Starting a fitness business can be a rewarding but challenging experience. The fitness market is big enough to house quite a bit of competition; however, it is important that you are organized and cognizant of the latest trends in fitness before you ever open your doors.
Instructions
1. Draft a business plan. It not only outlines your goals, but also defines your mission and highlights exactly how you plan to accomplish your professional goals. This is the most important aspect of starting a fitness business because you will need to submit it to your lender, should you decide to pursue this method of financing. It also helps to refer to it from time to time to ensure that you are on track.
2. Determine a location. The beauty of running a fitness operation is that you can usually do it from just about anywhere, unless you are starting a gym. If you are pursuing personal training or something in that arena, you will not need a storefront location because more often than not, you will travel to your clients. However, if you do plan to start a gym, try to choose a location that is fairly central in your region and easy to access. High traffic areas are always preferable, as they allow members to combine working out with other personal errands.
3. Research fitness trends to determine what your fitness business will offer. Fitness trends are ever-changing; one minute it's strip cardio combined with the Zone diet and the next it's Zumba and Sugarbusters. To keep up with the latest trends and ensure that you are able to combine your personal style of fitness with trends, do your research ahead of time. Subscribe to various fitness-related blogs and websites and set up Google alerts for fitness so that the latest fitness news is always coming right into your Inbox. Keeping up with trends is important as it helps you to stay relevant in a very oversaturated and finicky market.
4. Figure out where you will get your start-up capital. Most people starting business attain loans to help them get off the ground. Others receive gifts from family and friends. Still others seek out independent investors. A very small few have personal wealth to fall back on. Whichever category you fall into, be sure that you keep your options open and gather as much information as possible about small business financing. The U.S. Small Business Administration has a number of programs---including loans and grants---to help small business owners get started.
5. Promote and advertise. This is the ultimate key to success for any kind of business. After all, people have to know you exist before they can bring you business. Take advantage of as many promotional and advertising opportunities as possible. The more awareness you raise about your fitness business, the better your chance of long-term success.
