"It’s an interesting idea, but it will never work.”

“Why?” I asked.

The Business Gateway advisor Marco replied: “Because it’s not possible to run a business from the back of a bicycle.”

Challenge accepted! This was back in 2005, and Griffen Fitness is still going strong. I look back on those early days with fondness and a touch of awe. For five years my fitness business entailed riding my bike to people’s homes and getting them fit with minimal equipment (what I could carry in a pannier bag). In all weather.

What Marco didn’t know was that even back then I had a clear vision of my dream fitness studio. But it seemed a bit pie in the sky; as I had never worked in the industry before, had zero client base, and was only recently qualified. My other option was freelance writing, but I could see (even back then) that paid writing jobs were dwindling, and the world was getting fatter.

From 2005 to 2010 I cycled around Edinburgh every day, originally working seven days a week. As well as personal training I taught aqua aerobics - cycling up to Gracemount, Drumbrae, Warrender and the Commy Pool, basically every pool in Auld Reekie.

My favourite classes were the Porty ladies, Leith Victoria (friendly and close) and the private members club at Drumsheugh. However, swimming pools were just watery stepping stones as I slowly built up a client base, savings and a professional reputation for Personal Training. I have always preferred 121 interactions, less distractions with better results than groups.

Around 2009 I started this column, writing about fitness subjects in an accessible and hopefully entertaining manner. That means I’ve penned over 150 Leither pages. Anyhow back to the story…

By 2010 I had a client waiting list and discovered it’s impossible to cycle on ice (we’d had two successive ‘big freezes’), so opening a studio was the next logical step. A shopfront had just been vacated below my flat on Balfour Street, so I hunted down the property owner and asked to lease it. Shaf Rasul or The Shaf, as he’s known to Dragons Den fans was, unbelievably, my new landlord!

My savings were swallowed in admin fees as we formed a Limited Company, so Griffen Fitness Ltd opened without fanfare or property alterations. I lost around 75% of my client base overnight. Turned out my Newtown clients didn’t want to venture down to darkest Leith. So, I started rebuilding the business with a hyperlocal focus.

And then the recession hit. So, I added qualifications and worked harder to become a more sought-after trainer. In my quest for global domination (or at least earning a living), I embarked on an Extreme Kettlebell qualification. And got a ‘slipped disc’ doing the practical exam. It was so bad I couldn’t even do press ups. I had no income protection. 2011 was a painful year, I had the responsibility of a premises but could barely work. Instead I wrote the Healthy Living Yearbook. We self-published at the end of 2011 and had a very fun launch at the Drill Hall with a space hopper race.

Publishing a book was a confidence boost and I loved doing instore events at Waterstones and Blackwells. I discovered it’s possible to carry a pop-up banner on a bicycle. All the books were delivered to shops by bike. It was great to be busy again. And slowly business started coming back.

In 2012 we launched pop-up shops at the Griffen Fitness studio – we had all sorts, from jumble sales to art exhibitions, hula hoop gatherings and parties. All to the backdrop of tram roadworks. We had a decade of digging outside the door, and briefly an area we called ‘Oafland’, where Carillion roadworkers would congregate. It was messy and awful.

Does anyone remember the hole outside Leith Cycle Co that was there long enough to have its’ own ‘Happy Birthday Hole’ celebration? (More than one! – Ed) Anyhow, the oafs of Oafland eventually downed tools and abandoned the project for awhile so we had some peace.

During which time, puppy Coco was adopted for the studio. Coco the fitness pug, her alter ego Jolly Jessie (that’s her show name if we take her to Crufts) stole our hearts and was my motivation to expand the business. From 2014 all I wanted to do was hang out with my dog in my studio, so corporate work got shelved, the opportunity to enter local politics (meetings too long and never dog-friendly) and off-site boot camps all got abandoned so I could hang out with Coco.

I did venture down to Downing Street on the back of Federation of Small Business stuff I was doing, but it didn’t feel ‘authentic’. About that time I read Malcolm Bradwell’s Outliers, which focused on how it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert at something. After a decade of PTing I was nearly an expert. Hoorah.

It became apparent that there were few local fitness experts. Even by 2015, I had been in the industry for a long time – over 90% of PT’s quit within the first years of setting up. So then and there I decided, no matter how tough it was, I would stick with what I was doing. In quiet weeks I’d write, hang with Coco and go to the allotment, and spend as little money as possible. Business improved from about 2016 and we bought the studio from The Shaf. Things were looking up.

It was about that time I interviewed the legendary Queen of Leith Mary Moriarty in her kitchen for this very magazine, and she inspired me to join in the fun. I volunteered as a Board member of Leith Festival and learnt the ropes. Coco was always welcome in the office, so I spent even more time there and eventually became Festival Director. By 2019 I was running a fitness studio, and a festival. It was a bit bonkers and as close to burn-out as I’ll ever get.

And then lockdown. Enforced rest. Studio closure. All sessions cancelled. No festival. Aaaaah, pivot!

Adding webcam workouts from my kitchen, and writing a new book - Get Fit & Enjoy It - which taught the methods I was perfecting in the studio; helping reluctant exercisers get fit in an enjoyable and effective manner… without a gym.

At this point, leisure facilities were all shut with no indication of reopening. In fact, every business reopened on Leith Walk before us. But, after lockdown, people started realising that you don’t need to go to a gym. What I was teaching in the studio has gone from being leftfield in 2005 to the new normal.

Teaching home exercise was a great justification to make the studio more lounge-like, even serving homegrown mint tea to clients. By this stage the Leith Walk roadworks were a part of everyday life, the noise of slab-cutters in the background.

Imagine my surprise when I heard the trams rattling down Leith Walk. Finally, I could put on the website, ‘next to Balfour Street tram stop’. Believe me the ding of the tram bell is a better background sound than roadworks.

But what’s that? A concrete bench plonked right outside the studio door? No matter how long I’ve been around Leith Walk the actions of the Council never fail to surprise me. The bench directly and blatantly contravenes their own design guidelines for street furniture, no matter that we can hear what folk are saying on the bench in the studio! So we gave it a gold ‘makeover’… There’s never a dull moment on Leith Walk.

The flipside of the dratted bench is that Griffen Fitness got to adopt one of the big rusty tram planters. Yes, the Arthur Street planter remains, and I’m implementing my recent horticultural qualifications to create a biodiverse planter with pretty flowers – it will soon be a listed asset on the Edinburgh’s Nature Network.

That’s the thing about running a microbusiness. It can be quite random. You’ll have hectic patches, you’ll have mass cancellations, get injured, have no money, have sudden good luck, unexpected bills, dodgy tradespeople but, overall, you’ll have the freedom to experience all these things and do exactly what you want to do.

It’s not easy but I persevere, and honestly, it’s my best life. Thank you to all the Leither readers who have supported Griffen Fitness over the years. Every time I falter, I remember that running a business is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. In twenty years

I’ll be 70 in 20 years-time and I plan to be running a lettuce farm.

Just watch this space. ■

info: www.griffenfitness.com

bluesky: @tracygriffen