BY FAILING TO PREPARE, YOU ARE PREPARING TO FAIL.Benjamin Franklin
The plan for your business should be something you spend time on and think about in a high amount of detail. The more time you invest in your business plan, the less time you will need to invest in rectifying errors down the track and set yourself up for a smoothly running business so you can focus on your clients.
A good business plan should include the following:
- Business name
- Information regarding the business structure
- Business location
- Date established
- Business owner
- Mission and/or vision statement
- SWOT
- Competitor analysis
- Marketing strategy
- Client retention strategy
- Financial forecast
- Business goals
- Policies and procedures
Considering each of these in as much detail as possible will enable you to get off the ground running smoothly. A well-developed business plan will also be of great value to you when you perform activities such as going for a job interview in a gym or applying for a franchise agreement or in the event you wish to apply for a bank loan. All parties will need to know and have confidence in your desired business set up in order to ensure they are dealing with an organised and well-planned individual.
There are many business plan templates that exist which you can adapt should you wish to create your own.
In addition to creating your business plan, you also need to consider the paperwork required in order for yourself and your client to work together both safely and effectively.
Pre-screening form
Pre-screening is an important step when designing a fitness programme. It can help to identify any potential health risks or limitations that may need to be addressed before beginning. By taking the time to properly pre-screen clients, you can help to ensure that your clients are able to participate in physical activity safely and effectively.
If you want to make your own version of this for your business, make sure it has the following key important pieces of information. Think of it as the bare minimum to get started.
- Medical history questions: injury, disease, or condition (past or present) and medications
- Questions that allow you to judge “risk stratification”
- Medical clearance: should risk stratification require medical clearance
- Lifestyle evaluation: diet, recreational activities, exercise history (and current), availability, personal commitments etc.
- Client consent: the client should be made aware of how their personal information may be used and how this will confidentially be stored. There should be a section on the form where this is stated and the client (or parent or guardian should the client be under 18 years of age) sign to state their agreement/permission
Additional inclusions:
- Informed consent and commitment statement (signed)
- Exercise and biometric testing – baseline data (BMI, weight, waist to hip ratio etc.)
- Client goals
- Blood pressure and heart rate.
As we all know, every client is unique and will have different expectations and requirements based on their individual circumstances, so it is important that you identify any underlying health issues from the beginning. Not only does it support you in maintaining a duty of care, but it also provides you with an idea about who your client is and how you can best support their health and fitness needs.
These documents may vary from trainer to trainer however it is important the essential information is captured. Refer to the REPs Pre-Exercise Screening Form for a template.
New client agreement form
Along with a pre-exercise screening form, a new client agreement form is highly recommended as this sets out all policies and procedures that will be adhered to throughout the practices of your business.
It is important that clients are aware of their rights and responsibilities when training with you, therefore, these policies should clearly outline the expectations and guidelines that need to be followed by both parties in order to avoid any misunderstandings and reduce the risk of issues developing further down the track. Policies and procedures that will need to be implemented can include, but not limited to:
- Code of conduct and code of ethics
- Refund policy
- Cancellation policy
- Work health and safety policy
- Payment forms and policies
- Contract of sales agreement policy.
Other documentation
Depending on the nature of your business set up, i.e., self-employed, independent contractor, or employee of an exercise establishment, you may require or access addition paperwork such as:
- Client contract: a signed agreement where the client commits to a certain number of weeks or months of training
- Incident and injury report: the client should be made aware of responsibilities in the event of an injury
- Client tracker: here you may wish to record client details such as:
- Client database
- Client progress report
- Fitness testing sheet
- Programme template
- When clients attended or missed a session
- Extra activities suggested out with their programme such as yoga, boot camp, Pilates sessions etc. to support their goals.
- Any additional advice you have given, such as nutritional guidance
Note: you will also need to consider, should you decide to run your business out with an established exercise facility, any of the above documentation (with exception to the client tracker) particularly those which pertains to collecting personal information and payments.
These should be appropriately structured and worded from a legal standpoint. Should you work within an exercise facility, however, they will typically have these in place already which would prevent you from needed to create these.
When creating your own paperwork, it's important to consider whether it contains all the necessary information to protect yourself in the event of a complaint or claim. A helpful way to approach this is to ask yourself if your paperwork includes all the required information, as if you were preparing for a court case.
This is a crucial part of your business, as having written agreements and business documentation will be able to provide you and your clients with the ability to understand the basis of your agreement together. This is also important as it is an effective practice to assure continuity of care and to minimise as much risk as possible to yourself, your clients, and your business.
Check out our amazing toolkit that's packed with loads of useful documents to get you started on your fitness training business journey.
You can access and use them all online or even print them out to have a hard copy at your fingertips. It's your call!
Get ready to boost your business with these incredible resources. Enjoy!
