Part-time training is how a lot of us start in the industry. It’s also where many end up, sometimes on purpose, other times out of necessity.
Working part-time as a trainer can be a great way to get into the industry because you can get a feel for a gym and the clients without committing to it 40 hours a week. Personal training isn’t exactly known for its stability, so trying it part-time helps you decide if it’s a viable source of income before going all in.
Working part-time as a personal trainer is also great for those wanting to pick up a second job or side hustle if you do it right.
But let’s be honest. There are a lot of people who try to work as part-time trainers and fail. Most of the reason for failure has nothing to do with their ability to train or program.
Instead, it has everything to do with their marketing and the way they build their business.
Part-time personal training means limited hours for sessions, less time for marketing, and often a smaller client base. Growth depends on how those hours are structured and how consistently services are delivered.
Independent fitness professionals, especially those working for themselves, have to manage scheduling, client relationships, and service delivery without the support of a fixed facility. This is easier said than done, and can eat up your hours without profit if you’re not mindful.
This guide examines how to develop and grow your part-time personal training business while maintaining consistency, scheduling, and your sanity.
What Services to Offer as a Part-Time Personal Trainer
What if I told you your pay didn’t have to take a cut just because you’re training part-time?
The way you structure your services can make or break your profit margin. Small changes to your one-on-one sessions, group classes, and online offerings will help your business become (or stay) profitable even on a limited schedule.
One-on-one personal training sessions were once the bread and butter for most trainers, and many still make an income this way. If you’re still charging by the session or by the hour, consider moving toward package pricing instead. Offering packages with a set number of sessions available over the course of 1, 3, 6, or 12 months can really help stabilize your income.
By selling sessions as a package, you’re paid a larger amount up front, which can help when it comes to monthly bills and expenses. It also keeps clients committed. If your client pays by the session, it’s much easier for them to cancel or reschedule, leaving you hanging and without income.
By selling a package with a preset number of sessions in a month, you’re guaranteed income even if they don’t show. If you sell sessions as a package, be sure to include a section in their contract about what happens to unused sessions. If a client is sick or no-shows, will you comp them a session or does it still count against their package? The answer usually lies somewhere in the middle, so your client feels like they’re getting their money’s worth and you still make a livable wage.
Group training has become incredibly popular over the last decade and for good reason. We’re not talking about group fitness classes, but rather small-group training where each participant receives a more personalized approach and guidance than they would in a class with 20 or more people.
Small group sessions are win-wins for both trainers and clients. For trainers, the pay per session is greater. You have more clients at a time, which maximizes your earnings without having to add more hours to your schedule.
With small group training, you can also offer a discounted rate, which appeals to clients. They pay less per hour, but you make more per session. Small groups also mean more accountability and the potential for friendships to develop, which keep your clients coming back month after month.
Online training is a constantly growing and evolving industry. If you offer live sessions, consider using package pricing just as you would with in-person offerings to make sure you’re paid regardless of whether your client misses a session.
More so than in-person trainers, online coaches are especially susceptible to the “time suck,” where your time away from your clients becomes consumed with client messages, paperwork, or all the little details that sneak their way in while you’re sitting in front of your computer. Take back your time by automating what you can and committing to set office hours, just as you would if you were training at a gym.
If you do choose to offer guidance after hours, be sure to work into your pricing and fees to account for the extra time you take to serve your clients.
How to Manage Your Time as a Trainer on a Part-Time Schedule
While it may appear easier to manage your schedule as a part-time trainer, that isn’t always how it plays out.
Many part-time trainers start with open availability, willing to work out with a client at any time of the day. This is the fastest road to burnout for a trainer. Before you know it, that 20 hours reaches from 5 in the morning to 9 at night, and you’re trying to fit another full or part-time job in between.
To keep your session schedule from overrunning your life, start by assessing the number of clients you can realistically support. If you want to work 20 hours a week, it may seem like a no-brainer that you would have 10 clients you work with twice a week, or 20 clients you see once a week.
But the math isn’t that easy. To create an accurate work schedule, you’ll need to take into account several other factors, including:
- Client communication – How much time do you spend outside sessions each week talking to or checking in with clients?
- Administrative tasks – How much time do you need to collect payments, do bookkeeping, and update websites or social media?
- Marketing efforts – Do you need to set aside regular time to market and promote your business?
- Client programming – How long do you spend on programs and updates outside of your client sessions?
- Travel considerations – If you work in several spaces, how much time is spent commuting between clients’ homes, outdoor venues, or rented spaces?
- Gaps between sessions – Do you have ineffective gaps in between sessions that keep you working or away from home, but without being paid for it?
