Mobile Personal Trainer: Skills, Benefits & Salary

If you’re tired of working 9-5 in a gym, imagine being able to transform a client’s level of fitness from the comfort of their homes. Well you can, by becoming a mobile personal trainer!

In this article, we’ll cover what this role entails and explore topics such as: 

• What Should You Consider Before Becoming A Mobile Personal Trainer?
• How To Become A Mobile Personal Trainer
• What Is The Average Salary of a Mobile Personal Trainer?
• 3 Things To Consider Before You Start Marketing Your Business
• How To Market Your Mobile Personal Training Business 
• What Are The Benefits Of Mobile Personal Training?
• FAQs

As you’ll learn in this article, qualifying with a Personal Training Diploma is an important step to becoming a mobile personal trainer.

Download our course prospectus to learn more and discover the full range of courses we have to offer.

What Should You Consider Before Becoming A Mobile Personal Trainer?

Before becoming a mobile personal trainer, there are several things to consider. First, you need to acknowledge that you’re essentially launching your own business and will therefore be self-employed.

Running your own business comes with many responsibilities, including:

• Registering with the government 
• Filing taxes
• Paying National Insurance contributions
• Securing business insurance

Building up your own business is no easy feat, you need to be committed, driven and willing to work hard so you can earn a liveable income. This can only be achieved by having an effective personal training marketing strategy to help you develop strong sales skills to secure clients.

You’ll also need to consider the overhead costs for equipment, fuel, marketing, and insurance to help keep your business sustainable and profitable. 

One way you could launch your mobile personal trainer business without creating financial uncertainty is by working part-time in a gym simultaneously. This will provide you with a regular income whilst you build up your client base. 

As you gain more clients, you’ll be able to dedicate more time to your business and transition from your part-time position. OriGym’s guide to becoming a part-time personal trainer can help you learn more about this type of employment. 

How To Become A Mobile Personal Trainer: A Step-by-Step Breakdown 

There are six crucial steps you need to follow before becoming a mobile personal trainer. These will make sure you have the knowledge and experience to pursue a rewarding career!

Step 1: Get Qualified As A Personal Trainer

No matter what capacity you wish to work in as a personal trainer, you will first need to complete a Level 3 Personal Trainer Diploma. This qualification combines both:

• Level 2 Gym Instructor Qualification
• Level 3 Personal Trainer Qualification

A Level 3 Personal Trainer Diploma is essential for fulfilling this role, as it teaches you how to create and deliver bespoke workout programmes to meet a clients' specific goals. 

When choosing the best diploma to enrol on it’s essential to choose a qualification that is Ofqual-approved and CIMSPA endorsed. These credentials tell employers that you have been trained to the necessary industry standards and are legally recognised as a PT. 

You can explore the range of OriGym’s personal trainer courses here - All of which meet the criteria discussed above!

Step 2: Work At A Gym To Get Experience As A Personal Trainer

Technically, nothing is stopping you from starting a mobile personal trainer business immediately after you’ve qualified. However, we would recommend gaining experience working at a gym/fitness centre first.

By gaining at least six to twelve months of experience working as a personal trainer in a gym, you will better understand how to run one-to-one sessions, create tailored programmes, and sell pricing packages to clients.  

By working in a gym as a personal trainer, you’ll also benefit from working alongside established fitness professionals who can provide you with valuable professional advice and insight into the industry. 

An example of a job advertisement for a personal trainer can be found below, which clearly shows how your roles and responsibilities when employed in this capacity: 

So once you’re qualified as a personal trainer, don’t be afraid to find employment at a reputable gym or fitness centre, as this experience can help you launch your mobile personal trainer business!

If you’d like more advice on this matter, check out our guide on the best gyms to work at as a personal trainer!

Step 3: Create a Mobile Personal Trainer Business Plan

Having a good mobile personal trainer business plan can help increase your chances of success. Here you will clearly outline your goals, business strategy, who your target audience is and how you’re going to attract them to your business. 

All great business plans should always include: 

• Executive Summary: A brief overview highlighting key details and goals
• Business Description: Overview of the business and its mission, history, products/services
• Market Analysis: Identifying market trends in the industry, competitors, and assessment of your business strengths and weaknesses
• Organisation and Management: Description of organisational structure e.g. key management and team member roles.
• List of products: Information about your products and services, and what they offer clients
• Marketing and Sales: Outlines marketing and sales strategies, pricing, and sales projections
• Financial Projections: Presents income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements  

You can learn more about writing an effective business plan by reading our article, ‘7 Simple Steps for Writing a Personal Trainer Business Plan’.

