i am already certified but need advice - Personal Trainer Community - Forum

[natedagreat111]

what supplies will an independent trainer need to be succesful?

[megfit]

Who is your target market and where do you plan to see them? Long before you can determine what supplies you need, you need to identify who they are and why you're in business.

Do you have your business plan written? What about your marketing plan? How do you plan to attract clients?

These are all essentials.

Of course you will need your initial assessment materials. I do have many (some free, some fee) from this site: http://www.meg-enterprises.com/conte...egory/6/18/58/.

Make sure you not only have your assessment forms, but also all of your contracts and release of liability forms, etc, also. Be very clear what your rates are, and do not be afraid to discuss them. You're in business and not just doing this as a hobby. Also be clear about your cancellation policy; very important!

Finally, also always have on hand an accident form. I do believe that IDEA still has some nice materials for setting up a business.

Then, if you plan to see clients in YOUR home, you can set up what will best meet your primary client's needs. If you plan to go to your client's home, what you need will be different.

There really are a lot of details that you should have together long before you see your first paying client.

Since you sound like you could greatly benefit from this, I will share that I am starting a teleclass series that walks participants through setting up their business. You can either sign up for the full, 10-month series, or just for 'stages'. To read about that, here's another link: http://californiabasedpublishing.com...nt/view/17/31/

Good luck and, I have no doubt that if you do the necessary (business) planning, that you can get your business up and running in no time!

Margie

Margie

[Christina]

Hi Nate and welcome,

By "independent" do you mean an in home trainer? If so, do not invest in a lot of equipment up front. If I were you I would buy some tubing and a stability ball. It's amazing what you can do with a few pieces of equipment. And don't forget bodyweight exercises. If you have a few extra hundred dollars buy a set of Sport Blocks and a portable bench.

I have so much equipment that I do not use on a regular basis. Don't make the same mistake I made!

Christina

PS - I have ordered bands and stability balls from this site. Good quality, excellent customer service, and great prices.
http://www.trainerwholesale.com

[kaiserS]

Definitely good advice on trying to keep your overhead low - You can make a great profit with no employees and some basic equipment -

I have a post over at Super-Trainer about in home training - http://super-trainer.com/on-location-training/

[DebraFitplanet]

Hi Nate,

Welcome! In talking to many trainers, I've learned that its important to keep the communication and feedback loop going between you and your clients. Creating online meal and fitness plans for them to follow in between session and having a home base for comments and tracking and feedback become very important. If you are interested in hearing more about some free tools, feel free to e-mail me -debra@globalfitnessmedia.com