Many people retrain as a personal trainer following redundancy or some do it out of choice, but when they hit the job boards, it becomes increasingly apparent that there are not very many (if any) well paying personal trainer job roles, just freelance positions and courses. So the new Personal Trainer has a choice, go back to the job he hated or make a go on the self employed route. Its tough to know where your are going wrong when you have no experience in business, so below is 10 possible reasons why your personal training business is failing
1. You are reliant on "pay as you go" rather than monthly billing
This is bad news, your entire livelihood is based around if someone can make it to the gym or to exercise...worrying
2. You are embarrassed to ask for money
Its a business, your invested a lot of time and money to get where you got to and you should be compensated for it
3. You don't have systems in place for marketing and sales that you stick to
If you are just winging it month by month, you won't be able to plan for the future. Have a plan that you can duplicate success
4. You don't look for clients outside the gym
If you work out of a gym an you only market yourself within that gym, you are putting all your eggs in one basket, the gym could close down, get rid of you, change the personal trainer agreement, double your rent, you have to keep your options open
5. You don't run group training sessions
Relying on one to one sessions is a risky thing when you are just starting out. Have several group sessions underway
6. You're not that competent trainer that you can guarantee results
Why should people train with you unless you are that good that you can guarantee the results as long as they follow what you tell them
7. You take yourself too seriously
You got to have people skills and be able to manage people in a variety of ways and be able to have a laugh with people
8. You're not professional enough
The above being said, you need to be thoroughly professional at all times, its about striking a balance
9. You work too much on the wrong things
You need to focus on generating income...full stop. Anything else is a hobby
10. You don't know where to start when it comes to marketing and selling your services
Get training, buy some in and get to know it as well as, if not better than Personal Training.