Here’s a step by step guide to set up your own personal training business – the best part is that most of it can be done from your couch, right at home.
Get certified personal trainers
You’ll need to hire certified personal trainers before starting your own business. Certification can take anywhere from 3-6 months depending on the state regulations. Most states require that personal trainers have some kind of certification. The certification process includes taking courses and passing exams.
Ensure that your hires have previous experience working as personal trainers with clients or at a gym. If you’re looking for clients who will pay for one-off sessions with no recurring costs (like one-on-one coaching), then certification isn’t necessary and won’t give you any more credibility than just having experience and expertise in the field.
Decide on a business model
First, think about what you want your business model to be. There are two types of personal trainers: independent contractors and employees of gyms or fitness clubs.
The risk with the former, is greater risk of freelance personal trainers not showing up for classes as there is less accountability. The advantage is that you can work with a wide variety of people with different skill sets and are not limited to the few trainers you hire. Having a set of employees as personal trainers though keeps your studio running and is good for your clients who need a more consistent approach with their workouts.
Evaluate your training experience
Next, consider what kind of training experience your instructor have and how much time they are willing to devote to learning about different types of exercises. This can make or break your business because if clients aren’t getting results from your sessions then they won’t come back—and that means lost revenue! You may need to consider investing in periodic training sessions for them to refresh their skills and bring their best to the studio at all times.
Get insurance
Once you’ve decided whether or not certification is necessary for your business model, make sure that you have proper insurance coverage. This will protect both yourself and your clients from liability issues in case something goes wrong during exercise sessions. You might also want to consider getting additional coverage such as life or disability insurance so that if something happens while working out with someone else, insurance will cover that.
Choose a niche that interests you
Since you’ll be spending so much time with clients, it’s important to choose a niche that really interests and excites you—you’ll need this passion to motivate yourself throughout the day! If you don’t know what niche might interest you yet, just try thinking about what types of exercise are fun for YOU personally. Try doing some research on different types of workouts until something piques your interest enough that you’d want to promote it every day for months or years at a time!
Set up your personal training studio
From finding and renting or owning a space depending on your budget to fixing chinks, working with a gym designer to set up your studio, there’s a lot that goes into starting a personal training studio. Setting up equipment such as dumbbells and exercise balls as well as purchasing any other items needed such as yoga mats comes next. Nowadays, you can get almost every kind of equipment and even rent some of the larger equipment if you’re on a restricted budget.
Invest in a studio management software
Leading fitness software provider, My Best Studio has a specialize fitness studio management software product that helps you manage class bookings and your studio schedule with ease. Plus manage clients, employees, customize pricing packages and more. It also gives you access to comprehensive reporting so you can track the business performance of your studio and access to real time technical support at your fingertips.