How much you charge and how much you get paid is often a touchy subject for many people and personal trainers are no different in that regard. How many of you really feel like you are being paid what you would like to be paid? I would suggest that you are, in fact, being paid what you really think you are worth, even though you would “like” more, you don’t really think it is worth more!

If you believed you were worth more, you would do something about it. And really, these kind of answers the question posed in the title of the article. If you get a ‘job’ as a personal trainer, you will be paid what someone else thinks you are worth! This sounds crazy to me and certainly won’t lead to impressive financial rewards. So let’s say you’ve opted for ‘Create Your Own Wealth Strategy’. What are the three main problems here and how can you overcome them?

Problem One: The classic Personal Trainer start-up approach is to offer discounts to get customers. This is fatal, as it means that your training service is seen as a low-quality product from the start.

With this negotiating mindset, even if you get a truckload of customers and work hard, you’ll still be afloat at your breakeven price levels. Also, when and how do prices go up for all these people waiting for a bargain session in the basement?

Figure this out by finding out what the industry average is for your area by calling your local gyms and health clubs and asking about their personal training rates. Then simply set your own prices 10% above the average, positioning yourself in the higher quality zone from the start. Then, every 6 months, or when you’re busiest by, say, three new clients, review and increase your rates for all clients by 5%.

For you personally to feel comfortable doing that is important, for this reason, spend some of the extra 5% on CPD (Continuing Professional Development) of some kind so you know you’re up to date and worth what you charge.

Problem number two: allowing last minute cancellations!

This can cause you to lose large amounts of income. It will depend on your particular clients, but I’ve seen trainers lose up to 35% of their total income over a year due to this scenario, and clients aren’t doing it to ruin their business. They don’t see it as a “whole deal”, they think it’s just a small date cancellation. After all, “I have a very important haircut”, “dentist appointment”, etc.

The solution here is to educate the client early in the training relationship. Emphasize (kindly) that you require them, and you will give them, at least 24 hours notice of any cancellation or change of appointment. Yes, even late changes must be charged (perhaps at your discretion), but you must make it clear that you want the best for them and all your other customers.

Cancellations at the last minute are usually not replaceable by someone else, so they are lost and you lose financially. Be serious but fair and most people will understand this point. If they can’t get it, maybe they should train with someone else?

This isn’t a hobby you’re doing for free, it’s about trying to get the best results for them and that won’t happen if you’ve shut down because of all the cancellations and late changes ruining your time. and cash flow.

Common problem three: spending money as it comes in, not budgeting, and seeing large checks for block reserves as spending cash.

For example, I sell someone a block of 40 sessions for £1,200… I see an ‘extra’ £1,200 in the trading account and say, “Let’s take a holiday or buy a new mountain bike.”
However, I have forgotten about taxes and have not noticed that checks can arrive at irregular intervals.

The solution is to create a basic structure for myself where if taxes are going to be, say, 20% or so at the end of the year, I’ll put 35% of all income into a savings account once a month. This means I can pay my taxes with no problem and have the extra 15% set aside as surplus wealth building. References to read here would be George S. Clason’s ‘The Richest Man in Babylon’ and Robert Kiyosaki’s ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad’.

In conclusion, just because as personal trainers we often do what we love to do, it doesn’t mean we can afford, or even should, do it for free. We have to educate our clients and ourselves to take our time seriously and charge for our services above the average rate while providing above average service, knowledge and results. That’s what I call a win-win solution.