Step 4: Understand Your Legal Commitments As A Personal Trainer

After writing your business plan, next, you’ll need to understand your legal obligations and commitments before launching your mobile personal training business.  

This ensures the safety of your clients and protects you from any liability claims. It can also help you decide:

• If you want to register as a sole trader or limited company
• What insurance do you require
• Whether you need to be first aid qualified 

One piece of advice we stress to people looking to start their own PT business is to hire an accountant. They can save you time and money by making sure your tax returns are filled out correctly and on time! 

You should also ensure that you only offer services that you are qualified to do. For example, if you wish to offer meal plans that are tailored to a client's specific needs and goals, then you will need to hold a Level 4 Nutrition qualification to do so!

When it comes to training clients, you’ll also need to get them to sign a contract or ‘agreement’. This should include: 

• Your terms and conditions
• A cancellation policy terms of payments
• The notice period for rearranging sessions
• The services clients can expect from you 

Whilst working as a mobile personal trainer, you should also get your clients to complete a PAR-Q form before they start training with you. This will highlight any injuries and/or medical conditions that they already have, allowing you to make training adaptations to meet their needs.

Legally, you’ll also have to secure public liability insurance and professional indemnity insurance to financially protect you from any claims. 

These are essential for any personal trainer and since you’re looking to become a mobile personal trainer, you should also consider getting equipment and personal accident insurance.  

Finally, if you plan to run outdoor sessions in a public space, you may need to ensure that you have the correct permissions and licences to do so.  

There are circumstances where you’ll require permission from the council for outdoor sessions, mainly for bootcamps. That’s why it’s always good to check with your local council before setting up your business. 

Step 5: Secure The Right Personal Training Equipment For Your Business

After addressing your legal obligations, you’ll then need to decide which equipment you require for your business. 

Remember, you’re not running a business in a gym, so clients aren’t expecting you to bring a van loaded with state-of-the-art equipment. A few basic but multi-functional pieces and some imagination should be more than enough!

Throughout our time as a personal trainer provider, there are common pieces of equipment that we’d recommend you invest in because they’re versatile, these include: 

• Resistance Bands
• Exercise mats
• Dumbbells
• Kettlebells
• Medicine Balls

So make sure you consider the types of mobile services you want to offer as a PT to purchase the equipment you need!

If you’re enjoying this article, why don’t you give these a go too?

• How To Become A Personal Trainer
• How To Become A Travelling Personal Trainer
• Career Change to Personal Trainer: In 4 Simple Steps

What Is The Average Salary Of A Mobile Personal Trainer?

On your journey to becoming a mobile personal trainer, you’ll naturally be curious as to how much you’ll earn in this role.

According to our research, the average salary of a personal trainer in the UK is £27,965 per year.

But if you’re looking for data on the exact earnings of a mobile personal trainer, you can look to those who are currently working in the role for greater insight.

For instance, Jan Gym Buddy, a mobile personal trainer, charges £30.00 for a one-hour mobile PT session:

If you followed a similar pricing structure and worked 20 hours per week charging the same rate, you could earn £31,200 per year.

But remember, this is only an estimate and as a self-employed individual your earning potential is completely uncapped. For example, you could work 40 hours a week and double this income, or you could use mobile personal training as a side hustle for additional revenue. 

Other factors that could influence your potential income include your location as PTs in London typically earn more to offset their higher cost of living. 

On top of this, the amount of experience you have will also be a deciding factor as newly qualified individuals won’t earn as much as someone who has worked in the industry for years.

If you’d like to increase this income, you could also offer additional services. For example, if you complete a Level 3 Sports Massage qualification, you can offer injury prevention and rehabilitation treatments as part of your mobile personal trainer services. 

Some mobile personal trainers charge more for these additional services. Take a look at Berkshire Fitness & Wellbeing, which charges a premium rate of £50 per hour for their mobile personal trainer sessions.

This means they can earn up to £52,000 a year from 20 hours of work each week, which is £20,000 more than the pieces at Jan Gym:

On top of this, they can also earn even more as they also specialise in Sports Massage Therapy. Take a look at the price of these add-ons below:

This means you earn up to £47,200 a year if you work 20 hours a week as a Sports Massage Therapy if clients booked 90-minute appointments with you.

From both of the examples given in this section, you will be able to see just how varied the salary of a mobile personal trainer can be. With this information, you will be able to conduct competitor research within your local area and price your services accordingly. 

How Much Should You Charge For Mobile Personal Training?

One way to determine how much you should charge as a mobile personal trainer is by making sure you have a business plan as we discussed earlier. 

