I own a personal training studio. I have 2 full-time personal trainer employees and one assistant. I have been open 65 months and we have been profitable every month but one (when we expanded and I paid cash for expansion items).
I put about $100k in my pocket annually with salary and profit. In many industries that is not great but it is very good in the fitness industry (and it looks to be a bit higher this year-maybe $115k).
I have about 4.5 months of expenses cash in reserve (I am risk averse in many ways). I have bootstrapped everything and have no personal or business debt. My personal overhead is pretty low so I am very happy with my financial situation. I am very proud of this aspect of the business.
I love my business in many ways but the staffing has been a bear for me.
I have had a very hard time finding personal trainer candidates who:
1. have the necessary knowledge to safely and effectively train our mostly middle-aged clientele and;
2. are able to "connect" with clients in a way that keeps them as clients (this can be the more difficult to find of the two). Contrary to what might seem intuitive, many in this field are not especially self-confident.
If I could wave a magic wand and resolve the staffing issue my business would be very smooth.
Evaluating the ability of a trainer to "connect" with clients during an interview is difficult. We have a probationary period during which that can be evaluated but every trainer I have ever hired except one somewhat grew into that...or not. I just haven't found an effective way to assess that. I spend a lot of time with them. Hundreds of hours in a year training them and trying to encourage them. At times, I am too uptight but I am generally patient and helpful, I believe.
At a large gym like Equinox, the business hires 50 trainers and it is sink or swim as far as the ability to "connect". Those who can connect get to stay and those who can't have to leave. "You either have it or you don't." It is not really practical for me to do that.
Bringing a new hire on is extremely labor-intensive and has resulted in mostly 75 hour weeks for me during my ownership (I am not really wired for that :-) although I have done it). Went through some burnout/depression/exhaustion about 2 years ago but things have slowly improved. I reached out and talked to friends and a counselor at my church and that helped a ton.
If the trainers can't connect with the clients, I feel I need to be here to make sure that happens. I am sure this could be in part perception, but I think it is about 80% real. I also take each person's safety and well-being very seriously...probably more seriously than they do. :-) I feel horrible when someone is not making progress or heaven forbid get injured. I know this is a huge part of my challenge but it is hard to turn that off. I am happy to make a good living but I definitely am not just in this for the money.
I think maybe a high-end hotel like 4 Seasons might have similar needs and I have read some how they evaluate during hiring but could read more-in fact, I think I will do that immediately.
Our staffing is currently good but I would like to prepare for the possibility of a future change.
Any feedback on these issues?
Thank you!
I put about $100k in my pocket annually with salary and profit. In many industries that is not great but it is very good in the fitness industry (and it looks to be a bit higher this year-maybe $115k).
I have about 4.5 months of expenses cash in reserve (I am risk averse in many ways). I have bootstrapped everything and have no personal or business debt. My personal overhead is pretty low so I am very happy with my financial situation. I am very proud of this aspect of the business.
I love my business in many ways but the staffing has been a bear for me.
I have had a very hard time finding personal trainer candidates who:
1. have the necessary knowledge to safely and effectively train our mostly middle-aged clientele and;
2. are able to "connect" with clients in a way that keeps them as clients (this can be the more difficult to find of the two). Contrary to what might seem intuitive, many in this field are not especially self-confident.
If I could wave a magic wand and resolve the staffing issue my business would be very smooth.
Evaluating the ability of a trainer to "connect" with clients during an interview is difficult. We have a probationary period during which that can be evaluated but every trainer I have ever hired except one somewhat grew into that...or not. I just haven't found an effective way to assess that. I spend a lot of time with them. Hundreds of hours in a year training them and trying to encourage them. At times, I am too uptight but I am generally patient and helpful, I believe.
At a large gym like Equinox, the business hires 50 trainers and it is sink or swim as far as the ability to "connect". Those who can connect get to stay and those who can't have to leave. "You either have it or you don't." It is not really practical for me to do that.
Bringing a new hire on is extremely labor-intensive and has resulted in mostly 75 hour weeks for me during my ownership (I am not really wired for that :-) although I have done it). Went through some burnout/depression/exhaustion about 2 years ago but things have slowly improved. I reached out and talked to friends and a counselor at my church and that helped a ton.
If the trainers can't connect with the clients, I feel I need to be here to make sure that happens. I am sure this could be in part perception, but I think it is about 80% real. I also take each person's safety and well-being very seriously...probably more seriously than they do. :-) I feel horrible when someone is not making progress or heaven forbid get injured. I know this is a huge part of my challenge but it is hard to turn that off. I am happy to make a good living but I definitely am not just in this for the money.
I think maybe a high-end hotel like 4 Seasons might have similar needs and I have read some how they evaluate during hiring but could read more-in fact, I think I will do that immediately.
Our staffing is currently good but I would like to prepare for the possibility of a future change.
Any feedback on these issues?
Thank you!
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