Welcome to Personal Training as a 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 module, we’ll cover…
- Employment opportunities
- Providing a service
- Business objectives
- Marketing and Sales
- Your Tool Kit
The fine print
By completing this final module, you will be able to go out into industry and set up a successful personal training business! In particular you’ll be able to use marketing and business tools and techniques to support business practices as an exercise professional.
More specifically, this module focuses on preparing you with the ability to do the following:
- 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).
- Demonstrate an awareness of their business target markets and the use of appropriate selling techniques for relevant products and services..
- Demonstrate an awareness of the client consultation process and techniques to maximize client satisfaction.
Assessment
There is one assessment for this module, 06A1 – Personal Training Business Plan. Refer to your information pack provided to you by the online team regarding your due date for this assessment.
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.
Check your understanding
Let's check how much you already know about Personal Training as a Business.
