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Personal Trainer Business Plan

Today, millions of people are prioritizing their health and wellness more than ever before whether it’s for weight loss, muscle building, or just feeling good about themselves.

As a result, the personal fitness industry is on the rise, valued at $39.06 billion globally in 2023, and expected to reach $51.69 billion in 2028. 

This shows no signs of slowing down. So, now is the perfect time for fitness enthusiasts to enter this lucrative market and turn their passion into a successful business venture.

However, it requires a well-thought-out business plan to guide every step of the way and set a strong foundation for long-term success.

Need help writing your plan? Worry not! 

This personal trainer business plan template will help you get started and guide you on how to draft a solid plan for personal training services. But first, let’s understand…

Why do you need a personal trainer business plan?

A personal trainer business plan is a professional, living document that serves as a strategic roadmap for starting, managing, and growing your personal training services.

It’s essential for driving your business growth and achieving success in the fitness industry. Explore a few reasons why you need one:

1. Sets clear goals and objectives

Preparing a business plan helps you define your personal training business concept and set specific, measurable goals. This will provide clear direction and allow you to stay focused on what’s important for your business growth.

2. Attracts investors and secures funding

If you want to get external funding for starting or growing your personal training business, a professional business plan is integral. This is so because potential investors or lenders ask for a clear strategy that showcases your business’s financial viability and profitability.

3. Helps identify the target market

Knowing your target customers and their needs is essential for the success of your personal training business. Writing a business plan forces you to conduct thorough market research and analyze target demographic profiles to define ideal clients. Also, it helps you customize your services, and marketing plan to attract potential customers.

4. Analyzes risks and challenges

With the help of a business plan, you can evaluate potential challenges, like economic downturns, changes in fitness trends, or increased competition. Knowing these risks earlier lets you develop effective strategies to mitigate them, reducing their impact on your business.

With that said, let’s explore what to include in a personal training business plan and how to make it compelling for investors.

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How to write a personal training business plan?

Drafting a personal training business plan involves several key components to describe your business concept, goals, and strategies. Here’s a detailed guide on how to write each section in detail:

1. Executive summary

An executive summary would be your personal trainer business plan’s first section which helps you create a good impression on potential investors or partners.

Though it’s an introductory part, writing your plan summary would be more convenient at the end (after completing other sections). This is so because it summarizes all the important aspects of your business.

To plan this section, consider including the following:

• Your company’s name along with the location
• Business concept and its core values
• Market opportunities and potential clients
• Personal training services you’ll provide
• Sales and marketing plan
• Financial forecast for the first 3-5 years

Overall, this section presents a quick, high-level overview of your personal training business and captures readers’ interest. So, keep it short, simple, and compelling.

2. Business description

The business description section expands on the brief overview given in the executive summary and presents your personal training concept in detail.

Typically, it provides detailed information about your personal training business, including its foundational elements and business-specific facts that every financial backer needs to know.

So, while drafting this section, first outline the registered business name and type of personal training company you operate. It could be any kind—like in-home, mobile, online, or gym trainer. After that, highlight these points:

• Legal business structure (sole proprietorship, Limited Liability Company, or partnership)
• Vision and mission statement
• Business owners or founders
• A brief history and milestones achieved (if any)
• Short-term and long-term objectives
• Regulatory requirements and legal considerations

Simply put, this section offers an in-depth understanding of your personal training business as well as explains what it’s all about.

3. Market analysis

The market analysis section of your business plan provides valuable insights into the fitness industry as well as determines the demand for personal training services in your chosen area.

This will help you analyze the specific target market niche in which your personal training business intends to operate, the target customers you expect to serve, emerging market trends, and the competitive environment.

Hence, conduct thorough market research and answer the following questions to draft this section carefully:

• What’s the size of an international personal trainer’s market?
• How big is the fitness training industry in the USA? Is it growing or declining?
• What’s the growth forecast for the next decade?
• Who are your potential customers? (fitness enthusiastic, athletes or sports person, pre/post-natal women)
• Who are the primary competitors in the local market? What are their strengths, weaknesses, and pricing strategy?
• What are the recent trends in the personal training and fitness industry?

In addition to that, consider performing an effective SWOT analysis to explore the positive and negative aspects of personal training businesses. For example:

Doing so will help you easily identify the internal strengths and weaknesses as well as the external opportunities and threats in the industry. Further, it lets you recognize the market gap and develop practical strategies for the future.

4. Products or service offerings

In this section, give a detailed explanation of your personal training services and related products.

This will help readers better understand what you offer to your clients and how you plan to meet their individual needs. So, clearly highlight your service offerings, along with their specifications and pricing structures.

Here’s a list of different types of services you might include in your PT business plan:

• Personal training sessions (online or face-to-face)
• Indoor and outdoor training sessions
• Nutrition consultations
• Group classes for fitness training (large and small group training)
• Specialized fitness programs (weight loss, post-rehabilitation, or athletic performance training)

If applicable, mention any unique offerings, such as speaking at fitness events, merchandising nutritional products or diet supplements, community involvement activities, and even selling workout guides or ebooks.

5. Marketing strategy

Developing solid sales and marketing strategies is essential if you want to establish a strong presence in a competitive industry.

This will help you streamline your marketing efforts and build effective promotional campaigns to reach your target audience. Also, it allows you to track return on investments while focusing on marketing costs.

For instance, you may consider the following strategies to attract clients:

• Employing social media marketing (via social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, X)
• Engaging in email marketing campaigns
• Advertising through word of mouth
• Distributing flyers or posters
• Building an SEO-friendly website
• Networking or partnering with local businesses
• Participating in fitness or community events

Moreover, describe your client retention strategies, such as special offers, loyalty programs, personalized training plans, or regular progress assessments. This will generate more bookings and maintain your brand identity.

In simple terms, your marketing strategies show potential funders that you keep a clear plan to grow your loyal customer base and ensure long-term success.

6. Operations plan

The operations plan section offers a clear picture of the day-to-day activities and procedures required for the smooth running of your PT business.

So, try to cover all your operational aspects, such as scheduling training sessions, managing records of old and new clients, handling cancellation policies, maintaining necessary equipment, billing, tracking client progress, following client safety procedures, cleaning the facility, etc.

Likewise, discuss the resources and staffing requirements to deliver your training services. It might involve hiring additional personal trainers, administrative staff members, or specialized instructors for group classes.

In short, outlining a comprehensive operations plan will help you achieve your business’s long-term goals and fulfill client commitments while ensuring exceptional results.

7. Management team

The management team section introduces the business owners, key managers, and their relevant skills and expertise.

It will help potential investors or stakeholders understand the key players in your business and how they work together to achieve long-term objectives.

So, consider highlighting the resume-styled summary of your key team members, such as the business owner, assistant manager, lead trainer, other personal trainers, marketing coordinator, etc.

Also, include their roles and responsibilities, educational qualifications, and industry experience that benefits your business growth.

Next, create an organizational chart with all the knowledge you’ve gathered to represent how your team is structured and how the key roles are interconnected. Here’s an example:

8. Financial projections

Creating realistic and accurate financial forecasts is the most crucial element of your personal trainer business plan. Why? Because it helps you attract investors or lenders while securing enough funding to launch your successful personal training business.

Generally, it provides a comprehensive analysis of the financial stability and viability of your PT business.

So, while framing your personal trainer financial plan , cover all the projected financial statements, detailed budget plans, and strategies to achieve financial goals within a few (3-5) years of operation.

