SUN, SEA... AND SUCCESS!

Meet the women who saw business opportunities at the beach and went for it

- KATE GRAHAM

People were so keen to get fit, the classes just grew' 

Sarah Scudamore, 39, lives in Bournemouth

I live near the seven-mile stretch of golden sand at Bournemouth, and would exercise with friends at sunrise, using the seashore and promenade for our workouts.

The combined impact of exercise, fresh air and the mental benefits of being by the water was so uplifting. I'd trained as a fitness instructor and studied sports therapy at university, then got sidetracked in my career, working for a training company. But now, rediscovering my love of fitness coaching, I found more women were asking to join our group or just turning up after spotting us while on their morning run. Eventually, at my friends' insistence, I started charging for the classes, and Beach Club Sobo was born.

WEBSITE SIGN-UP

I was amazed to find that my growing group wanted to continue throughout the winter months. That's when I knew I had a proper business on my hands, and got a website built so clients could sign up for classes. I started going to local networking groups and signed up for free business training on a GetSet for Growth programme. In 2019, we went travelling round Europe for five months as a family, but I uploaded videos of the exercises to my site so my clients could keep fit.