Questions

Starting online gym and fitness gear rental marketplace will be a profitable business idea in Covid-19 or post Covid-19 world. Because the gyms and fitness centers are such places where physical contact is very difficult to avoid during the Covid-19 pandemic. Most of fitness gears constantly changes hands as people come and go to perform their workout. Keeping the equipment sanitized at all times is a challenging task for gym owners, that why renting or buying gym equipment from marketplace like aesfitness.com make sense. What is the best way to create a marketplace where multiple equipment owners or supplier list their fitness gears for rent like aesfitness.com?

The answer to your question is simple, by defining the problem. Research in general is related to queries and queries arise when we observe some anomaly (or inconsistency). This anomaly can provide the basis for a problem or opportunity. Thus, defining a research problem or opportunity correctly is of major importance in any research. If the problem defined is not exhaustive the research may lead to incorrect or in some cases contrasting findings. In the following discussion we will touch upon the issue of how can correct problem definition be achieved and how it can enhance the chances of making the ‘right’ marketing decision?
The importance of defining a right problem: An old adage says, “A problem well defined is half solved”. Defining a problem in general circumstance is not extremely hard as we keep on identifying right problems. Such as, while driving (Which way to drive? Not to change the lanes suddenly etc.), walking (Walking in a way without hitting any obstacle), eating (Eating food which we are comfortable with, Choice of places to eat, etc.), breathing (yes, even to breath or not to breath is a choice like, while underwater we define correctly that we should not breath without the right gear) and so on.
We can answer such questions easily because every decision has a pattern involved in it. The simplest of decision situation can be characterized by the following condition:
1. A decision maker is operating in a set but dynamic environment in which there is a problem. (underwater environment and breathing as a problem)
2. There are at least two courses of action to choose from. (breath or not to breath)
3. Any of the choices made regarding the course of action will lead to two possible outcomes of that choice and the decision maker prefers one over the other. (breathing death by drowning; not breathing bringing oneself on surface and survival)
4. There is a chance, but not equal chance, that each course of action will lead to the desired outcome. If the chances are equal, the choice does not matter.
The decision situation and defining of problem may sound easy in most situations; however, problem definition becomes sticky in most business situations because both marketing managers and marketing researchers often flounder in answering several important questions. This is because the decision is not taken by a single person but generally by a team and so it is important to have agreement on various issues for defining a ‘right’ problem. Following are the questions which must be asked before a marketing research problem is identified.
1. Have the decision makers and researchers framed an initial question and looked at the alternatives clearly? Is there an agreement on the initial question and the alternatives among most participants?
2. Is there agreement on the basis for selecting one alternative over others? Have acceptable criteria been developed?
3. What consequences would a ‘wrong’ decision bring upon?
4. Is there a serious disagreement among the team members with regards to choose of research alternatives and their adoption?
If the answers to all four questions are yes, marketing research information is needed to reduce the chance of making the wrong decision. In most failed research exercises it is observed that the team members did not define the answers to the first two questions clearly. If the answer to question three leads to serious consequences and similarly in the case of question four serious disagreements among the team members are found the problem definition needs to be revisited. An example of the same is explained below:
One of the largest cinema chains in the UK faced with a problem of declining audiences. The team in the first meeting came up with the initial problem statement as ‘to discover why cinema audiences are declining’. However, several members of the team were unhappy and stated that research into this problem will lead to vague answers and unimplementable results. An alternative statement of problem was developed ‘to identify ways in which more people could be attracted to attend the cinema’.
Although the two problem statements look quite similar, the outcomes of the research defined after revision will be action oriented in the case of the findings of the second statement, which would not be possible with the general statement defined as the former problem statement. The problem defined at first might bring answers which are beyond the remit of influence for the cinema chain managers. For example, if people stated that the movies now a days are not matching their tastes, it cannot be acted upon by the management of the chain. However, with the second research problem the management can reliably know what the people want from a cinema theatre and such improvements can assist the management in attracting more people towards the cinema. The above example demonstrates the importance of defining the right problem and how it can have a huge effect on the outcome of any research. The major question facing most managers is how to convert a management dilemma into a researchable problem. In real life situation it is not hard to define a management dilemma, however, the difficult thing is to identify a single dilemma on which to focus. As discussed above, choosing a wrong or incorrectly defined management dilemma will result in waste of resources as well as may lead to wrong decisions costing further on the company’s bottom-line. The figure below shows the process of formulating a research question out of management dilemma. It also provides the factors to be considered by a researcher in the process of developing research question. A manager when faced with a dilemma is surrounded by various elements of decision making namely: (1) The decision making environment; (2) Objectives of decision maker; (3) Alternative courses of action and (4) Consequences of alternative actions. If the research question is developed without keeping the above four elements in mind there are all chances that there would a bias in the early stage of the research which will carry itself further in the total process and may lead to wrong conclusion.
