How to Start a Personal Training Business

Part 1 - How to start a Personal Training business - Background

Personal trainers work with individuals to help facilitate diet and fitness goals. Personal trainers help a variety of individuals to achieve diverse goals regarding their health. This may involve creating custom workouts and diets as well as helping to establish specific goals for clients who aren’t sure what they need to do next.

You may also be interested in additional side hustle ideas.

Our guide is in 3 parts:

• Part 1 - How to start a Personal Training business - Background
• Part 2 - Our planner tool to see if this idea is the right fit for you
• Part 3 - Action plan to get started

What are the costs involved in opening a personal training business?

The costs involved with opening such a business are minimal. The certification you may require should cost no more than $2000, with some programs being as low as $500. You will need to purchase liability insurance, and this should cost no more than $200-$300 a year. Because you will be meeting with clients at areas that they choose, you don’t have to worry about the pricey overhead of a separate building or its various utilities. In fact, your only other real cost will be any equipment that you purchase for your clients, and this will change based on specific clients and their specific needs. Plus, you should be building in equipment costs into your hourly rate (more on that later). Finally, factor in about $1000 for some initial advertising—this will be in the form of professional fliers, business cards, and possibly newspaper and radio spots. Never neglect the potential of running a website and having a social media presence,as both of which can be done with little to no cost and help increase your visibility.

What are the ongoing expenses for a personal training business?

Perhaps the greatest thing about a personal trainer business is your minimal ongoing expenses. Pretty much all you will regularly pay is the monthly contribution towards liability insurance (between $200-$300 a year), any fuel costs for traveling to clients, and the cost of the equipment that you buy. And, as mentioned above, there are different pricing structures that allow you to absorb these costs, effectively reducing your ongoing expenses to nothing more than the insurance.

Who is the target market?

This job involves a more diverse clientele than almost any other job out there. Generally, though, the best clients are younger clients. The main reason for this is that they are likely to schedule more sessions (leading to more money for you) and, if they like you and stay in the area, may be a regular source of income for you and your business for years to come. Such loyal clients can also help recruit more clients for you in the form of inviting their family and friends to contact you.

How does a personal training business make money?

Personal trainers make money by charging their clients for sessions. This is typically an hourly charge and the sessions are usually an hour. You may consider charging extra for travel to the client or offering specials where a client can pay a certain amount up front for a number of sessions.

How much can you charge customers?

As with many jobs, the exact amount you can charge your clients will vary based on the area that you are in and the full breadth of services that you offer. For instance, some trainers suggest charging a fixed $85 an hour, and they believe this cost is justified based on both your experience as well as your willingness to buy the clients whatever equipment they require (which can become an expensive proposition based on the client and the equipment). Others recommend either charging different amounts for different services (with the knowledge that some forms of training is more expensive and/or complex than others) or to negotiate a price via an open pricing model (which may let you factor in things like whether it will take 30 minutes to travel to a client and then 30 minutes to travel back, which eats up an hour you could spend training someone else).

How much profit can a personal training business make?

Obviously, the exact amount of profit that you can make comes from the intersection of your average hourly charge and the amount of customers that you have. The average amount that a personal trainer makes is about $50,000 a year, and a steady array of clients means that you could potentially double that amount and then some. Keep in mind that the previously-mentioned low overhead and low cost to start this business are also major factors in how much of this money goes directly to you rather than to the costs of your business.

How can you make your business more profitable?

As your business picks up steam, don’t hesitate to raise prices. Even a modest increase in your hourly charge can contribute greatly to your bottom line. Consider taking on additional roles for your clients, such as selling them valuable supplements or specialized equipment: this helps establish you as their “one-stop-shop” for fitness. Finally, consider creating an automated payment system, as it helps establish your desire to work with regular clients and makes payment more convenient for those who are suitably committed.

Day-to-Day and Growth

What happens during a typical day at a personal training business?

The daily activities of a personal trainer are very straightforward, though they may vary based on the client’s needs. The vast majority of any given day involves traveling to where clients are and then conducting sessions (typically one hour sessions). This means, potentially, a lot of driving and using phone calls or text messages to coordinate with the different clients. The actual sessions can have very diverse content—some sessions may involve helping elderly clients recover from surgery using pool exercises. Other sessions may involve helping younger clients achieve their coveted beach body through a variety of cardio- and strength-training exercises.

What are some skills and experiences that will help you build a successful personal training business?

While a formal education is not required, having a personal trainer certification may help you secure more clients and is likely a requirement to become a personal trainer in your area. Personal experience working in anything related to the fitness industry can also be a major benefit as you are getting started. As mentioned earlier, special exercise and diet regimens you have developed for yourself in the past can help you customize these things for your clients, and being a healthy, visible member of your community will help your community look to you as an authority on matters of fitness and health.

What is the growth potential for a personal training business?

The growth potential for a personal trainer business is very good, as the field is expected to grow at a steady rate for most of the next decade. It helps that more businesses and governmental institutions are encouraging healthier lifestyles and offering additional benefits to employees who work towards this goal.

What are some insider tips for jump starting a personal training business?

One way to stand out from the competition is to specialize in one or more areas. Instead of being a “jack of all trades” trainer, consider specializing in things like weight loss or athlete training. Don’t forget to always be “on call” for new and existing clients, as their ability to quickly reach you helps build their confidence in your brand. Finally, use the success stories of your previous clients to help sell yourself to new clients—being able to see the results you have gotten is much more valuable as a recruitment tool than anything else.

How and when to build a team

The nature of a personal trainer is that they typically work solo—in fact, the notion that you are providing your specialized expertise in a one-on-one setting is a large part of your perceived value among clients. For this reason, most trainers do not make an effort to expand their team. However, if you choose to do so, you should wait until you have more sessions than you can reasonably fit into your schedule, and start by taking on a partner. This way, you can reasonably split duties without taking on the prohibitive cost of trying to buy or lease an office for a large group of trainers to work out of.

Part 2 - Is a Personal Training business the right fit for you?

Part 3 - Action plan to launch your Personal Training business in 90 days