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Why I Now Love My Training Business
Fitness Business Strategies Guest Post By Zach Hunt
I remember when I first started my training biz, I was gung-ho on private sessions and 1 hour long at that. At the time I was only charging $47 / session, not to mention this was for in-home training, so that 47 was not only for the 1 hour of training, but also my 15-30 minutes of driving, the gas it took to get me to the person's house, and well my sanity to keep me going.
The most I ever made doing this style of training was like 1-2K / month. Just enough to pay for my gas =)
We'll I gotta tell you that didn't last long before I knew something had to change. Either I would change careers or I would somehow change how I was structuring my training.
I didn't know it at the time, but this would turn out to be the best thing that would ever happen to my training business. That's when I met Chris and he spilled the beans on how to run a successful group training business to make more money all while working less hours. Ever since then training has been like a dream compared to the in-home / private training days.
I gotta tell you I love working with and training groups. Here's what I love about them:
- You can make a whole heck of a lot money – you can earn a whole heck of a lot more by getting 5,6 or even 8 people to pay you every hour compared to just 1, you can even get a few people each hour to pay you who don't show up. Meaning not everyone is always going to show up for their workout, and as long as you have good policies in place like we outline here you still get paid from them as well.
- You can free up a ton more time by condensing your training – with private training you pretty well have to have pretty long days, 8-12 hour training days are no biggie. Crap, I remember days when my first training was at 5AM an hour away at a client's house, so I had to wake up at near 3:45 and then I had a client on the other side of town around 7:30PM, with a few sparse moments of time in my car kinda just hibernating there, not a pleasant day. With group training you can condense your day into 8,6 or even 4 hours of training each day, depending on how many days a week you want to train. This keeps you much more energized and much more excited about your business.
- So much more fun than training private or other models – I gotta say, with private training how much fun the training is pretty well depends on who the client is, if they like to talk and what about. Other than that, it's not really all that fun, counting people's reps and watching them rest. Yes, it surely is fun helping them with to reach their goals, but if the client is boring, so if your job
With group training you always have a least a few people in your groups with high energy and high excitement which in turn along with your energy help everyone else in the group to be pumped and ready to go, plus it plainwell just makes it fun for you. It's kinda important for your training to be fun don't you think?
- A lot more energy, excitement and supportive environment – Similar to above, with group training, everyone feeds on everyone else. Clients build social support and keep each other accountable and that makes life a whole lot better for you. Clients work harder cause of others working along with them and generally are more excited and work harder to not let others show them up.
- Your clients get better results and give more referrals - With group training you can have an army of 60,70 or 80 clients out there referring to you, compared to private training the most you could have is 20-30. Plus if you're just getting going, you can implement a human billboard promotion a whole lot easier than doing it with private training, which you probably couldn't even do. Who wants to train one person at a time all for free – probably not.
- Much easier to convert prospects into clients as you can offer more affordable programs (plus longer stick rate) as they can afford it longer – By making your training a little less expensive than private you can convert prospects a whole lot easier into your training, which in turn makes it easier to get new clients. Plus this expands the market which you can serve as not everyone can afford private training rates.
- You can give your clients all the benefits of private training AND MORE while still in groups – Not only is it better for you to train in groups, but it's also just as beneficial for clients. As long as you present groups as the solution to their fitness problem they will get just as much from it if not more. You can still keep them accountable, ask them about their nutrition / eating and everything else you would do with private training as well. You just don't waste time by watching people rest or shooting the breeze talking about the latest crap on the news.
If you're currently doing group training please tell me know what you Love about training groups in the comments section below…
Plus there are many unspoken benefits that make group training a fit for pretty well everyone. Unless you're training elite athletes, body builders or some other unique market then you absolutely MUST be doing group training. No question. And it's pretty simple to get going with it, especially if you have everything done for you like here.
The truth is, without group training I probably wouldn't still be doing this or even want to be. Group training definitely saved my fitness business and pushed me to the next level of success. It's actually very enjoyable now for me, train a whole lot less and actually enjoy every week now that I got things running smoothly and systems perfected. Which is why Chris and I teamed up on a group training business product which outlines pretty well everything you need to know about whether you're wanting to get into group training or you already have something going and just want to make sure you're doing it right. You can find everything you need to know about it here: Group Training Exploder
Would love to hear your comments below…
Zach Hunt is a Spokane Fitness Studio Owner and Personal Trainer and Spokane WA, and also partners with Chris McCombs on the new Group Training Exploder program, which breaks down every single thing you need to know and do to have and run a successful group training business.
Comments on Why I Now Love My Training Business
I just started group training. I would love to hear other people thoughts on it.
Hey Zach
Great post on effectiveness of group training. I have just started group training for a group of housewives who hang out together. I set a fix rate for that 45 minutes session and they can have up to 8 people max and if more people turn up they will have to pay more. It's great deal for me because I don't have to worry about people not turning up and I get paid the fix rate. Furthermore, I don't have to go out and get people. They looked for their friends to join in and make the group training more affordable for them.
