Business At A Glance
Startup Costs: Under $2,000
Home Based: Can be operated from home.
Part Time: Can be operated part-time.
Online Operation? No
Business Overview
Health and fitness are very big issues today–everyone wants to lookgood, feel better and live longer. If you like working out and you’regood at encouraging others to get fit, then this could be the businessfor you.
As a personal trainer, you’ll instruct clients on properexercise techniques, design regimes based on their goals, and analyzeprogress in body weight, muscle development and weight training. Whilemany of your clients will be interested in shaping up and losingweight, you can also help people with specific problems like arthritisto build other muscles to compensate or those who want to rebuild orretrain their bodies after accidents or illness.
You can work with yourclients in their homes, at a health club where you have a membership,or even on a scenic beach. The advantages to this business are that youhave the potential to make a very good living and you have thesatisfaction of helping people become healthier and happier. Besidesbeing physically fit and healthy yourself, you’ll need terrificmotivational skills to help your clients push beyond their physical andmental boundaries and keep at it week after week.
The Market
Your clients will be people who want to lose weight, gain muscle,recover from illness or injury, or just get into better shape. Sellyourself by leaving fliers or brochures at health clubs and spas; swim,running and biking clubs; fitness centers; athletic shoe and clothingshops; and vitamin and nutrition shops. Place ads in local newspapers.Introduce yourself and leave brochures with chiropractors, orthopedicsurgeons and doctors of sports medicine. Give seminars to professionaland civic groups and volunteer yourself as a guest on a local radiochat show. Get yourself written up in local publications. Donate a fewsessions to a charity fund-raiser in exchange for publicity.
Needed Equipment
You’ll need certification as a personal trainer. In addition, mostpersonal trainers have a college degree in physical therapy, physicaleducation, exercise physiology, sports medicine or related fields–thisis particularly important if you’ll be working with people recoveringfrom illness or injuries. You may want to purchase assessment toolslike fat calipers, but this depends on your (and your clients’)personal tastes. As for exercise equipment, you can let your clientspurchase their own.