A business is as good as the employees who work within it. Here we'll go through what you need to consider to make sure you hire the right people for your fitness business, while at the same time steering clear of some of the more common pitfalls in the industry.

‍Sometimes Less is More

‍Many new businesses, especially small gyms and studios, begin by hiring a bigger team than is needed, resulting in some of the staff spending half of their time standing around with nothing to do.If you are in the startup phase of your fitness business, it is important to keep your expectations realistic in terms of how many staff you actually need.Keeping your team relatively small will also enable you to source higher quality personal trainers with more skills and experience because you won'€™t be spreading your startup funds too thinly.Overall, this provides you with the opportunity to keep a far tighter rein on your spending, which is all the more important for new businesses that are still in the early stages of growth and development.

‍Match Your Staff To Your Clientele

‍The kind of clientele you are targeting will greatly dictate the type of qualifications and overall personalities you want working for you.Do you want bright and bubbly soft-touch trainers, stoic-yet-inspiring mentors, or sterner coaches who will really push your clients?Consider this character dynamic as it will be important whether you are opening a yoga and wellness studio, a box, or even a hardcore bodybuilding dungeon-type gym.

‍Make Sure They Have The Skills

‍Your personal trainers will need to possess the relevant qualifications; however, this is by no means a complete picture of their competency in practice.It is important that you exercise an extensive interviewing process to not just ensure that they will be a good fit in the overall social environment of your fitness business, but also that they are able to confidently answer the kind of questions your clients will be asking on a daily basis.From prescribing rehabilitative exercises to laying out exercise and nutrition plans, your team needs to be well versed in their respective fields while also showing a passion for continued learning and development.

‍Show Them The Ropes

‍You need to train your staff. The best way to train your staff is to provide hands-on experience and demonstrations, so having new personal trainers and floor staff shadow more established team members will provide them with a fast track learning experience.Another approach is to have your new trainers provide a few complimentary training sessions to one of your existing staff members; this will give them the chance to practice their skills in a live setting while also enabling your existing trainer to provide them with feedback afterwards.

Of course, the amount of training and instruction required will depend on the level of education and experience your new team members bring to the table. Avoid the common mistake of either keeping them on a leash for too long or simply dumping them in at the deep end from day one.

Sometimes you really have to give it a bit of time before you can tell how well a new hire is working for your business, but following these steps will take you a long way towards setting off the right foot.Be diligent and vigilant in hiring a team for your fitness business and your efforts will soon pay dividends.