Maybe you’re a personal trainer, fitness instructor or a fitness enthusiast and you’re living your passion day in day out helping others to get fit and healthy.

The idea of starting and owning a fitness studio is always the holy grail many strive for.

For a second, just imagine the feeling that comes with naming your studio what you want, creating the most unique logo with a backstory to tell, decorating the interior with your wildest imagination and the coolest part is…

You’ll be recognised as the Owner holding the title of a CEO, which normally stands for Chief Executive Officer.

But the truth is, in most cases, CEO ends up to be the acronym for Chief Everything Officer and that’s when the typical “expectation versus reality” phenomenon kicks in for most studio owners.

In this 4 minute read,

I won’t be going through information you could easily search by googling “how to start a fitness studio business”.

Instead, I’m going to pull back the curtain on the little known truth behind starting a fitness studio that most studio owners aren’t prepared for. 

At the same time, you’ll reveal the 3 most deadly mistakes many studio owners are making so that you are able to avoid them and allow your upcoming/current fitness studio to serve its purpose.

 

Mistake Number #1:

Thinking only people are the most valuable asset of a business.

Meaning, with great people, anything is possible even if there are setbacks, conflicts and crisis. 

But most people only think great people are what they need, I would in fact argue that having clear expectations amongst shareholders, partners and team members are what make people great.

The reason why I’m bringing this up as the top priority is simply because if partners’ expectations aren’t done right, it doesn’t matter how talented your team is, how well your funding, branding, service, product, location, pricing and business model are, the whole ship will sink sooner or later.

How do I know?

Well to be frank, I’m speaking from experience.

The problem most studio owners face is they let passion and excitement fuel their every being and doing during the so called “honeymoon” period of the business, which is usually the first 1 to 2 years at the most.

 

Discussing expectations in depth especially with the first few people who start the business (investors, co founders and managers) which might also be their besties, spouse or family members can be something that most will find uneasy and awkward. 

Wish to know what questions you could potentially ask to find alignments?

Here they are:

• Who should be the final decision maker overall? (there must be ONE!)
• Who should be the majority shareholder to lead the pack? (even though all partners are equally experienced, knowledgeable and putting in the same funding amount)
• What is every shareholder’s pay based on?
• What happens if someone decides to drop out?
• What is the buyout fee based on a specific ?
• What happens if a shareholder’s commitment wanes off?
• What happens if a shareholder doesn’t hold up to the value? (…and defines value!)
• Can a shareholder transfer their shares to a family member?
• What happens if a shareholder isn’t able to chip in funding when the company is challenged financially?
• What happens if a shareholder passes away?

 

Without a doubt, there are a lot more questions that need to be answered amongst the partners in order to ensure expectations are managed to the T.

If any of your partners aren’t willing to go through some tough questions together, you’ll need to take a stand and help them understand the importance of it. 

And if your attempt to get everyone to discuss this matter is constantly being brushed off, then by all means, you shouldn’t even consider going ahead with business registration.

I would rather you carry on doing what you’ve been doing, rather than going ahead on the wrong foot in your venture which will be costly financially, emotionally and physically (health).

 

Mistake Number #2:

Shareholders are bringing the same thing to the table.

Typically you see this happening…

A few like minded personal trainers came together believing there’s a better way to do things in a personal training business.

They also question why they should let the gym owner they work for take a big cut out of what clients pay and therefore having their own space will allow the cut to come back to their pockets. 

Sounds like a good plan.

Finally, these personal trainers put together a gym big enough for everyone to coach their clients.

That’s when the problems come.

Amongst all the problems, I’m just going to point out the most devastating one.

 

You see, when everyone is doing the same thing, in this case personal training, that’s when two things happen.

Firstly, comparison of who does more work can happen too easily because all you need to do is to track who’s contributing the most sales and fulfill the most personal training sessions.

That’s when the top performing personal trainer will start saying things like..

“I’m bringing in the most profit and why do I have to share with those who are not trying as hard?”

And this sour feeling resurfaces once again…

Which used to come from the fact that their ex boss took a huge cut out of what clients paid.

To make matters worse, what if this top performing personal trainer turned founder just happens to be the smallest shareholder?

 

Secondly, a business isn’t just about serving your clients really well.

There are at least 7 other aspects of business that need an intensive amount of attention especially during the first 18 months such as finance, systemization, staff training, recruitment, operation, marketing and advertising.

Rarely, a personal training studio is well funded to allow the luxury of hiring staff that can do the job from day 1. In most cases, it is the opposite.

The few personal trainers that bootstrapped their way to get their gym up and running would not have much left for hiring purposes and therefore why is everyone jumping into this venture doing the same thing (training clients) while dropping all other eggs?

 

In fact, it might be ideal not to partner up with those who can equally do the same thing as you in the first place.

An advice that I would like to impart on you is to look out for those who have the strengths that cover your weaknesses and at the same time have the 110% willingness to go through the thick and thin with you.

 

Mistake Number #3:

Creating a business to get a job in it.

“I’m a great personal trainer/fitness instructor with loads of clients and they are following me to my new studio once it’s opened”

Sounds oh–so–common?

It is very common to see many founders create a business with a plan to transfer over what they’ve been doing.

Let’s say you’ve been a personal trainer and therefore it’s a no-brainer to bring all your clients into your new studio and keep training them.

Many will think…

“I can do a good job, why do I need to let go of training clients and hire other personal trainers to do it?”

 

While it is tempting to keep doing what you’re good at and maximize your earning as the studio owner,

…but it defeats the very purpose of starting a business, which is meant to allow a high degree of leverage of the time and effort pulled together by a team so that you work because you want to, not because you have to.

A shift of perspective is much needed when it comes to what you should be doing as the founder or business owner and therefore, let me ask you this question…

If a cruise ship was to be sailing on the sea, what role should you be playing?

Most people will confidently say a captain, a sailor or a cruise director.

Let me break it to you,

You are not on the ship and you are not supposed to!

 

Instead, you are now in the shipyard with your team working on upgrades, refining passengers’ experience, exploring new possible routes to tap into a new market or even perhaps working on the next ship already!

If business growth doesn’t appeal to you, I know very well there’s one way that might motivate you to want to grow it (because as humans we will do more to stay away from pain then moving towards desire). Wanna know?

It’s the pain of not being able to retain or attract great talents… and it’s frustrating you!

So, let’s talk about retention first.

Let’s say a personal trainer has been with you for 2 years and he/she has been growing to the point where there isn’t much more for them working with you…

Then often enough, the very next move will be for them to move on and potentially become your competitor.

And now when it comes to attracting great talents…

Well, great talents are great for a reason! They have high expectations in things that matter, especially if it has to do with their career growth as a personal trainer!

A small humble business that rarely grows isn’t going to excite them because we as human like to be with those who are alike.

 

Conclusion:

I hope what I’ve shared has helped to shed some light on the things that could make or break a studio business.

But of course, there’s a lot more I would love to share since I don’t wish anyone will ever have to go through the same mistakes I made and therefore feel free to reach out for a chat.

At Move Private Fitness, we have helped many personal trainers to realize their dreams of owning a gym and if you’re looking to build one too, please drop us an email at enquiry@moveprivatefitness.com