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Personal Trainers Should Better Program Their Business

Picture of Matt Nyman

The Personal Trainer Story

I recently worked with a personal trainer who was leaving the gym and going out on their own. There is no doubt that they could be a great entrepreneur, but like many physical trainers, finance was not their strong suit. Also, their experience was in business management and customer service, which limited their perspective and potential to grow the business beyond a few profitable training clients. 

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These limitations are like assigning a cobbwebb starter program for an athlete who could otherwise be on an anabolic program with much better results. Read more about how to program your personal training business for strength while reducing resistance.

KEEPING YOUR PERSONAL TRAINING BUSINESS FINANCIALLY AND OPERATIONALLY FIT

If you’re starting or recently started your own personal training business then you are probably thinking through where you will train, how you will train, what you will charge for your programs and hours, and the basics cash flow wise for what you believe you need in order to pay the bills.

What you may or may not be thinking about is the following:
  • Tax impacts of decisions that you make, and how you’ll keep proper records for income tax, 1099s or sales tax.
  • Overhead expenses that will impact your overall bottom line, taxes due, ability to pay your bills, and breaking even on any initial investment you made to begin your business.
  • Your ability to service debt, obtain financing, and build credit for or through this new business.
  • When you will hit your plateau due to limitations in your business model and the time in the week/day.

Paying your bills is great, and staying in the green may feel like staying fit. However, isn’t your job as a trainer to help people not plateau, and to exceed goals while increasing volumes over time? 

How will you avoid plateauing your ability to grow your business?

Flexing Finance and Ops 

You need to practice what you preach if you want to avoid plateauing your personal trainer business:

  • You need a great program designed for your business and your personality (software, automation, and processes - compound your movements)
  • you need professional guidance and/or reassurance as you go (an advisor)
  • Working out in your back office once a year or once a month is not enough (daily splits are recommended)
  • You need to be able to focus on growth and manage resistance in ops (growth doesn’t come without resistance, but you don’t have to pull a muscle doing it)
  • You need to know how to be financially responsible, but don’t need to become certified.
  • Work your business towards goals and results, not just to work your business.

Maybe you will hire later, maybe you will partner with 3rd parties, maybe you’ll be happy plateauing, or maybe you just won’t sleep. How will you approach these types of topics, and how will you work towards a goal of doing this today so you can avoid plateauing or scrambling later? 

An assessment is always a good starting point for any program. The last physical trainer I’ve worked with has now gained peace of mind as it relates to all things finance. They also have another 0 added to the end of their annual revenue forecast, as well as an easier way to run the business and bill clients along with a few strategic partnerships on the way to support the new growth goals. 

If you’re interested in a finance and ops assessment for your physical training business at no cost to you, then please sign up for my Console process by using this link.

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