- Reps Pre-Exercise Screening Form
- Fitness Testing Sheet
- Client Waiver
- Client Interview Form
- Client Trainer Agreement
- Programme Template
Watch
In the following video Personal Trainer Tash discusses some of the systems and processes she uses to enhance her business.
Alright Tash talk to us a little bit about some of the systems and processes that you've got in place for your business. Okay. So one of the things I do is I make sure that I have allocated time for different elements of the business. So I have time allocated for planning of sessions. Time allocated for accounting and time set aside for social media work. So and that's, you know being organised I think is really important. So looking at my week and thinking about when all those things, that aren't the face to face things, when all those things are actually going to happen. And I also think that it's really important to have clear boundaries on when you will train clients and when you won't. Now, when you first start out, that can be really difficult because you're just really keen to get clients. And there are times of the day, early mornings and evenings when it is generally easier for people to train. But you know, for me, once I had that, I then started to be more specific and dial things down and think about what would work for me and my family. And, you know, if someone wanted to train with me outside of that time, then I would say no, sorry. So I think that's important. We in the last year have just started to use a client management system. Okay. So prior to that, all of our sign ups and taking money off people, that was all done manually. So now I use Go Team Up accounts and all the paying is done through there. People sign up through there. The health information is collected in there. And just, just as the business started to grow, like now we have like 230 clients. That manual way of doing things wasn't working. So, you know, I think the thing to think about with systems is that what works at the start of your business is going to change as your business evolves. Yeah, absolutely. Okay. And obviously, templates like when you did start your business, you had a health questionnaire that you used, you had a program template that you had. I know that you were really good with your contact with new members, so you had a kind of email template. Yeah, I think that, you know, when you start getting all of those things set up beforehand, it can be really helpful. So you just got them there when someone gets in touch and they want to train with you and they're all ready. So that was one of the first things I did was think about, so what are all the different forms that I am going to need and get those set up. And what I did recently before I went on maternity leave is I now also have a Google doc. It's quite a large document, but it's a bank of emails, so it's all email templates that I send out that connect to all of our different offerings, the boot camps, mum's groups, PT, yoga and then just highlight in yellow the bits I might need to change depending on the person. That's a real, that's a real timesaver. Ok, and I think it's a really good, go back to your first point. So you obviously allocate dedicated time to work on the business, rather than just in the business. Yeah, because I think new trainers tend to just do it sort of ad hoc and it's often done not very well. And if you took that plan in your social media posts, those kinds of things. So I think rather than just doing it with your quick half an hour between two clients Yes, actually dedicating some time to the processes and systems is a really good idea. Definitely. And you know, that can be really difficult when you're busy and you know, obviously people are going to have financial goals as well. And that's when you see people, that's when you should be making the money. But all of those things that sit in the background really I think are really supportive of the face to face stuff and really essential. Yeah. Yeah. And I suppose that as a new trainer you're going to have a little bit more time and a few more gaps. So maybe rather than just, you know, twiddling your thumbs or going for a walk or scrolling through your social media, you know, dedicate some of that time to, you know, working on your processes. Because, yeah, I've seen it over the years with a lot of new trainers. Is that not having good systems and processes really lets them down and that could actually be your downfall. So yeah, and you might be the best trainer but if you are coming across as disorganised, you haven't got things in place, then it's not a good look. And also, you know, we do like health and safety wise, you know, you should be doing risk assessments and that sort of thing. So yeah, I think you need to look at all those different angles. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah.
As a fitness instructor in New Zealand, it's crucial to understand the appropriate storage of confidential information. This includes any personal and medical information that your clients provide you with. It's important to keep this information safe and secure, both physically and digitally, to protect your clients' privacy and comply with legal obligations.
When storing physical documents, such as client forms or medical records, ensure they are kept in a locked cabinet or drawer. Similarly, any digital information should be stored on a password-protected computer or in a secure cloud-based system.
It's also important to limit access to confidential information to only those who require it. For example, only you as the fitness instructor, or any administrative staff, should have access to client records.
Remember that breaching client confidentiality can lead to serious legal consequences, as well as damage to your professional reputation. By following appropriate storage practices, you can help ensure the privacy and safety of your clients' personal information, and maintain a high level of professionalism in your role as a fitness instructor.
Each country has its own legislation governing good practices around document storage, Archives and Records Association of New Zealand outlines their Record Keeping Legislation for both paper and electronic-based documentation along with other various types of documentation such as financial records. The Securities Act 1978 states all records of an accounting nature should be kept for a minimum of seven years.
Archives New Zealand also outlines important information that pertains to how this information is stored, such as in a locked cabinet at a minimum of 150mm off the floor, with files being stored in an orderly manner and procedures in place for retrieving and handling files within. The guidelines also cover other vital information regarding documentation such as:
- Identification and accessibility
- Facilities
- Protection and preservation
- Privacy and security
- Shelving packaging
- Environmental control.
It's important to read these guidelines carefully, as not meeting them could lead to significant challenges, including potential legal issues.
