If you are a passionate fitness professional, you may at some point want to open and run your own personal training business. As you may expect, running your own personal training business comes with numerous benefits. For instance, you get to choose the clients you want to work with, not to mention the flexible work schedule.
However, before you go scouting for locations, buying equipment or looking for potential personal training clients, it will be advisable to create a personal training business plan. But for some people, creating a personal training business plan may feel like a daunting task. And we are here to help.
In this guide, we will take a closer look at why you need a personal training business plan, as well as the different personal training business plans that you can create. We will also walk you through the steps to follow when writing a personal trainer business plan. Ready to get started?
1. Why You Need a Personal Training Business Plan
If you do personal training as a hobby, then you may not need a personal trainer business plan. On the other hand, if you are looking to make a career out of offering personal training services, then you will need to create a personal trainer business plan.
At the beginning of your personal training career, you can easily work without a business plan. After all, you will only be working with a small number of clients.
But with time, you may begin landing more clients, and your business will need a proper structure. And this is where a personal training business plan comes in. Here are a couple of reasons why you need a personal trainer business plan:
1.1 Provides Direction
A personal training business plan is more of a roadmap to success. It provides detail and better clarity on various areas of your personal training business, such as operational, finance, marketing, and service details.
So, if you feel as if your personal training business has stagnated, you can always refer to your business plan. It will provide a clear direction on the measures you should take to revive your personal training business.
1.2 Helps to Secure Funding
Launching a personal training business will require some capital. And depending on the model that you choose, it may cost you approximately $10,000 for a small gym.
And if you are looking to set up a mid-level gym, then you may spend approximately $50,000. If you were to launch a gym or fitness center loaded with all the amenities, then you are going to spend almost $1 million.
As you can see, setting up a fitness center doesn’t come cheap. And you will need to secure funding for your project. If you intend to get the money from investors, then you will definitely need a personal training business plan.
A well-laid out and detailed personal trainer business plan will show potential investors that you are serious about your business. And this may go a long way in convincing them to fund your business.
2. Types of Personal Training Business Plans
There are two types of personal training business plan templates that you can adopt. You can opt to go with the traditional personal trainer business plan template or choose a lean startup personal training business plan template.
So, what’s the difference between these two personal trainer business plan examples? Well, the traditional personal trainer business example tends to be more detailed and comprehensive.
The traditional personal training business plan template will be ideal for someone who favors detail. Also, it will be highly recommended for a new personal training business owner, who wants to ensure they’ve covered all the details needed to launch and grow their business.
Furthermore, the traditional model will also be the right choice for a personal trainer who wants to launch a fully-equipped fitness center, which will be employing several other personal trainers.
On the other hand, a lean personal training business plan template will be shorter and less comprehensive. It will be a great choice for someone who is already running a personal training business, and they may want to offer an additional service.
A lean personal trainer business plan will also be the ideal choice for a trainer who intends to provide training services alone. Also, if you want to launch a simple gym, then the lean personal trainer business plan will be the ideal choice.
3. Step by Step Guide to Writing a Personal Trainer Business Plan
Creating a personal trainer business plan is not as hard as some people assume, regardless of whether you go with the traditional template or the lean version. Here are the key sections to include in your fitness studio business plan:
3.1 Executive Summary
The executive summary section is where you will lay out the groundwork for your personal training business. In this section, you will provide details of your target client, the services you will be offering as well as your unique selling proposition.
It should also briefly touch on the reasons for opening your fitness studio, projections for success and implementation plan.
If you are looking to launch your personal training business through funding, then you should ensure your executive summary is compelling enough. It should catch the attention of potential investors and convince them to continue reading your business plan for personal training.
3.2 Company Description
In this section, you will provide more details about your business. You will outline the problems that your personal training business will solve. Also, you will need to define your target client. For instance, you can decide to be a fitness coach for senior citizens, pregnant women, and youths.
You should also use this section to outline what makes your fitness business stand out from the competition. Do you offer unique training sessions? Do you have specialized training equipment? Do your trainers hold certain certifications or licenses?
Outlining your unique selling proposition will guide most of the other aspects of your business, including pricing, marketing, and décor, just to name a few.
3.3 Market Analysis
Your personal trainer business plan also needs to have a market analysis section. Here, you will provide detailed statistics about the fitness industry in general. You may include details like the size, growth rate, dominant markets, trends as well as outlook.
Also, you will need to include details about your target market. Again, you will provide data related to your target market, including things like gender, age, lifestyle, preferences and income level.
This section should also feature a competitive analysis, identifying your key competitors as well as their strengths and weaknesses.
Exactly how you decide to organize the information in this section is entirely up to you. However, you can check the available personal training plans templates for some inspiration.
3.4 Business Structure
Your personal training business needs structure. And this is where this section comes in. It will specify both the internal organization of your personal training business and the legal structure.
It’s worth mentioning that your business structure will determine the amount you will be paying in taxes, and your personal liability, among other important operational issues. Therefore, it will be highly advisable to consult a business attorney when crafting this section to ensure you do it right.
3.5 Services and Products
A personal trainer is essentially a service provider. However, you can also decide to sell products as well, to support your personal training revenue.
Here, you will list all the services and products you will be offering. For instance, you can be offering yoga classes or bodybuilding sessions. For products, you can be selling things like training gear through an online shop.
3.6 Financial Plan
Your personal training business will need a solid financial plan. Without a sound financial plan in place, your personal training business may struggle to take off. In this section, you can include things like:
3.6.1 Startup Costs
How much money are you going to spend to launch your business? This can include leasing the space you need for your gym, purchasing equipment, taxes, and renovating the place, and building the website, among others. If you can't afford it out of pocket, then a 3rd party, such as Lendio, can help ease the financial burden by offering equipment financing options, allowing you to get the essential tools and machinery without straining your cash flow.
3.6.2 Operational Costs
You will need money to sustain your personal training business. For instance, you have to pay monthly rent, replacing equipment, salaries, marketing and maintenance, among others. And you need to clearly define how much you will be spending.
3.6.3 Expected Earnings
Under this section, you can state how much you can expect to earn through your personal training sessions. You can break it down to daily earnings, weekly, monthly or annually.
3.7 Marketing Strategy
Every business needs a marketing plan. Without a marketing plan in place, it will almost be impossible to land any clients for your personal training business. And this section will cover that.
4. Wrapping It Up
Writing a business plan for your fitness business is very important, as it will provide you with a clear guideline on how to approach various aspects of your business. It will also help you to build a robust and profitable personal training business. And as you can see, it’s not a hard task. If you are still unsure of how to create one, you can download any of the available personal training business plan templates, download one that suits your preferences, and customize it to align with your fitness brand.