Introduction

Submitted by ally.price@up… on Fri, 10/28/2022 - 11:28

Sub Topics

Welcome to Personal Training as a Business! Being passionate about fitness and helping people achieve their health goals can have you consider starting your own personal training business. The idea of being your own boss and making a positive impact on people's lives can be exciting, but there are many factors to consider before taking the plunge. As a personal trainer, you are not only responsible for your clients' well-being, but also for the success of your business.

From creating a business plan and marketing strategy, to finding a suitable location and managing finances, there are many elements to consider when starting your own personal training business. But don't let that discourage you! With hard work, dedication, and a bit of creativity, you can turn your passion for fitness into a successful career. This module will help you prepare to take the first step towards building your own personal training business, let's dive into the world of entrepreneurship and explore the many factors to consider for setting up your own successful personal training business.

In this learning module, we’ll cover…

Employment
Your First Day
Customer Service Standards
Business Objectives
Marketing
Sales Strategies
Finance and Tax
Your Tool Kit

The fine print

This module relates to Graduate Profile Outcomes (GPO):

GPO 1 Deliver safe and effective exercise programmes, including prescreening, within own scope of practice and industry code of ethics
GPO 6 Use marketing and business tools and techniques to support business practices as an exercise professional

It supports Learning Outcomes (LO):

1.1 Identify and describe fitness industry and employer codes of ethics and ethical practice (REPS and Fitness NZ) (1 credit).
1.2 Analyse these codes of ethics and apply the content to routine interactions with clients, work colleagues, and other health and/or fitness professionals in a practical setting (e.g. group fitness, one on one PT sessions) (1 credit).
1.3 Demonstrate an awareness of relevant consumer laws and legislation along with Risk identification health and safety legislation and responsibilities (1 credit).
1.4 Show awareness of relevant policies and procedures and develop risk assessment plans (1 credit).
1.5 Demonstrate an awareness of how to deal with accidents and emergencies (1 credit).
6.1 Produce a business plan relevant to a personal training, showing evidence of budgeting skills, awareness of tax responsibilities and deductions, legislation and relevant marketing strategies (including social media) (7 credits).
6.2 Demonstrate an awareness of their business target markets and the use of appropriate selling techniques for relevant products and services (2 credits).
6.3 Demonstrate an awareness of the client consultation process and techniques to maximise client satisfaction (1 credit).

To ensure a smooth learning experience, we suggest starting this module at specific weeks.

Full-time students

We recommend starting the module in week 11.

Hours of learning per week: Approximately 37.5 hours
This includes 12.5 hours of self-directed fitness-based practical each week, time for assessments, self-directed study, note-taking, and completing the content on the NZIS online campus.
Milestones: Fitness Code and Legislation Workbook Assessment due end of week 12, Personal Training Business Plan Assessment due end of week 15.

Assessment

There are 2 assessments for this module.

Fitness Code and Legislation Workbook
Personal Training Business Plan

This module has a lot of practical and scenario-based activities. Use these activities to gain confidents in understanding and staring a personal training business.

Interactive activities, like multiple-choice quizzes, flashcards, and drag-and-drops give you instant feedback.

Check your understanding – are you ready to progress or do you need to re-read or re-watch?
Apply what you’ve learnt to a common scenario
Cement learning – practice makes perfect
Take a break from scrolling and get your mind active

These activities are unassessed, and you can have as many attempts as you want.

Use the forums to get feedback

We want you to get the most out of your learning experience! That's why we highly recommend using our forums to connect with both tutors and fellow students. Whether you're on the hunt for awesome job recommendations after graduation or eager to start your own business venture, building a strong network of like-minded professionals is a fantastic way to kickstart your career.

Often it can be helpful to have another opinion, so to seek feedback from peers or a tutor, post a reply on the feedback request boards with a link to a video or upload photos. You'll need to be able to create a shareable link to the video, which can be done via YouTube, Vimeo, Google Drive, OneDrive, or social media.

