5 Tips to Starting a Personal Training Business

If only I could go back in time and take the lessons I learned the hard way when starting my own personal training business and just start over. I did make my fair share of mistakes. Some of them were small but a few of them were financially quite significant. Sometimes the  hard road gets us the best results because of the wisdom we gain through surviving these situations. Yes this is true. But to be honest if someone would have shared the five tips I’m about to share with you, that road would not have had as many potholes.

So here they are and you would be wise to follow them and avoid finding yourself falling into the same trap.

1) Start your business with a solid plan.

Starting a business without a plan is like starting to train for a sport without a workout program. It just doesn’t work if you want to achieve a goal. Most trainers leave the safety of part-time or full-time employment to strike out on their own and start a small independent business. You are the sole trainer, building your schedule to meet your income needs. But is that your goal? Is that the plan for your business, to be the sole trainer? Or are you looking to hire other trainers or sometime down the road open your own studio? If you have these type of goals then you need a plan in place on how you intend to achieve those objectives.

This plan can’t just be in your head. It needs to be written down with clear steps and objectives that are defined. We ask our clients to use the SMART principle of goal setting for their lifestyle and fitness goals. Now it’s time to apply this same principle to your business and follow it. The plan shall set you free because it is a blueprint of what you need to follow in order to be successful in your attempt to build your business.

2) Pick a lane and choose a target market.

I wished I had done this early in my personal training career instead of being such a generalist. If only someone would have told me that it would be easier to target a specific market then to try and be everything to everyone. Once I chose to become a fitness business coach, my business has exploded. All of my years of training and running businesses, (yes eventually very successfully) has led me to this niche market. It’s made marketing so much simplier and easier.

You may be worried that picking a niche will limit your client pool. I disagree. It will actually open up a market because you will position yourself as an expert in that market. If you aren’t clear who you wish to train, start compiling a list of clients or markets you aren’t interested in pursuing and this will help narrow your focus.

3) Watch your revenues and expenses closely.

This is the biggest business mistake I made and I made it three times. I get it now and I’m passing this along to you. If your personal finances are a mess, don’t expect your business finances to be any different. Create a budget and stick to it. If you are terrible at managing your credit cards then only have a $500 limit and only one card. Don’t spend money you don’t have. If you can’t afford to pay cash for it then think twice whether you really need it or not for the business.

Track your expenses and revenues closely. Monitor them weekly. Adjust your targets and projections so there are no surprises. If you’ve never learned how to prepare a proper business budget then I suggest you ask for help. You can consult with an accountant who can set up your business finances, take a course at a local community college or purchase a soft-ware program to help you keep track. Whatever you decide just make sure you have a handle on this because you can quickly find yourself out of business if you don’t control your finances. It’s a common mistake.

4) Ask for help right away.

Let’s face it, you can’t know everything so it’s best to accept this and ask for help. Yes you may have to spend a little to get it but in the end it will save you time and costly mistakes. For example, if running a business is new to you and there’s more you don’t know then know my suggestion would be to invest in a business coach. I’ve worked with many start-up businesses and I spend a lot of my time teaching the basics of how to run a successful business. Skills that are needed if an independent trainer is going to make it past their first year let alone grow a business.

Whatever the issue, if you aren’t sure how to proceed, ask for help.

5) Create exceptional service value for your customers.

I never made this mistake but I’ve seen other trainers make it and it costs them clients. Since clients are not easy to come by you can’t afford to lose them due to poor service quality. In order to stand out in business you need to create a culture of service excellence. I personally have service standards that are written out and I follow them in every customer interaction.

Work to create a “wow” experience for your customers and deliver exceptional value. I created a workshop called The “WOW” Factor for Service Excellence in response to trainers needing to meet this need.

Those are the five tips to starting a personal training business that I know will help you be successful. Are there more? Sure, but like anything you have to start somewhere.