Creating a personal fitness trainer business plan

Running a personal trainer business is a lot like trying to improve your fitness. You need a detailed plan to give yourself the best chance of success.

After all, a company without a business plan is like a client without a programme – it can’t function to its full potential.

We know that creating a strong business plan to help you focus your efforts is no easy task, though. That’s why we’ve created a list of what to include in your personal fitness trainer business plan.

What to include in your personal fitness trainer business plan

Executive summary

The executive summary is essentially a synopsis of your business plan. It should tell the reader what your business is about, its mission and its financial projections.

This is considered the make-or-break part of your business plan, so keep it as clear and concise as possible. Ideally, your executive summary should be around a page of A4 and take up less than 10% of the document.

In addition to the above, there are several other key points to include in your executive summary which you may not have thought of, such as your marketing strategy, business model and target market.

Again, though, you want to keep this information as concise as possible. One or two sentences on each point should do the trick.

Business overview

Now we move on to the more granular parts of your personal fitness trainer business plan, starting with the business overview section.

Your business overview appears after the executive summary and should include your company’s name, location, target market, and ownership structure. For instance, whether you’re operating as a sole trader or a partnership.

This section should also outline the facilities you’re operating in, the equipment you’ll use and your company’s unique selling points (USPs).

Another core element of the business overview is your mission statement, which should include your company’s values, what you’re trying to achieve and how you’ll get there.

A mission statement isn’t essential if you’re a sole trader, though, as it’s more geared towards employees and stakeholders.

Products and services

The products and services section of your personal trainer business plan should provide a brief description of what you’re offering and why.

For instance, if you’re providing a service such as one-to-one personal training sessions, you need to explain what they’ll involve and their benefits to clients.

The same applies if you’re selling a product like fitness supplements or e-books. Why are you selling these items, and what are the benefits to your clients?

You may also want to add any future products or services you plan on offering. Even if you’re not providing them right now, you never know what the future holds.

Financial plan

No personal trainer business plan is complete without the financial plan section. If you’re a sole trader or small and medium-sized enterprise looking for investment, this acts as a snapshot for any potential investors and gives them an idea of how profitable your business will be in the long run.

The main questions you should be aiming to answer here are:

• How much are you going to spend?
• How are you going to fund your business?
• How much profit do you expect to make?

If you don’t know where to begin with all of this, don’t panic – once again, Google is your friend. You’ll find plenty of articles online that explain how to write a financial plan in more detail.

Marketing strategy

Once you’ve established your business, you need to work out how you’re going to promote its service(s) to potential clients. This is where your marketing strategy comes in.

We touched on USPs earlier in the article – the marketing strategy section is where you’ll list your company’s USPs in more detail, and outline the online/offline marketing channels you’re going to use to communicate these USPs. Marketing channels which are commonly used by personal trainers include blogging, email marketing, social media, print marketing, and leaflet marketing.

In addition, this section should include some information on how you’re going to position the business, the prices you’ll charge and the factors influencing these prices.

Market analysis

This section of your fitness trainer business plan is an opportunity to demonstrate that you know your industry and target market inside and out.

Your market analysis should outline what your customer’s needs are and how these needs are being met.

Here are some examples of market insights you could include:

• General fitness industry trends
• The size of the personal trainer market
• The personal trainer market’s forecasted growth over the next five to 10 years
• How many people in the UK are gym members?
• How many people live within a five-mile radius of your facility?
• The age range and income of your target market
• The typical behaviours and lifestyle of your target market

Establishing the above will help you work out how you’re going to position your business to potential customers and what you can offer them that’s in some way different to the competition.

Competitor analysis

You need to understand rival businesses as well as your own in order to be successful.

This is widely regarded as the most difficult section of a business plan, so carrying out extensive research is key before you fill this out.

The competitor analysis section should include key information such as:

• Who your competitors are
• Their strengths and weaknesses
• The benefits they offer to customers
• The marketing techniques they use
• How your business differs from theirs
• How you will take market share away from them

A quick search of their website and social media channels should give you most, if not all, of this information.

If you’re competing with a reputable company, you may also want to read trade magazines for any interesting promotions or news stories they’ve put out.

Operations plan

The operations plan is where you’ll summarise how you’ll carry out day-to-day jobs and how your company is structured. Specifically, its location, facilities, opening hours, any technology or equipment you use, details of suppliers, and so on.

For example, if you’re a sole trader, do you rent a gym or studio, or do you supply your own workout equipment, etc? There are templates available online that detail the key information you need to include.

Management team

Last, but certainly not least, is another major component of your personal trainer business plan – the management team section.
Whether you’re operating as a sole trader or employ other personal trainers, you need to include a management overview in your plan.

This section should explain how your company is structured and who’s responsible for its management – the important stuff potential investors will want to know about!

It should also detail the salaries of each person involved with the company and give some basic HR information. Namely, how you’re going to recruit staff and the training you’ll provide for them.

Once you’ve got this information down on paper, your personal trainer business plan is ready to go, and you can focus on attracting and retaining clients!

Specialist personal trainer insurance through Insure4Sport

Once you’ve began setting up your personal training business, you may want to consider getting specialist personal trainer insurance.

Specialist personal trainer insurance through Insure4Sport includes Public Liability, Loss of Earnings, and Personal Accident cover to help provide financial protection for you and your business. Find out more about personal trainer insurance and get an instant online quote today.