Here’s a list of financial information and reports that you must incorporate:

• Initial startup expenses
• Revenue streams and forecasts
• Operating costs (like rent, equipment purchases, or any administrative fees)
• Cash flow estimates
• Income statement

Balance sheet

• Break-even analysis
• Funding needs and use of funds

If applicable, mention your repayment plan for any loans or investments, including interest and timeline. Also, summarize sensitivity analyses for the different types of scenarios.

For an easy understanding, you may refer to the following key financial forecasts to formulate yours:

Income statement (profit and loss statement)

Cash flow statement

9. Appendix

The appendix isn’t a mandatory section, but it helps you include additional information or supporting documents that don’t fit into specific sections. Here’s what you can add to your business plan appendix:

• Resumes of the key executive team members
• Necessary certifications and business licenses
• Sample marketing materials
• Client testimonials or case studies
• Financial statements for a tax return or credit history (if any)
• Safety policy details for your fitness business

By incorporating the above documents, you back up your claims and allow readers to clearly understand or validate your strategies outlined in the personal training business plan.

Download a personal trainer business plan template

So, ready to start writing your personal trainer business plan from scratch? But need more help? Well, look no further; download our personal trainer business plan template pdf to get started.

This investor-friendly business plan sample has been crafted specifically for personal training businesses. It comes with practical insights and examples that you may use as a guide for developing your own business plan including a thorough mission statement, marketing plan, and financial forecast.

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Now that you’ve got a clear understanding of how to draft a personal training business plan, it should be much easier for you to write a detailed plan.

But if you’re still confused or looking for an easy way to draft your plan, consider using modern business plan software like Upmetrics . It will help you create an effective personal trainer business plan quickly and more effectively.

So, why wait? Start planning today!

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Frequently Asked Questions

How often should i review and update my personal training business plan.

You should review and update your personal training business plan regularly, at least once a year. Or more often when significant transitions happen like—market and industry changes, service expansions, new training models for the coming year, financial performance monitoring, etc.

What is a personal trainer business plan used for?

A personal trainer business plan is used for:

• Outlining business goals, core values, and strategies.
• Identifying the target market and services offered.
• Navigating daily operations and business growth.
• Attracting new clients by drafting unique selling points.
• Getting funds from investors or lenders by showcasing profitability.

Can I use my business plan to attract investors or partners?

Of course, you can use your business plan to attract investors or partners. A well-written plan illustrates your business strategies, financial projections, operating costs and aspects, as well as growth potential.

So, this will allow you to win financial backers as well as build confidence in your ability to achieve success and profitability.

How do I create a financial plan for my personal trainer business?

Follow these steps to create a financial plan for your personal trainer business:

• Estimate the start-up expenses
• Forecast your revenue streams and expected income
• Calculate the business operating expenses
• Prepare key financial statements (income statement, cash flow statement, balance sheet)
• Conduct a break-even analysis
• Identify tax provisions and plan for savings
• Update your financial plan regularly

Besides that, you can use advanced financial forecasting software to develop comprehensive and realistic financial projections effortlessly.

What financing options are available for my personal training business?

There are multiple financing options available for your personal training business:

• Personal savings
• Loans from family & friends
• Traditional bank loans
• Small Business Administration (SBA) loans
• Grants and Crowdfunding platforms
• Angel investors or venture capitalists

About the Author

Upmetrics Team

Upmetrics is the #1 business planning software that helps entrepreneurs and business owners create investment-ready business plans using AI. We regularly share business planning insights on our blog. Check out the Upmetrics blog for such interesting reads. Read more

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7 Simple Steps for Writing a Personal Trainer Business Plan (with Templates)

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Jessie Florence Jones

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Abbie Watkins

If you’re just starting on your own as a PT, writing a personal trainer business plan is one of the most important first steps you’ll have to take.

In this article we’ll cover:

Why Do I Need a Personal Training Business Plan?

Step 1: write your personal trainer business plan summary.

• Step 2: Detail Your Qualifications on Your PT Business Plan
• Step 3: Pinpoint What You Sell When Writing a Personal Trainer Business Plan

Step 4: Perform a SWOT Analysis as Part of Your Personal Training Business Plan

• Step 5: Outline Your Marketing Strategies in Your PT Business Plan
• Step 6: Include Your Financial Plans & Projections in a Personal Trainer Business Plan
• Step 7: Conclude Your Personal Training Business Plan with a Closing Statement

Before you start with your PT business plan, there’s one thing you should always factor in, and that’s professional development.

With  our Level 4 Sports Nutrition Course , you’re able to set yourself apart from the competition and ensure your business can thrive in a competitive industry.  Download our free course prospectus to find out more !

Before we look in detail at the process of writing a personal trainer business plan, it’s vital to understand why you should produce one. 

In short, a personal trainer business plan acts as the guide for where your business currently is, where you aspire to be, and how you’ll get there.

As you can imagine, this is vital for establishing your business and plays an integral role in:

• How to make money as a personal trainer
• How many, and the kind of, clients you attract
• How you market yourself
• Who your competitors are, and how you’ll beat them

It’s easy to assume that you’ll be the only person who’ll see the business plan for your personal trainer business but it will play a vital role in securing external funding if that’s what you need.

You will have to show prospective investors what you plan to do with your business and outline every detail if you’re looking to secure money from a third party.

Ultimately your personal trainer business plan is an opportunity to showcase your brand and display what you’ll be contributing to the fitness industry. 

Every successful personal trainer business plan should start with a summary. This is an overview for readers and potential investors, covering:

• Who you are
• What your business offers, and your target market
• Your financial state, and projections for the future
• Your marketing strategy
• Plans for the future

Despite it seeming simple, this is one of the most crucial parts of any business plan for a personal trainer because it’s the first impression you’ll make. 

You’ll need to summarise for the reader what you’ll be covering so they’ve got a good snapshot of your business and the service you will provide.

This personal trainer business plan example from CIBT Visas, a global financial company, is a great illustration of how it should be done:

Just from this short section, we find out a few key points about CIBT, including:

• What they do
• Where they operate
• Their core values
• What they aim to achieve

This should essentially contain your personal trainer mission statement and what you intend your brand to achieve and fulfil!

Your next sections will expand on these key features, and offer a more in-depth look at what you do, and where you can take your business.

Step 2: Detail Your Qualifications on Your Personal Trainer Business Plan

Following your summary, your personal training business plan should lead into a comprehensive inventory of your qualifications and certifications.

This serves a few different purposes. For any potential investors or banks, you’re proving that you’re well-positioned to provide a service to your clients.

Each qualification is an indicator to those who want to put money into your business that you’re a professional able to bring return on their investment with trustworthy expertise.

Each one is also an example of the different areas your business could branch into in order to grow and develop. For example, any specialist Level 4 master personal trainer courses you’ve completed  show a potential for advancement .

You should include a list of qualifications as well as where they come from. This will show that you’ve completed a course with a reputable provider and allows potential investors to see your credentials.

You should list them simply, like in our own personal trainer business plan sample below:

Diploma in Personal Training – OriGym COE Level 3 Exercise Referral – OriGym COE Level 4 Advanced Sports Nutrition – OriGym COE First Aid for Sports – British Red Cross CPD in Strength and Conditioning – OriGym COE

This list offers a comprehensive overview of our example PT’s qualifications, as well as where they were achieved. 

CPD fitness courses will also help demonstrate a wide ranging skill set and areas that your business could potentially branch into! 

Step 3: Pinpoint What You Want to Sell When Writing a Personal Trainer Business Plan

Next up for your personal trainer business plan is detailing exactly what it is that you intend to sell and how you plan to cater to a particular audience and customer base.