This can help you determine a pricing structure for clients to help you generate enough revenue to be a successful business. You can calculate how much to charge by carrying out a sales forecast and calculating your outgoings.

Carrying out market research and competitor analysis can also help you as a self-employed personal trainer, understand how much to charge to make a profit.

For example, in the section above we did just that directly comparing the prices between Jan Gym Buddy and Berkshire Fitness and Wellbeing.

Don’t forget that compared to working as a regular PT, there are more outgoings to consider such as travelling from client to client and purchasing or renting your equipment.   

This means that your prices should be slightly higher than average to help you generate a profit!

3 Things To Consider Before You Start Marketing Your Business

If you want to succeed in the fitness industry as a mobile personal trainer then you need to dedicate some time to your marketing strategy. To help you with this process, we’ve provided 3 useful tips that all mobile personal trainers should implement. 

#1 Create Your Brand To Make Your Mobile PT Business Visible

Before you start promoting your business, you need a clear brand image and a strong business name. This will help your business stand out in the fitness market by creating a memorable identity.

Consistency is key to creating a good brand image. You should consider which brand colours and logos are best to use across all of your marketing communications & platforms! 

No Limits Boxing Club in Liverpool does this effectively as evident from the screenshot below. Their colour scheme and logo are consistent across all of their social media pages and their website respectively:

Brand consistency helps potential clients see these visual signifiers and instantly recognise your business before even remembering your name.

Similar to No Limits, you should use the same colours and logos across all of your marketing communications, whether that’s:

• A business card
• Website
• Branded piece of equipment - e.g. T-Shirt
• Social media account
• Post on social media

The name of your mobile personal training franchise could be as simple as your [Your Name] Mobile Personal Training but don’t be afraid to get creative and come up with something unique to capture people’s attention, just remember to keep it professional.

You should also check that your name is available to use on social media channels, as a website domain and isn’t trademarked.

The last thing you must consider is branding the equipment and clothing you’ll use to help promote familiarity with your clients between physical and digital spaces.

#2 Develop Your Unique Selling Point (USP)

After creating and strengthening your unique brand, you’ll need to develop a Unique Selling Point (USP). So, think about what sets you apart from all the other personal trainers out there. 

If there aren’t many competing mobile personal trainers in your area, your USP could simply be the fact you are a mobile personal trainer in an underrepresented area. 

Evolution Fitness and Health’s Unique Selling Point, for instance, is that they offer Kickboxing fitness alongside their mobile personal training:

Recognising their Unique Selling Point, Evolution Fitness makes their services accessible to people looking for mobile classes whilst also giving them the option to attend group boxing classes if they want to socialise with others.This is something you would need to identify with your USP to set yourself apart from your competitors.

You could, for example, specialise in a niche area of fitness and offer that as a USP. Becoming qualified as a Sports Massage Therapist or earning a Lower Back Pain Management qualification can help enhance your Unique Selling Point.

#3 Think About Your Target Audience

To establish who your target audience is to establish your USP, for this very reason it’s important to carry out market research to target your most desirable clients:

Here are some good ways you can carry out marketing research, including:

• Research competitors to understand their pricing structure, target audience, and USP
• Distribute surveys and questionnaires to your intended target audience
• Carrying out mystery shops (attending other PT’s sessions)

For example, if you wanted to offer mobile running coaching as a USP, you would need to consider the people who would want to use this service and how best to attract them to your business.

You could ask yourself, whether it's best to offer group sessions to make people accountable and more likely to attend.  When it comes to direct marketing, you could advertise your services on Facebook to people who are in specific running groups such as local fun runs, 5ks or park runs.

It’s also important to make sure you keep your target audience in mind when carrying out market research which includes how you brand your business, set prices and your operating hours.

Good market research will also show the ideal training times for the target audience, and allow you to adjust your hours accordingly.

For example, you might want to offer mobile personal training sessions for elderly people to help them build their strength and increase their mobility.

Through running a survey, you also find most people in this age category would prefer to exercise in the morning, allowing you to use this information to advertise your services for this time of the day.

In the same way, if you approach your business with a high pricing strategy without doing any research into the affluence of your target audience, you could be charging too much more than your clients can afford or seriously underselling yourself.

Just remember, carrying out sufficient research and adjusting your marketing strategy accordingly will save you time and resources, and help you to get as many clients as possible.

How To Market Your Mobile Personal Training Business 

After completing your market research, creating your brand image, and deciding on your target audience, you should be ready to start marketing your mobile personal training services. 

Below are the three best ways to get the word out there about your business, let’s dive right in!

