Tips to Start A Successful Personal Training Business

Introduction

There are over 577,000 personal trainer business in the United States, and these companies employ almost 600,000 people.

The demand for personal training and related services is in part driven by rising rates of obesity and sedentarism in the U.S.

Fitness is being hailed in recent scientific studies as a natural yet powerful antidote to the sedentary lifestyle, which may be prompting you to consider making a business out of your passion for exercise.

If so, what considerations should you weigh up, and how can you offer something different and appealing so as to stand out against your competition?

Getting The Legal Considerations Out Of The Way

In order to bill clients legally, you will need to set up a legal structure that protects your personal assets in case someone files a lawsuit against you.

This is especially true if you are not the only trainer involved and you will be hiring staff. An LLC might be a good choice (since it limits liability) but you should ideally weight up different options with a lawyer, since the ideal structure depends on aspects such as the amount of capital, partners involved, and the like.

Additional legal considerations include registering and finding a legally approved space in which to attend to clients if some choose to work out at your home gym or in a dedicated training area of your choice.

Investing In Quality Insurance

In all fitness related industries, accident rates are higher than in sedentary jobs. This is because fitness trainers have to work out considerably themselves, and show clients how to use machines such as treadmills and circuit machines, which can be the site of falls and related injuries.

Personal trainer insurance is key if you employ other personal trainers, since you want them and your business to be well protected should they experience a work-related injury such as back or neck strain.

Compensation will cover aspects such as ambulance costs, physical therapy and medication, and a percentage of lost wages. Having this type of insurance will enable you to attract top talent.

Defining Your Target Market

Defining demand in your area will help you specialize in a field that is likely to bring in good returns.

If, for instance, you live in an area with a high senior population, then building a solid offer for activities like yoga, Tai Chi, and strength training for seniors may put you in high demand.

If you are catering activities to the working population, then HIIT or CrossFit may be where your market is at.

Investing in prior research is key; to do so, set up a website and use both online and email-based polls to glean exactly what people in your area are after.

Your Staff Are The Heart Of Your Business

It’s a sad truth, but although people resolve to work out as a key New Year’s resolution, only 8% achieve their aims.

Motivation is ultra important if your business is to succeed, and excellent staff are a fundamental pillar when it comes to keeping clients keen.

In addition to hiring fully qualified trainers, you should also look out for trainers with a background in psychology, as well as those who are good communicators that truly love being around people. Test the trainer out yourself for a session and see if they have brought out the best in you.

Foundational Tips for Succeeding With Your Fitness Business

A fitness business is one of the best business ideas for women out there, especially for those who are passionate about health and fitness.

The importance of health and fitness cannot be overstated and it’s a money-maker now, more than ever before.

You see, it’s no longer news that many of us want to look as fit as possible.

And for good reason.

Apart from how much more attractive fit people are, they are also healthier than those who are not fit.

That’s why many people keep trying to be as fit as they can.

That’s also why it has become one of the ways to judge how health someone is – how fit they are.

While it’s not always an indication of health all the time, it is… most of the time.

The healthier most of us are, the fitter we are. And the fitter we are, the healthier we are.

Again, it’s not true all the time, but it’s true most of the time.

It’s hard now to find someone who doesn’t admire fit and healthy looking people.

In fact, some people even use how fit someone is, to decide whether to date them or not.

Even if many don’t admit it to others, they admit it to themselves, all the time.

Problem is – it’s hard to do it all on their own. And it’s definitely even harder to do it all from home.

That’s why fitness businesses are so important, now than ever before.

It’s big business now helping to keep people fit. And this big business is only going to get bigger.

And yes, anyone can start this business, even YOU, especially if you are passionate about health and fitness.

If that’s you, this article presents 3 foundationally important tips to help you start and succeed with a fitness business.

Be Passionate about health and fitness

It’s obvious, isn’t it?

While a lot of money can be made with this business, you can make a lot more if you are actually passionate about it, before you even start.

You don’t want to go into a business you hate or have zero passion in. It will definitely be very hard making money from such a business.

Even if you do make some money, it’s hard to make enough to call the business a success.

And apart from all that, you won’t really be helping people if you don’t like what you do.

It’s also a good idea to practice the principle of “charity begins at home” when it comes to fitness.

You should first get fit yourself, if you are not already… before trying to teach or help others with your fitness business or as a personal trainer.

Sometimes just seeing you and how fit and healthy you are will encourage many others to join your business.

Even if you want to do your fitness business as one of those jobs for stay at home moms, you still need to be as fit as you can, to pass on the right message to your customers.

And all that won’t happen if you are not really very passionate about health and fitness.

So, yes, that’s the obvious and most important tip I have for you.