This should be one of the most extensive sections of your business plan template. As a personal trainer you need to put trust in your services and your ability to meet other people’s fitness goals as well as those you have for your business.

This is your opportunity to detail all of your revenue streams and the different ways in which you intend to make money for your business.

This is also a way of illustrating why there’s room in the market for your business to cater to a particular demographic and offer a service that there’s a want or need for!

This may sound simple but plenty of trainers will miss out revenue streams from their personal training business plan, or don’t detail potential opportunities for expansion and selling other services or products.

Most PTs will have several revenue streams and you want to make sure you detail all of these without putting too much emphasis on the most lucrative ones.

For example, you don’t want to just detail your one-to-one training, despite it probably being your main source of income!

Some of the revenue streams you might want to include on top of this are:

• Online or face to face seminars
• Nutrition consultations
• Affiliate marketing with prominent brands such as sportswear and supplement brands
• Personal trainer tutor for a training provider
• Workout guides or ebooks
• Speaking at fitness or educational events

You also need to find your personal training target market . 

Something holistic like ‘gym goer’ is too broad and will hinder your ability to create marketing strategies and develop your business.

Your target market is the ideal customer and should be directly linked to the services you’re offering. 

You need to be able to show why you’ve chosen this demographic and how your product or service answers their specific needs.

Again, the more specific you can be the better. Some examples include:

• People with physical health conditions or impairments
• People with long term health conditions during rehabilitation 
• Women under 30 looking for postnatal classes
• Athletes looking for strength and conditioning training

We’ve written our own personal trainer business plan example for this particular section that you can use as a template:

My business offers one-to-one, bespoke, personal training sessions for women who are 40 years of age or older.  My services predominantly focus on helping women use exercise and nutrition to deal with the symptoms and stresses of menopause. My research suggests there is a huge need for a combination of services such as mine, offering nutrition and exercise programmes to help women with some of these issues. All of my qualifications uniquely equip me to work with this demographic to provide a much needed service. I offer nutrition sessions one-to-one, building recipes and selling them as a recipe guide, or working with individual clients to build bespoke nutrition plans. I also offer personal training sessions one-to-one or in groups with other women of the same age or same symptom experience.  Because of how common these issues are in this demographic there’s also a huge demand for seminars and educational sessions in partnership with women’s charities and other healthcare professionals. I provide consultancy on these issues as well as being available for talks and seminars online or in-person for various institutions.

This business plan template for a personal trainer company can be used as a jumping off point and fleshed out for your own brand!

The next thing you will need to perform for your personal trainer business plan is SWOT analysis.

Personal trainer SWOT analysis is vital for determining what you’re doing well and if there’s any sticking points, preventing your business from growing and developing as it should. 

SWOT stands for:

• Strengths – these are the elements you think makes you stand out as a PT making your business unique 
• Weaknesses – this is where you’ll reflect on any areas for improvement or development 
• Opportunities – building on the above, decide on actions that can be taken to improve your business and develop your brand
• Threats – this last step is to assess whether there’s anything stopping these actions from being taken or potential disruptions to how you might want to grow and develop your business

By performing these steps you’ll have an idea of how you can promote your USP and reinforce the other sections of your business plan, realising what gap you’re filling in the market.

You’ll also be able to identify any room for improvement and things that you can do to allow your business to grow.

This will help you by identifying exactly what your next moves are and how you can grow your business moving forward.

This will also help to show potential investors that you’re aware of the challenges your business might face and how you’re prepared to meet them and adapt your business accordingly.

This makes you seem like a more trustworthy investment and somebody who’s aware of how best to return on that investment and grow your business and income!

Step 5: Outline Your Marketing Strategies in Your Personal Trainer Business Plan

Another vital part of a business plan for any personal trainer is outlining your marketing strategies. 

This is vital for both you and any potential investors or collaborators. Here, you’ll outline the specific techniques and campaigns you will use to grow your business and gain new clients!

Showing your marketing plan will also reinforce your understanding of your target market because the particular strategies you use should be dictated by who you’re marketing to.

Identifying Your Target Market

If you’re writing a business plan to open a personal training studio , what’s the age range of your prospective clientele?

As we mentioned earlier, you need to make sure you’re as specific as possible with your target market.

The more specific you can be about the demographic the more specific you can be in targeting them, based on their behaviour and interaction with different platforms.

Using Social Media Platforms Relevant to Your Target Market

You need to make sure you’re aware of which platform is most used by your target age range. 

This is so that you can demonstrate that you understand the best way to target this specific audience with your marketing. 

If you’re looking to target an older age range, you may want to get clients from Facebook , as the social media site  tends to be used by an older generation of users.

If you’re targeting young women, for example, you should target platforms such as TikTok and Instagram that are dominated by this younger demographic.

However, some platforms such as Google are frequented by everyone and are a worthy investment no matter your target market.

Using Ads on Social Media

You should also include information about any existing personal trainer marketing strategies you’ve implemented. 

This will show your progress and illustrate your understanding of including this in your SWOT analysis and your awareness of how best to reach your target market.

You can include a screenshot of any existing ads you have on social media but you also need to ensure you include details of any spending and your projected spends on future strategies.

You should also detail any spending you’ve already done for advertising and marketing efforts.

This should include the costs for the maintenance of your existing marketing strategies, as well as any projections for future ones such as getting PT referrals or affiliate marketing.

Showing the Impact of Your Marketing Strategies

You should also make sure you include figures you have about the impact of any existing strategies you have in place.

For example, you might show the reach and engagement of certain ads you’ve had on social media platforms.

This will show what’s worked already and support any request for funds if you can show how and to what end your budget for marketing has worked.

In terms of showing what you’ve already done, this might be simply including a screenshot of what you’ve already spent on your advertising and any leads or impressions generated as a result.

For example, here’s an image of the leads generated by our own Facebook ads within a month:

And here’s what it might look like to show what you’ve spent in order to generate those leads:

This will show a potential investor that your existing spends have been successful and will be considered in terms of how much you can borrow or get.

This way you’re showing that what you’ve spent already has been successful and what you need to continue to spend in order to maintain that success.

However, you may not have already done any marketing in this way. If you’ve worked in a gym chances are you have to promote your own services but you might not have been solely responsible for things like ads and email marketing. 

If you’re just starting out, and this is the case, you should just include projections based on your market research.

Make sure to focus on the aforementioned factors, including any financial projections you can make. 

This way you’re still showing you’re aware of exactly what you need to do and what you need to monitor to have a successful marketing campaign!

If you found this section helpful, you can find out more about marketing your personal trainer business with some of our other articles below:

• Strategies for Personal Trainer Lead Generation
• How to Use Google My Business as a Personal Trainer
• Personal Trainer Social Media: Ideas, Examples & Schedule

Step 6: Include Your Financial Plan and Projections in a Personal Trainer Business Plan

If you’re trying to secure money from a third party for your business, probably the most important sample of your personal trainer business plan is your financial projections.

The level of detail you include will depend on where you’re trying to secure funding from and how far into your business you are.

For example, this will look different for a personal training studio business plan than if your services are online or from home. 

It will also depend on some of the other features from our personal trainer business plan examples, such as marketing.

If you’ve only just started then your marketing costs will be projections rather than the screenshots we included in our own personal trainer business plan sample. 

You’ll need to detail not only what your expenses are or will be, but exactly how you see your business making and maintaining a steady financial flow.

No matter what your brand is, when you’re writing a personal trainer business plan you need to make sure you include the following crucial elements:

• An income statement
• A balance sheet
• A cash-flow statement

We’ll run through each of these now so you know exactly what they entail and why they’re important for any successful personal trainer business plan.

