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Business structure
Sole proprietorships: Businesses operated and owned by one person
Paperwork is minimal
Partnerships: Two individuals decide to own and operate a business and share the losses and profits
Should establish the rules of the operation through legal documentation
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General partnerships: The joining of two people to operate and own a business
- Minority partner: The person who owns less of the two partners
- Express partnerships: This is a contract between the parties
- Implied partnership: This is recognized by the judicial system if the individuals are acting as partners
Limited partners: These partners are only liable for the direct contribution they make financially
Corporations: This builds a separate entity from the operators of the business and the investors
S corporations
Profits flow to the shareholders through the business
This is taxed as normal income
Personal trainer businesses that do not operate as a partnership or sole proprietorship this is the most common.
The shareholders are protected from personal liability
- Cons – Potential investors are limited
- The costs of operation and formation
LLP and LLC
- Investors have the profits flow to them and are taxed as regular income
- Taxes are easier compared to S Corp.’s: Cons – Operating standards or undefined in the states.
- C Corps
- Unlimited number of investors and limited liability: Cons – double taxation and the cost of the operation and formation
Independent contractors
- People that are hired on a short-term basis
Employees
- People that work for their employer
Contracts
- Acceptance and offer with an agreement of terms
- Legality
- Consideration
- Parties can enter a contract concerning mental capacity and legal age.
Negligence (must have 4 elements)
- The defendant has a responsibility to protect the plaintiff from injury
- The defendant could not uphold the standard necessary to perform the duty
- Injury or damage to the plaintiff
- Injury or damage that was caused by the defendant’s breach of duty
Vicarious liability
- This is where employers are held responsible for the actions of their employees.
- Gross negligence
- This is a willful disregard for the health and safety of others
- Contributory negligence
- This happens if a client does not mention potential hazards to the personal trainer.
- Will prevent the client from recovering money, even if the personal trainer was at fault or partially at fault
Informed consent, agreements to participate, and waivers
- Agreements to participate
- Personal trainers have to have a way of warning clients of the potential risks of exercise.
- Informed consent
- Inherent risks
- Procedures
- Each individual has a standalone document.
Legal responsibilities
- Facilities
- Equipment
- AED
- Supervision
- Instruction
Liability insurance
- Independent contractors, as well as employees
- Need to be able to cover attentional costs of injuries related to exercise
Legal implications and other business concerns
- Intellectual property
- Marketing activities
- Transportation
- Financing
Risk management
- Risk evaluation (referred to Table 17 – 2)
- Risk identification
- Managing/approaching each risk
- Transfer, avoidance, retention, reduction, implementation, and evaluation
If you want additional study materials, check out the team over at Trainer Academy. They have incredible study materials for ACE And I have a special limited-time discount for my readers. I also suggest you check out my review on Trainer Academy here.
Tyler Read
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