The founder of Coastal Fitness on why running your own business is a constant work-in-progress

Health and fitness may now be looked at as trendy, but Anthony Haynes—or “Ant” as he’s known by friends—was ahead of the curve when he discovered CrossFit back in 2012. Together with his brother Ed, he opened Coastal Fitness in North Point which quickly attracted somewhat of a cult following.

In our latest edition of the Tatler 10, a regular column where we pose 10 questions to Hong Kong-based entrepreneurs about their businesses, we asked Ant what Coastal Fitness means to him and what he loves most about running his own business:

1) What does Hong Kong mean to you?

Hong Kong is home. It’s a place that presents a huge opportunity as an individual and a business owner.

2) Summarise your business in one sentence.

Coastal Fitness is a community driven, results based company and we’re holistic in our approach and relentless in our pursuit of health and fitness for all. 

See also: The Tatler 10 With Vicky Lau

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Photo: Michaela Giles/Hong Kong Tatler

3) What is your proudest accomplishment?

Apart from establishing Coastal Fitness as the number one CrossFit gym in Hong Kong for three years in a row, I’m particularly proud of my own individual achievement in the sport of CrossFit. I placed 17th at the CrossFit Games Pacific Regionals in Australia. 

4) What do you love most about running your own business?

We have a great team that gels together to make Coastal Fitness run smoothly. It’s great knowing that the business model that has been created is changing peoples lives for the better on a daily basis.

5) What advice can you offer to other budding entrepreneurs?

All too often you see great ideas start off as a small, successful business, only to quickly fade into the background, never to be seen again. You have to be relentless in your pursuit to better your business and the service you offer. Also, I find that when you take care of your clients, they will take care of you.

6) As an entrepreneur, what do you think sets you and your business apart from the competition?

We are constantly evolving and adapting our team to make sure we’re offering our clients the best service possible. Every hour we spend with our 1-on-1 clients or groups are an opportunity to influence someone’s life. We strive to educate our clients to walk away from every session with something new and positive. 

7) Who inspires you and why?

There are far too many people to mention! However, you could say entrepreneurship runs in my family. My mother, father, sister and brother have all started their own business and run it successfully. So I have a good group of people around me who have all run or are running successful businesses.

See also: The Tatler 10 With Adrian Cheung 

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Photo: Michaela Giles/Hong Kong Tatler

8) Looking back do you wish you had done anything differently?

Hindsight is a wonderful thing which allows you to learn for the future. So rather than change anything from the past, I would rather learn from it to make the future better

9) What's your end goal?

I would love for Coastal Fitness to become the number one strength and conditioning facility in Asia. To have multiple locations regionally and to better the health and fitness industry as a whole. 

10) What are your words to live by?

“Take it easy ... and if it’s easy, take it.”

See more Tatler 10 interviews featuring Hong Kong entrepeneurs including Cheryl Leung, Joanna Lui and Brandon Chau.