Man, there’s one thing I hear sometimes from personal trainers that is so damn heartbreaking I just can’t stand it.
In fact, I’ve dedicated a huge chunk of my career to solving this exact problem, because I don’t think any personal trainer out there should have to say these words. 
I swear, this kind of thing keeps me up at night…partially because I’ve struggled with this problem myself in the past.
I know for most personal trainers and boot camp owners, life ain’t easy. They’ve got problems, and not necessarily the first world problems I’m always talking about on here.
They have drama with their staff…they’re struggling with cash flow…they’ve got a crazy landlord…
But the words that absolutely kill me are these ones:
“I’m so stressed out that I don’t even enjoy training anymore.”
DUDE! It’s time to hit the brakes and figure out what’s going wrong here.
Because you, most likely, got into training because you love fitness. Your time in the gym should be one of the highlights of your day. It should FEED you energy, not take energy away from you.
The Whole Point of Owning a Fitness Business
The whole point of owning your own fitness business is that you get to do what you love and make great money while you’re doing it.
And I’m not talking about some pie-in-the-sky, make-believe thing here – I’m saying that this is WHY people start fitness businesses and WHY the good ones succeed.
Surely you were envisioning something like this when you started your business, right?
Well I’m here to tell you that it’s not too late to have that.
In fact, I’ve helped over 29,000 fitness business owners create massively profitable, FUN businesses that they can run with excitement and hope for the future.
And most importantly…I’ve helped those people hold onto their passion and keep doing what they love!
That’s what I want for you. I want you to walk into the gym every day with a clear head and a heart full of excitement, ready to change people’s lives with your unique knowledge and talent.
For that to happen, you need to work ON your business, not in it.
You need to have systems and the right staff in place to take care of the trivial 95% of tasks.
That 95% includes any task in your business that needs to get done, but does not directly bring money or fulfillment into your life.
Your 5% is anything that brings money directly into your business and makes you feel personally fulfilled.
How to Start Building Your Dream Business
First of all, if you don’t have this already, you need to make sure you have all of your clients paying you through monthly Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) or paying in full at the start of their contracts.
Also, you need to only offer 6, 12, and 18 month contracts. Don’t bother with anything less than that. Explain to your clients that you need that length of time to get them lasting results, and build enough value in your program that they’ll be happy to stay that long.
There is absolutely no reason you should have to chase down checks every month. Most monthly service based businesses now enforce automatic payments. You provide a monthly service. Do what they do and your life will be a whole lot easier.
Next, you need to make sure you’re closing 8-9 out of every 10 people who come in for a consultation with you.
By the way, that’s at your CURRENT prices. Don’t you dare lower them. In fact, I suspect your prices are actually lower than they should be right now…
My point is, you need to work on your selling skills. I have content all over this blog about how you can do that, and if you want my absolute best selling advice you can find it all in one place at Close Clients.
Next, you need to set up a client and revenue management system like ZenPlanner, MindBodyOnline, or Fitcentives.com. You can’t hope to grow your business or keep it running smoothly if you don’t have a handle on your numbers.
For your marketing, you need to always have multiple poles in the water. Every month, you need to run an online promotion (like Facebook ads), an offline promotion (like a lead box at a local business), and an internal promotion, which is a referral contest.
Once you have all these things up and running consistently, you can start writing your own schedule.
You can train clients as much or as little as you want. You can train in the mornings, evenings, afternoons, and even just train one or two days out of the week. It’s your call.
That’s the real magic of running a successful fitness business. This is the point where I see formerly burnt out fitness pros light up with excitement and get their spirit back. I want to see this happen for you.
Always Keep Growing
The most important thing I want to you to remember here is that progress, any kind of progress, is never static. You have to keep moving. If you don’t keep charging forward, you start to slide backwards.
That’s why I want you to get your business to a comfortable place using the methods I just described, then get yourself uncomfortable. 
Push yourself to attract and train more clients than you ever thought possible.
Push yourself to earn more money than you ever imagined having.
Push yourself to get in even better shape and make yourself a human billboard for your own training.
I want you to have a great life; that’s why I’m being honest with you about what it takes.
There’s no one quick fix that will give you a top quality life permanently. It’s your daily commitment to living with discipline and providing excellent service that makes all the difference.
One last thing…I think this message is way too important for me not to spread as far as I possibly can. Do me a favor: like this post, share it with your friends, and on Facebook tag it with at least one fit pro who you think would benefit from this.
Committed to your success,
Bedros