If you are entering the personal training profession, or are planning on opening a fitness business, this is an exciting time for you of growth and opportunity. Cognizance of the benefits of personal training has been expanding for over a decade as is market of clients who want to take up the services of a personal trainer. This expanded opportunity is accompanied by a huge influx of new personal trainers into the industry, which means increased competition. Thus, a thorough knowledge of business fundamentals is needed – by every personal trainer – so that they can see their business go from strength to strength.
What business fundamentals does every fitness professional need?
Although being a superb fitness professional means having an accredited qualification as well as heaps of experience, taking that skill and running a successful fitness business takes a bit more.
Business plan
First you need to put pen to paper and write a business plan. The business plan is the blueprint for the fitness business that you’re going to be starting. In other words, it describes exactly how you’re going to make your business fly.
Often, we make the mistake of thinking that a business plan is a single document that you put together when you’re first starting out and then leave it along. However, in actual fact, the business plan for any business will change over time as the organisation develops. Any particular business may have multiple business plans as its objectives change.
Here are the sections of a business plan:
- Executive summary which is a snapshot of your business.
- A company description which describes what you do.
- Market analysis consists of research about your industry, market and competitors
- Organisation and management looks at your business and management structure
- Service or product deals with the products or services you’re offering
- The marketing and sales section details how you’ll market your business in addition to your sales strategy
- Funding request looks at how much money you’ll require for the next three to five years
- Financial projections contains information such as balance sheets
- The appendix is an optional section that includes CVs and permits
Marketing and sales strategy
Once you’ve put together a detailed business plan, the next business fundamental that you need to have – as a fitness professional starting out your own business – is a marketing strategy. You may have developed a superb business plan but unless you know the best way of getting your business to market, you mind as well pack up shop right now and start looking for a job.
Together with a marketing strategy, you’re going to need to know how to sign up those clients and to start making money because you can have the best marketing strategy in the world – and get all the leads for new clients that you can – but unless you know how to convert these leads into sales your business is not going to do well.
Social media
One of the best ways that fitness professional – particularly a personal trainer – can market their business is by using social media. Some of the best platforms to use for this include Facebook and Instagram as these are visual and do justice to what a personal trainer is trying to portray.
The fabulous aspect about social media is that it is possible for you to target people locally, in the area that you work in, or otherwise you can expand your reach nationally and internationally. This brings in the possibility of putting together new product offerings such as online training.
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Want to learn more business fundamentals about running a fitness business? Check out Trifocus Fitness Academy’s Fundamentals of a Fitness Business Course to learn more.