Feedback posts don’t have to include video or photos. Feel free to describe a situation you are struggling with and ask for help. For example, maybe you find it difficult to understand a particular topic and you want further clarification. Tell us about your challenges and see if another student or tutor has some wisdom they could share.

While tutors may check in on the forum, this can be sporadic with the nature of online learning, where people can study at any time. So, build your online community. Give and receive feedback from your peers. So, jump in and start engaging today!

Your professional network

This is also an excellent time to start building your professional network. You may already have connections in the health and fitness industry. Ask them for advice and feedback.

Code of ethics

A code of ethics is a set of guidelines that outlines the expected behaviour and actions of professionals in a particular field. It helps ensure that professionals act in a responsible and trustworthy manner. It provides a framework for making ethical decisions in difficult situations.

Codes of ethics often cover areas such as confidentiality, honesty, integrity, respect, and responsibility, and may include specific rules or principles that must be followed. They help to maintain professional standards and promote public trust in the profession.

Gyms and fitness centres may have their own Code of Conduct or Code of Ethics that you must abide by if operating in their facility.

Download or bookmark the codes of ethics you must follow when working with clients, including in your assessments.

In addition to the Exercise New Zealand Code of Ethics, there are 2 specific areas with their own sub-codes relating to use of drugs/performance enhancing substances and membership terms.

Use of drugs/performance enhancing substances

Prohibit the promotion, use or distribution of any substance or method which would be in breach of the Sports Anti-doping Rules or the REPs Code
Ensure members have access to information concerning substances and methods that are prohibited in sports and information on the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) code
Ensure members have a confidential mechanism for reporting activity which may be in breach of the Sports Anti-Doping Rules or this Code.

Membership terms and conditions

The maximum cancelation notice period (to terminate a membership outside its initial term) is one month.
Any notice period for cancelation may be given during the initial term, so that if sufficient notice is given, it is possible to terminate at the end of the initial term (i.e. it is forbidden to require notice to be given only after the initial period has finished).
Have a policy for when exceptions to standard membership terms and conditions are granted.

Note: The term ‘initial term’ is used to define the period during which a member cannot, under normal circumstances, cancel their membership. So a member joining for ’12 months, paying $25 a week’, the term 12 months is the initial term.

Watch

Iraia completed the PT Level 4 course in 2021. In this video, he talks about what motivated him to study PT and what he has gone on to do after graduating.

Watch

Watch the following video where Personal Trainer Tash, provides an overview of her PT business and discusses her offerings.

