Meet Area 31 Entrenarme, a platform that aims to facilitate the channels through which its users can find and choose the personal trainers and gyms that suit them best in order to stay or get in shape. Area 31 interviewed its CEO, Diego Moya.

How did everything start? What’s the story behind the idea? Has the concept evolved since your first idea? We have been related to sports all our life. We saw a gap in the sector where trainers don’t know how to get clients and clients don’t know how to look for the best advisor to exercise well. The first idea was hiring trainers and charging a commission but we saw an opportunity in the creation of a marketplace to manage thousands of trainers at the same time.

What is your business model? The use of the platform is free for users who look for personal training. The trainers are the ones who pay a monthly flat fee.

What is unique about your business, and different from your competitors? Our competitors are focused in children and/or other sports. We have trainers in every sport but we focus our communication in fitness and running. Further more, we got the key of empowering our users to promote our platform as ambassadors.

What were some of the biggest lessons that has impacted the way that you work? One day an investor taught me the biggest lesson I’ve learnt. Everything must be done following a strategy, not an opportunity. From that day, everything we perform follows our roadmap.

Do you intend to expand soon? Yes, we are currently in Spain and Chile but we will expand to UK soon.
What was your biggest mistake? Our biggest mistakes have been hiring too fast when we didn’t have too. Luckily, it has not affected to the growth of the company.

What was unexpected? I could never imagine that users who want to be promoted in a website, don’t complete their profiles. It is always the biggest challenge for a marketplace.

What would you have done differently? We started too soon, maybe one year before the market was ready for us. I would have waited one year if I had to start again.

What are the most important features to have in order to become an entrepreneur? I think that resilience (getting used to have NOs) and contacts are two key factors in the first months/years of an entrepreneurial experience. Of course you need more than that, but you will need this two.

If you had one piece of advice for someone that is just starting what would it be? Be patient, focus and believe that your project can change many people’s lifes, because it is the way to keep working hard and get everything you want.

If you could time travel back to day one of your startup and have 15min with your former self to communicate any lessons you’ve acquired with the intention of saving yourself mistakes and heartache, what would you tell yourself? I would try to learn how to plan and create a high quality roadmap. It happens that entrepreneurs don’t have a real plan when they start.

What is the thing that motivates you the most about your project? This project is my life. I’ve been involved on Sports since I was a child and really believe in that personal training is the key to success in any sport, either to improve your quality of life, or reach the next level in your favourite sport.