An Income Statement 

An income statement is a crucial part of any business plan template and a personal trainer business is no exception.

This is a statement that shows how much money you’ve made after your expenses and taxes are deducted from your income. 

Any business will keep this anyway for tax purposes and it can be helpful to have those numbers in front of you when you’re looking at ways to grow or streamline your business.

This is especially useful for anybody looking to invest or support your business financially because it shows your business’s profit and success.

It will also show any losses made and where they’ve come from so you can make any alterations.

This will inform and reinforce other parts of your personal trainer business plan. For example, having these figures ready will help you with your SWOT analysis.

Throughout your career you will have to complete an income statement for your business every fiscal quarter.

However, when you’re starting out, and for the purposes of the personal training business plan, you should do one every month for a year where possible.

This will also depend on your personal trainer business registration because your taxes will depend on whether you’re a sole trader or a limited company.

You should check this or use a business plan template for your personal trainer income statement.

A Balance Sheet

Your balance sheet is a calculation of what you have versus what you owe, giving a sum that shows the equity of your business. 

On one side it will list your business assets, which are things you own and could be liquidated and turned into cash. On the other side it will show liabilities, which are what you owe.

Most people will have a mixture of short and long term assets, called ‘current’ and ‘noncurrent’. 

Current assets are those which you could turn into cash within the year so either cash you currently have or accounts receivable (invoices from clients who are yet to pay).

Noncurrent assets are those which you don’t expect to liquidate in the near future.

This includes things like equipment or, if you’re writing a personal training studio business plan, you’d include property on this list too.

This is only in the list of assets if you own the property, though. If you’re renting a space or you’re paying off a mortgage, this would be in the liabilities section.

Liabilities will mostly be related to starting your business and any loans or any costs you got on finance.

Being able to show a healthy balance of these two things is a vital part of your business plan as a personal trainer because it shows the financial health of your company.

Showing that these things are well balanced will demonstrate to a bank or any potential investors that you’re a trustworthy business and will be financially stable enough to repay any money lent.

You should subtract the amount of liabilities from your assets to show the equity of your company.

A Cash Flow Statement 

Any business plan template for a personal trainer business should also include a cash flow statement. 

This is similar to an income statement but instead of just showing how much money you have after your outgoings this calculates the ‘flow’, i.e how much you have consistently coming in and out of your business.

Ideally, you want to be able to show that the flow of money is always positive, meaning you take in more money than you’re spending on expenses. 

Including this in your business plan serves a similar purpose to an income statement in regards to the SWOT analysis too.

Having these figures showing the cash flow will help you identify what’s working best to make money as a personal trainer , and where you could improve or cut back on expenses. 

The cash flow statement should show where your money is low and where there may be a surplus, meaning you have some opportunity to spend or redistribute some funds.

Having these figures will not only help you adjust your business but will also give a good indicator to investors or potential lenders of your financial stability as a business.

Step 7: Conclude Your Personal Trainer Business Plan with a Closing Statement

Last but not least, you should end your personal trainer business plan with a closing statement.

This will serve a similar purpose to your summary from step one but you can now summarise based on everything from the other sections.

This will act as a conclusion and an indication of where your business is up to and what you see as the next important steps.

This will help you to decide what you want to do with your business and the most immediate concerns and actions you need to take.

This will also act as an indicator to investors and lenders that you understand and know what to do with the data from previous sections.

If you can assess your business and read through your PT business plan to make some decisions, this reinforces your understanding of your business and your trustworthiness as a business owner!

After all, in any sample personal trainer business plan this is your opportunity to summarise your successes and illustrate that you understand how to fix any issues, and adjust accordingly.

Before You Go!

Hopefully now you’ve seen our personal trainer business plan examples, you feel ready to start writing your own!

Don’t forget you can grow your business by learning new expertise and skills and offering new services. You can do this with our  Level 4 Sports Nutrition qualification .

Find out more by getting in touch with our team today and download our course prospectus to see how else you can continue to grow your business.

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About the Author: Jessie Florence Jones

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How to start a personal trainer business

Dive into the crucial steps with us to put your successful personal training business on the map! We’ll walk through everything together: from outlining your business plan and selecting the ideal business structure to developing your unique brand and offerings.

Learn about setting up your space, selecting equipment, personal training business building client loyalty, and positioning yourself in a competitive market. We explore marketing, client management, and entrepreneurship in the fitness industry.

This guide is designed specifically for you as a beginning personal trainer.

1. Why do you want to become a personal trainer?

Becoming a personal trainer is about more than fitness; it’s about possessing the unique combination of knowledge, passion, and empathy that makes a difference in the lives of others.

1.1 It starts with a passion

Before you begin, it is essential to understand why you want to become an independent personal trainer. Ask yourself why you are passionate about fitness and what satisfaction you get from helping others.

Next, identify what drives and motivates you. Is it the transformation of people, the love of sports, or perhaps a personal fitness journey you’ve been on? Your motivation is what sets a good personal trainer apart from the rest.

1.2 Personal trainer training

Anyone can call themselves a personal trainer, but the real magic happens when you take your knowledge, skills, and dedication to the next level.

And yes, you do need the right education to learn more about the human body, training, nutrition, and lifestyle.

You don’t want to be just another trainer. You want to be the trainer that people drive around for, just to get that essential guidance and that dose of positive vibes.

That means you need to not only feel the passion but also have the knowledge to get your clients working out safely, effectively, and with a big smile.

1.3 Market research: know your client and market

Off to a banging start with your personal trainer business? That starts with knowing who you are there for!

Demographic research

Let’s keep it simple: this is about who your future clients (or target demographic) are and what they want. Consider age, gender, what they earn, and their sports goals. These are valuable insights

Take urban youth, for example; they may be looking for something very different in a fitness program than people from a cozy village in Brabant.

Your mission: discover what makes your client unique and how you can become their new favorite trainer!

Competitive research

Now that you know who your target audience is and what the market looks like, it’s time to look at your competitors.

Find out what other trainers or gyms in your area are doing. And yes, this goes beyond just comparing price tags!

Take a critical look at the services they offer: the quality, variety, their way of advertising, what clients think of them, and where they might be leaving stitches.

This info is golden because it shows you where your opportunities lie to do things a little differently (or better!).

Fitness trends and developments

As a brand-new personal trainer, it is crucial to keep your finger on the pulse of the latest trends.

Why? Because your clients do too! They see the latest workouts on social media, try the latest apps, and are curious about the latest nutrition tips.

By being up-to-date with trends, you speak the language of your target audience and know what interests them and what they are looking for.

Plus, it gives you the opportunity to create unique, fresh, and tailored experiences that set you apart from the competition.

1.4 Find your niche and excel

In the crowded universe of online personal training business, choosing your own niche is the key to success!

A niche is your special corner of the market where you become the expert and set yourself apart from the crowd.

When choosing your niche, look at what drives you: your passions, your background, and what you’ve learned about unmet needs from your market research.

By setting your sights on a specific niche, you can sharpen your services, make your ads more effective, and make a deeper, more meaningful connection with your existing and potential customers. 🚀

2. Create a business plan

Creating a solid business plan is the backbone of any successful business, and your own personal training business model is no exception.

2.1 What are your core values and goals?

Start by establishing your mission and vision. Your mission describes the main purpose of your business: what you want to achieve and why you are doing it. It drives every decision you make.

Your vision, on the other hand, is your big dream, the future world you want to create with your own business model.

