Starting a business can be a lot like playing in a game of rugby: just when you think the touchline is in reach, someone comes along and knocks you off your feet. Gary Levin, knows this all too well as both a former professional rugby player and founder of soft drinks start-up VitHit. His 19-year business journey is a tale of perseverance, adapting strategy and tackling issues head on to build what is today, a profitable company.
Gary Levin founded VitHit after a knee injury ended his professional rugby career ‘I lost my house, my car, and, at times I thought, my sanity because of the business,’ he says. ‘Solicitors’ letters from creditors were the norm and at one stage, I couldn’t afford to pay my employees so I had to let them go.’ RELATED ARTICLES Previous 1 Next ‘My generation are labelled entitled and workshy – that’s… How I built a flower delivery business AND an investing app:…
From flight to fight! How a wrestling superfan launched… Would you eat salmon skin crisps? how can i start my business entrepreneurs landed… Share this article Share HOW THIS IS MONEY CAN HELP Five of the best accounting software tools for freelancers and small businesses But Lavin never gave into the temptation to give up on his dream and get a more conventional job – and it appears that his faith in the business has paid off. VitHit is now stocked in over 230 stores in the UK including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Boots, WHSmith and Marks & Spencer, costing around £1.40 per 500ml bottle. The range of low-calorie drinks blends together teas, juices, water and vitamins and comes in a number of flavours including apple and elderflower and dragonfruit and yuzu. The products are also sold in 15 countries including the US, Belgium, Spain and South Africa. More recently, the range has found its way down under after Levin struck a deal with Australia supermarket Coles to have the products stocked across 700 of its stores in the region in the beginning of the year.
VitHit blends together teas, juices, water and vitamins and comes in a number of flavours Levin is coy about revealing revenue and profit figures but said the company sold around 19 million bottles last year and is forecasting a 40 per cent rise to 28 million this year. ‘There were certainly dark times, but knowing what I went through makes me appreciate where I’m at now with the business that extra bit more,’ he says. Rugby player turned entrepreneur Levin’s professional rugby career came to an end in 1995 when he was 23 after he suffered a knee injury in pre-season training while on a pre-contract with Harlequins in England.
His injury meant that he wasn’t awarded a full contract, so he left the game aged 24. Levin says: ‘I was devastated – I was so close to playing at the level I wanted but it wasn’t meant to be. I remember thinking I can’t go through something like this again. I have to be control of my own destiny rather than letting an injury dictate my career. That’s what got me thinking about running my own business.’ Levin quit professional rugby in 1995 after suffering a knee injury in pre-season training while on a pre-contract with Harlequins Having been a consumer of protein and creatine products in his rugby days, Levin went on to import them and resell them in the late 1990s after hanging up his boots.