Personal Fitness Trainer Diploma Course – Assignment Twenty – Page 1

PERSONAL FITNESS TRAINER

DIPLOMA COURSE

ASSIGNMENT TWENTY

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

TUTOR TALK: The Learning Outcomes for this assignment are:

• Identify steps in assessing a business opportunity.

• Summarise procedures to be followed in the organisation of a therapy practice.

TUTOR TALK: There are two aspects to setting up a Practice. The first aspect refers to

the logistics of setting up a practice and this has to do with entrepreneurial skills and the

resources at your disposal. The second aspect has to do with what happens within a

Therapy Practice – how are the treatments done? What kind of techniques are used? Are

you combining therapies? In this assignment these two aspects will be dealt with. The first

aspect can be referred to as the business logistics of setting up a practice and the second

refers to the therapeutic organisation of the practice.

Business Logistics of setting up a Practice

It is a world-wide phenomenon that more and more people are becoming involved in complementary

or alternative practices. A new entrepreneurial spirit seems to have emerged. One encounters from all

walks of life those who have decided that they wish to become therapists. There are several reasons

why so many people start their own health practices.

In the first place there are economic considerations. This has a kind of two-fold impetus. In difficult

financial situations people usually turn to self-employment to stretch the budget. We are however

also living in a time of an awakening of interest and need of holistic therapists. What is actually

happening is that there is a growing need for holistic therapists.

Personal Fitness Trainer Diploma Course – Assignment Twenty – Page 2

At the same time there is the early retrenchment element phenomenon. Retrenchment occurs when

active, very mentally alert people find themselves without a job at an age when they are mature,

well-adjusted adults in good health. These persons, with a wealth of life experience, when they find

the therapy they are comfortable with, develop a passion for healing. Needless to say, these people

become outstanding therapists. It also happens that the children have left home and the ‘empty nest’

syndrome then becomes a motivating factor. There is much more free time and many women see this

as the right opportunity to start their therapy practices. Another reason is that people feel they have

the ability, the knowledge and skills to succeed as therapists – many have a desire to become

involved in the healing therapies. Whatever the reason for starting a therapy, it can provide a lot of

pleasure and satisfaction of attaining success. It is satisfying if your therapy is sought-after, people

comment favourably on the treatments they receive and the practice is also a paying proposition.

But it is important to realise that all is not ‘moonshine and roses’ or ‘a piece of cake’. There are some

alarming statistics which propose that 80% of all new businesses fold within 24 months of getting

started. To start and manage a successful health practice requires more than just a good idea. Ideas

are important, but if you are to develop them successfully these ideas must be converted into proper

business plans.

The health practice begins with you, the prospective therapist. Remember that the practice will be an

extension of yourself and it will reflect your philosophy of life, values and attitudes. As the therapist

you play a vital role.

1. Consider your philosophy of life, your values and attitudes. You must examine your thoughts

and feelings and decide for yourself what your philosophy of life is, what you consider most

important. How do you see the world around you, and how do you see your clients?

Some therapists’ actions are motivated by the philosophy of supplying a service. Here it is

not a question of money but a vocation to serve people. If you feel that you cannot reconcile

the supplying of a service with making a profit, you can expect to have problems managing

your business.

2. Are you an achiever? Successful therapists are also entrepreneurs and are as such

characterised by attaching importance to achievement. These people want to succeed. Bear in

mind that achievement is not always spectacular, it is the small ‘milestones’ you have

achieved that are important. To be able to set goals and work towards goal-achievement are

important aspects.

Personal Fitness Trainer Diploma Course – Assignment Twenty – Page 3

3. Where is the centre of control? Can you control your practice? Many people see themselves

as victims of circumstances. If things go wrong in their personal lives or businesses, it is easy

to blame fate or circumstances outside of themselves. A successful therapist is basically a

successful entrepreneur and will not be able to take the easy way out. If you are to be

successful you have to accept the responsibility for whatever happens to your business.

Complaining about factors outside of your control will not improve your practice. A

successful therapist will take cognisance of any aspects that may effect his/her understanding

negatively and then plan and manage the therapy practice in such a way as to make the most

of given circumstances. To illustrate this the following example will suffice: a reflexologist

who also uses the Vacuflex system. She works in a community where the income per capital

is below average. The community consists of retired, semi-retired or retrenched persons,

these people will greatly benefit from receiving the relaxing, balancing effects of reflexology.

The therapist adjusted her therapy fees to reduce the amount charged and has a three-week

ahead booking schedule. Her therapy practice is flourishing and she is a respected

reflexologist not only in her community but also throughout the city.

This illustrates what is being said here – you must decide whether you are someone who

gives in when things are tough or whether you can face difficult situations with the

determination to run your therapy practice to the best of your ability.

Awareness of Opportunities

The ability to see an opportunity is a very important characteristic of a successful therapist.

You cannot open a practice and advertise a therapy and assume your clients are going to

come flocking to you. People out in the community should be made aware of your therapy,

what it can do and the benefits of going to a specific therapist. Besides looking for

opportunities to expand your therapy, which might be why you are studying this course, a

successful therapist is also creating his/her own opportunities.

4. Innovation – are you innovative? Can you think of something new and come up with

something nobody has ever thought about? This is highly unlikely but innovation can also be

obtained by offering an existing service in another way or to a different market. Think of

innovative ways of offering treatments if you are combining them with another therapy,

maybe you can include it, with no charge initially to your regular clients. The ability to

innovate means that you must think and act creatively. You must be someone who sees the

possibility of approaching something that is done in a certain way, in a different light. You

must always be on the look out for adapting the ways things are done to suit your own

circumstances and purposes. For example, a therapy practice can be converted into a mobile

therapy where the therapist would visit the clients. This is, however, only possible if the

therapy allows this mode of application.

