Starting A Fitness Business: It All Starts Here

Imagine yourself a year from now, celebrating the accomplishments of the past year when you succeeded at starting a personal training fitness business.

Here’s how to take action to ensure that this vision of success is more than just a fantasy.

I’ll be honest with you, every year a LOT of fitness professionals set out with the goal of starting a fitness business. Some succeed, while others fail. There are a number of factors that play a role in this: the quality of the service they provide, the passion they have, the start-up funding available to them and a variety of other things impact the success of someone starting a fitness business – but virtually every fitness pro that I’ve seen succeed had one thing in common:

The had a written plan for success.

The number-one reason fitness pros succeed in starting a fitness business is that they set well-defined, clearly written goals, and they have a plan for achieving them. If you really want to start your own business – don’t leave your success to chance. Here’s how to nail down exactly what you hope to achieve so that, at this time next year, you’re looking back on a year to remember.

What do you want to accomplish by starting a fitness business?

Go ahead-Dream a little. And dream big. As a business coach, one of my first tasks in helping fitness pros improve their performance is to encourage them realize the power of their own potential. You want to be able to visualize what you would like to accomplish–and to do so in very specific terms.

You can start by thinking generally. If you had all the time, money, clients, energy, and resources in
the world, what would you choose to do with your fitness business, your relationships, and your life? What does your vision of success entail?

Next, chisel out some specific goals–and specific means measurable. If you can’t measure your progress,
how will you know when you’ve made your mark? Suppose you’re starting a fitness business to increase your income, for example, and work less.

Think numbers: how much do you earn now, and how much do you want to earn? How many new clients would that require? How many hours are you working now, and how many would you like to work? Which days of the week, and for how long each day?

Why do you want to accomplish this goal?

Once you’ve nailed down a specific, measurable "what" for each goal, you’ll need to think about "why." List all the reasons that you must accomplish these goals, as well as what your fitness business and your life would look like if you were to fall short. You’ll need these reasons to stay motivated when you encounter obstacles. Without a compelling emotional buy-in, you risk bailing on your commitments at the first sign of trouble. Review your reasons regularly, and you’ll never find your
motivation flagging.

Many times, asking yourself "why" also uncovers additional, underlying goals. Say you are currently
earning $50,000, for example, and your goal is to increase your income to $100,000. Enumerate the reasons you must earn this figure. What do you plan to do with the extra revenue? Be sure to account for desired living expenses, retirement contributions, charitable donations, estimated fitness business overhead, insurance, and so forth.

Lastly, add in taxes.

Your total equals your true target revenue goal.

Now take a look at your list. Maybe you’ve written down that you’re committed to starting a fitness business to generate more income so that you can improve your family’s quality of life.

But what does that mean, exactly? Are you interested in taking your family on more vacations this year? Or in spending more time with your kids – taking them to school every morning, or leaving work early to attend your daughter’s soccer game once a week? Describe these activities in detail. These may well be your true goals. Also, allow for the possibility that you can achieve these goals regardless of how much money you earn.

How do you intend to accomplish this goal?

After you’ve identified "what" and "why," of starting a fitness business, you’ll need to address "how." This step entails hammering out the specific action steps necessary to achieve the goals you’ve set for yourself. To identify the appropriate action steps, you’ll need to:

Break down your goals. If, like most people, you gloss over the "how" stage, you’ll risk finding that starting a fitness business is too tough a task. And the critical tool you’ll need to execute this stage effectively is your fitness business plan. For many trainers, a business plan is simply non-existent. These fitness pros buckle down and work as hard as they can, then pick up their heads at the end of the week, the month, or the year, and ask, "OK, how much have I made?" Their logic: I already work as hard as I can–what good is a fitness business plan going to do for me?
Unfortunately, however, without a plan, you won’t be able to assess whether you’re actually making productive use of your time, energy, and resources. You lack a roadmap that clearly delineates the most effective route for starting a fitness business. Without even realizing it, you might be driving in circles–and that represents an enormous waste of effort.

To create a workable fitness business plan, break down your goals into the smallest possible action steps. The end result should be a massive to-do list. To prevent that list from becoming overwhelming, include a specific timeframe for achieving each step. That way, the next time you find yourself with 15 minutes to spare, you can consult your list and take action, rather than simply wasting away that time. Soon, you’ll find that you’ve become a lean, mean, goal-accomplishing machine.

Make time for critical tasks. We all tackle our share of "pressing demands"–those time-sapping tasks that are urgent, but not necessarily critical to achieving our long-term objectives. This is another reason that sticking to your personal training business plan is so crucial. If you know what you’re supposed to be accomplishing each day–and each week–then you can determine when and where you’re falling short, and adjust your schedule accordingly. If you’re having trouble squeezing all of your commitments into your days, take a proactive approach: schedule, schedule, schedule.

We’re all stuck with a 24-hour clock–but by managing time effectively, some of us make far more of our working hours than others.

Where are you directing your attention these days? Where are you focusing your time and energy? Are you achieving success the way you’ve defined it?

By setting specific, measurable, realistic goals when you’re starting your fitness business, you’ll enable yourself to stay focused on what you want and channel your activities accordingly. Effective goal setting is the first step in successfully starting a fitness business, as well as the basis for evaluating your how you spend your time. To stay on top of your goals, review them weekly. About 10 minutes is all you’ll need to keep them where they belong–at the forefront of your mind.

Once you’ve set some goals, here are a number of other posts that will be tremendously valuable in starting a fitness business:

14 Thoughts About Launching a Successful Fitness Business

39 Lessons I’ve Learned

Are You Using Fitness Business Marketing Effectively?

What Are Your Biggest Fitness Business And Marketing Problems?

53 Tips To Get More Clients and Grow Your Fitness Business

What Are Your Biggest Fitness Business Questions?

Your Fitness Business Questions Answered – Part 1

The Only Two Things You Need For Fitness Business Success

April 15th = Fitness Business Opportunity?

11 Ways To Explode Your Fitness Business

Making Your Fitness Business Viral In Four Steps