Do you want to help individuals adopt a healthier lifestyle, or support athletes in reaching their peak performance?

By defining your core values and goals with clarity, you will lay a powerful foundation for your business and attract customers who resonate with what you value.

3. Financial Plan

Finances are the lifeblood of your business plan, so let’s make sure your financial heart beats strong and steady!

3.1 Financial blueprint: business expenses

Establish a careful budget that will serve as your financial roadmap.

Consider various costs such as equipment, rent, marketing expenses, training, and perhaps salaries.

3.2 Expected income

Next, outline your expected income. How many clients do you plan to acquire per month and what rate will you charge? 💵

Remember here that some months, such as summer vacation, maybe quieter financially, while other months (September and January) may see a spike.

3.3 Opening a business account

Opening a business account is an essential step in keeping your business finances neat and organized.

This separates your business transactions from your personal finances, which not only helps maintain financial oversight but is also crucial for tax returns and possible audits.

It also presents your business professionally to customers and suppliers and sometimes offers additional business benefits and services that private accounts do not.

3.4 Pricing strategy

Pricing strategy is perhaps the trickiest part for people starting their own business. This is where entrepreneurship really begins.

Understand the market

Competitive analysis: look at the rates of other personal trainers in your area and get a clear picture of the market standard.

Specialization: understand how prices fluctuate based on specialization and experience, and use this as a reference for your rates.

Determine your own value

Operational costing: aggregate all your fixed and variable costs (such as rent, equipment, and insurance) to create the basis for your rates.

Income target: decide how much you want and need to earn, and break this down to an hourly rate by dividing it by your estimated work hours.

Structure subscriptions.

• Long-term subscriptions: commit to longer-term subscriptions, such as semi-annual or annual packages, to ensure consistency in revenue and customer loyalty. Consider offering discounts or extra value as a reward for their long-term commitment.
• Tiered subscriptions: create varying levels of memberships, such as “Basic,” “Standard” and “Premium,” each with their own price tag and benefits, to meet different customer needs and budgets.
• Specialized subscriptions: develop packages aimed at specific goals or audiences, such as weight loss or senior fitness.

4. Make your business official

Transforming your passion for sports into an official business requires some crucial administrative steps.

4.1 Come up with a name for your business

• Be original: think of a name that is unique, catchy, and memorable.
• Check availability: check that the business name is not already in use and that the domain name is available for your website.
• Reflect your services: make sure the name gives an indication of what potential clients can expect from your services.
• Future-proof: choose a name that can grow with your business so that future expansions or changes in services will still fit with it.

4.2 Registering your business

Before your dream of having your own PT business becomes a reality, its registration is a legal requirement for anyone starting a business.

4.3 Choosing a business form

Choosing the right business form is a strategic decision that will affect the structure and operation of your business.

• Sole proprietorship: this is the simplest form to start your business, and it simply means that you are the sole owner and make all decisions. If there are debts, you are personally responsible for them.
• Limited Liability Company: this is a type of business where the company is actually seen as a separate person. If there are debts, you are usually not personally responsible for this unless there is mismanagement. Setting it up is a bit more complicated than a sole proprietorship.

4.4 Permits and licenses

You need the proper paperwork to work as a personal trainer. Here are a few steps to get this in order:

• Business license: depending on your location and the type of space you train in (such as parks, beaches, or rented halls), you may need specific licenses to legally offer your services.
• Health and safety requirements: if you open your own studio or gym, make sure you comply with all local health and safety regulations.
• Music license: if you use music during your training sessions, make sure you have a license to do so legally to avoid fines.
• First aid certification: while it may not be required by law, it is crucial to have a certified knowledge of first aid and CPR (CPR) for the safety of your clients.

4.5 Insurance

As a personal trainer and business owner, it is essential to properly insure yourself, your business, and your assets. Here are several insurances you should consider.

• Disability insurance: protects your income in case you are unable to work due to illness or an accident.
• Business liability insurance: coverage for damage to third parties or their property caused during your work.
• Professional liability insurance: coverage against claims due to professional advice or training you have given that has resulted in damage.
• Legal expenses insurance: support and coverage of costs for legal conflicts within your business operations.
• Inventory insurance: protects your business inventory (such as fitness equipment) against loss due to theft, fire, or other damage.
• Inventory insurance: protects your inventory (think sports drinks, supplements, etc.) against similar risks as your inventory.
• Health insurance: depending on your location and situation, health insurance may be necessary or advisable to protect yourself from high medical costs.
• Pension insurance: as a self-employed person, you need to take care of your own pension. With pension insurance, you provide income for yourself when you stop working.

It is always wise to request a no-obligation consultation with an insurance advisor.

4.6 Accounting

You’re a pro at keeping track of workout schedules, now it’s time to transfer those skills to your finances.

• DIY or outsource: will you get started yourself with a handy accounting program, or rely on the muscular arm muscles of an outside accountant?
• Tax returns: make sure you are always one step ahead of the IRS by filing your tax returns correctly and on time.
• Insight = power: keep a sharp eye on your income and expenses. A clear view of your finances means you can make smart, informed decisions.

5. Creating a brand and online presence

Ah, developing your brand! This will be your business card to the world.

5.1 Your name and logo

When choosing a business name, focus on simplicity and make sure it reflects your specialization - make it easy and clear.

Think of a yoga trainer choosing “ZenFit Coaching,” simple and to the point, right? Check name availability online and at the Chamber of Commerce to make sure your choice remains unique.

In terms of logo, this is where your business comes to life visually. Consider hiring a professional to create something that is consistent and recognizable across all your platforms online and in person with materials.

A cleverly designed logo reflects your brand, is universal and builds trust with your clients from the first glance.

Think of it this way: your name and logo are the first steps to building your brand and are the foundation of your online presence. Simplicity, consistency, and professionalism are key here.

5.2 Personal trainer website

Your website acts as your online business card, and for many potential clients, it is the first introduction to you and your services.

Look, design and usability are crucial - a stylish, easy-to-navigate site can make a world of difference. Consider bringing on board a seasoned Web designer, someone who understands the fitness industry.

Don’t forget to present a solid “About Me” section . Let people really get to know you, your background, and your expertise. And make sure they get a clear view of what you have to offer them and keep in mind in terms of services, from workouts to nutrition consulting.

Then contact information. Make it easy for your visitors to have a chat with you by adding a simple contact form and making your details clearly visible.

Oh yeah, reviews and success stories? Those are worth their weight in gold. Let existing clients underline the quality of your work and convince future clients.

And then the blog. Share your knowledge, become the go-to expert, and give your SEO a fine boost making you easier to find on Google.

Also, consider implementing a booking system and online store. Make it as easy as possible for those potential clients to take the step to a fitter life.

5.3 Social media: your digital playing field

You already realize: that social media is not an option, it is a must. It’s about choosing the right platform where you and your customers feel at home.

Post valuable content regularly, think of your own promotional material, tips, client transformations, and a peek into your sporting life. But remember: quality over quantity!

In past years, social media was all about who had the most followers. Today, it’s all about valuable interactions. Platforms reward active, valuable conversations.

Chats, comments, and especially live sessions provide that vital connection with your followers. Think workout sessions, Q&As, and yes, even a sneak peek of your daily routine with stories and behind-the-scenes. This is the best advertising for personal trainers.

More likes and followers? That’s a good thing. Real conversations and engagement? That’s better.

Social media algorithms prioritize accounts with real, meaningful interactions. So focus on building real relationships, not just numbers.

5.4 Online marketing

Online marketing is your secret weapon to reach even more people! Invest in SEO to get noticed in search engines and use paid online advertising for that extra push.

