Vancouver firms pumped by fitness tech - Vancouver Courier

Farid Dordar was flipping through a magazine at a hotel in Mexico in the 1990s when he came across a back-page ad for a company claiming it could teach him computer programming in 10 minutes.

“I inserted a CD right then and there into my laptop and started coding my first application,” recalled the former world kickboxing champ, who at the time was running his own martial arts school in North Vancouver.

He wanted software to help with the billing, booking and scheduling for his gym. Nothing existed, so he built his own after teaching himself to code.

“When I saw the potential, I started separating my office because I was coding in the back office of my school,” Dordar said. “I was [creating] a software business instead of running a gym.”

Fifteen years after PerfectMind started as a member-management tool specifically for martial arts schools, the company has expanded to offer platforms for recreational management, yoga studios, salons, gyms and music schools.

About 100 employees work out of its North Vancouver headquarters, and Dordar said PerfectMind has “grown tremendously” the past three years after signing on larger clients, including the Richmond Olympic Oval, the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District and U.S. health-care provider Sanford Health.

But the rapid expansion of Canada’s fitness industry has also pushed growth at other tech companies zeroing in on this niche market.

The health and fitness clubs industry generates revenue of about $3 billion annually in Canada and employs about 50,000 people across 4,000 businesses, according to a report released in January by IBISWorld.

“[The industry] is currently in the growth phase of its life cycle,” the report said. “Over the 10 years to 2020, industry value added, which measures an industry’s contribution to the overall economy, is expected to grow at an average annual rate of four per cent.

“Comparatively, Canada’s GDP is forecast to grow at an annualized rate of 2.2 per cent over the 10-year period. The industry is growing at a faster pace than the overall economy, which is indicative of an industry in the growth life cycle stage.”

The industry has always been competitive, according to InTouch Technology CEO Sandra Wear. But the biggest difference over the past decade, she said, has been the rates of adoption of technology both by health clubs and their members.

Wear’s Vancouver-based company, which develops software that helps fitness clubs retain members and generate consumer interest, was founded 10 years ago, before sales force automation exploded during the smartphone revolution.

And just as clubs are now looking to technology to keep clients and find new ones, those same clients are donning wearables like the Apple Watch or the Fitbit to constantly remind them of their activity levels.

“We talk about it like the gym that moves with you,” Wear said, adding it’s up to technology developed at InTouch to help clubs connect with members even when they’re not at the gym.

This means using the software to create text-message marketing or social media campaigns that help members earn a free pass if they recommend a gym to a Facebook friend.

“This industry, although very competitive, also wants to help [members get fit],” Wear said.

Meanwhile, Vancouver’s Recon Instruments is zeroing in on athletes donning those wearables to track their own personal physical activity.

The company is the first to develop a heads-up display specifically for those who want to check performance metrics like heart rate or distance travelled through high-tech goggles instead of glancing at their wrists.

Its first product, the Recon Jet, launched in April about two years after the company began offering pre-sales on the device.

Co-founder and CEO Dan Eisenhardt said last year part of its success would rely on focusing very narrowly on a niche market.

“If we’re saying wearables [are] going to be driven through health and fitness, then there’s no better place on the planet than Vancouver.”

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An App That Makes You More Social!

What type of Software do I need to grow my business? How can I get my website to generate more leads? I keep hearing how social marketing is what every successful business is doing, how do Itap into it? It can be very overwhelming to face these questions, and ifyou are feeling that way right now and are trying to keep your website, your social networks, and your contact management software all up to date - we have an app that does it all for you in one place:It's WebSocialR from PerfectMIND!

Let me explain; A few years ago, a strong domain name, and a balanced set of marketing campaigns were the essential components in generating new customers. This is because back then, people bought from the companies that managed to rank high in search engines, and had an easy-to-navigate professional website. In short - people used to buy based on what company presented itself the best.

In today's business world, people no longer just buy that way! They also buy based on what their colleagues recommend. It is crucial that you get people involved in your business and develop a network of loyal customers.This has already been illustrated by politicians and companies with strong social media representation. Simply put, the companies with the most fans and followers are the companies who will survive in the new world of social business. Unfortunately, starting late on this could mean ending soon, however, PerfectMIND new WebSocialR can help!

