How Melissa’s business turned exercise into profits

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The competitive landscape for MoveActive is very different from when Pain started the business back in 2009. In the years since the pandemic, new activewear brands are launching almost weekly.

“Back then, there were no competitors at all – I think I had the market for about eight years on my own,” she says. As the market has grown, MoveActive has been forced to evolve to stay essential to its customers.

The experience has highlighted lessons that founders can apply regardless of their industry.

“We have solidified loyalty and trust with our customers,” Pain says. “We have such strong customer service that we haven’t seen the impact on our business [from competitors].”

When MoveActive first encountered pressure from global competitors, the brand moved fast to make sure its product was better quality and a better fit for customers.

“The only thing that we could do was be better… we really analysed our product and designs,” Pain says.

The business also worked hard to make a strong connection with its customers and find out the specific types of products they wanted. That relationship with customers, including MoveActive’s network of wholesale stockists, was what helped buoy the company during the pandemic period, where exercise studios across the country shuttered.

The brand worked with providers as they pivoted to online classes during lockdown. The team also took detailed feedback from consumers to shape an expanded range of clothing and accessories beyond grip socks.

“We have a very close relationship with our customers, and they basically tell us what they want. They are the ones buying our products,” Pain says.

Fifteen years on from launch, MoveActive’s core team remains in Melbourne where they design the company’s newest collections.

The brand now has a global reach, however, selling into multiple markets and providing its socks and other accessories to 6,000 different stockists.

Despite expanding the company’s reach, Pain’s approach to customer service and building a community remains unchanged. She believes first-time founders should not lose a personal touch.

“If you’re founding this on your own, make sure you are the person on the other end for customer service,” she says. “As a founder now, I look at the [customer service] chat every five minutes. I want to know what people are saying.”

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The fact that consumers get to know the team has helped drive customer loyalty during a time when shoppers have more and more options for buying exercise products.

“I think people really want to support their local communities…I think Australians are supporting local brands,” Pain says.

“The international ones [brands] that are coming over here aren’t having as much of an impact these days.”

This story was created in partnership with Google. The content is independent of any influence by the commercial partner.