#1 Get Involved With Social Media Marketing 

When you start thinking of the different ways you could market your mobile personal training business, social media is probably the first thing that comes to mind.

Marketing on social media is mostly free and allows you to reach a wide audience, so it would be a mistake not to set up business pages on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

As mentioned earlier, it’s important to ensure consistency in your brand name, logo, and colours across all your social media accounts. But you should also consider what and where you are posting!

On Rebalance Coach’s Instagram account, they’ve chosen to post instructive videos on how to perform exercises correctly, establishing themselves as an authoritative voice and providing a taster of the exercises future clients could be performing during their workout sessions with them:

We’d recommend you post similar content that offers value to your audience that doesn’t involve directly selling your services such as training advice or motivational tips.

It’s important to note the green colour scheme they’ve opted for and the profile picture of their trainer to make the page seem more personable. These branding choices feature on their website and other social media accounts, making them more recognisable to users.

You’ll also want to use your social media accounts to promote the services you provide. For example, one way to do this would be to post progression pictures and testimonials from your existing clients. 

Tools such as Canva are a great way to create professional-looking graphics without having to pay for a graphic designer.

#2 Create A Google Business Profile

Creating a Google Business Profile is often overlooked by fitness professionals. Having one means when a user searches ‘mobile personal trainers near me’, all local mobile personal trainers with an account appear just below paid Google Ads but above the organic results. 

These results will show users your business name, location, and contact number, and direct them to your Google reviews. 

Here’s an example:

The great news is that creating a Google Business Profile is completely free and easy to set up and as you can see from the example above, there aren’t currently any mobile PTs advertising marketing utilising this tool in Liverpool - we can bet that many other cities are the same.

So make sure you set up one to set yourself apart from your competitors!

#3 Start Up A Referral Scheme!

Once you’ve established a good rapport with your existing client base, starting a referral scheme is a brilliant way to bring newcomers into your business. 

A referral scheme is a great marketing tool that rewards your current clients when they refer new clients to your services. 

You simply ask your clients if they have any friends or family that would be interested in training with you, offering them a reward if that friend or family member later becomes a client.

There are many things you can offer through a referral scheme, including: 

• Free personal trainer sessions
• Discounted memberships
• Cash rewards or gift cards
• Free Merchandise

You could offer these as part of your referral scheme at 4 different stages of working as a mobile personal trainer, these include:

• When You Launch Your Mobile Personal Training Business initial interest and excitement among clients
• When Your Business Achieves Milestones-offering incentives on business anniversaries can help attract new clients from your current client base
• Client Milestone Events-promoting a referral scheme when clients achieve their fitness goals can help incentivise them to refer your services to others
• During different seasons-You could introduce seasonal referral schemes in January, helping clients bring in friends seeking fitness boosts for the new year

Remember, you’re more likely to get new clients from current clients who recommend you to friends and family. 

This is because they already have trust through their relationships, making it more likely for them to follow up on these recommendations to hire you as a PT!

What Are The Benefits Of Mobile Personal Training?

Now you have an overall understanding of what you should consider before becoming a mobile personal trainer, your earning potential, and how to market yourself, let’s now explore some of the perks that come with the role.

#1 You Can Get To Manage Your Schedule

As we’ve stated multiple times throughout this article, as a self-employed mobile personal trainer you decide when you want to work. 

You won’t have to wait for gyms to open or worry about when it’s going to close, you can create a schedule that’s entirely flexible to both you and your clients' needs. This allows you to work as many or as few hours as you deem necessary! 

For example, you could choose to work a full-time 40-hour week or operate on a more flexible schedule using the role as a side hustle requiring only 10-hour working weeks. 

#2 Your Earning Potential is Unlimited!

When you become a self-employed mobile personal trainer, you have the advantage of an unlimited salary! This relates to our previous point, as when running your own business you will have direct control over:

• Your working hours
• How much you charge
• The number of clients you take on

In this role, you won’t be confined to working in one set location earning a fixed salary. Instead, you can expand your reach and earn a significantly higher income! 

More information on this particular benefit can be found in an article discussing how to become a self-employed personal trainer.

#3 You Have Complete Creative Freedom

Becoming a mobile personal trainer will open a whole new world of professional creative freedom! 

When operating in this role your main responsibility will be to create bespoke workout programmes for your clients. This allows you to take their needs into account and create a unique plan!

On top of this, as this is your own business you will be able to decide:

• What demographic of client you want to work with
• What kind of training do you wish to specialise in 
• What equipment do you bring to the sessions 

For example, as you’ll likely be training clients in their homes you could incorporate unconventional pieces of equipment such as chairs, tables, and chairs, to help clients achieve their fitness goals.