I started training in small groups of 4 people back in 2003 and never looked back. Have not had a 1-1 client since then. Good info and thanks for the post
i've got two studios in manchester, got great trainers that all work,hard the same way i do, one guy been with me 2 hours and had a client, using my marketing _thank to you.
Zach,
Thanks for the guest post. Great information.
Brian
1. The energy one client has motivates the other clients. It's amazing.
2. If you, the trainer, are having a not-on-the-spot day, the enthusiasm of your group can turn things around.
3. Group training helps prevent some of the uncomfortable chit-chat that you'd just as soon not discuss! lol…
4. My small groups tend to have a bit of competition between members which ultimately causes everyone to work a bit harder which we all know hard work=better results!
Thanks for the post!
Now that I just do boot camps I often kick myself that I didn't switch sooner.
Best,
Coop
Thanks to people like Zack, Chris and Bedros, I started group training from day one back in February. My first month I had 9 clients, only eight months later I have almost 30! I hold class three times per day, so I only work 15 hours per week training and probably just as many hours doing behind the scenes stuff like marketing and sales. I'm not making a ton of $$$, about $3000 a month, but I only work 30 hours a week, if that, maybe only 20. And my class list is growing every single month by about 10-20%.
Another great things about groups, even if you sign up 10 people per class and only 2 or 3 of them show up…you still get paid! I get all my money up front at the beginning of the month.
I still train a couple of people one-on-one but they get very specialized workouts. I'm about to start another class for my advanced people…more money and not much time put into it.
Oh, and I designed all my group classes to not require the use of machines, so I can easily repeat this setup anywhere, anytime without a lot of money.
Group training is for sure the wave of the future for Personal Trainers, get on it and make some money! Good luck to all!
Doug Seamans
PRIDE Conditioning
http://www.prideconditioning.com
The area I live in doesn't allow personal trainers to train outside…No Permits. Any ideas on how to find indoor locations?
I'm a numbers guy and I've know the financial benefits of small group training vs. personal training for years. I started training individuals, then moved on to small groups of 2-4, now recently started doing boot camps and I love the boot camps the best. I'm making more money and my service is more affordable so I can reach more people and help them accomplish their goals. On top of that my clients are having a lot more fun!
Thanks for the post Zach.
Tony Wood
Workout Quest
I made the switch to group training about 5 months ago and it's amazing! People love it and they can continue for much longer due to the decreased cost. I have also found that people don't WANT to leave or miss a workout because they miss out on the group "stuff" that goes on that day. There is a ton of competition between some of my advanced groups and it's so much fun!
I have moved from one on one training to group training and I love it. I had one client train 3xweek for a few years and he enjoys group training way more and has referred more friends and family than ever. My record to date was a boxing class of 116 people smashin it out. Check out this quick vid of the crew warming up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQflskHMcyM
Damn Dave, now THAT's a group
Dave… damn fellow Aussie that is a massive group… good on ya
Zach great stuff mate..
What blows my mind is the possibilities to grow with a group fitness business as opposed to one on one… and the sheer amount of lives you can help influence and change for the greater good..
Thanks for post mate
AT
Agreed! I too have been training in-home, one-on-one. It's definitely not as exciting as groups nor can you make as much, and I get sick of driving everywhere! So I'm making the transition with bootcamps and small group training. I'm excited!!!
I do a bootcamp class 3 times a week and I love the fact that I make more money now then when I was at a club 6 days a week.
Hey Zach,
Great post man. Group training (GT) is definitely a no-brainer from all the angles you mentioned and it has been on my mind for a while no and now I know I must do something about it.
There have been a few things/questions that always go through my head though when making the switch to GT and if you are able to answer them it would be very much appreciated:
1. Do you do most of your training outdoors, in a park, etc. as not all studios (including the one I work at) allow GT?
2. How much does the weather effect GT? ie. extreme heat which we definitely have in Adelaide, Australia.
3. What is the best time frame, 30/45 mins?
4. How do you keep it interesting if only (or mainly) doing bodyweight type stuff outside?
Look forward to your reply man.
PS. Sweet video from Dave too, that is the biggest class I have ever seen – can't even imagine what $ you pull from a class that big…
Regards, Clayton
Adelaide Personal Trainers
Hey Clayton,
1. Whatever can be made to work, my faves are studios with outdoor access
2. IF weather is an issue, I'd find a location with indoor access
3. One hour seems to work best as it allows for some comings and goings… much more important with groups
4. By mixing it up and making the workouts fun/ entertainig
Hope this helps
Sweet, thanks Chris… Appreciate the reply mate, and yes that does help.
Regards, Clayton
Adelaide Personal Trainers
Started group training a number of years ago, did not abandon my PT business, but found that it complemented it.
Never looked back.
TOM