11 Can’t-Miss Tips for Starting a Personal Training Business

What I’d first and foremost recommend to anyone wanting to launch a training business is to first invest in your education. . . . If you’re looking to build your own company, make sure you’re an expert in your specialty (i.e., kettlebells, hypertrophy, powerlifting, functional training, rehab, etc).

I also should have been stricter with cancellation policies. It seems small but when you are essentially running your own business, time is absolutely money when you are commission-based. . . . Start smart and work with faithful clients.

I was spending time on forums and social media providing advice. This gave me the potential network I needed to get clients. Even if the people I knew didn’t need a coach, they possibly knew people who did.

Using an online training app can help you deliver workouts to them without you needing to be there. It also helps to track their progress and holds them accountable as they know you'll be checking if they're checking in for workouts.

This is what I wish I had known beforehand.

Differentiate yourself. Ask yourself what makes you different from other trainers. There are thousands of good PTs out there, so why would someone want to train with you? Is it your experience? Your qualifications? Your personality?

There are two sides to being a trainer — the athletic knowledge and the business knowledge. I had the athletic know-how but lacked the business background. The Personal Trainer Development Center (PTDC) and Jon Goodman’s books have been essential for me to have made a good amount of income training people on the side.

With the launch of the Online Trainer Academy, I was able to grow my business even further with the knowledge I was provided.

[But] my next step is to hire a business coach. I wish I would have gotten a mentor earlier on. The free content at the PTDC was a good start, the entire Online Trainer Academy was incredibly helpful, however, I have little doubt a business mentor would have been the absolute best decision I could have made earlier on.

One of the first things I did when I started to look for space was to create a budget. I looked at what my current revenue was, based on clientele, and I used that as my starting point.

I dabbled in social media, attended various networking events, and tried to expand my business through word of mouth and with people I met during travel, however, nothing truly compares to having a professional, well-established website where people can view your mission, background, strengths, and core services.

Use a scheduling platform from the beginning! Have a set schedule and let people know you have “this time ___ or this time___” don’t let them just pick whatever they want. For example, “I’m free all day Thursday. What time works best for you?” People like a busy restaurant. Have a clear cancellation policy and stick to it. I know you don’t want to lose a client but you also don’t want a client that doesn’t value you.

I set reminders on my phone for meetings or training sessions, I add notes in my phone when I come across an interesting fact, a workout I can use during a PT session, or inspirational quote. We must approach this business with an open mind, willing to absorb the vast amount of knowledge out in the world that we do not yet know!

To be successful in any endeavor is not about "life balance" — it is about doing what is necessary and prioritizing your goals above all of your own desires.

You can probably do it for a day or three, just like most people can follow a diet. Can you look inside yourself and say you can do it for decades? I've been doing it for 10 years and I am shattered — the really successful people I know have been doing it for at least double that.

Word of mouth and referrals are always your best resource, and again, this is where continuing education comes in handy. Committing yourself to valuable certifications gets you in the room with other like-minded individuals/trainers. It builds your network of people who can refer new clients to you and vice versa.

But I continued onward and became a much better entrepreneur and human being because of it. That is the best advice I could give. Don't listen to the negativity that our world is so used to spewing out and absorbing. Focus on the positives, constructive criticism, and bettering yourself as (1) an individual and (2) an entrepreneur!

I knew I had something amazing, I knew I wanted to share it with people, so I dug in my heels and kept moving forward.

When I opened my doors on January 1, 2017, I was elated. All my hard work had come to fruition! Looking back, I wish someone had told me how hard it was going to be and how many sleepless nights I would have. . . .

When you put your heart and soul into something, and you believe in what you’re doing there really are no limitations to what you can accomplish!

Trust me, women over 40 have unique physiological systems. There is no catch-all program or generic program for them as each is very individualized.

How specific would the profile be? I finally grew my business as a trainer when I identified married, professional women in their early forties who had a favorite exercise hobby (attorneys and company directors and business owners who loved surfing, tennis, yoga, cycling, etc.) and focused all of my writing, social media posts, and conversations on their issues.

The best business advice I ever received was from a software company founder in Lubbock in 2010: When you don’t have any money, spend all of your time building relationships. That statement captures how training one or two of those women for free and delivering on my promises earned me dozens of referrals and built a sustainable business.