You could also decide that you want to train clients who don’t feel confident enough to go to the gym and brand this as your USP. 

Essentially, as a mobile personal trainer, you have complete freedom to shape your business to your liking.

#4 Breaking Down Barriers

One of the best advantages of becoming a mobile personal trainer is that you can break down a lot of the barriers that people tend to have that prevent them from exercising.

The mobile aspect of your work enables you to reach individuals whom personal trainers confined to gyms cannot, thus expanding your potential client base. For example, individuals who cite lack of time, transportation, or disposable income as reasons for not training with a personal trainer in a gym setting.

As a mobile personal trainer, it is your job to reach such people with your marketing campaigns and branding and convince them to invest in you to improve their fitness. 

You should maybe think about addressing the typical barriers to exercise within your marketing materials, for example, your social media posts, as they directly address the fears and apprehensions of many of your future clients. 

Examples of these barriers, and how you would help overcome them as a mobile PT, include:

• Lack of time: Many clients use a lack of free time as a reason for not working out. Mobile personal training frees up some time by removing the need for the client to travel to and from the gym!
• Low income: Traveling to the gym is not only a barrier in terms of time, but also cost. Rather than your client paying to travel to the gym, for a gym membership, and then a PT session, you can lessen the cost by just having them pay for your sessions.
• No childcare: A common barrier for some clients, particularly new parents, is being unable to arrange childcare whilst they’re at the gym. With mobile personal training, clients don’t have to leave their homes, allowing them to keep an eye on their little ones.
• Lack of motivation: We’ve all been there, not wanting to leave the comfort of our house to go to the gym - especially when it's cold and dark outside Imagine how much easier it would be if the gym could come to you - that’s where the benefits of mobile personal training come in!
• Confidence issues and intimidation: Many people feel intimidated in the gym environment or feel that everyone is watching them. By training clients in the comfort of their own homes, you can remove these privacy concerns. 

What The Experts Have to Say About Mobile Personal Training…

Just before we go, we thought you might like to hear the advice of a seasoned mobile PT. We spoke to Birmingham-based Personal Trainer Simon King, and he shared his top 3 pieces of advice for anybody starting in the industry:

The most important quality of a mobile personal trainer

Clients tell me that timekeeping is so important. Word does spread and your reputation can become damaged. 

When it comes to mobile training vs PT in the gym…

I think new trainers should be encouraged to work together. An option is to rent a room together in a commercial building and take it from there. It has the potential to be highly successful, and there are none of the disadvantages involved that come with commercial gyms. 

Get Qualified

When looking to further expand their knowledge and expertise with Level 4 qualifications or CPD courses, I would advise trainers to be very careful when looking for a training provider. They may look amazing, but underneath they may not be what they seem. Do your research and ensure that the courses are fully accredited/certified by an awarding body, for example, Focus Awards.

FAQs

What Qualities Do Great Mobile Personal Trainers Possess?

As with any job role, becoming a mobile personal trainer is so much more than just qualifications and practical experience. You need to have certain qualities too, which include:

• Time Management- As you’ll be travelling to your clients, you’ll need to ensure that you can stick to a schedule and meet at your agreed-upon time. 
• Creativity- You need to have the ability to adapt to the environment you’re training clients in, to create exciting classes that can help clients stay engaged and achieve their fitness goals.
• Communication Skills- As you won’t be in the traditional gym environment you need to ensure that you are communicating with a client to ensure their safety. On top of this, you need to listen to them to understand if they’re struggling with any aspects of training.

These are just three examples but should keep them at the forefront of your mind when looking to pursue a career in this field. 

What Insurance Does A Mobile Personal Trainer Need?

A Mobile Personal Trainer will need to secure the following insurance:

• Public Liability Insurance-incase a client or member of the public is injured or their property is damaged from your business activities
• Professional Indemnity Insurance-protects you from professional negligence or mistakes you could make while providing your services
• Personal Accident Insurance-provides financial support in case of injury resulting from accidents whilst working
• Equipment Insurance-covers the cost of repairing or replacing equipment you lose during your training sessions

Before You Go!

Becoming a mobile personal trainer will allow you to explore a whole range of professional benefits! On top of this, you’ll also get to better the lives of clients, who would have otherwise been unable to access a gym!

So, if you’re feeling ready to take your career directly to people’s doorstep by becoming a mobile personal trainer, enquire about our Personal Trainer Diploma or download our FREE prospectus here!