About Mike Rule, NASM Certified Personal Trainer
Fitness Rules is a local small business catering to people pursuing their fitness goals. My name is Mike Rule and I have been in the fitness industry for seven years as a personal trainer, although I have always been passionate about health and wellness, as I decided to pursue my passion and make an income from it. Profiting off of my enthusiasm for exercise has benefited me greatly because of my willingness to take all of the steps necessary to ensure success. The best part of being a small business owner is the freedom that comes with it, as well as making the big decisions and answering to no one else.
Starting this venture I was in a transitional phase career wise, and was looking for a new source of income. My first thought was to look at the things I’m good at, the things I am passionate about, and what would be beneficial to my community. The job that fit this description was personal training. The first step after deciding the path I would take was to attain a personal training certification. This involved vigorous studying and growing my knowledge of physiology, anatomy, and kinesiology. Additionally I would acquire the various business licenses required to own a business. Next I would purchase equipment and convert my home garage into a functional home gym and design the gym layout. Finally I would promote my business online and through word of mouth. The success of my business mainly relied on taking risks and staying dedicated to my goals.
The most important part of self promotion was finding a forum to connect with potential clients. For me I was fortunate enough to accumulate clients through word of mouth, however social media has been a great help as well. Another way to grow a business would be to talk to somebody else who has started their own business, which is also beneficial because it sparks an understanding of the inner workings and mistakes to avoid. For me word of mouth has been the most impactful when adding clients because of my connection to the people in my community as well as deep roots.
Investing in equipment can be the most risky part of growing a business. Being most benefited by investments can require a willingness to pay top dollar for quality equipment with trust that I can make the money back and satisfy the client’s needs.
Although most clients have a general goal, there are distinct variables or differences amongst some clients and I try to tailor my training in regard to that. Changing my style of training can be challenging because it takes time to discover what motivates each client and lock onto that. A benefit to understanding each client individually is that there is much more of a personal connection with my business which doesn’t occur with large corporations.
To summarize, venturing out in pursuit of your own business can be invigorating as well as risky. The willingness to take risks in pursuit of your passion and not be deterred by negative “what if’s” will improve the most important factors such as, self promotion, investing, and being flexible to a clients needs.