Becoming a Personal Trainer - Know the Big Picture of Your Business

By Matt Mc Dermott

If you are interested in becoming a personal trainer, or have just become a personal trainer, then most likely you have some advanced knowledge about the human body and optimal health.
Many aspiring trainers and recent training certification graduates, however, do not have an advanced understanding of the business side of the industry.

As a new trainer you have four primary routes from which to choose for your career:

• Working as an employee for a branch of a corporate-owned gym or other health-related facility, such as working as a trainer in the fitness center of a hospital chain
• Working as an employee of a small-chain (or independent) gym or health-related facility
• Working as an independent trainer where you train people in your own facility, their homes, or at a neutral site such as a gym where you pay a fixed amount or percentage for you to use the facilities
• Working as an online personal trainer and helping your clients over the phone and internet

While each route has its own challenges and nuances, they all share several similar functions. It is up to you to determine the best choices for you to meet these requirements. You can handle them yourself or have them offset by working as an employee and/or outsourcing these tasks to qualified professionals. In no particular order these similar functions are:

• Content: What information do you offer your prospects and clients? Do you offer free reports, books, ebooks, your expertise in one-on-one training situations, tele-seminars, etc?
• Continuing education: As time progresses and new developments are made in the health and fitness industry, you will need to continue your education. Do you have a budget for acquiring new knowledge, or is it something that your gym provides you?
• Prospecting: How do you get more clients? Does your facility do all the marketing and provide them to you? Do you have to go out and attract new business? If any of the responsibility is yours, do you have a system for continuous prospect generation?
• Finances: Do you have to create budgets for your training business? Do you have to handle insurance and taxes? Do you have other trainers working with you, and therefore have payroll and employee taxes concerns?
• Technical: Do you require any technology for your business? Are you running your own website in order to attract business and/or serve your current clients? If so, do you have systems for maintaining technical security and ensuring that your systems are up and running?
• Advertising: Do you have to create your own advertising or does your gym handle that for you? If you do your own advertising, do you test and track which ad campaigns work and which do not? Do you have to select which advertising and traffic-generating methods work best
• Legal and Compliance: Do you have to do the work to ensure that your advertising is compliant with all regulations? Do you have to set up your own Limited Liability Corporation or other corporate entity? Do you have to get business licenses? Do you have processes set up to prevent "spam" e-mails?

This is just the beginning of the list, and it may seem daunting at first. Just know that by becoming an employee of a gym or health-related facility that many of these functions are handled for you so that you can focus mainly on training clients and getting new clients.
Whatever path in the industry you choose, it is useful to understand the big picture so that when you become a personal trainer you have a greater appreciation for the business side of your industry.

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