Is working out a ritual you honor five or more times a week? Is it more than a hobby and instead a culture you’re steeped in? Last question: Do you love sharing this passion with people? Then fitness might be the career path for you!
We've pointed out many times that the fitness industry is experiencing tremendous growth, and it’s expected to continue. This growth isn't reserved only for giant fitness brands and corporate gym chains either. Whether your aspirations are to start a fitness business, yoga studio, or personal training business, the time to launch a successful fitness career is now. But if the thought of starting a fitness business seems like an impossibly heavy lift, read on for the first steps to making it happen.
Discover Your Niche
- Research the fitness trends in your area: You might find that there’s a demand for a women’s-only gym or trainers who work with older clients and those rehabbing injuries. There are opportunities to work with triathletes, competitive CrossFit practitioners and even sports teams.
- Talk to as many people as possible: Talk to people where you work out and interview current clients. Join online communities & social media groups. You’ll learn what’s trending, what activities people are most interested in, and the most common fitness goals people have.
- Start working with a range of clients: You’ll learn a lot about who you want to work with most by working with the most people possible. Before going into business for themselves, many personal trainers begin their careers working full-time or part-time at big box gyms. These gigs are entry-level but are an effective way to figure out who benefits the most from what you offer, giving you plenty of hands-on experience.
Choosing your niche will help you to define your target audience. Whatever you choose, remember that your niche should be an area of fitness that you excel at, love doing and can eventually position yourself as an authority in.
Decide What Kind of Fitness Business You’ll Run
There are several different kinds of fitness businesses out there. Are you interested in teaching classes, working 1:1 with clients, or becoming a group fitness instructor? Do you plan to rent your space, or open your own facility? There are obvious pros and cons to each.
- Personal Training: You can train clients almost anywhere there’s enough space for it, be it in a park, a rented space or at their home. Choosing to be a personal trainer requires little overhead because you aren’t running a facility. If you’re trying to start a fitness business with little money, then this is a good option.
- Open Your Own Gym: The most obvious hurdle here is the cost. Gyms and studios require a lot of money to start. You’d have to rent or buy a facility large enough to accommodate your clients and fill it with exercise equipment. Then there’s utilities and insurance to think about.
- Gym Franchising: Maybe you see yourself opening a commercial gym or CrossFit box. There are many franchising options available, each with different initial & total investment costs. You must be sure that the option you choose is financially doable for you.
- Boutique Fitness Studios: Boutique fitness is thriving, in part because of the experience that they offer clients. There is a sense of community shared among members, a level of personalization with services and relationships formed with instructors. People can pay $30–$50 for a single class.
Obtain Training & Relevant Certifications
Many personal trainers and fitness coaches have bachelor’s & master’s degrees in such subjects as kinesiology, physical therapy and athletic training. You don’t necessarily need this background to become a certified personal trainer and start your fitness business. But you will need to obtain training and basic certifications to establish credibility as a trainer. Some great credentialing bodies include:
- American College of Sports Medicine
- International Sports Sciences Association
- National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM)
- National Strength & Conditioning Association
Among choosing specializations, you may need additional certifications for certain disciplines. For example, there are many personal trainer certifications geared toward adaptive fitness and working with clients with disabilities. Conversely, some advanced certifications offer a deep dive into a broad range of subjects. Pursuing nutrition certification is also worthwhile since many people expect nutrition consultation and meal planning to be part of their experience.
Your career options increase based on your specialties. The lesson here is simple: The more you know, the more you can offer. The more you offer, the more clients you’ll attract. The more clients you attract—well, you get the idea.
Start Coaching People 
Once you have the right credentials, you can begin training clients immediately. There is no rule that you must have your own space or even an official business name to start your fitness business. Working with friends & family is a way to gain hands-on experience and build up a client base. Friends have friends, after all, who in turn know other people. You can start out part-time to build up clientele until you have enough business to take it on as a full-time endeavor.
The present and future of fitness is a hybrid approach that combines in-person and virtual services. People are busy, so making workouts easily accessible plays to your benefit. Offer virtual classes & training where you can, especially on social media.