And never underestimate the power of email marketing! A well-timed, valuable newsletter can do wonders for customer engagement and retention.

5.5 Your own personal trainer app

Imagine your own fitness app, a digital place that breathes your branding and where clients can access their workouts, nutrition plans, and you! 📲

Why have your own personal trainer app?

• 24/7 presence: your expertise, on hand anytime, anywhere for your clients.
• Personalized experience: clients can track their progress, receive personalized schedules, and communicate directly with you.
• Brand building: your app reflects your brand, values, and expertise.

Did you know that at Virtuagym you can try  our personal trainer app for free? Book a free product tour here and get all the details!

6. Facilities and equipment

Starting out as a personal trainer requires smart choices in location and equipment because the space you work in needs to be as fit as you are! 🏋️‍♂️

6.1 Location choices: at home, in a gym, or in your own studio?

Home: perfect for the cost-conscious starter. Create a professional, private workout environment within your four walls. Advantages: no travel time, no rent. Challenges: limited space and potential distractions.

• Gym: a ready-to-go option. Take advantage of existing facilities without worrying about maintenance. Benefits: a wide selection of equipment, a social environment. Challenges: potential rental costs and less control over your workspace.
• Own studio: the dream of complete control and branding. Advantages: customization for your approach and direct contact with clients. Challenges: hefty initial investment and daily business responsibilities.

6.2 Equipment from base to business

Being ready as an independent personal trainer requires not only fit muscles but also the right tools and equipment.

Here’s a more comprehensive overview of what you’ll need, divided into several categories:

Fitness equipment and materials.

• Weights: a mix of dumbbells and kettlebells for all levels.
• Resistance bands: boost those workouts with extra resistance.
• Cardio tools: jump ropes for quick sessions, maybe a compact cross trainer?
• Functional tools : TRX bands and medicine balls for that extra something in your workouts.
• Mats: for comfort and fitness.

Other requirements

• Branding: think of representative company clothing, you are your own signboard!
• Sound: a decent music system to give those workouts that extra bit of energy.
• Organization: storage solutions to keep everything neat and at hand.
• First aid kit: because safety is paramount.
• Cleaning supplies: make sure every workout starts in a fresh, clean space.
• Personal trainer software: to manage your appointments, payments, schedule, and finances. Check out Virtuagym’s software designed specifically for personal trainers here.

6.3 Personal trainers grow and develop

You’ve laid the foundation, now it’s time to make those extra meters.

Refine brand identity

Understand that your brand identity is more than a logo: it’s about values, customer relationships, and reliability.

Refine your brand so that it sounds like a melody that perfectly matches the wants and needs of your target audience.

Become an expert

Become that personal trainer whose name is synonymous with expertise in a niche.

Continuing education, certifications, and staying up-to-date with the latest trends and tools - your knowledge is your unique selling point.

Build bridges, not walls! Connections with other companies and influencers can bring you not only new clients but also valuable partnerships.

Teamwork makes the dream work

If the volume of customers exceeds your own capabilities, look to expand. Recruiting means not only increasing capacity but also broadening expertise.

Never stop learning

Your growth never stops, either professionally or personally. Always remain curious, learn new methodologies, and see what training is needed to stay up-to-date and stay sharp in your field. This gives extra depth to your training.

How to become a successful personal trainer

Yes, you’ve made it to the finish line of this guide, but really, you’re only now at the start of your online personal training business journey! 🚀 Your path to becoming an expert in personal training businesses is bursting with potential and adrenaline.

Your personal training business plan is not defined by the weights you lift, but by the ambitions you pursue. It’s that blend of skill, passion, and entrepreneurial mindset that makes you a successful player in the fitness business.

Think big, start small, and scale up your online personal training business! Whether you train clients at home, in the gym, or dream of your own studio - every drop of sweat will bring you closer to your ultimate goal.

Your brand, that’s you! Authentic, knowledgeable, and always ready to boost your clients to their next level in the world of personal training businesses. From starting your personal training business with your first post on Instagram to launching your own fitness app; every step you take reinforces your impact and footprint in the industry, recognized by organizations like the American Fitness Professionals Association.

So tie those laces tight, put your shoulders on the wheel, and jump into the deep end of the energetic, dynamic world of fitness and personal training businesses. It waits for no one, but with your drive and this toolkit, all possibilities lie open.

Your time as a successful online personal training business owner starts now!

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Contact Information

Abril Llado Mendoza

Digital Marketing Intern US/UK

Abril Llado works in US/UK digital marketing at Virtuagym. She loves learning new things and has a passion for fitness and health, which she shares through her blog posts. Abril is currently pursuing her bachelor's degree in Public Administration at Erasmus University, with a minor in Business Management

Personal Training Business Plan Template

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Personal Training Business Plan

Over the past 20+ years, we have helped over 1,000 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans to start and grow their personal training companies. We have the experience, resources, and knowledge to help you create a great business plan.

In this article, you will learn some background information on why business planning is important. Then, you will learn how to write a personal training business plan step-by-step so you can create your plan today.

Download our Ultimate Business Plan Template here >

What is a Personal Training Business Plan?

A business plan provides a snapshot of your personal training business as it stands today, and lays out your growth plan for the next five years. It explains your business goals and your strategies for reaching them. It also includes market research to support your plans.

Why You Need a Business Plan for a Personal Training Business

If you’re looking to start a personal training business or grow your existing personal training company, you need a business plan. A business plan will help you raise funding, if needed, and plan out the growth of your personal training business to improve your chances of success. Your personal trainer business plan is a living document that should be updated annually as your company grows and changes.

Sources of Funding for Personal Training Businesses

With regards to funding, the main sources of funding for a personal training business are personal savings, credit cards, bank loans, and angel investors. When it comes to bank loans, banks will want to review your business plan and gain confidence that you will be able to repay your loan and interest. To acquire this confidence, the loan officer will not only want to ensure that your financials are reasonable, but they will also want to see a professional plan. Such a plan will give them the confidence that you can successfully and professionally operate a business. Personal savings and bank loans are the most common funding paths for personal training companies.

Finish Your Business Plan Today!

How to Write a Business Plan for a Personal Training Business

If you want to start a personal training business or expand your current one, you need a business plan. The business plan outline below details the necessary information for how to write each essential component of your personal training business plan.

Executive Summary

Your executive summary provides an introduction to your business plan, but it is normally the last section you write because it provides a summary of each key section of your plan.

The goal of your executive summary is to quickly engage the reader. Explain to them the kind of personal training business you are running and the status. For example, are you a startup, do you have a personal training business that you would like to grow, or are you operating a chain of personal training businesses?

Next, provide an overview of each of the subsequent sections of your plan.

• Give a brief overview of the personal training industry.
• Discuss the type of personal training business you are operating.
• Detail your direct competitors. Give an overview of your target customers.
• Provide a snapshot of your marketing strategy. Identify the key members of your team.
• Offer an overview of your financial plan.

Company Overview

In your company overview, you will detail the type of personal training business you are operating.

For example, you might specialize in one of the following types of personal training businesses:

• Mobile personal trainer: This type of business involves traveling to the client’s home, a park, or another location that is convenient for the client to provide personal training sessions.
• In-home personal trainer: This type of business is operated out of the trainer’s own home. This type of business may be great for trainers that have their own equipment.
• Online personal trainer: This type of business involves providing training one-on-one or group sessions online live or via pre-recorded webinars.
• Gym trainer: This type of personal training business operates out of a gym that allows the trainer to work with their own clients at the gym.

