There are hundreds of reasons why someone would embark on a career as a Personal Trainer.
Notice I mention the word ‘career’ there!
That’s right, becoming a Personal Trainer is a highly viable career pathway and can be one of the most rewarding jobs around.
Yet the industry sadly bids farewell to lots of talented Personal Trainers every year.
But why?
The general makeup of a successful PT is someone who actually cares about the results they achieve and people they impact. PTs generally aren’t business minded or sales orientated however this becomes a prerequisite due to the nature of the role.
Facts remain that due to these opposing drivers a lot of PTs just simply get lost in meaningless activity and end up giving up!
At YOUR PT we are proud to have the best length of stay for PTs in the UK (possibly globally) we work very hard on bridging the skills gap that contributes towards PT drop out rates BUT still not everyone makes it sadly!
If you are in the industry or looking to join you need to get a grip on Perception Vs Reality.
FACTS:
- Becoming a high earner and striking a great work:life balance is realistic ‘with time’ but highly unrealistic in your first year of launching as a Personal Trainer.
- You will easily fall in love with being a Personal Trainer but you MUST treat your business like a business! Yes, that means you need a client acquisition plan, marketing strategy, retention strategy, recurring payment options and so on…
- The 2 key attribute that are non negotiable as a PT are to 1) Be teachable and 2) Be willing to work hard! You do not get to work ‘Hollywood hours’ if you are not prepared to put huge effort in on the front end.
MYTHS:
- It’s easy! Says the PT who forgot about when they started in the industry…
- You have to go online! No you don’t! There are 10.3 million gym members in the UK. You need 20-30 committed clients, the length of stay for a face to face client is far higher than online along with earnings. Spending too much time online is one of the highest contributors for PT drop out.
- It’s a lifestyle….somewhat true BUT - You certainly don’t need to wake up at 4am, consume a vegan smoothie and complete an hour of mindset to make a success of being a PT!
TOP TIP IF YOU’RE CAREER MINDED:
Here is something that kept me motivated as a PT in the early days (Circa 2005) and useful for any PT aspiring to earn 50k+ per year.
Simple maths!
My session rate is £30/sessions. This is fair and reasonable for my area plus I can sell packages confidently on mass.
I need to deliver 1666 sessions in a year to earn 50k.
That’s just 32 hours a week to be exact.
Or just 24 hours a week if your rate is £45/hr.
This for me formed ‘PROJECT 32’ which become my internal driver for around 18 months when starting out. I probably worked on average 60 hours per week for the first 9 months BUT I remained teachable and willing to work. By month 18 project 32 was more than accomplished! This balanced out at around 36 hours per week as I’d always offer free consultations to new prospects looking to join my waiting list.
What happens then?
Reward yourself, reset your trajectory to your next land mark and go again!