When you are passionate, you put your heart and soul into it, until it succeeds.

Even if things get hard along the way with the business (and they will), your love and passion will help you stick through, until you succeed.

And when your staffs see how much passion and love you have for the business, this can encourage them to stick with you, to make the business successful.

Have a plan of action before you start

While love and passion is important, you don’t want to go into the fitness business without any plan.

Your love and passion will keep you going, yes, but you need a plan of action to guide you through.

Your plan of action will gives you the necessary roadmap or guide, towards achieving success with the business.

It’s true what they say – those who fail to plan, plan to fail.

If you fail to plan your fitness business, then you plan to fail.

It can be as simple as that!

You can start your plan by researching what to do to make your business successful.

You can find out what others are doing or have done to make their fitness business successful and make notes to implement same with yours.

It could be even doing things like helping your customers make money while losing weight or something else more unique than other fitness centers are doing.

So, yes, your plan of action must include how you intend to market your business to reach those who are interested.

If you are able to reach and attract enough people interested in your fitness business, you are sure to succeed, especially if you provide them with a really good “value for money”.

They will always be happy to keep paying to use your services, if they get what they are paying for.

This obviously also means your plan must include how to make your business the best it can be.

You can check what other fitness centers around you are offering and plan how to make yours better in terms of equipment, training and of course deliverability.

The more time and effort you put into the planning stage, the more likely you will succeed.

Choose a great location for your fitness business

Ever heard the popular “location, location, location”?

While it’s more to do with real estate, it’s very true with a fitness business.

If you really want to succeed and attract as many potential customers as possible, you should choose a great location.

And what makes a location great can include:

• • It is situated around a busy shopping area
  • It has a lot of people traffic all around
  • Is easy to reach by any means of transportation
  • Is safe for people to get to and from, even at nights

As you can see, all these will make it far easier for you to get customers and make it easier for them to come and go, without problems.

Tips for Launching a Health and Fitness Retreat

While some personal trainers prefer to work out of gyms, there are others who think about bigger workspaces. If you want to offer your clients a complete health and wellness experience, you may want to open a retreat where customers can book in for a certain length of time. Here are some of the things you should think about if you want to offer this style of business.

The Right Staff

You need to make sure that you have staff that are extremely knowledgeable about multiple areas of health and fitness. Finding someone who is specialised in healthcare analytics will be incredibly beneficial as they will know how to track the data from your clients for best use. If your retreat is going to offer any sort of rehabilitation centre, you will need to have a healthcare analyst on your side for maximum success.

There are many other areas that need to be addressed when setting up a retreat. In addition to any instructors and wellness experts, you also need to spend time finding the right hospitality staff. A good chef and someone who knows how to make rooms clean and inviting should both be key members of your staff.

The Perfect Location

Where is your retreat going to be located? Many choose to open in remote locations far away from centres of civilisation. This allows them to concentrate fully on their patients and, in turn, their clients can take a break and get back to nature.

With so many diverse and wonderful places around our planet, you will have

your pick of locations. Why not set up a retreat on the edge of a desert and allow your clients to bask in the heat as they restore themselves? You could also choose a mountainous area like the American Rockies where there are plenty of trails they could head out on. You could even choose a small island off the coast somewhere and allow the fresh, sea air to invigorate them.

A Specialty

When setting up a health and wellness retreat, you need to decide what your specialty might be. In the early days, you may want to focus on your own speciality as a personal trainer. For example, if you are a bodybuilding coach, offering a special prep retreat to help customers prepare for shows and events could be popular and a unique business model.

As the business grows, you can bring in other specialists to help you offer a more general spread of health and wellness. However, in the early days, you should try to focus on what you as a trainer and instructor can offer clients.

Setting up your own health and wellness retreat will take a lot of time, resources, and passion. It is not going to be easy, but you may be able to craft an extremely positive and profitable business out of it. If a health and wellness retreat is your dream goal in this industry, start looking into ways you can make it happen today.

Conclusion

There’s a lot more to know and do, of course, to make your fitness business successful, but you can make your business a success with the right approach.

If you are not passionate about health and fitness and you don’t do enough planning before you start, and you don’t find a great location for your business, it’s very hard to succeed… even if you do many other aspects right.

If you have personal training qualifications or you are keen on obtaining them to start a business, after creating your business plan, paying heed to legal considerations is of vital importance as well.

If you use a locale, it should have approval for this intended use, and if you have equipment on site, it should be certified as safe.

Making a name for yourself by specializing will help you stand out from competition, as will hiring the caliber of staff that will bring you in many clients via word of mouth.

About Shannon Clark

Shannon holds a degree in Exercise Science and is a certified personal trainer and fitness writer with over 10 years of industry experience.