Sportspeople Recruitment recently attended the Health & Fitness Expo as a guest of Fitness Australia in their Business Advisory Centre, providing advice to business owners and people working or seeking work in the fitness sector. The three day event also provided the opportunity for us to catch up, put a face to a name and to thank a many of our clients who were in attendance.

Apart from the expected questions relating to salaries and job opportunities, we were surprised by the number of enquiries seeking advice on what we would consider basic business fundamentals.

Scattered throughout the Expo there were a number of reputable and high profile Providers no doubt catering for what is unprecedented demand for training courses. However, while the output of trained fitness professionals is likely to be at an all-time high, it would appear there is a need for better education and training for people already in business or those contemplating a fitness business.

This suggestion is particularly timely, given ASIC’s latest annual data (to June 30, 2011) showing that businesses with less than 5 full-time equivalent employees accounted for more than 50% of those businesses placed in administration in the 2010/11 financial year. Over this time 4,963 business were wound up with the biggest nominated causes being poor strategic management, inadequate cash flow, trading losses, poor financial control and poor economic conditions. If you are a business owner you can control all of these factors with the exception of general economic conditions.

If you are thinking about setting up a fitness business, even if only as a Personal Trainer, there will be a number of critical elements outside of exercise prescription and client management that you will need to consider. If the course you have just completed did not provide you with these fundamental business skills, make sure you look elsewhere and give your business a health check before you get started.

RM - Sportspeople Recruitment
First Published 2012.