Is it unwise to start your own business before working in a gym?

[zumbawjade]

Although I'm not new to the exercise industry (I'm currently a Zumba instructor), I am new to the PT industry. My original plan was to begin working at a gym and then start my own business once I had a stronger clientele base. I then decided I'd start my own business right away but only do it PT and also work at a gym to help out. But now, I'm thinking I might be better of just starting off on my own completely. So much time has been put into just creating my business plan, I can't imagine how time consuming it will be when I actually have my business running. So my question is: is it a bad move to not work at a gym first to get some experience and build a client base?

[PeteratCastle]

Although I'm not new to the exercise industry (I'm currently a Zumba instructor), I am new to the PT industry. My original plan was to begin working at a gym and then start my own business once I had a stronger clientele base. I then decided I'd start my own business right away but only do it PT and also work at a gym to help out. But now, I'm thinking I might be better of just starting off on my own completely. So much time has been put into just creating my business plan, I can't imagine how time consuming it will be when I actually have my business running. So my question is: is it a bad move to not work at a gym first to get some experience and build a client base?

Not really, I started off on my own immediately as loads of gyms, most, in the Uk are just terrible for PT'ing in. The likes of Puregym etc are just horrible places to work and those gyms just take the pish out of young guys starting off on a career. It's tough starting off on your own, a lot of hard work goes into getting clients, but it's well worth it.

I don't know what the deals are in the states or Canada, I am sure some of the other guys can tell you about it..but in the UK I would only consider working for a few gyms.?.especially if you're already a Zumba instructor and should therefore already know people who might want a bit of a change and get a PT

[Teethatyourfeet]

I'm starting out in a gym (GoodLife), but I wish I could simply open a business. A lot of people on here in their early twenties seem to have simply opened up a business, worked hard at it, gone through the fits and struggles, and succeeded. If you truly want it, you can do it.

[weaponxpf]

I'm starting out in a gym (GoodLife), but I wish I could simply open a business. A lot of people on here in their early twenties seem to have simply opened up a business, worked hard at it, gone through the fits and struggles, and succeeded. If you truly want it, you can do it.

Yep i agree 'if you truly want it, you can do it!'

I did it and all I had a personality, small business marketing background, and a ACSM personal trainer certification. you need clear definitive steps. I have a personal trainer business plan available if you want it. just PM me or check out the links in the signature below.

Best Wishes

[EdgarAllanPoe]

I would say yes...

You can learn a lot from working in a gym or personal training studio even if just for 6 months or so....more importantly you can learn what not to do because the people I worked for starting out just started their own business and their decisions were so dumb, but i could've made the same mistakes starting out.

I now have my own business, my own studio and I'm not making floods of money due to my overhead but I'm also not losing money....which people generally say when starting a business you remain in the hole for a little while. I'm making my bills and I never borrowed any money.

At least build a clientele that will support your overhead if you plan on getting your own facility. Don't just start out with no clients. If anything, you could do your zumba, in home personal training on the side (work on your marketing), outdoor zumba (once again for marketing purposes), and try to find a part time personal training gig where you don't sign a no-compete and they hook you up with clients. Then do a great job with them, and create a base to take to your own location.

I'm making money and my job is still stressful. If you start out with an overhead you have to borrow money to meet, your stress will probably burn you out.

Loyal client base first....everything else (along with your clients) will follow. It also takes time to see which clients are loyal. Everyone when they signup intends to be long term and loyal but thats obviously not always the case

[MkADcision]

I think a lot of your success will be determined by the level of confidence in yourself as a trainer.

I'm in a similar situation working part time as a trainer at a gym getting my "feet wet" and trying to improve the soft skills needed to be a p/t: communication, building rapport, establishing trust, designing programs on the fly...things that you can't learn in a book.
Eventually I will be going independent and be responsible for my business from A to Z.

I believe as long as you have clearly defined goals and objectives you should go for it. Conditions will never be perfect, you just need to start.

[KyleAaron]

I'm starting out in a gym (GoodLife), but I wish I could simply open a business. A lot of people on here in their early twenties seem to have simply opened up a business, worked hard at it, gone through the fits and struggles, and succeeded. If you truly want it, you can do it.

And a lot of people gave it a go and failed abysmally. But we tend not to hear from them.

In my certificate classes there were 42 different people including me, 21 completed the courses, 3 sought employment and 2 of us got it, all but 3 of the rest sought self-employment, three years later none of them are working in the industry anymore. When I go to seminars, I meet a lot "self-employed" PTs... when you question them narrowly, they have 1-3 clients, and that's all they've managed for 18 months or so. None of these people post on forums.

If you can't be successful working for someone else, you can't be successful working for yourself. Before someone says, "Richard Branson," ask yourself: are you Richard Branson? Most of us aren't. Work for someone else for a while as it's best to find out if you're any good at and enjoy being a PT before you spend thousands of quid on a business setup. You also get to see how other people run a fitness business and learn from what they've done right and wrong - and after a year or so, some of the things you thought were done right turn out to be wrong, and vice versa; learn from someone else's mistakes, it's cheaper for you that way.

After a few years you'll have a better idea of how things work. If you're looking at this as a lifetime career, then spending a few years doing an apprenticeship isn't a big deal. This is something often forgotten by people fresh from their certificate courses. Book knowledge alone doesn't make you a competent trainer, nor experience alone, it's the combination of the two, a stew of theory and practice. This stew takes time to brew.

