Personal Instructor/Fitness Trainer

Do you keep yourself physically fit, have a great personality, and enjoy teaching others? If you answered “yes” to all three, pull out those business cards and start a personal trainer business. You’ll have to market yourself like a pro. Give seminars about being fit and cover the benefits of working out to get your name and face out there in this highly competitive occupation. Experience will be on your side. Remember, you are marketing yourself and motivating others to become physically fit at the same time, so you must be in excellent physical shape and condition. Be prepared to work out alongside your clients if they request it, teaching them all the latest ways to get and stay in shape. Keep a couple of before and after photos of yourself and others whom you’ve helped tone and shape. Create a video and sell it through local health clubs.


Start-up costs can consist solely of a gym membership; or, if you want the client to come to your home, you’ll need a full set of equipment including free weights, Nautilus, and weight training equipment. That could send you into the $100,000 range for start-up costs. You have the potential to stay in shape and make a decent living in the range of $20,000 to $65,000 or more, depending on how a? uent your clients are.


How many people can say that going to work relieves stress? Not only can you have fun and stay in shape, you get to have a social life on the job. Working out has become very social and everyone can do it, but the downside is, a client may quit without warning. Some people consider working out to be seasonal, so you’ll really have to go out there and establish a good client base.


Approx. cost of start-up: $100 to $1,000


Approx. potential earnings: $20,000 to $65,000


Typical fees: $50 to $75 per hour


Where to promote: Business cards, brochures, ?yers, bulletin boards in health clubs


Qualifications: Experience, physical fitness, knowledge of equipment and CPR


Things needed: Membership to a gym or your own equipment if you want to work out of your home


Required staff: No


Hidden costs: Mileage and travel time needed to meet clients where they work out, liability insurance