Laura Augenti - How to Start a Home-Based Personal Trainer Busines

Laura Augenti has been involved in the fitness industry for more than fifteen years. Currently she specializes in weight training, core training including Pilates, and boot camp training. In addition, Laura has organized running clubs and assisted clients training for marathons and races. In 2005 Laura cofounded Powerhouse Gym on Maui, Hawaii, which attracted celebrity clients such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ralf Moeller (German bodybuilding champion and star of the TV series Conan: The Adventurer). Whether she trains out of her own gym, someone elses gym, or her home, Lauras passion is to always give 100 percent to her clients. Laura left Hawaii in 2009 to return to her roots in New York.

I would like to thank the following people for their assistance and support with this book.

Jerry Santarpia, thank you for everything; your dream, our relentless determination together in businesswithout you I would not have had this opportunity.

Kellee Warner Lavars, thank you so much; your help is greatly appreciated, and your friendship is cherished.

Ron Riccio, Mitchel Seidman, Ken Reinig, and Andrea Pugliese, thank you for your invaluable knowledge and expertise.

Alicia Adkins, thank you for your insight.

Jim Pullman of Powerhouse Gym International.

Ray Finacchiaro, thank you for your feedback and never-ending optimism.

To my family, especially Mom and Rich and to all of my friends, thank you for your unwavering support and encouragement.

Jump for joy and pat yourself on the back. You deserve congratulations already! Ambition and drive are the first steps to becoming a successful business owner. By simply picking up this book youre showing the desire to learn what it takes to succeed. Maybe you are currently working in a local gym or as a personal trainer for a small private training facility and feel ready to leap forward and start your own business. Or maybe you are thinking of a wholesale career change, and a home-based personal trainer business feels right for you. Well, now is the time!

The demand for personal trainers has been growing, and it is evident that it will keep growing. With the widespread obesity epidemic, the ever-increasing life span, and the overall interest in improving quality of life, its no wonder personal trainers are so popular today.

Nobody is new to the concept of personal training. Weve all seen and heard the many reasons why people hire personal trainers. However, in a gym setting it is easy for the reasons to get lost in the shuffle. Gym members, just by their presence at the gym, have already taken steps toward physical fitness. Theyll seek out trainers at the gym. With your own home-based personal trainer business, you will need to be more in tune with your clients and completely focused on their needs and wants. Each person will have his or her own story and different need from you.

There are several reasons why people choose to hire a personal trainer. Here are some:

To lose weight
This is the most obvious reason people want to work out, period. They want to lose a few pounds or maybe a whole lot of pounds. They may have tried fad diets and different workouts over the years, but nothing has worked. Hiring you to motivate and teach them how to work out to lose weight is just what they need.

To begin or continue on a healthy path
When people become seriously ill and overcome that illness, they may become inspired to cherish their health and take better care of themselves so that they can remain healthy and become as healthy as possible.

To overcome a plateau
The majority of people who work out in a gym do the same routine day in and day out. But there comes a time when their body is at a standstill, the progress has come to a halt. The average Joe will not know how to overcome this. This is when a person may seek the help of a personal trainer.

To gain motivation
Have you ever heard people say, I dont have time, I was too tired, or I dont know how to work out? Well, these are typical excuses for not exercising. For people who lack motivation but truly want to be more fit and healthy, a personal trainer is the perfect remedy.

To learn a routine
Some people have motivation but just need assistance with learning how to work out. They may hire a personal trainer on a short-term basis just to teach them a routine and correct form.

To increase confidence
Many people feel self-conscious in a gym. They feel they need to get in shape before they can go to the gym. While this may sound silly, it is a valid feeling for some people. A personal trainer can help them feel confident in their workouts and will validate them, helping them to overcome their insecurities.

To train for a competition
You might wonder why someone who is fit enough to train for a competition would need a personal trainer. There are many different areas people might be training for: bodybuilding, sporting events, or beauty pageants, to name a few. These people may be looking for a personal trainer to give them that extra boost to get to them to the level of fitness or strength they need.

To get ready for a special event
How many times have you heard someone say, I have to look great for my wedding? People have many important events during their life that they want to look better than ever for, and they will hire a personal trainer to achieve that goal. These people will see a personal trainer for a short-term, quick fix. However, each one is an opportunity for you to get them hooked on fitness so that they will want to continue to look better than ever even after their event. The end result is that they will continue to keep you as their trainer.

To overcome an injury
Maybe they hurt their knee playing tennis, broke their leg skiing, or tripped over their childs toy and fractured their arm. Whatever the cause, people with injuries are often those who might have been in shape before they got hurt and have lost their shape since. These people often feel their fitness level has digressed so much that they need a personal trainer to help them get back to where they were pre-injury.

To make a friend
You may think Im making stuff up nowwell, Im not, believe me! If a person just went through a rough time in his or her lifemaybe a divorce, the loss of a best friend through a tragedy, or maybe a falling-out with a siblinghe or she may want to reach out for companionship. And a personal trainer may be the person he or she seeks out. As a personal trainer, you will spend quality time with clients like this and impact their lives in a positive way. These people will be looking for mental and spiritual enrichment, and physical improvement will be a great bonus for them!

Wow, its a feeling of elationyoure free! That may be your first feeling toward the idea of not having to answer to anyone but yourself. But you will soon find out that being your own boss is a huge responsibility and perhaps not as freeing as you might have thought. However, if you have the drive and ambition (which you must have, because you are reading this book), you will make yourself a fantastic boss.