Setting up as a personal trainer

hug0

Hi there,

Just wondering where to start, I have just completed my training. Personal Training would be part time for me as I already have a full time job although this finishes early enough in the afternoon.

I have already one client who I meet outdoors but just wondering how I go about finding a suitable gym or room to use? The weather in Ireland is a little unpredictable and I feel you cant do a good workout when its pouring rain. (or maybe Im wrong and I need to be more creative)

Im thinking about calling some gyms and asking how much they charge but to be honest I dont really want to pay out too much as I wont have a lot of clients due to doing it parttime

If any PTs out there who have successfully set up their business I would love their advise on where to start. Also how much do gyms charge to use their premises? Also what is reasonable to charge for personal training?

Should I just stick to training outdoors or in peoples homes and forget about training people in a gym for now? Thanks in advance!

colblimp

Just out of interest hug0, where did you train?

odin_ie

Do you have personal liability insurance and a qualification in PT? If not you shuold not be looking at doing it.

cmyk

colblimp wrote: »

Just out of interest hug0, where did you train?

And did they not give you any advice regarding your post?

I'm not a PT...yet, but hoping to enter a particular gap in the industry. There are however general rules that apply to starting and marketing any business. Do some research on startups and/or maybe do a part-time course on this? FAS run some and also PARTAS who are based in tallaght.

Don't think about calling a few gyms...call them! You will undoubtedly have to pay them a fee though. Be proactive and do as much research as possible on the ground and on the web.

Transform

cmyk wrote: »

And did they not give you any advice regarding your post?

I'm not a PT...yet, but hoping to enter a particular gap in the industry. There are however general rules that apply to starting and marketing any business. Do some research on startups and/or maybe do a part-time course on this? FAS run some and also PARTAS who are based in tallaght.

Don't think about calling a few gyms...call them! You will undoubtedly have to pay them a fee though. Be proactive and do as much research as possible on the ground and on the web.

Totally agree with the above post and to be honest its going to be a long slog so be prepared for that.

I have been running my own PT business for quite a few years now and with some success. I left as the director for a big gym and started with no clients and made lots of mistakes along the way.

here are my words of advice -

1. Be patient but proactive - mst trainers are not patient enough to let the business build or are not proactive enough to get out there and find clients. Remember every day you are selling youself so you better look the part, act the part and under promise and overdeliver at every opportunity.

2. Get results - if you are not getting results with clients then its going to be hard to get new clients. Doing this by training clients outdoors can be hard with particular goals e.g. a guy looking to get bigger (i did this for 2-3 years) but you can be creative and remember it does not take much in the way of equipment to get the average person in great shape.

3. Find your niche - find what you are best at and work that area of the fitness industry 24/7. there are lots of yoga teachers, trainers teaching classes to the older clients etc, making a superb living doing just that and there are lots that make feck all because they want to train teams, bodybuilders or athletes.

4. its not for everyone - i would say about 90% of people that start working in the fitness industry are no longer working in it 3-4 years later as they had romantic visions of being their own boss, doing 5-6 hour days etc - first and foremost if you are working for yourself and have come from working in a gym you are going to be working twice as hard. The people that are a success in this industry very very rarely work from ANY of the big gyms (westwood, crunch, total fitness etc - they are going to take at least 50% of the fee you intend on charging and are entitled to take it also as they are providing you with free equipment, light, heat, changing rooms and potential clients) so get out there and talk to the people that have made it. Success leaves a trail

hug0

Thanks very much for the advise Transform! Im already trained but the course I did didn't really give much advise about setting up. They seemed more money focused than anything.
Although I know from doing my post grad nothing really prepares you, you just need to get out there and learn on your feet. Just needed advise on what to do next, I havent advertised yet so I suppose thats something I need to think about next. Its a little harder when you have a full time job already but this is something I would love to do full time eventually.

Hanley

Transform wrote: »

Success leaves a trail

Nice!

Transform

hug0 wrote: »

Thanks very much for the advise Transform! Im already trained but the course I did didn't really give much advise about setting up. They seemed more money focused than anything.
Although I know from doing my post grad nothing really prepares you, you just need to get out there and learn on your feet. Just needed advise on what to do next, I havent advertised yet so I suppose thats something I need to think about next. Its a little harder when you have a full time job already but this is something I would love to do full time eventually.

well i burnt my ship and walked ashore when i started so I HAD to become a success or i couldnt pay the bills - easy to get good fast that way!

Finally - all those course will sell you the romantic thoughts that clients are going to fall into your lap and do not get in successful trainers to tell it like it is for fear that people might be turned off doing the courses. They should have a few good trainers come in at the end and discuss setting up on your own etc

hug0

Im lucky enough that I have a good job, Im afraid to leave it completely in this climate so was hoping I could set up parttime and see how it goes and eventually maybe take a years leave to take it on full time to see how it goes.

It's something that I would love to give a go with. I agree Transform these courses I have to say can be pretty bad, most of what I use with my clients I have researched and worked at myself and haven't received the information from the course. The course I did was with Maltings A.C.E course. They were very much focused on getting their money rather than getting good course tutors in and actually training you properly as a personal trainer. Fortunatley Ive learnt a lot from training myself so I can pass that on to my clients.