WebSocialR has been engineered in a way that not only makes it easy for you to grow your customer network and social networks at the same time, but it also reduces your business expenses by converting your sales and marketing departments into self-serve entities that your customers can interact with on your website.Just having a website with a shopping cart to sell your products and a few lead forms scattered amongst different landing pages will no longer be effective. You need to allow your customers to interact with your website and the database, this way they can easily refer you to others, share your company blog posts, and interact with information that is relevant to them.

WebSocial turns your website into an interactive hub where your customers are encouraged to write comments about your products, and share them back and forth with their friends on social media network sites like facebook or YouTube.

WebsocialR allows important information about your customers seamlessly to be shared with you - learn what other companies they are working with based on patent pending profiling permission and win more bake-off's by knowing what to do proactively.Your customer database is currently in isolation! This is a problem we would like to solve for you with WebSocialR. It has too many great features to list in this post, but here are the 5 most important!

• Create apps that work with both mobile and desktop browsers, or choose from our app store, the process is much quicker and easier than you would expect!
• Book Me app - An app that makes your online booking simple for your product tours, event booking, sales webinars or any type of booking for your business calendaring needs.
• Customize your business apps to act differently for your website guests vs leads or customers - Pick and choose what you want to be shared in your social media channels
• Create and share graphical reports with your website visitors, make it easy for them to see what your most popular products or services are and who "likes" them. Visitors will be able to see who in their own network has worked with you as well as outside of their network. Imagine the buzz...

Congratulation, President Obama!

I was 22 when I tried to get a visa to go to the United States of America. Unfortunately, because of where I came from, they denied my entry to the country, so I ended up going to Canada instead. I always wished to live in the USA, not because Canada is not a great place to live, but because I always felt that I could achieve more in the United States of America. I am now a Canadian Citizen, but never stopped looking at doing business or traveling to the United States!

I became friends and did business with many great Americans and developed a strong sense of affinity for the country. I followed their politics like I was from the U.S.! When 8 years ago President Bush got elected, I was very disappointed, because I did not believe in his policies and belief. And when 4 years ago he was re-elected, I knew that things in this world would no longer be the same! I had a hard time seeing happiness and unity for this world and this great country once called The United States of America!

This year with Barack Obama, I started gaining hope, that this once great nation has now a chance of coming back! Every time I traveled to the USA, I started talking to people. I started doing my part of promoting The Change that Barack Obama was talking about! I would ask clients, Cab Drivers, and even Hotel clerks to vote for him! It was a little strange for people, when they found out that I was a Canadian Citizen and asking them to vote for Obama!

Tonight, I am very proud of Americans for their decision! This great nation once again proved to be a country of Democracy, Opportunity and Hope! Congratulations to all of you! Because of your decision, we will be living in a better world no matter where we are from!

A 1000 days of Pushups!

I started a 1000 days of pushups, or a 5 minute work out, everyday for 1000 days-- whether sick, tired, or traveling-- on July 1st 2008. I started this work out in the mornings starting with 40 pushups, 70 squats and 50 sit ups.

Every week or so, I would add the number of repetitions, and that’s only if I felt like it. It’s amazing how our mind can achieve this personal power with just 5 minutes of workout a day. Now after 40 days I am at 80 pushup, 150 squats and 100 sit-ups.

When I started this, I wasn’t thinking just about building more muscles but the ability to discipline myself for 1000 days. I think our minds and bodies are very much connected and when you get the body into working, you start feeling better, work better and simply do better in all aspect of your life.

Since July 1st, I have also encouraged my parents, friends, students and employees to do the same…I think it’s about 40 of us now that are on this “1000 day pushups” routine (By the way, I have lost 5 pounds of pure fat and now it feels better looking at my self in the mirror as well. A bonus I didn’t expect).

Push ups work out your triceps, biceps, chest, lats and back muscles. You don’t need to go to the gym, you don’t need any equipment and because the workout only takes 5 minutes, you don’t have any excuses that you didn’t have time.

All you need is a strong desire to reach the goal of a 1000 days and stick with it, because when you do, you will feel so good. Join me in this 1000 days of pushups and send me your feedback!

“PerfectMind” Platform as a Service

After months of research for a name for our new project development code named “G4” we finally found the best name to represent this new phenomenon—“PerfectMIND”. In its core, “PerfectMIND” allows one to create applications in hours rather than months, and brings together the minds of others to collaborate in building and sharing applications and services.

