How to Create Your Personal Trainer Five-Year Plan

So, you want a career as a personal trainer? Awesome!

But, just like any successful business, you’ll want to approach your upcoming fitness career with a plan in mind. Not only will this keep you on track, but it will also help you win new clients, earn more money, and help your career flourish as time goes on.  Here’s our advice – not only when it comes to becoming a personal trainer, but also on setting your future business up for success by planning in advance.

Get Qualified

This goes without saying, but to become a personal trainer, you’ll first need to take the right course to become qualified. Our Fast Track Personal Training Course consists of Certificate IV in Fitness plus entry requirement units, so you'll get where you want to be in about 18 months.

Otherwise, our Complete Personal Training Course will set you up to become the most well-rounded personal trainer you can be.  You will graduate with not one, but TWO nationally recognised qualifications - Certificate III in Fitness and Certificate IV in Fitness - that will bulletproof your fitness career.  

Our Complete Personal Training and Business Course will give you the skills and qualification not only to work as a personal trainer but thrive as one. Combining your knowledge of the body and health with business know-how will give you the best start for your fitness career.

Design A Business Plan

A strategic plan for your business will help you create goals and objectives, generate structure and organization, help to understand business concepts and make engaging with your target market easier. As part of this plan, you may want to consider things such as: will you work within the support of a gym to begin? Or do you have an end goal of owning your own personal training business with its own studio? If you plan to work in a gym environment, your potential employers will thoroughly appreciate you coming in with a clear business plan.

Prepare A Business Summary

This will outline your goals, objectives, and strategies for achieving the results you want from your own personal training business. These sorts of summaries are also great if, for any reason, you need to take out a loan for your business. Your summary should include aims and objectives, what financials (or other goals) you aim to hit and when by, and a summary of the business plan you previously designed.

Look At Your Background and Credentials

You are, after all, the most integral part of your own fitness career! As a part of your business plan, you’ll want to set yourself up as someone who can drive your business, especially if you’re looking to become a personal trainer in a gym. You’ll want to be able to outline your qualifications, experience and positive personality traits to potential employers.

Decide What You Are Selling

As a personal trainer, you should offer more than a 40-minute session for your client and be done with it. As a part of your personal trainer plan, you may also want to include things such as:

• Online personal training services

• Group training

• Nutrition consultation

• Nutritional supplements

• Bio print analysis

• Workout guides

• eBooks

This is a great way to diversify your income as a personal trainer and bump up your personal trainer's wage. After all, one-on-one training will likely bring you the most money, but not every client can afford that premium experience. Instead, they may opt for your more affordable group sessions.

Once you are generating income from your product, you can better complete sales forecasts and better discern the growth of your business over a five-year trend and beyond.

Find Your Target Market

Do you wish to work with men and women struggling to lose weight? Or perhaps you have a passion for helping people with certain chronic illnesses (such as PCOS or diabetes) feel better in their bodies. You could offer training for professional bodybuilders or work in rehabilitation and injury management.

Identifying a niche could be considered somewhat risky, but if you can show clients that you can perform general personal trainer routines but also be able to train to specific parameters, you’ll better resonate with them and set yourself up as a trustworthy trainer.

Settle On Advertisement

Will you take out paid advertisements online, create a website, design some flyers, or do a bit of everything? After all, you need to find an effective way to get your name out there. Posters, business cards, referrals and word of mouth are also great if you are advertising within a gym. Make sure you have a clear outline of advertising spending.

Keep Track of your Income, Expenditure & Prices

Tracking all of these aspects of your business can help you better envision your business five years from now. Make changes and adjust as you go, and you’ll be better prepared to ride out the years as a successful personal trainer.

Want to know more about our courses? Read up on all of our options here.