{"id":41227,"date":"2023-10-20T15:12:30","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:12:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/melbourne-startup-fizeque-announces-a-major-pivot-how-to-know-when-its-time-for-a-change-in-direction-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:12:30","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:12:30","slug":"melbourne-startup-fizeque-announces-a-major-pivot-how-to-know-when-its-time-for-a-change-in-direction-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/melbourne-startup-fizeque-announces-a-major-pivot-how-to-know-when-its-time-for-a-change-in-direction-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Melbourne startup Fizeque announces a major pivot: How to know when it’s time for a change in direction – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Mark<\/div>\n

A Melbourne startup has announced a major pivot, moving away from fitness class booking to provide an on-demand platform for in-home massages.<\/p>\n

Fizeque launched last year offering an Australian version of ClassPass,<\/a> but co-founder Mark Sita says he decided to pivot away from this idea after spotting a bigger market opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe realised we could drive more volume in by creating this new innovative way to doing massage,\u201d Sita tells StartupSmart<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Some exploration of competition and other lifestyle service market models motivated Sita to convert Fizeque into a platform that delivers massage therapists to users’ doors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no online platform that was really dominant in Australia doing that,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Fizeque now lets users book licensed massage therapists anytime between 8am and 9pm daily.<\/p>\n

Customers can request services, make payments and receive push notifications via the platform and all therapists are screened before being accepted onto the platform.<\/p>\n

Fizeque\u2019s main source of revenue will be the commission it makes from bookings, which is set at 18% at the moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re open to kind of seeing how the market responds to that,\u201d Sita says.<\/p>\n

Sita says he is hoping the on-demand massage service platform will catch on and aims to have 1000 bookings a month within two years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we hit that, we\u2019ll be in a very, very good position,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Sita says he chose to keep Fizeque\u2019s name despite the change in direction because it fits in with their overarching mission of helping people live \u201chealthier and happier lives\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really liked the name and it\u2019s applicable as a brand on our various wellness services, ideally we want to do very well in one market and then build up from there,\u201d Sita says.<\/p>\n

Knowing when to pivot<\/h3>\n

On the incredibly hard journey of building a startup, Sita says that thinking big and having a vision has helped him stay committed to the cause.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to regret not doing it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the best time do it, it will be worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sita says that early on when the venture is quite small is a good time to test different options and markets.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was clear that there was a better opportunity and there wasn\u2019t too much work for us to transition into that,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur vision and mission didn\u2019t really change.\u201d<\/p>\n

But before pivoting it\u2019s important to consider how long it will take to develop the MVP and to justify whether it would be worth refocusing effort and resources on a new model, he says.<\/p>\n

And it’s crucial to keep your customers in the loop.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe made regular contact with all our users throughout the whole process, it was very manual, it was very personal,\u201d Sita says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really getting to know what the person wanted and learning how we could develop a product to them.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause they were happy with the service and experience, they stayed.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the big VCs say, execution is everything \u2013 it\u2019s easy to say but hard to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Follow StartupSmart on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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