Starting any sort of small business is a difficult endeavor. It takes dedication, hard work, and determination. It also takes money. In this post, we’ll look at how to do this with as little money into it as possible.
Starting a gym from scratch can be one of the biggest and scariest parts of being a personal trainer. But, you don’t need to break the bank to achieve your dreams.
Take Financial Inventory
Know what your personal expenses are and the estimated expenses to operate your business. Then review any current income and calculate how much you will need to earn to keep the doors open.
Be Realistic
It is a key aspect of keeping your budget down when starting your first fitness business. Keep yourself grounded in reality. You may not be able to open a 3,000 square foot complex right off the bat. But, you can work up to it like NFPT Trainer Ian Nimblett did.
You could start by meeting with clients in their homes to build a clientele with almost no overhead. You could also consider renting gym space in your area and then work your way up to more.
Use Low-Cost or Free Marketing Techniques
You could use business cards or paid referrals to market yourself at a low cost. Wearing your business on clothing or investing in a website are also fairly inexpensive ways to market. There are tons of ways to market your start-up business without emptying your wallet.
To keep marketing completely free you can collect business cards at your front desk, use social media, cross-promote with other businesses, and give out free trials of your services.
Use Free Resources
The US Small Business Administration is a free government agency designed to get small businesses off the ground. They offer a variety of free services. From help with business plans to legal and accounting advice, they’re there to help. Use word of mouth as a free resource. If clients see results, they are going to want to show it to others.
Don’t Overdo It
Make sure that you are first starting with just yourself as an employee. You don’t need an assistant, receptionist, or another trainer right away. Not only will this keep costs down, but you will be taking in all the money that you make. You also don’t need any fancy equipment or all the latest technology. Go in confidence, give your clients encouragement and challenges, and, most of all, show them results.
Beverly Hosford, MA teaches anatomy and body awareness using a skeleton named Andy, balloons, play-doh, ribbons, guided visualizations, and corrective exercises. She is an instructor, author, and a business coach for fitness professionals. Learn how to help your clients sleep better with in Bev's NFPT Sleep Coach Program and dive deeper into anatomy in her NFPT Fundamentals of Anatomy Course.
I always wanted my own “gym” but after being involved with at least 10 start ups with others opening a gym, they were personal trainers that did not get to train since they were running day-to-day operations of the gym. I saw all the hard work that gets prioritized in the facility and what they wanted to do, which was train clients, they hated it.
Think of opening a studio training center that is appointment only. It is a lower budget approach and is private to a more selective clientele. You get privacy, no waiting for equipment, and the up keep is minimal. Finding the right place is key, but don’t waste money on expensive store frontage for advertising and browsers. It’s all about the “personal touch” and not the commercial headache the big chain gyms handle.
Great advice, Frank! I think doing appointment only would be a great way to lower the budget of a startup.
Great tips. I’ve been also eyeing to have a fitness business.
Glad to hear you liked them, Louise! Before going through with it, make sure and check my latest blog post where I discuss some vital characteristics of successful fitness entrepreneurs:
https://www.nfpt.com/blog/characteristics-of-personal-training-entrepreneurs/
Let me know what you think of that one too!
Well, I’m an active person and decided to put the energy and passion i have for fitness into helping other people especially young girls/women by owing a fitness center. The problem i have right now is just “fear of the unknown” because I’m not a certified fitness instructor and have only helped/trained a few of my friends in the past who took it seriously as well. I’m going to start up with your article i just read and also read your blog post. I will really appreciate a reply from you, need some help here, Thanks.
Hey Maureen, sorry I never responded to this! I honestly never saw your comment come through. Hope you are getting to pursue your dream. Let us know if there’s anything we can do to help!
Hi am Sydney.I like to help more people at my home town by getting fitness centre.Its a big town but no even a single fitness centre.My problem is i dont gave cash and equipment to start the centre.Its reaky my dream,i want to see it happening
Hey Sydney, so great to hear about your passion for your community. We need more people who are passionate for others like that! I would say make sure and start small at first. Maybe canvas the area and get an official poll going on if people would even be interested in some sort of fitness center. My guess is that there would be at least some interest if you don’t have any gyms or anything like that. If its too small a town you have to think about going to a nearby city that might show more interest.
I’m an 18 year old student from South-Africa, Northern Cape,Olifantshoek. Its a small town we have here, but as an young community member,with a passion for fitness i really want this small town to have a gym. i have a lot of friends and 90% of them gym, but we don’t have the right equipment or money. We always talk about how bad we want our community to have a gym, it would keep a lot of us busy, for most of the teenagers out of troubles such as crime,drugs abuse,alcohol abuse… It would definitely decrease the amount of us going to our local clinic or hospital. Most of us do sports at school, but sports at school only last a certain period of time through the year. We need something that will keep us busy. A fitness center would do good to our small town not only for the youth but for every individual living in our community.I really want this community to become a better place, but I need all the help I possibly can get even if anyone , or any institute not using their equipment who can donate it to me to help start this project.
Whenever you take a single person to a gym the world becomes a better place.
Please help!!