In addition to explaining the type of personal training business you will operate, the company overview needs to provide background on the business.

Include answers to questions such as:

• When and why did you start the business?
• What milestones have you achieved to date? Milestones could include the number of clients served, the number of sessions provided with positive outcomes, reaching $X amount in revenue, etc.
• Your legal business Are you incorporated as an S-Corp? An LLC? A sole proprietorship? Explain your legal structure here.

Industry Analysis

In your industry or market analysis, you need to provide an overview of the personal training industry.

While this may seem unnecessary, it serves multiple purposes.

First, researching the personal training industry educates you. It helps you understand the market in which you are operating.

Secondly, market research can improve your marketing strategy, particularly if your analysis identifies market trends.

The third reason is to prove to readers that you are an expert in your industry. By conducting the research and presenting it in your plan, you achieve just that.

The following questions should be answered in the industry analysis section of your personal trainer business plan:

• How big is the personal training industry (in dollars)?
• Is the market declining or increasing?
• Who are the key competitors in the market?
• Who are the key suppliers in the market?
• What trends are affecting the industry?
• What is the industry’s growth forecast over the next 5 – 10 years?
• What is the relevant market size? That is, how big is the potential target market for your personal training business? You can extrapolate such a figure by assessing the size of the market in the entire country and then applying that figure to your local population.

Customer Analysis

The customer analysis section of your personal trainer business plan must detail the customers you serve and/or expect to serve.

The following are examples of customer segments: individuals, schools, families, and corporations.

As you can imagine, the customer segment(s) you choose will have a great impact on the type of personal training business you operate. Clearly, individuals would respond to different marketing promotions than corporations, for example.

Try to break out your target customers in terms of their demographic and psychographic profiles. With regards to demographics, including a discussion of the ages, genders, locations, and income levels of the potential customers you seek to serve.

Psychographic profiles explain the wants and needs of your target customers. The more you can recognize and define these needs, the better you will do in attracting and retaining your customers.

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Competitive Analysis

Your competitive analysis should identify the indirect and direct competitors your business faces and then focus on the latter.

Direct competitors are other personal training businesses.

Indirect competitors are other options that customers have to purchase from that aren’t directly competing with your product or service. This includes other types of trainers, coaches, gyms, and fitness programs. You need to mention such competition as well.

For each such competitor, provide an overview of their business and document their strengths and weaknesses. Unless you once worked at your competitors’ businesses, it will be impossible to know everything about them. But you should be able to find out key things about them such as

• What types of customers do they serve?
• What type of personal training business are they?
• What is their pricing (premium, low, etc.)?
• What are they good at?
• What are their weaknesses?

With regards to the last two questions, think about your answers from the customers’ perspective. And don’t be afraid to ask your competitors’ customers what they like most and least about them.

The final part of your competitive analysis section is to document your areas of competitive advantage. For example:

• Will you make it easier for clients to acquire your services?
• Will you offer products or services that your competition doesn’t?
• Will you provide better customer service?
• Will you offer better pricing?

Think about ways you will outperform your competition and document them in this section of your plan.

Marketing Plan

Traditionally, a marketing plan includes the four P’s: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. For a personal training business plan, your marketing strategy should include the following:

Product : In the product section, you should reiterate the type of personal training company that you documented in your company overview. Then, detail the specific products or services you will be offering. For example, will you provide lifestyle training, boot camps, or performance training services?

Price : Document the prices you will offer and how they compare to your competitors. Essentially in the product and price sub-sections of your plan, you are presenting the products and/or services you offer and their prices.

Place : Place refers to the site of your personal training company. Document where your company is situated and mention how the site will impact your success. For example, is your personal training business located in a busy retail district, a business district, a standalone gym, or purely online? Discuss how your site might be the ideal location for your customers.

Promotions : The final part of your personal training marketing plan is where you will document how you will drive potential customers to your location(s). The following are some promotional methods you might consider:

• Advertise in local papers, radio stations and/or magazines
• Reach out to websites
• Distribute flyers
• Engage in email marketing
• Advertise on social media platforms
• Improve the SEO (search engine optimization) on your website for targeted keywords

Operations Plan

While the earlier sections of your business plan explained your goals, your operations plan describes how you will meet them. Your operations plan should have two distinct sections as follows.

Everyday short-term processes include all of the tasks involved in running your personal training business, including answering calls, planning and providing training sessions, billing customers and collecting payments, etc.

Long-term goals are the milestones you hope to achieve. These could include the dates when you expect to book your Xth session, or when you hope to reach $X in revenue. It could also be when you expect to expand your personal training business to a new city.

Management Team

To demonstrate your personal training business’ potential to succeed, a strong management team is essential. Highlight your key players’ backgrounds, emphasizing those skills and experiences that prove their ability to grow a company.

Ideally, you and/or your team members have direct experience in managing personal training businesses. If so, highlight this experience and expertise. But also highlight any experience that you think will help your business succeed.

If your team is lacking, consider assembling an advisory board. An advisory board would include 2 to 8 individuals who would act as mentors to your business. They would help answer questions and provide strategic guidance. If needed, look for advisory board members with experience in managing a personal training business or successfully running a small fitness class.

Financial Plan

Your financial plan should include your 5-year financial statement broken out both monthly or quarterly for the first year and then annually. Your financial statements include your income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statements.

Income Statement

An income statement is more commonly called a Profit and Loss statement or P&L. It shows your revenue and then subtracts your costs to show whether you turned a profit or not.

In developing your income statement, you need to devise assumptions. For example, will you see 5 clients per day, and/or offer group training sessions? And will sales grow by 2% or 10% per year? As you can imagine, your choice of assumptions will greatly impact the financial forecasts for your business. As much as possible, conduct research to try to root your assumptions in reality.

Balance Sheets

Balance sheets show your assets and liabilities. While balance sheets can include much information, try to simplify them to the key items you need to know about. For instance, if you spend $50,000 on building out your personal training business, this will not give you immediate profits. Rather it is an asset that will hopefully help you generate profits for years to come. Likewise, if a lender writes you a check for $50,000, you don’t need to pay it back immediately. Rather, that is a liability you will pay back over time.

Cash Flow Statement

Your cash flow statement will help determine how much money you need to start or grow your business, and ensure you never run out of money. What most entrepreneurs and business owners don’t realize is that you can turn a profit but run out of money and go bankrupt.

When creating your Income Statement and Balance Sheets be sure to include several of the key costs needed in starting or growing a personal training business:

• Cost of equipment and supplies
• Payroll or salaries paid to staff
• Business insurance
• Other start-up expenses (if you’re a new business) like legal expenses, permits, computer software, and equipment

Attach your full financial projections in the appendix of your plan along with any supporting documents that make your plan more compelling. For example, you might include your gym location lease or testimonials from happy customers.

Personal Training Business Plan Template PDF

You can download our personal training business plan PDF to help you get started on your own business plan.   Summary Writing a business plan for your personal training business is a worthwhile endeavor. If you follow the template above, by the time you are done, you will truly be an expert. You will understand the personal training industry, your competition, and your customers. You will develop a marketing strategy and will understand what it takes to launch and grow a successful personal training business.  

Don’t you wish there was a faster, easier way to finish your Personal Training business plan?

  OR, Let Us Develop Your Plan For You Since 1999, Growthink has developed business plans for thousands of companies who have gone on to achieve tremendous success.   See how a Growthink business planning advisor can create your business plan for you.   Other Helpful Business Plan Articles & Templates

Create a Personal Trainer Business Plan in Six Steps

My personal training career began, as so many do, at a big box gym.

