day, we opened five gyms across India. We also introduced NuForm, an EMS (Electro Muscle Stimulation) training which requires only 20 minutes of workout per week. It is designed especially for those people who do not like exercising and are always short of time. We now have eight NuForm studios in India. We were focused on innovation and research, and after a successful trial on 1,200 people, we also introduced a dietbasedweight loss programme in 2012  called REDUCE that provides low-calorie, balanced meals for people who do not want to cook. TBVF is the first company in India to have launched such programmes. To add more variety to the workout options available, we introduced Latininspired dance-fitness programme Zumba, and have 350 trainers and 25 Zumba studios. It has helped us to capture the growing number of health-conscious women.

In the mid-90s, there were hardly 30 per cent ladies in our gym. Now, it is almost 50 per cent, and in weight loss category, their percentage is more than 85. Also, the increasing fashion consciousness has worked in favour of the fitness industry. Every time Salman Khan or Hrithik Roshan remove their shirts in a movie, footfall increases in our gym. Concentrating on different lifestyles was not enough. In India, fitness is a Rs5,000-crore plus business and the oppor tunity is huge. Currently, we are close to 20 per cent share of the organised fitness market. We wanted to reach out to different social segments as well. In 2011, we introduced Hi-Fi (Healthy India Fit India), a health movement to promote fitness by opening franchisee-based no-frill fitness centres in smaller towns and cities. As we opened our gym in Guntur, a journalist asked me the reason for opening a branch in a place that many Indians can’t even locate on a map. But, we got a grand response, much better than many of our gyms in Mumbai. This is the story of India. It is growing not only in metros, but also in smaller urban centres.

We currently have 15 Hi-Fi gyms and will open another 40 by the end of this year. As we concentrate on towns and cities, we want to capture the premium segment, too. For that, last year we partnered with London-based sports club company, David Lloyd Leisure to open leisure and sports clubs in India. We are in the process of acquiring land in Pune and it will take another year or two to launch our first club of this sort. Such persistent growth has been possible because of the goodwill our family has generated in running this business for eight decades. A year ago an 18-year-old told me that his great grandfather, grandfather and father had all trained at Talwalkar’s. He is the fourth generation to train at our gyms because his grandfather insisted that he should continue to be with us. This is the value of legacy that I cherish.