Part-time business idea – personal trainer

Whilst gym memberships are falling in numbers, the demand for personal trainers is growing. Research indicates a shift in people’s attitude to fitness; they are rejecting the artificial atmosphere of the gym in preference of a ‘wellness’ lifestyle that gets them out into the fresh air. If you enjoy exercise and keeping fit, and have a general interest in health and wellbeing, setting up a business as a personal trainer could be a very viable way of earning extra income on a part-time basis.

First of all you will need to decide what type of training you wish to provide. It could be weight loss, pre-/post-pregnancy exercise, athletics training, or yoga – there are all kinds of options. You will then need to go on a course that will provide you with the necessary training and qualifications, so there is some initial financial investment required – anything between £300-£5,000. For that reason it would be well worth researching the local market before committing to any particular type of training – it would be much better to fill a gap in the market than join in with the crowd.

You’ll need to have your own transport so that you can travel easily to clients’ homes, and you should consider the kind of equipment you’ll be transporting from one place to another – a small van might be a good option. But there is also a relatively new trend for virtual training, where you give an initial consultation and set a training programme, track progress via email and then hold a review meeting at regular periods.

Some clients may want to do their training before or after work, so you need to be clear about the hours you can offer. Of course, if you are working around the needs of your family, there are lots of mums out there who will be looking to fit their training routines into the same kind of schedule as yours if you are working around family commitments.

In terms of marketing, you will probably discover that word of mouth works well, so you may not need to spend much once you’ve started to build up a reputation.