You are right they should get PTs in as Im sure a lot of students who do the course do not go anywhere afterwards.

brianblaze

Ben Dunne will want e1,000 of your hard earned money, per month, to let you in the door of his places, and you'll need your own insurance. So one of the guys who used to work there tells me anyway.

hug0

No way! That's ridiculous, well I think that sounds like the big named gyms are a no no then! They all seem to treat their staff badly also, heard a lot of Westwood staff complaining about their pay from the course. Sounds like its better to be out on your own either way.

Hanley

I dunno what sorta hours PT's are working, and rates they are charging, but €1,000 per month with ready access to clients doesn't seem too bad?

3/4 per day (20 days per month) @ €50-60 per session and you're talking €30,000-45,000pa net.

Not sure how realistic that is tho??

brianblaze

hug0 wrote: »

No way! That's ridiculous, well I think that sounds like the big named gyms are a no no then! They all seem to treat their staff badly also, heard a lot of Westwood staff complaining about their pay from the course. Sounds like its better to be out on your own either way.

Where did you do the course, if you don't mind me asking.

brianblaze

Hanley wrote: »

I dunno what sorta hours PT's are working, and rates they are charging, but €1,000 per month with ready access to clients doesn't seem too bad?

3/4 per day (20 days per month) @ €50-60 per session and you're talking €30,000-45,000pa net.

Not sure how realistic that is tho??

There are generally only 3-4 guys advertising in Northwood, or that's how it was when I was there so there's not much competition there. Still, got to imagine there's a reason there's only a few lads there.

Transform

brianblaze wrote: »

Ben Dunne will want e1,000 of your hard earned money, per month, to let you in the door of his places, and you'll need your own insurance. So one of the guys who used to work there tells me anyway.

you could get your own place for that price but all the other costs do add up

Transform

Hanley wrote: »

I dunno what sorta hours PT's are working, and rates they are charging, but €1,000 per month with ready access to clients doesn't seem too bad?

3/4 per day (20 days per month) @ €50-60 per session and you're talking €30,000-45,000pa net.

Not sure how realistic that is tho??

i know at least 10 trainers doing double that right now but they are in the industry a long time

Transform

brianblaze wrote: »

There are generally only 3-4 guys advertising in Northwood, or that's how it was when I was there so there's not much competition there. Still, got to imagine there's a reason there's only a few lads there.

a good trainer in a big gym should be cleaning up (making lots of money) - ready access to clients, free equipment, they can walk out at the end of the day and not have to worry about cleaning up after etc

remember you can have all the knowledge in the world but if you do not have people skills (kicking someone in the arse does not count) then you will never have success in almost ANY business.

cmyk

Transform wrote: »

remember you can have all the knowledge in the world but if you do not have people skills (kicking someone in the arse does not count) then you will never have success in almost ANY business.

An essential key to start in the business you've chosen. I'm not sure about your current profession, but I know this is something I will have to work on. With email/forums/texts/screencasts being so prevalent these days, face to face communication can be a bit of a lost art.

I have a few clients in the UK I do work for, never met and possibly never will, maybe you're in the same boat?

celestial

The 'success leaves a trail' quote is a great one. I see personal training as being no different from any other 'trade' - you get yourself out there, get results, display excellent business acumen (paperwork, good correspondence with clients, great interpersonal skills etc) and you end up getting recommended to others - I would say where most people fall down is in the business acumen area. Also some people just aren't cut out for it and don't have the people skills - nothing wrong with that either.

Transform

cmyk wrote: »

An essential key to start in the business you've chosen. I'm not sure about your current profession, but I know this is something I will have to work on. With email/forums/texts/screencasts being so prevalent these days, face to face communication can be a bit of a lost art.

I have a few clients in the UK I do work for, never met and possibly never will, maybe you're in the same boat?

nope, at the moment all my work is done face to face.

maybe i need to put out one of those internet book things and do more online training - most of which i have seen are very over exagerated and written by people who do not work with clients week in week out.

Kind of hard teaching a deadlift when you cant see the person face to face - you can sort out mistakes really easily in a few mins face to face whereas with videos, email it might actually never happen.

cmyk

Transform wrote: »

nope, at the moment all my work is done face to face.

Sorry, I meant the OP might be in the same boat, I know you're not!

Transform

cmyk wrote: »

Sorry, I meant the OP might be in the same boat, I know you're not!

sorry about that!

cmyk

Haha, no worries, and yep an ebook could be a good idea

Hanley

Transform wrote: »

i know at least 10 trainers doing double that right now but they are in the industry a long time

Yeah i sorta figured that'd be the case to be honest. Rough calculations would suggest a busy trainer with a good rep and lots of clients could be clearing over €100k pa.

Hard work no doubt, but I'd imagine it's a lot more fulfilling than most other ways of making over 6 figures per annum!!

Transform

agreed and harder than working from a gym which will always stifle your potential

Patto

Fair play Transform, nice insight. I've huge respect for what guys like you do.

Transform

Patto wrote: »

Fair play Transform, nice insight. I've huge respect for what guys like you do.

cheers man and will keep pushing the bar higher for the industry