What do you currently do?
I’m one of the founders of Active In Time, We specialise in health and fitness applications trying to inspire and motivate people to become active. We’ve been around formally for the last 4 years, we have 2 main applications in the market, a gym app called GymJam and our focus lately has been on our swimming application.
What we’ve created with AiT is an app that not only allows people to find their local pool but challenges them when exercising. Swimming lanes and laps can be quite boring, so we created this idea where you can set yourself a little challenges such ‘escaping Alcatraz’ and each time you go swimming you can log your swim and say ‘oh I’ve done 20 laps’ and that shows where you and friends are on that journey.
Unlike running and cycling where you have very sophisticated devices which you can carry with you to monitor your stats, technology has been very slow coming to the swimming pool. But things are changing now with tech such as the pebble smartwatch, and as more and more wearable devices come to the market we hope to change the store for swimming to reach the same level as running and cycling.
What is your inspiration in the business?
It was started by my partner Dan who was the original catalyst for the inspiration. Dan is originally a guy from the Valleys who came to London and couldn’t find his local swimming pool. This was during the time where the iPhone had just started and he thought it ridiculous and that really must be an easier way to find your local swimming pool.
He also realised that most of the local swimming pools didn’t have their timetables and their schedules available and that they would just be put up on noticeboards. What we did was give leisure operators a piece of software and a website that they can go into and update their timetables, so you always know whats happening at your local pool and when it’s happening.
Who do you admire?
We admire the real pioneers into what we do, so other entrepreneurs, particularly ones from across the pond, guys like Pebble who have a great waterproof smartwatch and on top of that they’ve done an incredible job of making the hardware. Of course we also look at people like Strava who have created really great products.
For us its less about individuals and more about the teams that create good services that we all use and love.
Looking back is there anything you would have done differently?
The biggest challenge I think we’ve faced is knowing when to keep something going and to preserve versus knowing when to say ‘no it’s not a good idea try something else.
What defines your way of doing business?
Part-heart part-head. You have to have the heart, the instinct and the passion to think that ‘this could be really good’ and then the head to think ‘how much am I prepared to risk’ in terms of the time you dedicate to a certain project. Its important to find the right balance and its never one without the other.
What advice would you give to someone starting out?
Don’t ever do it just for the money, always do it for something you’re passionate about. It’s a roller coaster ride where there are some really dark times filled with self doubt, but if you’re passionate about what you’re trying to achieve, then that will always get you through. If its just about the money then you might not make it through those dark times.