For example, a private radio station with declining listener numbers wanted to understand consumers’ listening preferences and a team of researchers were asked to prepare a research proposal for the same. The entrepreneur in charge of the operations at the station stated to the researchers that he already knew what the consumers wanted and wanted the researchers to work on a project the way he had planned it.
The above situation is observed quite often in real life situations where the managers have already made up their mind regarding the research and its findings and so the research in such cases becomes a futile exercise. Being unbiased through the complete research project is one of the most important aspects of marketing research. Many times, real objectives of conducting the research are seldom exposed to the researcher (most to do with researcher being an outside organization and company not intending to divulge confidential information). Therefore, it becomes utmost important for the researcher to probe deeper and bring on surface the real objectives of the research. One effective technique for uncovering the objectives is to confront the decision maker with expected outcomes of the research and asking the decisive course of action from the decision maker. Research can be professionally designed only when the alternative course of action being considered are known. The more obvious course of action is generally provided to the researcher, but it is the researcher’s duty to probe deeper and find out other alternatives which are not being communicated by the decision maker. Quite often the researcher will not be informed of some of the options being considered. The researcher should check to see that all implicit options have been made explicit, since it is important that the research be relevant to all alternatives. Researcher at times must adopt the role of detective in order to discover the hidden agendas and alternatives lurking beneath the surface in any decision situation. If a critical piece of information remains undiscovered, even the most sophisticated research techniques cannot solve the problem. In the case of the radio firm it was found later that the managers were forcing the researchers to conduct the research in a certain format as the plan was to sell of the business using the research results.
A great deal of marketing research is intended to determine the consequences of alternative course of action. To achieve success in the marketplace a decision maker must continuously balance the strategy against the changing micro and macro environmental factors. Marketing research is undertaken by organizations to accurately assess the alternative courses of actions and provide support to the decision maker in the process of decision making. However, many times due to various market pressures an organization pursues a blinded version of marketing research without understanding the consequences of the same and could face trouble. A detailed understanding of the decision-making environment; objectives of the decision maker; alternative courses of action and consequences of alternative actions would enable researchers to translate the management dilemma into an accurate research problem.
Now you have two problems at hand. Covid-19 and anti-obesity drive. Lockdown measures enforced in many countries around the world to curb the COVID-19 pandemic may escalate emotional stress, economic anxiety, and increase the rates of obesity across the population, according to a research which calls for socioeconomic safety nets and community support networks to mitigate these effects. According to the scientists, including those from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, locking down society to combat COVID-19 creates psychosocial insecurity that may lead to obesity. The review of studies, published in the journal Nature Reviews Endocrinology, noted that counter measures are needed to keep the public both metabolically healthy and safe from the coronavirus. It said the rates of obesity may explode because of measures to limit the spread of Covid-19, adding that investment in obesity research will help inform counter strategies. In the research, Clemmensen and his team outlined how COVID-19 containment strategies could increase rates of obesity. They said people with limited economic resources are more likely to eat highly processed and energy-rich food, which have been shown to stimulate appetite, potentially leading to them eating more calories than they need. The scientists added that physical distancing also increases anxiety by limiting people's ability to socially interact.
They said feelings of loneliness and isolation, combined with confinement within a home setting, can impact food behaviour, causing people to overeat. This effect, according to the research, is compounded by lower levels of physical activity, as people are urged to work from home and venture out as little as possible.
Thorkild I.A. Sorensen, another co-author of the study from the University of Copenhagen, said scientists still do not exactly understand how a person's mental health and economic status end up increasing the risk of one developing obesity. According to the researchers, more studies are needed to uncover the cause and effect behind this process.

