If you’re starting out in the Fitness Industry it can be exciting and tempting to take the first PT job offer that comes your way. But one of the most common 
reasons Personal Trainers fail is lack of business skills and knowledge.
It is so important to consider what are your strengths and weaknesses and what aspects of your career are more valuable to you? You need to weigh up the pros and cons of the various PT job options out there and see what fits you the best.
- Do you require set hours and a steady reliable income, or are you willing to take more risks for a more potential reward?
- Are you confident with marketing, advertising and recruiting clients or is this an area you require professional assistance?
- Are you happy to manage your own taxes and super or would you prefer to have an employer sort that out for you?
- Is it important for you to have sick leave and holiday pay/ staff to cover for you, or are you happy to just fly solo?
- Are you happy to be on call and ready to answer your phone 24/7 or would you prefer a business to assist you with that so you can have time “off” when you’re away from work?
- What is your desired weekly/annual income? What are your expenses? How many sessions per week do you need to cover this? What is your successful closing ratio from consultations? How many consultations do you need to complete to recruit enough clients to hit your target numbers? What is your attrition and late cancellation rate? How will you manage this?
Weighing up your PT job options
Consider the following PT job options and what they involve:
| Gym rent | Run own studio | Employee | Contractor | Franchise owner | |
| What is it? | You pay weekly rent to use space in a gym | You rent or own your own studio and potentially employ others | You work as an employee for a gym or studio | You have an ABN but are hired and paid by another business/ person | You own your own business under the umbrella of a larger company |
| Expenses |
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N/A | Insurance |
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| Income potential | Higher per session but Limited by how many hours in a week | Higher per session and Potential for employees | Possibly lower hourly rate but all working hours paid. | Higher per session but Limited by how many hours in a week | Higher per session and Potential for employees |
| Unpaid working hours | Yes | Yes | No | Maybe | Yes |
| Marketing | Some done by gym in house – majority done by you – competing with other Trainers | Must do all your own marketing and advertising | None | None | Franchisor handles the majority of |
| Answering calls, Booking in clients | Gym may help, likely to have to answer all your own calls and book in own sessions | Must do all your own recruiting, answering phone, booking in and closing sales | Mostly done by company – occasionally do yourself | Mostly done by company – occasionally do yourself | Franchisor handles the majority of recruiting and booking in – you just close the sale |
| Tax/super | Need to plan your own | Need to plan your own | All covered | Need to plan your own | Plan with the help of the Franchisor |
| Sick leave/ holiday | No | Maybe covered – if you have employees | Yes | No | Covered if you have employees |
| Need an ABN | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Need a detailed business plan | Yes | Yes | No | Maybe | Yes – with franchisor expertise and assistance |
Fitness Enhancement can offer you a variety of job opportunities. Check out what makes our Personal Training jobs and Personal Training Franchise so unique!