Jordan started her career as a Zumba and later a fitness instructor and when we met her, she had already been running her business for 5 years.

RiKaSysTemZ is a fitness and nutrition business, but it is also about encouraging emotional and psychological well-being through offering friendly, non-threatening sessions, and providing advice and help with accompanying nutritional education. Jordan herself had been through difficult times in the past which had sapped her confidence and so has a deep understanding of and empathy with her memberbase.

When the business started, it was from a rented premises – but the costs were very high and she struggled to sustain the business effectively. She experimented with some different models but now has one which works. She trains instructors for free and provides them with equipment, access to her routines etc – and then the instructor pays her a proportion of takings as he/she develops classes. There are systems in place to ensure quality of delivery is maintained.

The loan was to help her grow and to seize opportunities which she was creating – going into schools and expanding her network of instructors. There is now a network of instructors across the UK and a strong brand developing – RiKaShaKe® is a mini trampoline fitness workout and there are another 11 different RiKa class formats to keep her members engaged and progressing. The Klub is all about nutrition and provides an in depth understanding of nutrition to accompany the physical aspect.

The loan, inadvertently also prepared Jordan and the business for the introduction of the lockdowns. Part of the loan was invested into improving the online presence and as a result of the lockdown hitting, Jordan was able to take the whole business online and all of the members were able to continue with classes throughout the entire lockdown period.