Michael Haddin: Making a difference on the UAE fitness scene

Jay Asser 10:11 31/07/2014
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  • Building his business on passion: Michael Haddin.

    Haddins Fitness is not your run-of-the-mill gym. Located at Zayed Sports City and founded in 2010 by Michael Haddin, the centre aims to provide a different method to fitness, using a practical mindset to make exercising a part of everyday life.

    Haddin is a dedicated trainer in his gym and has a vast background in fitness and sport. Along with developing Haddins Fitness in Sydney, the younger brother of Australian Test wicket-keeper Brad worked as a cricket trainer  and strength/conditioning coach in Australia and India before arriving in the UAE.

    In Abu Dhabi, he’s broken into the highly competitive fitness industry and developed a brand that is enjoying success by using what he feels is the right approach.

    Ahead of the opening of their second facility in Masdar City next month – a complex complete with swimming pools and indoor and outdoor pitches – Haddin discusses the business of running his centre in the ever-growing world of fitness and how it separates itself from the rest.

    Why did you start this gym in the UAE and what were you trying to accomplish with it?

    I moved over here not to work initially. I came here six years ago. I had the same company back in Australia. My company similarly grew quite quickly. I didn’t cope with it as well back there and I kind of tried to do a lot of it by myself and I burned myself out.

    Here, I guess I noticed different things in the market that I didn’t think were being done particularly well. So again I got roped in and started again. The whole mission of what I was trying to do is to create more fun and  structured physical activities run by people that love what they’re doing. 

    I don’t want to bad-mouth anyone, but a lot of trainers over here, and in other parts of the world, aren’t necessarily in the industry for the right reason. We don’t pride ourselves on saying we have the best trainers. Yes, they’re highly qualified, but the main thing is they’re interested in making a difference which is why we’ve been successful. 

    It’s all functional fitness based. We don’t have any single muscle weight machines. It’s all free weights, ropes, tires, sledgehammers, carrying each other using your body weight, crawling, all those sort of things.

    On the business side, where do you see your gym right now?

    I think we’re doing better than most, but I think I’m a horrible businessman. I’m very good at what I do in fitness and it’s different than what I did back in Australia. 

    This time I’ve hired people who are good at business side of things, which means I can keep doing what I like to keep doing. The actual gym has been going for almost four years now and it’s in the last 12 months that it seems to have gone boom. I think it is all because of word of mouth. We don’t spend huge amounts of money on marketing. 

    But again, exercise can often be quite prescriptive. It’s tongue-in-cheek with all the stuff we do and we have a bit of a laugh and a bit of a joke. It’s about keeping it quite chilled, relaxed and fun, but making sure people still get the results.

    Has the philosophy of the gym changed at all since it opened?

    No, it’s always been the same. It’s always full-body functional fitness. It’s always been trying to push towards a class-based gym. 

    I would love to be able to do more stuff with kids, which we’re starting to build on. To be able to provide sports academies, kids sports leagues is another big thing; trying to create a platform for kids to actually show their skills. They train in all of these clubs, but don’t get the chance to play competitive football. So that sort of stuff is what we’re trying to do. 

    With the new facility we’re about to open, we’ve got that opportunity. We’ve got an indoor sports world, we’ve got a swimming pool and an outdoor small football pitch. That’s kind of the goal.

    Where would you say you are now personally from when you started?

    I think I’m a bit more relaxed about the whole thing. I’m very happy with where I’m at, at the moment. Business is going well. We’re not investing huge amounts of money. 

    I think one thing I’ve been happy with is that I did not take out huge loans to start the business. I worked for free for quite a long time. But I feel comfortable, I feel safe. 

    Having a good time and having that vibe is now rubbing off on everyone so I’m in a very good place. I don’t work crazy hours anymore. I’ve got a good support team around me and it’s the strongest staff I’ve ever had. Great trainers who’ve taken a lot of weight off my shoulders. I’ve got the guys helping me with the business stuff behind me now. So it’s a good spot.

    Being in a competitive industry, do you feel gyms have to stand out or do something unique to be successful?

    I think it’s personnel, it’s the people you have working for you. I think often people see this glamorous industry and want to own their own gym. The fact that I work in my own gym and I’m passionate is why we’re successful. 

    I think if someone came in, pulled my concept off me and didn’t have maybe the right staff below them, it wouldn’t work. I think it’s just the team that you have. 

    Other people can try and can probably use the same concept, but it’s making sure I get the right personnel to have it work. That’s the key, big time.

    Where do you see your gyms in the future?

    I would love to be able to look back and see something that I’ve created. But I want to be in a position to be able to leave it all, and it still works. I’m not going to be here forever, I do want to go back home. I see myself working towards that, but I want to walk away before the business crashes. 

    We’re obviously opening our second gym in Masdar City, which is all signed and sealed and approved with the sports facility. So we can do a lot more community sports and activities. 

    We are then opening a third one in town which is all hush-hush at the moment. It will be more fitness based, not the whole sports facility, but it will be in the city. 

    I don’t see much of a need for any more in Abu Dhabi. If I was to expand the business, I think I’d do it elsewhere in the Gulf. I wouldn’t go to Dubai because it’s so saturated.

    I’ve had three or four offers over the last three months to buy my company, but I have no interest in leaving it all. I have five more years I want to work here for. Gym-wise, just keep going and make sure the quality of the product doesn’t drop.

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