The Small Business Project: Social media workout turns into subscription app

Monday, 30 March 2026

Lisa Fong shared her workouts for free on social media for 8 months - before turning her fitness endeavours into a paid-for service, with an annual turnover of half a million dollars.

The Small Business Project is a weekly series that shines the spotlight on Kiwi small businesses doing interesting and unusual things in their industries.

Christchurch entrepreneur Lisa Fong, 43, could see a gap in the market for fitness options that suited busy mums. The mum of four built Move It Mama with no venture capital or corporate backing, but rather a bustling Facebook page with a community of 5000 members. Fast forward 9 years, and Fong tells Aimee Shaw she is gearing up to double down on growth as she launches her first fitness app.

What has your venture set out to achieve?

Move It Mama came about before exercising from home was very popular. I had four children, very close together in age - my fourth baby was born when my first was five years old - and I lost my spark. I was in this motherhood trench, and I just didn't feel myself. I started trying to do some exercise at home with the kids around, and it made me feel so much more in control. I had a couple of friends that were intrigued, because it was kind of when exercising from home wasn't really as big a thing. I started helping them, then their friends, then I started this private Facebook group.

The workout was a 20-minute, high-intensity workout, when HIT [high intensity] training was really peaking. I called it Move It Mama. I was doing it throughFacebook Live so people could join me at the same time, and I would have my kids around so people would understand: ‘Oh, she can do this with her kids’.

Then we had a website where we uploaded the workouts. My dream was to have an app where it was just a one-stop shop, which we launched in December. Today, there's 15 workouts and we’ve got six trainers and a wide range of workouts and programmes.

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How do you make money from these virtual workouts?

For about eight months, I shared the workouts for free. But at some point I said to the group I might need to end the service because I needed to go back to teaching and earn money. But they urged me to make the workouts a business. So I launched it as a $10 per month membership in February 2018. With the app launch, we have 3000 subscribed app users and much more potential to grow.

Entrepreneur Lisa Fong with her four sons and husband, who has in previous years been battling cancer.

People can pay an annual, monthly or a weekly fee to subscribe. The annual fee is $240 a year, and that works out to be $20 a month, for the most affordable option, which is a lot more affordable than a gym membership.

How much time and money have you invested?

The website, and especially the app, has been a huge investment. The app replicated the Facebook community feel, but is more visually appealing, being bright and colourful, and we’ve spent approximately $100,000 on it, with ongoing continued investment. Our annual revenue is currently $500,000.

What’s the biggest challenge your business is facing?

Over the last few years, it's been quite hard to grow the business, with the cost of living and everybody feeling it. Everything is more expensive now, so subscriptions are one of the first things to go. Growth is a bit more of a challenge now, whereas at the beginning, it was super organic and it just grew and grew and grew.

What’s the biggest issue impacting your industry?

A lot of people are getting fixated on quick-fix pills or certain jabs and ways of training and they think that will be better, but at the end of the day, you’ve just got to find something that's sustainable and it's going to make you feel stronger and make you happy and help your ageing bones. A lot of gyms, competitors and pills are making us feel like we need this and we need that, when really consistency is key in the world of fitness.

What’s next for Move It Mama?

Lisa Fong is excited to expand her business - and has hopes to take the app global.

I want to continue to grow our subscribers and develop the app out further. Our subscriber base is in New Zealand, and I plan to put myself out there and do a bit of a tour to promote the app and brand. I said by September I want to have grown my subscribers to 5000.

I've got an incredible team. My sister Jess works for the business, and she is a powerhouse. I would be lost without her. Over the last couple of years, she has completely just taken on the business and taken that pressure off me while my husband was battling cancer, I wouldn't have been able to do it without her.

In three years’ time you will be …

I would love to conquer the world, and I have a huge drive to do that - I just want to build on what I've got now. I want to grow into Australia as well, grow the member base there, and then further afield to other markets.

What’s one thing you wish you’d known before starting the business?

The importance of having good systems in place, which I don’t feel we did to begin with.

Most helpful piece of advice you have ever received?

For something to be sustainable, you need to be yourself. There’s a quote about risk that resonates with me. “Ships in the harbour are safe, but it's not what ships are for”. That reminds me you've got to push for your dreams, and back that you can do it.

If you would like your business to feature in The Small Business Project, email Aimee Shaw at aimee.shaw@stuff.co.nz