How to Operate & Grow a Mobile Fitness Business

When fitness enthusiasts are looking to make the jump to fitness professional, many look at the more traditional options of coaching at a gym or opening their own gym. One business that has taken off in the last couple of years (thanks to the pandemic) is a mobile fitness business. This model doesn’t need a brick and mortar location and can quickly move from idea to full-fledged business.

What is a Mobile Fitness Business?

Usually, mobile fitness businesses are personal training programs. It is possible to also incorporate small group training at community centers or apartment complexes. Instead of your clients coming to work out with you at a gym, you bring the equipment and the coach to them. People have a number of reasons why they would prefer to work out alone and at home, such as a busy schedule, lack of transportation, or choosing to avoid gyms due to the pandemic. 

What Are the Benefits of Operating a Mobile Fitness Business?

The biggest benefit of a mobile fitness business is not having to deal with renting (or owning) and maintaining a gym space. This means no monthly rent payments, fewer equipment costs, and no utilities. This reduces the cost of starting your business and allows you to begin training clients sooner. 

Instead of offering set class times or training sessions, a mobile business allows you to be more flexible with your schedule. Oftentimes, clients who want a personal trainer to come to them want to work out at different times throughout the day. You may be able to avoid the early morning and late night sessions that some trainers offer at their gyms. 

Considerations for a Mobile Fitness Business

This business model is fairly straightforward: go to clients and coach them through workouts. There are a few considerations to keep in mind when formatting your business plan. Planning for these topics can help your business be more successful sooner. 

Understand the Need

People who are looking for a personal trainer to come to their home are not the same type of clients that want to join a group fitness gym. These clients may have busy schedules with little time to spare, kids that they take care of during the day, or physical/health limitations that make it hard for them to leave the home. 

By understanding why these clients have chosen the mobile trainer route, you can best serve them and help them achieve their fitness goals. This might mean entertaining a toddler so their mom can finish her workout uninterrupted. By traveling to her home, you are allowing her to prioritize her fitness and fit a workout into her busy day. 

Equipment

The equipment you need will depend on the goals of your clients and your training style or modalities. A lot of movements can be completed with just a few pieces of small equipment, like kettlebells, resistance bands, dumbbells, and agility ladders. Additionally, clients may have exercise equipment of their own that you can use for their training. 

When it comes to transporting your equipment, you’ll want to have a secure and organized method. When storing your equipment in the trunk of your car, use storage containers and organizers to keep things in place and separated. No one wants to drive across town with a kettlebell rolling around the back. 

If you live in an environment that has hot summers or freezing winters, you’ll want to make sure you remove equipment from your car when you’re not working. This will keep your equipment in good shape for as long as possible. 

It goes without saying, but you should be cleaning/disinfecting your equipment in between clients. You want to remove sweat and grime after a workout. Since you are working out in people’s homes, it is also possible for your equipment to pick up allergens like pet hair that could irritate other clients. 

Scheduling

Every day will look a little different because your clients will all have different schedules. Some may want daily training while others only need once or twice a week. You must maintain an up-to-date and organized schedule. 

Use gym software or a system that works for you to record every scheduled training session. In each appointment, add a note of the home address and personal information of the clients. You don’t want to accidentally head to the wrong house or arrive unprepared for that client. 

When scheduling your sessions, make sure you leave a drive time buffer in between. Always assume it will take you longer to get from one house to the next. It is unprofessional to show up late for a scheduled session even if there was traffic. If for some reason you are delayed, always communicate with the client as soon as possible. 

Since you are taking the time (and mileage) to drive to your clients, you should have a cancellation policy in place. Do not allow cancellations once you are already on your way to the client (or charge a cancellation fee if they do). Confirm your appointments 24-48 hours in advance to avoid unexpected cancellations. Most people are happy to quickly confirm via text message. 

Don’t forget to schedule time for housekeeping and administrative work. You will need to have time to work on billing, marketing, emails, and programming workouts. 

Finances

Unless you only offer a single training plan (for example 3 sessions per week), you’ll most likely have clients paying different amounts per month. To avoid tracking down payments for one-off sessions, it can be helpful to have your clients schedule their sessions in advance and pay at the beginning of the month. This also helps to keep clients from canceling last minute since they have already paid for the session. 

Use a bookkeeper or gym software that notifies when payments are missed to make sure that your accounts receivable are always being paid on time. This can help save you the time spent checking that each session is paid for. 

In addition to tracking client payments, you’ll always want to track your mileage for tax purposes. There are plenty of applications that will do this for you using your phone’s GPS and compiling all the data into a spreadsheet. 

Personalization

Since you are working with a single client (or a small group) at each session, you can personalize every workout based on their goals. This is the reason that people seek out and pay for personal training. 

Keep in mind that personalizing workouts means you will spend more preparing for sessions. Programming for multiple clients with different goals and needs can be time-consuming. 

Marketing

In terms of marketing, the downside of not having a physical location is that people will not drive past your gym and see signage. Otherwise, marketing options are the same as any other fitness business. 

Social media is the number one tool for marketing these days. Create social media pages for your business and actively post on them. Take great photos and videos of your clients to share their successes (with their permission of course). If they are on social media, you can tag them so they can share the post with their friends (and your potential new clients). 

Direct all inquiries to your website. Make sure you include all the information about your mobile business, the type of training you offer, and how to schedule a session or consultation. 

Get involved in the local community so people can get to know you and your business. Donate free training sessions to charities and host free workouts during festivals or events. Word-of-mouth marketing can quickly build your clientele. 

This may seem old school but never underestimate how beneficial a magnetic car sign can be. When you are parked at someone’s house for a training session, neighbors will be able to see that there is a personal trainer that can come right to them for workouts. 

Transportation

While a mobile business means you get out of maintaining a gym space, you instead have the burden of maintaining reliable transportation. Your business depends on your ability to get around town with your equipment and on time. Always have a backup plan in case you run into any car issues. 

Keep your vehicle up to date on maintenance and a full tank of gas. Regular car washes will also keep your vehicle looking professional. 

If you do run into car trouble, immediately communicate any delays with your clients. Most people will understand when unexpected issues come up but it is best to let them know as soon as possible. 

Insurance

Just like you need insurance to train clients at a gym, you will need insurance to train clients at their homes. There are lots of insurance policies that cover gyms and personal trainers. Make sure when you pick your insurance that you are still covered as a mobile business and when you are training someone in their home. 

Additionally, car insurance rates can vary if you use your car for business purposes. Take with your insurance provider and shop around to find the best rate. 

Creating a Community

Since your clients are hiring you as a personal trainer, they may not care about the community aspect of fitness. However, some clients may enjoy communicating with and relating to other clients. You can set up groups on social media where your clients can support each other. Share helpful fitness information and client success stories to get conversations started. 

Conclusion

Operating a mobile fitness business can be very simple and quick to begin. All you need is a vehicle, some clients, and a few pieces of equipment. Since you will be traveling around town, it is important to keep an organized schedule and keep your car in good shape. Get the word out about your business by participating in local events and keeping up an active social media presence. You can soon enjoy the freedom that comes from creating your own schedule with a mobile fitness business.