But the scientists emphasised that physical distancing and the rising rates of unemployment could lead to increased rates of obesity. According to the researchers, more studies are needed to uncover the cause and effect behind this process. But the scientists emphasised that physical distancing and the rising rates of unemployment could lead to increased rates of obesity. They urged governments and decision makers to consider what impact COVID-19 containment strategies, such as lockdowns, will have on the public's metabolic health.
Researchers have revealed intersections of the biological pathways behind coronavirus infection and type 2 diabetes, findings that may lead to new approaches in treatment for hospitalised Covid-19 patients. According to the research, published in the journal Endocrine Reviews, individuals with obesity and diabetes are known to be at increased risk for complications arising from influenza, with the two conditions emerging as important comorbidities for disease severity in the context of Covid-19.
Some cells in the lungs and the gut, the scientists said, are important sites for the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, to enter and infect hosts, causing inflammation in these regions. They found that some of these cells produce specific proteins that are also expressed by cells during type 2 diabetes development. However, he added that more studies need to be conducted to understand the risks and benefits of commonly used diabetes medications in patients with severe coronavirus infections. According to Drucker, the pandemic highlights the importance of expanding innovative delivery of diabetes care and regular communication between people with diabetes and their health care providers.
It is true that there is ample of opportunities for you in the field of fitness and motivation industry, but before you launch a marketplace you must look at the bigger picture. Since March, the fitness industry — of which around 5% is organised — has been under crippling pressure because of the pandemic and the lockdown. With rentals and salaries to pay, and no revenue to speak of, many gyms have shut down. Job losses have run into thousands. Many trainers and support staff were sent on leave without pay or with reduced pay. Health and fitness aggregator Gympik, which has tie-ups with 15,000-odd gyms across India, said it expects 20-25% of gyms to shut down and at least 30-35% jobs, including sales and corporate, to be lost.
“The fear of Covid is still very prevalent. Gyms will have to build confidence. They will have to sanitise constantly and have extraordinarily strong social distancing norms,” Gympik chief executive Amaresh Ojha said. “We recommend that gyms start to target the 15-20% people who buy personal trainer services in general since the value proposition is extremely high. The personal training fee is much higher than the gym fee itself,” said Ojha. About 50-55% of the people want to come back to the gym as per an internal survey, said Nikhil Kakkar, the chief operating officer at Gold's Gym, which runs about 150 gyms in 95 Indian cities. However, they will look at capacity limiting. At US-headquartered fitness chain Anytime Fitness, which has 87 centres in 32 cities across India, there will be gym reservation systems, sanitising stations, social distancing, AC and ventilation control, temperature checks and stringent cleaning protocols. All of these have been put up on the company’s website to reassure its 100,000-plus members. Ritu Agarwal, the CEO of Kolkata-based Rush Fitness Clubs with five gyms of 15,000-16,000 sq. ft each, said the last few months have disrupted the business. Of the 5,000 members, about 30% did not renew annual contracts when they expired. Now, she says Rush Fitness is ready with stringent SOPs to get clients back to working out.
Besides if you do have any questions give me a call: https://clarity.fm/joy-brotonath


Answered 4 years ago

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