5 Things to do after finishing your Cert 3 & 4 in fitness
1. Plan, and plan some more
If you haven't started your personal training business plan, then you need to start now. You can download free personal training business plan templates here (link not active).
Having a loose idea of where you want to work is a good thing. If you're not one-hundred per cent sure about a mainstream gym like Goodlife, Fitness First, or World Gym, that's fine.
To find your feet as a solopreneur in the fitness industry takes a bit of "try before you buy."
Start with the type of training that catches your attention, whether that be HIIT, powerlifting, CrossFit, Befit, or boxing. Try them all. Ask our Career Liaisons to help you find work experience―that's their job.
When you find something that you like, make sure you can teach it or implement it into your personal training business plan.
2. Risk appetite: send it or play it safe
Each gym has something different to offer, and as a new PT, your job is to find which gym is going to suit you. A full breakdown of our honest opinion on which gyms will suit different personalities can be found here (link not active).
But as a young entrepreneur in the fitness industry, there are different risk vs. reward factors in every fitness venture.
Kevin Harrington (he's an OG Shark Tank) explains it perfectly in his article in Forbes―"Risk Vs. Reward: Overcoming The Fear Factor"―which you can read the full article on the Forbes website here.
He says there are two rules: one is that you have to be a safe risk for an investor, and two, you have to have a plan to show how you're going to make it profitable for both you and the investor.
Apply this to yourself as a new personal trainer, straight out of fitness college. You're your own investor. Take a screenshot of this because it's important. The questions then are:
If you step into a gym, the park, or online, do you see yourself winning in that environment? And secondly, do you have a plan to make the money back that you just spent on a personal training course?
If you answered yes or maybe to those questions, then swallow the butterflies and trust your personal training business plan.
3. Sweet equity vs longevity
You'll hear the term "Sweat Equity" a lot in business, especially in fast-moving companies that work twenty of the twenty-four hours a day and only sleep to work some more (think Elon Musk meets the Energizer Bunny).
But what's realistic for you straight out of your personal training course? We do our best to give you unbiased information, but in saying that, most people aren't Elon Musk.
The equation is this:
If your rent is going to be four hundred dollars a week, and you have paid extra to sign into that particular club, how many sessions do you need to pay your rent, food, and bills?
Then on the flip side, if you work eighty-hour weeks, how long do you think you can sustain that before wanting to throw in the towel?
I love the analogy of the Hare and Tortoise. Life is a long, slow race with occasional intervals. Know when to rest and when to send it.
4. Money. Taxes. Yuck-but we must do it!
You may of heard 50 Cent filed for Bankruptcy in 2016. You can catch an article about it on the Rollin Stones website which you click through to here.
People who go bankrupt can’t pay their bills. They run out of money to pay their debts, essentially. And the debt collector that never gets tired is the tax office.
Therefore, it’s super important (like if you can only take one thing away it’s this) to talk to an accountant about your tax obligations. We have some general guidelines about taxes in the fitness industry―which you can read here. (link not active)
The other thing that is more important than fasted-cardio is being disciplined with your money. You need to set aside some money (assuming you’re a sole trader―for more information about business structures in fitness read this article) each week for super, GST, rent, professional fees, and a rainy-day account.
5. Being a resilient ninja
Success in fitness as a solopreneur is about celebrating all the small wins. Some days in your daily grind of cold calling, you might just feel like someone at the bottom of a burpee―who doesn’t want to get up.
That’s where positive psychology hacks are paramount. For a full list of wellbeing strategies to keep you going as new personal trainer―read here. (link not active)
Positive psychology is essentially the scientific study of the important things that carry humans forward in life―with a focus on what they are good at, instead of what they are bad at. You can read an in-depth article about positive psychology on their website which is linked to their article the definition of positive psychology here.
New personal trainers should focus on resilience in tough times. And one way is to celebrate the small stuff: Be proud that you finished your sports trainer course and became a PT. Jump. Lunge. Squat. Deadlift when you get a new client. Be grateful for as many things as you can. Tag us on Instagram when you’re feeling grateful.
So, when things get tough, you’ll have the toolkit to be a resilient ninja. Where you will smash it as a solopreneur in the fitness industry. We have your back at Fit College. If you’re a new PT reach out if you have any questions. Otherwise, level up!