This is our last week for breaking out our Characteristics of Personal Training Entrepreneurs list. What are the most important traits to have as a personal trainer entrepreneur? Here are our top five!

A Leader

Being a leader is what will be the head of every other characteristic. This characteristic is the one that holds the responsibility of making everything work together. Being a leader is more than good scheduling or good people skills. It’s about seeing the big picture and knowing how to work out the little details. It’s about self-sacrifice and servanthood.

Passionate

Passion is a close second for the most important trait of a fitness entrepreneur. When you have a passion for what you are doing, you will do it so much better. You have to love what you do. Because of the passion you have for the fitness industry, you are willing to sacrifice for the better of your business. Not because of the money, but because you love what you do!

Comfortable Taking Risks

When starting your own business, there are tons of risks. You are stepping outside of a comfort-zone and it is scary. You need to be okay with taking risks. Part of that is not second-guessing yourself or your decisions. Get used to it, because you’ll be doing it every day.

Positive Attitude

When starting and running your own business, you need to stay positive. Your attitude will rub off on your employees, no matter what it is. If they see you being negative about things, chances are that’s the position they will take up as well. You need to stay positive for your sake as well. Not that this doesn’t mean not looking at things realistically. But that “glass half full” mentality will penetrate every area of your business for the better.

Opportunistic

Being opportunistic goes hand-in-hand with having a positive attitude. The people with this characteristic see opportunities to improve their business in everything. Something bad may happen, but that just opens up a new door to something else. It is very similar to that “glass half full” mindset.

Well, that wraps things up for this series! Comment below and tell us what you think is the most important trait of an entrepreneur!

Ryan Farrell started working with the National Federation of Professional Trainers (NFPT) in 2012. As NFPT's Marketing Coordinator, Ryan is responsible for aiding company reputation by building brand awareness and establishing strong working relationships among NFPT, its affiliates and industry partners.