Create a Business Plan
The most important before you start your fitness business—and oftentimes most daunting step—is creating a business plan. It organizes your goals & how you plan to achieve them, and is especially important if you plan to secure outside funding. Your business plan should be a living document that can change as your goals evolve. However, the main components are:
Executive Summary
This is a high-level overview of your business. The executive summary should be short but engaging, clearly stating your business’s name, location & service offerings. It should also include your vision or mission statement.
Company Description
This section provides a more granular description of your business. Here, you’ll describe the type of clients you plan to work with and how your business is different from the competition. You’ll also describe:
- Short & long-term goals and how you plan to achieve them
- The market needs you will fill
- Your partners/suppliers
- How you plan to run your business
- Your business’s legal structure (corporation, sole proprietorship, etc.)
- A forecast of company growth
Organization
This is where you’ll detail your business’s organizational structure. You may begin this journey solo, but as your fitness business grows, you’ll likely have a team working with you. Identify the owner, as well as your management & support teams. The best way to present this is an organizational chart that describes key employees, their positions, responsibilities & biographies.
Services
This outlines the scope of services you provide for clients—with a strong emphasis on the benefits to them. Clearly define the relationship of your services to the market and illustrate their advantages over what your competition offers.
Marketing
Don’t kid yourself—marketing plans are huge for any business, large or small. Tactics you’ll use to market your business include:
- Social media marketing
- Email & text marketing
- Content marketing
- Paid advertising
- Local partnerships
It’s always a possibility to hire someone to market for you, but you don’t have to be a guru to craft an effective strategy. A great place to start are these 10 easy gym marketing ideas. When you’re ready to hammer out your own strategy, download Vagaro’s Comprehensive Guide to Marketing.
Industry Analysis
The industry analysis section provides research on your local market, current trends & how your business aligns with where the market is headed. Imagine that your long-term plan was to have a nutritionist onsite and a library of on-demand content accessible via a client app. To justify this, you would provide statistical analysis that backs up the rising demand for wellness services, as well as an increased use of digital fitness apps & the popularity of live streamed classes.
Competitor Analysis
Your competitor analysis is detailed research on your direct competitors—or businesses that offer the same services you do. If you’re a trainer who runs an athletic facility catering to athletes, you would not use this section to examine a nearby HIIT gym, which is an example of indirect competition. Break your competitor analysis down into:
- Services & products they offer
- Their business model
- Their pricing structures
- Their strengths & weaknesses
You’ve answered many of these questions about your own business, so simply turn that lens outward.
Target Audience Analysis
Your target audience is the group of people most likely to book services and become loyal customers. You need to know who they are, what they want, and how to meet their needs. A good exercise for discovering your ideal client(s) is to create a client persona. Answer:
- Age, gender & income
- Life events
- Abilities & fitness levels
- Level of education
- Opinions, interests, beliefs & values
It’s possible that you have multiple niches and specialties, in which case you’ll need to create multiple client personas.
Financial Projections
Finances can be intimidating when starting a fitness business, but you’re in the business of conquering intimidating goals now. The financial plan can include a five-year projection with detailed breakdowns of monthly & annual earnings.
All projections should be based on facts & research with plenty of figures to back them up. It might be wise to include a professional accountant in this process.
Some of the important financial statements that should be part of your plan include projected income statements, balance sheets, cash flow statements and capital expenditure budgets for the next three to five years, with monthly & annual earnings.
Choose the Right Location
Make sure that your business’s location is conveniently located & accessible. Do you have a parking lot, or is it street parking only? Is it accessible via public transportation? Is it in a bike-friendly area? These are all things to think about based on your target demographic.
Your location will also determine who your primary competitors are. Research local gyms in your area. How you price your services depends on your proximity to these competitors. If it’s too difficult to create attractive programs & offers to compete, find an area that is less saturated.
Obtain All Paperwork, Permits and Insurance
Starting your fitness business may need various licenses, permits and documentation depending on where you live, especially if you plan to open or rent your own space. Check with your town, city, or registrar’s office for information on the following:
Licenses & Permits
- Zoning Requirements: You need to be sure that the area you want to open your gym or facility in is zoned for business generally, and for a gym specifically.
- Building Permits: You’ll need to obtain a certificate of occupancy, which confirms all building codes, zoning laws, and government regulations have been met. If you’re renting a space, this is usually the landlord’s responsibility.