Once you know how long each of these tasks takes, you’ll realize that 20 hours of actual client sessions is going to mean a lot more than 20 hours of work per week. Be sure that the price you charge your clients accurately reflects all the work you’re doing for them, not just the work they see.
If you want to build your business, you’ll also need to realize that the time required for these extra tasks will grow as your client base does.
How to Improve Client Consistency and Session Frequency
It’s a question that’s been around as long as personal training itself: “How do I develop a consistent client base?” If you look it up on the internet, you’ll discover an endless supply of answers, some of which will work for your specific business model, while others won’t.
Creating a stable client base will support your income and give you more time to focus on your current clients without worrying about replacing them.
The most effective thing to do is to drop the notion that clients will be consistent and stay with you forever. Some will stay with you for years, but clients won’t spend a 30-year career with you. This means you’ll need to invest in getting new clients.
There’s a balance between creating a great experience for your current clients and reaching out to new ones. If you spend every hour of your day focusing on your current clients, they’ll be happy, but when they leave, you’ll be left without an income source. Conversely, if you spend all your time doing marketing and outreach, your current clients will end up feeling unappreciated.
Set aside a dedicated amount of time each week or each month for marketing efforts, time that doesn’t interfere with your current clients. During that time, you’re not responding to messages or doing administrative tasks. Your sole goal is to create and nurture the pipeline that brings you new clients.
How To Improve Visibility and Client Flow in Part-Time Personal Training
Once you’ve scheduled time to grow your client base, what do you actually do with that time?
Visibility is a good place to start. An invisible business is an unprofitable business. But before you drop $500 (or more) on paid social media advertising, remember one thing:
Who sees your business is more important than how many see your business.
If you have 100,000 Instagram followers, but none of them have the money, time, or desire to act on your services, they’re not helping build your business. On the other hand, if you have connections to a small network of individuals who are ready to buy into your business, these are the people that will help your brand grow.
This is why your target audience is so important, especially when it comes to getting the most bang for your buck when building your part-time personal training business. Market to your target audience effectively, and don’t worry about everyone else.
Once you have your target audience, find out how to make your business visible to them. For some audiences, that may be a professional website with clear positioning. For other audiences, it may be a sparkling social media presence. Others may benefit more from in-person networking or client referrals. Find out where your target audience hangs out, whether online or in-person, and go there. Look online at places like Facebook groups or subreddits, and locally at community centers or businesses.
In your marketing efforts, choose a helpful, consistent presence over aggressive, high-volume posting. Keep your content and messaging aligned with your available services.
How To Reduce Liability and Exposure Across Training Environments
As your personal training business develops, your responsibility across all sessions and administration increases.
If you’re training in different locations, you’ll need to be mindful of safety considerations at each facility. Minimize risks by keeping multiple clients at the same location, where possible. More clients lead to more risk exposure, but you can mitigate those risks by developing appropriate intakes and procedures and by maintaining a comprehensive insurance policy.
The last thing you want as a personal trainer growing your business is to end up liable for a client’s injury or other mishap. It can destroy your business much faster than you can build it.
Part-time personal training often means being spread across more venues than you would have in a full-time personal training position. You’re also more likely to train in shared or third-party environments where you may not have control over the equipment or training environment. Having an insurance policy that covers you across multiple venues helps lower your liability in facilities you can’t control.
Why an Insurance Policy Matters as Your Personal Training Business Develops
Just because you’re training part-time doesn’t mean you can skip on insurance. It may seem tempting to pass on insurance because it’s not your full-time job. But if you’re looking to create and build a viable business, insurance is a must. It protects you and your assets in the event of a covered incident, but it also helps protect the time and effort you’re putting into growing your business.
Imagine spending hours creating a website, marketing, and securing your first 5 clients. You’re off to a great start, when the shared facility you’re training at has an equipment malfunction and your client gets hurt. They name you as a liable party and you end up being required to compensate the client. Without an insurance policy, you could be responsible for the entire sum. How would this impact your business, your personal finances, and your reputation as a trainer?
Having an insurance policy gives you the peace of mind to grow your business without the fear of financial ruin in the event of an accident.
Protect Your Business With A Comprehensive Insurance Policy
How well your part-time personal training business grows depends on how your services, scheduling, and client relationships are structured and maintained. Build your business well by being conscious of your work time, especially the time spent working outside of client sessions.
Match your growing responsibility with a personal trainer insurance policy to cover the business you’re building.
Insure Fitness Group provides coverage through a single annual insurance policy designed for fitness professionals working across multiple environments. This coverage supports personal training services delivered in person or online as part of a developing fitness business.
