Reply With QuoteI'm the wrong guy to ask about this. But the right guys read this board. We'll ask them.
Member
I'm at a crossroads
Gday Rip,
I am at a crossroads in life and I would greatly appreciate your advice.
Without boring you with the details, I have found myself between employment but was recently presented an opportunity to be a personal trainer at a local commercial gym.
Long story short, I have the qualification already from years ago so I can get the gig when I get insurance sorted etc etc.
My problem is it's the standard subcontractor, I pay the gym rent and hope I get enough clients. They currently have no Trainer so I should be okay in this regard. I would need 6 clients a week to clear rent. Plus, even though they bought new equipment it still sucks.
On the other hand, I could open my own fitness studio in a modest place. There is a gap in the market for a 1-1, small group place since the only other guy doing it retired last year. It looks like if I charged $100 a week for 3 sessions I would still need 6 clients for 11 months of the year to pay rent. I have a rack and a good bar plus weights already. I've got funds to probably get through the first year with absolutely no clients and the current Australian tax system would allow me to write off many of the assets I need to obtain.
Either way I need to be a business, get clients, take all the risk. The benefits to the commercial gym are people are already there. The benefits to my own are I can run the program more effectively and do the Coach course more easily. Plus, if the Australian government does some crazy vaccination thing again in the future, having my own place may be slightly safer.
I imagine I would need a side job regardless of which I do. At least at the beginning.
I am confident I can coach normal people, I'm still training my mum who is the hardest case I will ever take. The train friends for free model has not worked for me so far and opening the business in my garage is unprofessional.
I do have access to support for building a business from some different avenues to help me with marketing and things of the like.
I'm doing Byron's training camp next month, if I get some clients I would do the Coach Development Course, and get enough experience to do the Seminar and become the greatest SSC in Australia. Which I am confident I can do in the next couple of years.
I'm old enough to need to not rush in, but young enough to make it work. I know this is my own situation and I have to make the decision, but you have not steered me wrong yet so any advice you have would be well regarded as always.
TMPHBITEU
I'm the wrong guy to ask about this. But the right guys read this board. We'll ask them.
Member
Thanks Rip,
In the meantime I have got some external advice that my price is too low. So that's even better for me.
I have got some good value from watching one of Andrew Lewis's videos so have begun paying more attention to form videos, trying to spot what's wrong and think about how I would fix it before reading your responses.
I'm still waiting on the official contract from the commercial gym, and I'm guessing that the ease of breaking that will play a large factor in my decision.
Hopefully someone has some other pearls of wisdom. I appreciate your time as always.
✓ Member
Why do you think it’s unprofessional to run it out of your garage? Embrace the underground
Member
I apologise for misleading you. It's not a garage. It's a shed. In Australia it is not a nice place to be most days and the clientele that I want don't want to be in a shed full of redbacks, skink lizards, and the rest of my junk. I have not had success training people for free in there already so I don't think it is a viable option.Originally Posted by Steven Kalin
Plus, on one of the other old threads about this kind of thing Rip said it was unprofessional and someone said they drove to a CrossFit box which turned out to be a guy in his garage, doors open, so he kept on driving. I'd do the same.
✓ Member
Have you given any thought to what it would take to upgrade that shed in the medium term? I wouldn't be surprised if there are crushingly onerous regulations for doing that down there, but you'd know more about it than my mere speculation. Could any of your investment options assist with that? And if the coaching gig doesn't pan out, or pans out into a different direction, then hey, you've managed to upgrade your home gym along the way, and even provide a fallback for future lockdown situations...
Member
I have given it a little thought but I generally believe that doing it external to my home will force me to put 100% effort in to the venture. At home I may be inclined to quit if it gets difficult. I don't think the regulations for a home business are bad though so I have kept it as a last resort.
I really think that if I want to be a professional I need to be in a professional space in a semi prominent location, and the money needed to invest in upgrading the shed could go the other space from the get go.
Apparently my wife has future plans for what goes in the shed long term also.
Member
I had a go as an independent trainer about ten years ago and failed for a few different reasons. A big one was lack of a marketing strategy. What would be your plan for finding new clients? Chambers of Commerce can be a good way to network with local professionals. It's a very slow and passive process, but it can be a good way to get started. I described it in detail in an older thread here: Making the switch
Even better if you have a network of similar professionals that you know do great work and that you trust. For example, knowing a good nutritionist or supplement store owner and a good massage therapist would really complement your business and over time they will likely send you leads, too. Sometimes referrals come from totally unexpected people who just thought you made a great impression and seemed knowledgeable.
Remember that it's a big difference to do this on the side as a bonus versus to do this as a livelihood. If you're going for the latter as an independent personal trainer, you are accepting your role as bookkeeper, marketer, business developer etc. and you'll probably need to hire someone for legal paperwork and web design, at least. Good luck with your choice!
Member
Thanks for this. That's definitely what I need to think about... My loose plans are engaging with the small business support centre we have firstly. It's free and they will have some good advice hopefully. I'll be doing this regardless of if I'm opening my own or being a PT in the big box.
I do know the local supplement store guy quite well. I wrote him a program years ago that he didn't really follow because he was young and probably ADHD so that's a good idea to engage with him.
I think I would also exploit our church network. Maybe a discount for members.
The hope would be once I generate the handful of people I need to make rent and overheads, then they will bring more along from their results.
I'm aware I definitely need legal. I've got some mates who are into web design that I can use.
Member
So I finally got the contract from the big box gym. Took a read and clarified that even though members of the gym get preference to equipment over my clients, my clients have to be members of the gym or incur a casual gym fee every time they train on top of my fees so better to be a member. I'm not sure why members get preference over members then.
Apparently that's why the rent is so low for a multi million dollar facility. The rent is $800 a month which I don't think is that low when the average PT charges been $50 to $100 an hour and we know the machines are useless. They've got those silly half racks where the spotters can't go very low too.
The owner also put the word "Synergy" at the end of his response. I don't think I like that.
I'd have to pay 4 weeks rent if I leave at any time.
All in all, I'm failing to see what the big box gym actually offers me other than having people in the door already, but I still have to convince them to spend more money to train with me on top of their gym fees.
I feel like I'd be better off getting a job over this holiday period, buying some more gear for myself and opening my own studio first thing new year when all the people want to start new years resolutions.
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