Revamping The Fitness Industry; TC1

Meet James Cork, the proud owner of TC1, a fitness and supplement company focusing on whole-body wellness with a product line ranging from fitness equipment to vitamins and minerals and topical supplements.

James is very committed to physical health and strove to pass that passion on to others through effective products that act to motivate people.

“Your health is not an option – it is a way of life,” exclaims James!

Humble Beginnings

In 2014 James and his team began formulating the ingredients behind their now signature product, the Sweat Ignition Gel. 

“We were looking to create a unique product within the fitness industry to combat traditional thermogenics and workout gels that gave minimal results” says James.

James and his team had previously run online marketing campaigns for supplement brands. The success they created with the brands they worked with gave them the confidence to launch their own brand of unique fitness products.

“We saw how successful we could be in marketing other people’s products, so we decided to take the risk and gathered the capital to launch our own brand. What motivated us was the positive reaction we started getting to our flagship product, our sweat ignition gel,” explains James.

With positive feedback consistently coming in about the effectiveness of their product, they knew we were on to something. 

Early Hurdles

Although TC1 is now a successful brand, they did have their early struggles.

“Finding good people to run the business was hard. Not to mention the difficulty of finding enough capital to support our goals in the beginning,” says James.

The fitness industry is also notorious for starting new trends. So staying ahead of curves and trends in their market was always difficult for James.

“There are a lot of challenges in starting your own business. It’s important to persist through those tough times and believe in your goals and strategy,” James remarks.

James believes that finding a group of dedicated people who understand things won’t always go well and who continually work hard to help keep the business going is the best way to weather any storm.

Getting Ahead

In an industry as packed as the fitness niche, it’s important to have an outlying expertise that sets you ahead of the pack. 

“Our online marketing experience has allowed us to advertise more successfully than our competitors. We wanted to have a strong marketing team that could get our products in front of people when we knew we could produce enough products to meet the coming demand. Our team is also diverse in our skill sets and areas of expertise, allowing us to consistently think about our business in unconventional ways” states James.

James also touts TC1’s product research and development strategy as what keeps them ahead of their competitors.

But it has also come back to bite them a few times.

“Trying to get too creative with products has hurt us in the past. Extending outside our core products has been costly, but not very damaging. We don’t ever want to ‘stay in our lane,’ but we do want to always think critically about products we want to bring to the market” James says.

Now James and TC1 are working on growing their business through their core products. Through that they hope to find themselves in the top ranks among online supplement brands someday soon.

Closing Thoughts

The insight of any successful entrepreneur is inherently valuable. James recommends creating a good team and staying dedicated to your goals.

“Creating a great team is essential to the success of every business. We look for people with a strong work ethic and who are able to think outside the box and carry our message of innovation into all aspects of our business. But as a CEO, you need to be dedicated to your goals and strategy. Those goals may change, but the end result of creating a successful business does not.”

You can shop TC1’s signature Sweat Ignition Gel and other selections at tc1gelshop.com.