ACE CPT Chapter 18 – Personal-training Business Fundamentals

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The direct employee model

• This is working under an employer such as in a corporate gym, commercial setting or private gym
• Advantages
  1. No overhead costs for the facility, equipment etc.
  2. Benefits such as healthcare
  3. Opportunities to move up (promotions)
• Disadvantages
  1. Often times it can be high-pressure sales environment

Independent contractor

• Advantages
  1. You typically have the freedom to choose your pay scale based on what type of market you are
• Disadvantages
  1. Marketing costs are typically your responsibility
  2. Traveling to the home of your client
  3. Possibly have to rent out space to train
  4. Taxes

Business planning

• Executive summary
  1. The concept of the business
     • The description of the business
  2. Financial information
     • First-year startup costs
     • The sources of capital
     • The potential for profits and sales revenue
     • ROI (return on investment)
  3. Current business position
     • Information about the owners of the business
  4. Major achievements
• Business description
  1. Competitors
  2. Operating model
  3. Management team
  4. The fitness market locally
• Marketing plan
  1. Find your target audience
  2. Learning to communicate why your services are valuable to your clients
• Operational plan
  1. Organizational chart
• Risk analysis
  1. Barriers to starting – Employees, marketing costs, equipment cost, renting space
  2. Financial risks – The capital needed in order to begin and expand
  3. Competition
  4. Employees – Staffing and payroll
  5. The SWOT analysis – strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats
• The criteria for decision-making

Brand creation

• Finding your target market and demographic

Being able to communicate the benefits

Client retention marketing

• Using periodization programs

General communication marketing

Picking a business structure

Necessary services for beginning a business

• An attorney
• An accountant
• Graphic designer/web developer
• Insurance broker
• Real estate broker
• Contractors

Financial plan

• Goal setting with SMART
• Closing ratio – If you get one paying client for every 10 you talk to, you have a 10% closing ratio
  1. Use this to find new goals of how many prospective clients you need to talk to weekly

Managing time

• Client management
• Working with clients
• Prospecting potential clients
• Building advertising and marketing materials
• Additional job duties
• Exercise
• Homelife/personal life

How to sell training

• How to market to potential clients
• How to ask for the sale
  1. Identifying the emotional needs of the client
  2. Address those needs effectively with potential client
  3. You need to be genuinely interested