Be wary of taking fitness business advice from PTs who make most of their living not from training people but from giving fitness business advice. It's like those guys who run seminars on how to make a million bucks... well, you start by running seminars on how to make a million bucks.

[SFT]

I worked for someone else for 2 years and the experience was invaluable. The facility was a small business where myself and the business owner were the only full-timers. We had a few other part-timers as well. I don't doubt that I am 5+ years ahead of where I would have been had I opened my own business straight out of college. I had to keep accurate records of my class incomes, develop marketing plans, actually act on those marketing plans, deal with customer complaints, ensure proper maintenance of equipment, etc. The only things I didn't have to deal with were more of the legal side of things, more in-depth accounting, and a few other things that only the owner would really know about.

I wouldn't go right off on your own. Like Kyle said, you typically only hear from successful people. You don't hear people bragging about how their business failed and they left the field. Most personal trainers probably leave the field in 5 years and most small businesses go out in 5 years. Put the two together and I think you're setting yourself up for a higher rate of failure.

[PeteratCastle]

I thinkSFT and some others have a good point. But you have to be careful which gyms you go and work for. As I said, most gyms in the UK are just terrible to work for and you won't learn a thing, they'll just rip you off.

If you can work ina small gym, like SFT, and they give you a good deal then that's great. But in the UK those are very hard to find.

Kyle and SFT are right though, though I think SFT over estimates the time most people fail in..I reckon it's not even 1 year before most pack their bags, it is horrifically difficult and most fail (hell I still might even though I do OK'ish at the moment)

You should have it slightly easier as you're currently a Zumba instructor so you should have a way in with some people already.

TBH, I wouldn't even recommend taking a PT course for most people in the UK at the moment. Sure it sounds cool but the field is horrifically competitive and there are tonnes of ****ty 6-week courses out there. They all go for approx 3k and the only job you can get afterwards is with a gym like Puregym where you work 15 hrs a week, scrubbing floors and cleaning toilets, instead of paying rent. Those 15 hrs gives you the chance to compete with 14-15 personal trainers in your gym and all of that on a membership total of 5-6k (in one gym). Puregym clients in quite a few areas are mainly 18-30 year olds and quite a few students. Most of these won't have the money to see a PT several times a week. (Puregym say they have a conversion rate of 3-4% of active members that go and take up PT sessions but I don't know the total nr of hours for most Puregyms) so there you are.

Itsnot an easy business to get into and be successful in, I would do tonnes of research before even spending my money on a course.

I went out on my own as the gyms that were hiring really put me off with crappy T&Cs but have the benefit of being 38 and having had 15+ years of sales and management experience, including networking. I am still putting in 60 hr weeks easy though and that's just as a home PT

[Teethatyourfeet]

And a lot of people gave it a go and failed abysmally. But we tend not to hear from them.

As with any business. The work, time, and changes you put in will determine your success. If you want it, you'll do it. If you only kinda want it, or you expect it to be easy... you won't.

[KyleAaron]

the only job you can get afterwards is with a gym like Puregym where you work 15 hrs a week, scrubbing floors and cleaning toilets, instead of paying rent. Those 15 hrs gives you the chance to compete with 14-15 personal trainers in your gym and all of that on a membership total of 5-6k (in one gym).

OIf course I don't know the conditions of Puregym. However, 15 PTs for 5,000 members is normal. An ordinary PT programme will achieve 3% of members being PT clients. If the trainers are lazy slugs and the team leader an idiot, it might be as low as 0.5-1%, if the PTs are active and sensible and management supports them, it might be as high as 6 or even 8%. But 3% is ordinary. That's 150 people. If they do 2x 30min sessions a week each, that's 150hr of PT sessions up for grabs.

Among 15 trainers, you'll find that 4-5 of them do at least half the total sessions. (Sometimes it's more extreme, one gym I worked in had 2 of 12 do 50% the total sessions.) That's 75hr spread among 5, or 15hr each. Depending on the session rates, that's not too bad. Of course that's less hours for the unsuccessful two-thirds, but we kind of have to assume moderate success in these discussions, if you're not even moderately successful in your profession you should choose another.

Of course, 15hr weekly gym shifts done unpaid in lieu of rent is another matter. But 15 trainers for 5,000 members is quite normal.

Puregym clients in quite a few areas are mainly 18-30 year olds and quite a few students. Most of these won't have the money to see a PT several times a week.

Demographics of the area definitely influence it. But you'll be surprised who pays for PT. Many university students live at home, for example, paying no board, and do a part-time job which lets them afford to buy good clothes, go out drinking - or do PT. I have three uni students amongst my clients, but I've also had people who I knew were earning over $120,000 tell me they couldn't afford a single half-hour session a week. People find the money for the things they see value in. Whether people see value in PT is up to us.

This doesn't mean everyone can or should do PT. It does mean there are a lot more potential clients out there than is commonly imagined. That gym I mentioned where 2 guys out of 12 did 50% the total sessions? In 12-18 months I matched the second of those guys, and it wasn't by stealing any clients. I got new clients, people signed on with me who would never have signed on with those two guys - just as their clients would never have signed on with me.