Ep.38 - Randy Dobson and Dane Fort, Brilliant business systems, delivery and rising to the top

A lesson in opportunity and finding out whether you sink or swim under pressure, here’s another success story stemming from the 24 Hour Fitness, Mark Mastrov leadership machine. Randy Dobson and Dane Fort, chairman and CEO of CMG.ASIA respectively have revolutionised how gyms work in Vietnam, and continue to set trends with multiple brands in the East.

Watch the full episode on YouTube – https://youtu.be/PvHpdoyqie0

Randy came from a family business in agriculture before finding a job the travel industry, looking for a career path with longevity and opportunity. With a strong ethos of taking charge of his own life, he joined fitness industry in Seattle in a company that was soon acquired by 24 Hour Fitness, where he developed his profession and migrated to Asia.

Dane was an athlete at school. Following a financial struggle throughout education, he joined 24 Hour Fitness in sales, before joining Randy in the journey to Hong Kong and Malaysia and eventually starting the business together in Vietnam.

Together, they’ve risen the ranks in fitness under the mentorship of Mark Mastrov, and continue to benefit the industry with forward thinking and incredible understanding of the market’s needs.

A combined 40 years of experience along with the insight of the highest-level investors means that it’s no surprise Dane and Randy make such great business partners. They opened up their first club in Vietnam in 2007 and it’s been a multiple brand success story ever since.

Culture is key, and the low staff turnover compliments the hard work that the two have put into staff onboarding and ensuring that everyone in the company shares the same vision, knows the benefits, and enjoys the same lifestyle benefits to improving the wellness of clients and customers in every sector.

For the future, CMG.ASIA is ready for further change to the business model that leads on what the market needs, rather than what the company wants. It’s a futureproofing approach that will see them not only breaking into new markets but developing business opportunities ahead of the trends for maximum gains throughout the industry.

 

Episode Highlights - 

• Why it’s important to deliver, even under stress and pressure.
• How you can approach your current boss and explain that you want to start your own entrepreneurial journey, and why it’s not always a bad thing that they find out.
• The importance of trust with investors, building a relationship so that they know they can rely on your experience, insight and opinion.
• How to deal with failure and how to know whether it’s down to location, overheads, appealing to the wrong market or a combination of a lot of things.
• What leads to a company becoming a loss-making business, especially as this happens more often than not in Asia. Short-term thinking compared to planning for 10 or 15 years.
• The benefits of emerging markets are obvious, but what effect does not having other business to learn from in the market have on your own entrepreneurial learning?
• How Asia, and Vietnam in particular, has had a Gatsby era of excitement and popularity in fitness, and how companies positioned themselves to make people’s lives better.

 

 

Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Randy Dobson and Dane Fort…