Overview and Offerings Transcript

Okay. So we're here today. we're very privileged to be able to have an interview with one of the most successful students that I've ever had, Natasha from Health High. So we're at her studio in Maungaraki, Lower Hutt, and she's going to talk a little bit about her journey and some of the things that she's found along the way. So thanks for allowing us to come in and have a bit of a chat. My pleasure. Awesome. So first thing congratulations so Tasha's just had her third little child. Young James. So how are we going after the birth of James? We're going pretty well. So James is three months old now. So little sleep deprived, but mostly going well. Fantastic. Glad to hear. Glad to hear. Alright let's start at the beginning. So Tash was a student, I think in 2016-17. She did the part time course with us at NZIS. And she's gone on to forge a really successful career. But tell us a little bit about your journey into the industry and what sort of led you to where you are today? Ok, well, I guess I've always been an active person, so if I think back to school, I was always really into sports and particularly football and netball and that sort of thing, played around a little bit in the gym, but it was never really very consistent. However, probably about maybe seven or eight years ago I decided to get a personal trainer myself. I wanted to feel stronger and fitter and I'd been into the gym, but I didn't feel very confident, particularly in the weight section. I found it quite daunting, so wanted to get a trainer to help with that. And yeah, I just really loved the sessions I had with them. I felt really inspired. And then Nick, you may remember this, challenged me, Nick is my husband, challenged me to do a muscle up and I'm very competitive. So he gave me a year to be able to do to do that. And that's what the personal trainer and myself worked on and I managed to do that. And then from there, I just decided that, you know, being a personal trainer was something that I could see myself doing. And at that time I was a primary school teacher. And yeah, so I looked into options of how I could do that alongside still teaching and I found the course at NZIS, I had a chat with you on the phone and yeah, and then we just kind of went from there. So yeah, that was how it all all began. Yeah. And I do recall you mentioned there was a little YouTube clip that motivated you a little bit. What was the name of that clip? Oh do you mean the 24 hours one? 23 and a half hours? What was the name for that? So it was something like that. It was basically about how, you know, we often will say that we don't have time to exercise and it's maybe you could share the clip as well. But it goes through, you know, all the things that we can do in a day and actually what a short amount of time you have to dedicate to exercise. Yeah, that really sort of made me see that me saying I didn't have time to do those things wasn't really the reality. So yeah. I suppose the message of that clip is, you know, you can always make time. Yeah, absolutely. All right. Awesome. And obviously, you successfully completed the course and then pretty much you you hit the ground running. So talk to us a little bit. We're actually in Tasha's studio here. She runs her personal training sessions from her studio at her home. So tell us a little bit about what you do. We'll talk a little bit more about your brand later on. But, you know, and what you're offerings are or maybe even what a day in the life of you looks like. Sure. Okay. So our offerings at Health High. So we have our bootcamps and that was really our first offering. That was how it all started. And so we have boot camps in three different locations. We train women, so we specialise in training women. So Ladies Boot Camps is one of our key offerings. We run personal training sessions and this is where we do our personal training session. So and this started out as a double garage at our house and we decided to convert it into a home based studio, which has been amazing, particularly for our family setup, having three young children all under the age of five, it just made it really possible for me to be able to do this. And then our other offering is our postnatal classes, so our mamas on the move session. So those are aimed at mums who have just had a little one and they can bring their little ones along to the classes with them and I'm pre and post-natal certified. So you have that specialism to be able to support those mums. So yeah. Boot camps, personal training sessions and our mum's post-natal groups. So a combination between one on one training, obviously, and group training. Which do you prefer or what are the differences between I suppose when you've got group exercise hands on versus your one on one hands on. That's a really good question. So I guess for me, I really like the variety. Yeah. I couldn't see myself just doing one of those things. And I really like with the, the group sessions, I really enjoy sort of the camaraderie of the group and it's great. You know, as you know, I started my triathlon group a year or two ago and just seeing, building a group from scratch and seeing them come together and develop really good friendships. So yeah, I really like the camaraderie of the group and the energy you get. You know, you go along to a session and when you finish you feel really energised. The personal training sessions, I like how you get to know your clients really well and yeah, and you just have that really strong connection with them and they tell you all about the lives and you can really plan a session individual to their needs and what it is that they want to work on. So yeah, I enjoy a balance of doing both of those things. Yeah. Okay. And I suppose with the group fitness offering and a lot of trainers nowadays are offering group fitness, it is a bit of a triple win in a lot of ways in that it's a win for the members because they obviously pay a lot less than when they are one on one. It's a win for the group and then as you said, you feed off each other's energy is a great kind of, you know, vibe about it. And it is a win for the trainer from a financial point of view, right, because you do get a better return on your time. You do. And I think that, you know, if you are wanting to do a little bit of a mix of the group stuff and personal training, most of my personal training clients have come from my group sessions, of course, so you know, I guess. See me in action and we've got to know each other. And then they said, hey, do you offer one on one personal training? So I think it's a good model it's a great way to get personal training clients too. Absolutely. Do you find that they drop off the group training if they decide to use you as a personal trainer? I haven't found that at all actually, no. They tend to do both. Yeah. Oh, fantastic.

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