There are not many fitness equipment brands in the world that decided to combine functional fitness equipments with classical ones at the same time. But we are one of those crazy few that chose this road, and this is how it happened.
It all started with the idea of the production of sports equipment in Europe
8 years ago, when KingsBox was still just an idea on paper, two young CrossTraining enthusiasts came up with the vision in mind to produce equipment in Europe. Even tho, most people saw an overfilled market, those two young boys saw an opportunity for growth of personal knowledge about fitness, production, development, marketing, and many other fields, alongside the company’s size.
The idea became a reality
Only a year after the first ideas on paper, KingsBox started producing basic rigs and racks in Slovenia. They were very simple – with some racks, pull-up bars, and the only accessory option being J-cups.
But this was just the beginning of something bigger. Customers started noticing the quality of our products and our growth-focused mindset, so it was easy for us to sell our equipment and to get new employees who were prepared to work hard. We were all working towards the same vision where every person in Europe will have the option to become the best version of themselves. Everyone who joined our team was 100% committed to working hard and learning as much as they could to grow into a better person.
Not only a European company but a worldwide one
In just 6 years, we have become one of the biggest European producers of strength and conditioning equipment. And that was a sign to expand our goals and adjust our vision. Of course, our vision was not fully accomplished yet, but regardless of that, we decided to reach beyond European borders and become a multi-continental company.
We opened an office in Dubai in 2021 to handle the Middle East Market. To tell you the truth, it was a bigger challenge than we imagined. The demand from customers was high, but the UAE bureaucratic system didn’t issue us a VAT number, which meant we couldn’t sell any equipment.
We tried everything, but in the end, our only option was to wait. Some of our customers were not that patient and chose another brand’s equipment. After 12 months after opening the company in Dubai, we finally got the VAT certificate, and fortunately, we managed to survive without having to let go of any of the employees.
Expanding the market and product development at the same time.
During that time, the European market was really booming. So our research and development team grew from 3 people to 7. We had plenty of capital to start a new project – commercial gym equipment. In just a year, we were able to show the world our first machine: The Mad King in the new commercial line the Mad Series. It is not just a Leg press, but it is an Angled Leg Press Machine that has 2 options for the user. You can use it as a single-legged leg press, but you can turn it into a classic leg press with just one move. This is the first leg press in the world to combine those 3 concepts in one machine. If I’m 100% transparent with you, we were not completely sure how our customers would react to this innovation, because they saw us as a cross-training fitness equipment provider, but deep inside, we knew this was the right path to follow.
The beginning of Kingsbox’s commercial line of equipment
During that time, we started thinking about opening a third office in the UK. While doing our homework, we spotted a new growing concept in the fitness industry market that combines the functional area with a commercial classic fitness area. This concept was already expanding in Europe, but we were not 100% sure of it until we entered the Middle East and the UK market. It was proof that we were on the right track.
Adjusting our development team
The next logical step for us was to divide our engineering team into 2 sectors: commercial and functional. We also found the best trainers and mentors in the business to speed up our learning time. We know this is a different market with companies who have more than 30 years of experience, so we must learn fast and work even harder than them.
But with our knowledge from the development of functional equipment, and the best engineers on the market, we can create a different concept of strength machines, which incorporates much more human biomechanics and the raw design of the equipment, which is our signature style from day one.
Each machine has its own personality.
We decided that each new machine will have a name, a face, and a soul. That’s why you will see every KingsBox Machine name and logo stitched in the leather pillows as well.
After presenting The Mad King Leg press and the Crazy Queen Leg Extension/ Leg Curl, we got a lot of pre-orders. The number of machines we needed to produce was so big that we needed to rearrange the assembly line and systems of production. Our hard work finally paid off, and it gave us new energy to work even harder and learn even more.
Feedback from customers is the most important for us
Based on our customers’ feedback, we made small updates on the designs of the machines super quickly. That was important for us because customers were the ones using the machines for more than 16 hours a day, and we wanted to make those machines the best that they could possibly be so we can beat our new competition in the long run.
We started the KingsBox strength machines sector just as a small side project, but it has grown to unexpected proportions, just like the KingsBox brand was born 7 years ago from a small student project.
We will never stop designing, learning, and innovating because this is who we are, this is in our DNA.
Stay tuned for more Mad Machines.
Author: Dejan Kobal, CO-CEO, Head of Marketing & Innovations
