Even if you did manage to persuade your bank manager or your grandmother to help finance your business, at some point you’re going to have to think long and hard to come up with the most effective ways of personal training marketing.

 

A Business Loan Application must Contain a Solid Marketing Plan

Indeed, if you’re about to go cap in hand to your bank manager you probably already know you’ll have to draw up a solid business plan – and a large part of it must contain your personal trainer marketing plan if you want to get that loan.

How much are you going to ask for? This is a question only you can answer, but bear in mind that the majority of small businesses fail within their first three years, and very often because they’re under-funded.

You should have at least six-months of expenses tucked away, so you can pay rent, bills, insurance and marketing costs etc., and have enough money left over to eat, pay your personal bills and put gas in your car! You must be absolutely certain of how much you need to run your business and pay your personal expenses.

Your personal trainer marketing plan is going to be the clincher, so you will have to devise economical ways that will convince the dreaded bank manager that you know exactly what you’re going to do, without squandering vast amounts of cash on crazy ideas that will have little or no return on investment.

Hopefully he will understand the power of online marketing and how much you will be able to do yourself at little or no cost.  It’s pointless sitting there with a blank look on your face. Blind him with science.

Tell him how effective your fitness email marketing campaign is going to be and throw a few statistics at him if you can. Tell him exactly how you plan to attract and convert potential clients with freebies, incentives and special offers. He probably already understands how much of a need there is within today’s society for your services – your job is to convince him to back you financially.

Take your tablet and show him the bones of your website, and explain your plan for other online marketing options, such as using social media, video and guest blogging to increase traffic to your own site. Use graphs and graphics to show you’ve put a lot of thought into what you intend to do.

Offline, you’ll explain, you will be using the power of personal recommendation and you’ll be leveraging other relevant local businesses to build your clientele. Any business to do with personal grooming such as hairdressers, spas and health food stores can offer a very cost effective way of personal trainer marketing and your intention is to build a network of referrals by using the power of personal relationships and reciprocity. Show him examples of your good quality business cards and well-thought-out printed literature.

Your bank manager may never have been asked to help finance a personal training business before and if so, you’re basically educating him and pitching your ideas. He may ask you some odd ball questions – so be prepared. If he’s a good bank manager, he will also offer advice. Be sure to listen and make notes.

If he says yes, then take the opportunity to market your fitness training business to his employees with a killer special offer, and have the information with you, ready to roll.

 

I Will Need Help

The bank manager wants to see you succeed, if only so the bank recoups its loan within the specified term.  It is important to mention that part of the loan will be used to hire a qualified assistant.

It’s simple math; by hiring an assistant you will be greatly increasing your own earning potential.  You will pay her only a fraction of your hourly rate to do all the administrative and everyday grunt work, while you’re bringing home the fat bacon.  You’re already talking about growing your business, and offering local employment opportunities with sound economic potential and returns, and that’s a big plus point.

If you intend to rent a facility, there will also be the questions of equipment costs. You could also discuss the advantages/disadvantages of buying outright over leasing or renting. He may offer you a way to purchase that capital equipment via a business credit card at a preferred rate.

 

Setting up Systems

How do you intend to pay your taxes? What or who will you use for your basic accounting needs? How will you keep track of your day-to-day activities? These are all basic questions that may be asked – so be sure you have the answers.

What is your vision for the future? If you’re in a large metropolis you may even be thinking about opening a number of branches, franchising, or adding a boot camp business in the near future. Tell him everything and get him as excited and involved in your vision as you are.

If the bank manager sees the potential for your fitness business to grow - and your enthusiasm – plus you give him all the right answers to his questions, you’ll probably have a friend for life.  So knowing how you’ll be going about your personal trainer marketing now and in the future, is essential.

 

Market Research

Another thing that will back your application will be some solid market research. It may even effect or change the way you look at how your business is going to develop, even before you ask for that loan.

Do you have a large niche market in your area? What is their average age? What is the median income in your area, (so you don’t over-price your services)? What is your target market aiming to achieve? Is your specialty weight loss or overall physical health, or are you aiming at helping athletes achieve better physical capabilities?  What local competition do you have? How do you propose getting a lucrative slice of that market? (Back to your personal trainer marketing plan again!)

If you aim to market to a specific niche it will require more targeted and specific types of marketing – and you’d better know what that’s going to be, even if you’re not asking the bank for a loan.

Knowledge is power and the better you know the answers to his who, what, why, and when questions, the better it will be for constructing and implementing your personal trainer marketing plan.

Learn more about Fit Body Boot Camp and see if a franchise opportunity is right for you.

 

This entry was posted on September 10, 2012 at 12:15 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Posted in Boot Camp Business, Boot Camp Marketing, Boot Camp Strategies, Fitness Marketing, How To Start a Fitness Boot Camp Business by Steve Hochman | 1 Comment