We have finally completed the first version of the platform and now we are building applications for the martial arts and other Fitness and Health industry businesses using the PerfectMind platform. Users around the world can now try the platform with a few applications ready to go. More applications will be added to the Platform Application Directory (Mind Exchange) as we get closer to our first version of our martial arts vertical application.

One of the most unique features of the PerfectMind platform is that you can build applications across multiple verticals. For example, the planner App will be customizable to all types of businesses. With the PerfectScan Application you can use it to track student attendance, scan a bottle of pop from your retail shop or use it to scan an employee to keep track of his time sheet. All applications within the platform have been built to allow for greater flexibility and customization.

The upcoming application will be available in the Mind Exchange market place:

• CRM
• Martial Arts Solution
• Event Management
• Task Management
• Billing and Invoicing
• Attendance
• Scanning
• Campaign Management

We have designated separate teams working on PerfectMind Platform and specific vertical applications and Services. This way, we will ensure both the progress of the platform’s functionality and fulfillment of different industries’ needs.

PerfectMind Service Connect will allow you to connect and use all types of services like Payment Processing, Voice Broadcasting, Mailing, and Payroll without writing a single line of code. We are expecting the first public release of our platform and Martial Arts applications in early fall.

"G4" Comes to Life!

Dear Fellow Readers.

You may be wondering why I haven’t posted on the blog in recent weeks. Its not that I have forgotten you guys… Its that I, along with the entire team, have been working around the clock to deliver on what we’ve been promising you for the past 2 years – and now on a much bigger scale than once thought.

Here is a video of our PerfectMIND ( code named “G4” ) Alpha Release Party!

We’re almost there!

I look forward to your comments.

A Better Life Through Better Goal Setting.

In my previous post I spoke about the importance of New Years resolutions and goal setting, but what if you don’t know how to achieve your New Years resolutions or how to effectively set a goal?

Through years of attending seminars and reading hundreds of achievement-related books, I have learned a few things. Of all of the new techniques, methods and systems I’ve learned about, one of the most important skills I’ve picked up is how to set high goals and achieve them.

Below, I describe a method for achieving goals that I find to be incredibly effective. It works so well for me because it allows me to focus on the big picture and work towards it - I hope it works just as well for you!

Once you’ve read the article, please take a moment to post a reply. I appreciate your comments, your success stories and your wisdom.

Enjoy!

• Set 3 goals per quarter and try to achieve them. When goals are in 3’s, you will remember them by heart and can remind yourself of them more easily.
• Goals should not be what you do on regular basis or daily tasks. Examples of some things that wouldn’t qualify as goals are: call my leads, manage my team or shower every day.
• When goals are complicated, it is hard to achieve them… SIMPLIFY your goals. For example: “I want to make $1,000,000.00 this quarter” or, “I want to lose 50 pounds”.
• Have one strong reason or motive as to why you are setting these goals. People without a strong reason are far less likely to achieve their goals. You need to have incentives like looking good, getting married, obtaining a higher salary and so on.
• Goals are not tasks, when you start thinking in the level of tasks you are actually moving away from you goals.
• Goals can be broken into tasks. Tasks can be changed but goals can not. Goals might not be achieved on time but tasks should.
• Once every quarter, you must look at your goals and measure how close you are to achieving them as a percentage. You should analyze your goals a min of 2 weeks before the end of the quarter. You should know ahead of time if you will be able to achieve them. Do NOT wait until the time you have set for yourself is over before you analyze your progress!
• You should normally set your goals at a slow and relaxing time away from work. On a weekend or at night when you’re away from the office tends to be best. Being in a good mood also helps you to think logically and set realistic goals.
• Most people have trouble multi tasking. If that is the case with you, focus on one goal per month. Once you have completed that goal, start your new one. Also consider that there may be times you need to start all 3 of your goals at once in order to complete them before the end of the quarter.
• You don’t always have to be the only person to complete all of the tasks that are needed to achieve your goals. Sometimes they can be completed by other members of your team.
• All smaller goals and tasks should be categorized into the 3 main goals to ensure you’re focusing on the big picture.
• If you don’t’ achieve your goals in the first quarter, it doesn’t mean you’re a failure or a low achiever, you can always extend them into your next quarter’s goals - just make sure to achieve a minimum of 60% of your goals each quarter!

I hope this helps you achieve more by bringing a new level of focus to your goals! Please take a moment to ‘post a reply’ and share your thoughts on the article, goal setting or about your own experiences with setting goals.