- Food & Retail Seller’s Permits: Selling taxable goods or services requires a seller’s permit, often called a sales tax permit or sales tax certificate of authority. To apply for one, you’ll need to have already established your business’s Employer Identification Number (EIN) (more on that below).
- Other Permits: You may need permits if you plan to offer spa & massage services, pools & showers, or healthcare services such as dietary consulting and physical therapy. To avoid infringing on any music copyrights, obtain a blanket license from a performance rights organization (PRO), such as Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI).
Legal
- Business License: You'll need this to own and run a gym or fitness facility. Licensing requirements vary per town/city or state.
- Employee Identification Number (EIN): An employer identification number identifies your gym as a business entity. With it, you can file taxes and supply tax information to employees. It also separates your gym’s tax information from your personal tax information at the end of the year.
- Tax Registration: When you register for taxes, you are letting the state and federal government know that you are running a business and will file your taxes accordingly
Insurance
- Property Protection: Property insurance can protect against fire, flood, and other natural disasters, as well as vandalism.
- Liability Insurance: There are many ways for someone to get hurt in a gym, or during fitness training, from faulty equipment and trainer oversights to simple slips and falls. Dependable liability insurance ensures that your finances and the gym’s finances are protected.
- Worker’s Compensation: Employees working under you can also suffer injuries in a gym setting. Workers’ compensation insurance helps employees and covers medical expenses if they miss work due to injury.
- Other Insurance Types: It’s wise to have protection in case of facility closures, employee theft, equipment breakdowns and clients seeking retribution for past injuries (occurrence insurance).
Create a Website
Your website says a lot about your business. It also serves as the primary lead generator—meaning it’s how most people will find you.
To set up your website, you’ll need to choose a domain name & hosting service. Make sure that your website is easy to navigate and mobile-friendly. The following elements should be easy to locate:
- Your logo & mission statement
- Menu of classes & services
- Schedules & prices
- A bio page for you & other trainers
- Links to your social media pages
- An intuitive, online booking tool
These days, websites are easy to create, but Vagaro’s page builder enables businesses to create sleek, responsive webpages that have all the aspects above & integrate with the Vagaro fitness software.
Acquire Funding
From finding the right space to purchasing all the equipment you’ll need, the startup costs for health clubs and other facilities are steep. If you’re starting with little money, there are several avenues available to fitness professionals for funding. These include, but are not limited to:
A Business Line of Credit: A business line of credit allows you to borrow up to a certain amount and only pay interest on the money you borrow. You then repay those funds and can continue to draw on the line of credit. It can be more flexible than small business loans because you repay only what you use.
Equipment Financing: High quality fitness equipment is costly and equipment financing makes it possible to acquire everything you need. Equipment financing is a type of small business loan for purchasing equipment essential to starting your business. This can be used for anything from dumbbells & squat racks to scales & BMI readers.
Get Your Business on Social Media
Social media presence is central to your business’s marketing strategy. Additionally, business accounts are free on most platforms and advertising campaign results are easy to measure. Paid social media advertising is also cheaper than traditional print advertising.
The more engaged you are, the more engaged your followers will be, and the more likely they are to become clients. There are so many things that gyms, fitness studios and personal trainers can post about on social media, including:
- Current fitness trends
- Discounts & specials
- Healthy recipes
- Exercise tips
- Form demonstrations
- Polls
- Fitness challenges
For a more in-depth list of what to post on your social media pages, check out these 8 social media post ideas for gyms.
Implement Easy Booking, Scheduling & Payment
As it happens, we know of a pretty good fitness booking software, Vagaro.
It offers other features, too, like inventory tracking, reports & marketing tools. Vagaro is an excellent all-in-one fitness software solution that makes opening & running your business easy.
There’s a lot to think about when embarking on a fitness career, but the climb isn’t as daunting as you may think. With a business plan and the right course of action, you’re well on your way to launching a successful career. It also helps to have the right business management software in your corner.
If you’re looking to shift careers or start a fitness business, Vagaro can help turn your aspirations into reality. The software scales with the growth of your business, letting you choose the tools you need, when you need them. If you’re ready to take your new fitness company to the next level, sign up for a free 30-day trial and discover everything Vagaro can do for you!