I worked my way up to management, then regional management, and eventually struck out on my own. Soon I opened a small gym, which progressively grew into a bigger gym over the next six years.

A natural evolution maybe, but no accident. It happened because I had a plan.

A business plan helps you stay focused. It puts you in control, leading you where you want to go, so you’ll end up happier and wealthier.

Yet lots of trainers don’t think to make one, or assume they don’t need one. You do. Taking the time to carefully craft a business plan can give you an edge, regardless of where you are in your career.

To help you get started, I’ve outlined a personal trainer business plan template with six basic steps:

Step 1: Write your mission statement

Step 2: assess the fitness industry and your competition, step 3: map out your revenue streams, step 4: plan for operating costs, step 5: create your sales and marketing plan, step 6: honestly assess your risk.

We’ll hit each of those in a moment, and share a downloadable worksheet for you to craft your own business plan. But first, you probably have a few questions.

What is a personal trainer business plan?

A personal trainer business plan is a written description of your business’s future. Think of it as your North Star. It will help guide every aspect of your business: services, products, people, location, competition, costs, and income.

Who needs a personal trainer business plan?

Anyone who makes a living as a personal trainer. Don’t wait until you’re self-employed. It’s never too early to think about your future trajectory, even if you’re still a gym employee.

What is a personal trainer business plan used for?

A business plan articulates what you do and why you’re doing it. Having it in writing helps you stay focused.

But depending on your needs and goals, you might also use it to impress potential investors, attract employees or customers, or deal with suppliers.

How long should a personal trainer business plan be?

A typical plan is about 10 to 20 pages, but there’s a lot of room for variation. It can be as simple as a few notes on the back of an envelope, or as complex as 50 pages with detailed projections and analysis.

What’s the purpose of your plan? If you’re trying to score financing, err on the longer side. But if it’s just for you, make it as brief or detailed as you like.

How do you start?

Easy: Just write. Tailor the language to your prospective audience. If you’re writing the plan for yourself, make it as casual as a conversation with a friend. If you’re writing it for a bank or private investor, be more formal. If it’s for clients, be professional, avoiding jargon or slang.

I remember agonizing over my first business plan, making a million revisions. I felt stuck because, as hard as I tried, my plan wasn’t perfect yet.

Then I realized something: Perfection isn’t possible, and you can’t let the pursuit of it keep you from moving forward.

The goal is to think about your personal training business in a more mature way. As you move through your career, stretching your abilities and learning from mistakes, you’ll gain the perspective you need to refine it.

Put another way, as you get better, your plan will too.

Personal trainer business plan template

This is two or three sentences explaining what your company aims to do, and why: “I help THIS group of people do X, Y, and Z. And this is why I do it.”

Don’t skip the second part. Clarifying why you do what you do is essential for setting your business apart. It starts with two things:

• Your core values
• Your training philosophy

Core values are your personal beliefs: who you are, and what you stand for. Your training philosophy is what you believe about training.

Why is training people important to you? Why is the demographic you work with important? What are the two or three most important things you believe about training that are nonnegotiable?

If you can answer those questions, you’ll have a much easier time conveying your value to others, and creating a coaching avatar that helps people connect with you.

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Before you can figure out where you fit in in the fitness industry, you first need to know what that industry looks like. That takes research into the two most relevant market tiers for fitness pros:

To understand what’s happening locally, hop online and look up all the gyms and fitness facilities in your area. Visit a few. Talk to the locals, and pick their brains about what they’re interested in and why they chose their current gym. Gauge sample size.

For a national perspective, you could turn to Google.

Now think about where you fit in, both locally and nationally. What gap do you fill? What do you offer that someone needs but no one else provides? An honest assessment of your strengths and weaknesses will help you find those answers.

Finally, determine your biggest threat. Think you don’t have competition? You do. Look at it this way: In the absence of your product or service, how do people fill that void? Where do they go? What do they buy? That’s your competition.

This one is simple. Just answer one question: How are you going to deliver your service? Will you train clients one-on-one, and also lead a group class a couple times a week? Or will you do small-group training at your gym, and supplement your income with online training ?

Start with only one or two income sources, and see how they work (or don’t work). Maybe you’ll find that one (like online training) generates enough revenue for you to focus on it exclusively. Maybe you’ll find that another (like teaching group classes at 6 a.m.) doesn’t pay well enough for you to continue. Maybe you’ll have so much success with one demographic or style of training that you’ll decide to create and sell a product related to it.

But don’t feel you have  to add revenue streams. Some of the most successful businesses in the world offer only one or two products. A sharp focus lets you excel at one thing. Sometimes that’s better than being kinda good at several.

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Jot down all the expenses you need to run your business: rent, equipment, insurance, software, business license, and any administrative fees. Add it all up, and you get your operating costs, the minimum income you need to exist. Keep in mind that some percentage of that income will go to taxes .

Now tackle revenue projections. Make a high-low chart, with one column for worst-case scenario, and another for best-case.

Your best-case scenario is what would happen if you absolutely crushed it, and kept a full book of paying clients all year. Your worst-case is the opposite, the least amount you would make if things don’t go according to plan.

Comfortable with those numbers? If not, rejigger the plan until you are.

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At Fitness Revolution  (where I work), we have something called the Triple-A Marketing Method : Assets, Arsenal, Action plan. Here’s how it works.

• Start with your assets—your skills, talents, and strengths. Maybe you’re really good at videos, or you’re great face to face.
• Now determine your arsenal, the tools you’ll use to deploy those skills. If videos are your thing, social media might be the way you share them. If talking to people is your strength, focus on networking.
• Finally, create an action plan, taking care to define exactly how often you’ll deploy those resources. Maybe you’ll post a new video every week, or attend a networking event once a month.

Over time, you’ll refine this section as you figure out what works and what doesn’t. But this is a good start.

There’s a reason why, in Step 4, I had you draw up a worst-case scenario alongside your sunniest projection. Too many personal trainers are overly optimistic, and write up business plans that assume things will always be awesome.

The problem with projecting 365 days of sunshine is that you’ll be blinded by the imagined glare. You won’t be ready for the bootcamps that get rained out, the clients who move on, the rent that goes up, or the car that breaks down.

Try pretending it’s your friend’s business plan. What would you say to that friend? Even better: Seek feedback from a fitness industry mentor or someone whose business advice you value. A neutral expert can give you much-needed perspective on the realities of running a business in an often-unpredictable world.

That brings us to risk. How much risk is written into your plan, and how much can you tolerate?

If you’re just starting out, your risk tolerance is probably pretty high, simply because you have less to lose. You could also pivot and try something else if your plan doesn’t work out.

But as your business grows, and you have more people who depend on you, the decisions will be harder, and your appetite for risk will probably drop.

Ready to get started? Click here to download our free Personal Trainer Business Plan worksheet.

What happens now?

A business plan is never complete. Even if you never need a detailed, professional version for investors, and you’re the only one who ever sees it, it’s still something you revisit as needed.

Every time your business shifts direction, your financial outlook changes, or you launch a new product, you’ll need to revisit your business plan.

But you don’t have to wait for a major change. Even a successful plan will eventually run its course, and need to be updated. If you think it’s time to revisit your plan, you’re probably right.

David Crump

David Crump is a personal trainer, industry-recognized speaker, and fitness business consultant who helps other fitness professionals grow their business. He is the training and content manager for Fitness Revolution, where he oversees continuing education and all things start-up related. He has helped open at least seven independent fitness facilities in addition to his own, which he ran for six years. You can keep up with him at his website or on Facebook .

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