Starting a business is never an easy thing, no matter what kind of business it is. But when you’re a one-on-one personal trainer running around town to meet your clients or work in a big box gym with barely any benefits then you know how exhausting that can be. It’s hard to sustain that lifestyle so that’s why a lot of personal trainers decide to take the plunge into starting a fitness business of their own.

So how do you go about starting one? Here, we lay out the steps you need to take to successfully set up your business so that you can start profiting ASAP.

Decide Your Demographics

The first step in starting your personal training business off on the right foot is to decide who your ideal client will be. This is probably the most important step as it will help you determine what kind of fitness studio you’re trying to create.

Are you looking to run a boot camp? Who would benefit most from that style of training? Are you more of a one-on-one trainer? What kind of client would benefit most from one-on-one? Could they afford it?

Not only will knowing your demographic/target market help you narrow down on what type of fitness business you want to run, it will help you to create an effective marketing message. And having an effective marketing message will help you get clients because they’ll feel like you’re speaking directly to them. Choose who you are going to serve and learn their language so you can demonstrate the value and benefits that your services will bring them.

Marketing is Vital

You can’t just build a fitness studio and expect people to just flock to it. You’ve got to market, market, and market some more- that’s why it’s so important to know WHO you are marketing to.

Now if you don’t have much of a marketing background or budget, don’t get discouraged. There are tons of ways you can get the word out about your brand new gym without having to know or spend a whole lot. You just have to keep in mind that the #1 thing you need for effective marketing is a demographic or a niche. That alone will help focus in on your marketing campaigns.

Here are some low and no cost marketing strategies to get you on your feet: free Saturday boot camps (works best if you’re a group personal trainer), email marketing, social media marketing, contests and fitness challenges (must give away awesome prizes), Human Billboard method (train 20 people at a discount in exchange for referrals), giving out “bring a friend” certificate when someone joins your gym or signs on as a member, starting a referral rewards program for clients who bring in their friends and family, teaming up with local businesses to create a strategic partnership, become the “go-to” fitness expert in your area… just to name a few.

Brand Yourself or Choose a Franchise?

Taking all of this into consideration will even help you figure out whether or not it’s worth it to start your personal training business from scratch or if opening a franchise is a better option. Franchises are a great idea if you don’t have a strong business background because they already have systems in place to help you get your business up and running quickly.

They also allow you to profit faster than if you were to do it on your own. Another thing to consider is the fact that people prefer them over mom and pop shops because they are “more known”. A brand does a lot for your business so whether you not you decide to go with a franchise- building a brand is a big priority.

Results Matter, Price Doesn’t

Starting your fitness business successfully has everything to do with results. If you’re a sub-par trainer then your business will be sub-par and so will the results.

You’ve got to guarantee that clients will lose weight and look great, and follow through with it. Sure you can’t control what a client does outside of their gym time, but you’ve got to create a program that can stick to. And be realistic about it- if you know that a particular client will need at least 10 months of training to get the results that they say they want, sell them that.

Setting yourself up for success means that should never compete on price. Charging what the guy down the street charges will only hurt you in the long run and devalue your services. Make your fitness studio exclusive and charge accordingly- especially if you know you can deliver unbeatable results.

This entry was posted on April 7, 2014 at 3:34 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, Fitness Business, How To Start a Fitness Boot Camp Business by Steve Hochman | No Comments Yet