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Ability to cope with uncertainty

Obviously the planning of a therapy practice is very important. Things often turn out differently in

reality from the way they were planned. Managing and developing a therapy practice means having

to live with uncertainty. The questions which you would have to ask yourself are - are you the sort of

person who chews nails and agonises over the future or do you plan your actions in the light of

reasonable expectations? Are you able to sit back, feel confident and be able to cope? These

questions are vitally important as it affects your quality of life. If you are not confident about starting

your therapy practice and fret about it, making yourself ill and unhappy, you will not be an effective

therapist besides jeopardising your health.

Perseverance

Are you able to persevere? To start in new therapy practice makes unbelievable demands and

problems do occur. How do you ease the problems? Do you try to find ways of solving them or do

you give up easily?

TUTOR TALK: This section has not been to discourage you at all. Rather it is to

encourage you to be objective about yourself and the therapy practice you want to open. It

might have alerted you to factors you might not have thought of. In the next section a self-

assessment questionnaire is included. If you encounter problems assessing yourself, ask a

friend, partner, spouse or family member to assess you. We are not looking for negatives

as we should all look towards harnessing our strengths and growth points! After this

assessment you should have a clearer idea yourself as a prospective therapist opening a

new practice. Therefore, consider the factors at your disposal.

Personal Fitness Trainer Diploma Course – Assignment Twenty – Page 5

Self Assessment Questionnaire

1. My Life philosophy is the following:

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2. My lifestyle is directed by: .....................................................................................................

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3. An assessment of the following characteristics will enable me to gauge my strengths and

growth points:

* Extent to which I consider it important to achieve 1 2 3 4 5

* Extent to which I am in control of my life 1 2 3 4 5

* Extent to which I can identify the potential of new opportunities 1 2 3 4 5

* Extent to which I can come up with something new 1 2 3 4 5

* Extent to which I can function in situations of uncertainty 1 2 3 4 5

* Extent to which I can persevere 1 2 3 4 5

* Extent to which my spouse/partner family support my plans 1 2 3 4 5

Circle the rating you allocate yourself.

Ask your family, spouse/partner to evaluate you and compare the scores.

At this stage, it is essential that you take stock of your resources. As far as possible, the knowledge

and skills you already have should form the basis of your therapy practice. The more you move away

from this security, the greater the risk.

A proverb: “S hoemaker, stick to your last.” One should get involved with a project only if you

know something about it.

Personal Fitness Trainer Diploma Course – Assignment Twenty – Page 6

Knowledge and skills – these refer not only to the therapeutic knowledge and skills you have but

skills in terms of your ability to manage, particularly financial and marketing aspects of the therapy

practice.

Aspects to consider of the therapy practice – aspects to consider are – do I have to register to

practice the therapy? Should I belong to an association? Are there council rules and regulations

which have to be fulfilled? Display your qualifications in a prominent position for your clients to see.

This always assists in generating client confidence.

Financial considerations – it is almost impossible to start a therapy practice if you are not able to

contribute to it financially. It is essential that you are able to finance the equipment and massage bed,

chairs, various technical equipment etc., other requirements (such as oils, lamps, etc.) telephone, fax

machine, advertising, registration costs and any other upfront requirements.

TUTOR TALK: When you wish to establish a therapy practice it is essential that you

must be sure that it is also an opportunity. All therapy practices are small businesses, and

the same mechanisms, which draw a small business, will also drive a therapy practice. It is

therefore important to distinguish between a business idea and a business opportunity. A

closer look at the two concepts will illustrate this. You wish to start a practice, but who

says that there is a need for a therapy practice in your area to justify the setting up costs?

The fact that you have an idea (to set up a practice) does not mean that it is a viable

business opportunity. You need to research the idea thoroughly and you will know

whether you have correctly identified a business opportunity on which to start a new

therapy practice. It is often easier to incorporate your specialised therapy with other

related therapies. Many therapies combine well with any other healing therapeutic

therapies. The following procedure will assist in assessing a business opportunity.

Steps in assessing a business opportunity

Step 1: Critical success factors

Identify the critical success factors which will determine whether you have a business opportunity.

These are fairly obvious – do you have the knowledge and skills? Can you apply these skills in a

therapeutic set-up? Do you have a therapy room or rooms? Can you start your practice?

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Step 2: Checking Viability

The next step is to determine the market viability of your business idea. This means that you need to

establish whether the need exists in the market you intend serving. The following method should

provide you it sufficient information to assess whether your therapy practice idea is viable:

• Calculate the possible number of clients in your vicinity.

• Attempt to estimate the average disposable income of each client (councils usually have

average figures)

• Estimate the percentage disposable income each client allocates to the service (in this case,

the therapy) you intend offering.

• Make a conservative estimate of the percentage market share you hope to gain and in this

way determine the possible value of the market potential of your therapy practice.

Step 3: Financial Viability

Financial viability involves finding out what the break-even point of your therapy practice is. The

break-even point is the point where you manage to cover the expenses which are fairly fixed and

have nothing to do with the therapy you offer. Examples of fixed expenses are rent, salaries,

telephone costs, water, electricity, vehicle costs, promotion costs and any credit instalments. When

you have obtained a figure for your break-even point, compare it with the market potential you

calculated in Step 2. If the break-even point is lower than the value of your estimated potential

market share you are probably looking at a viable business opportunity.

Organisation of a Therapy Practice

Once you have decided where you are going to practice the remainder of the organisation of the

therapy is the same.

The following procedure can be followed:

1. Receiving the client – when a therapist meets with the client the first sensation comes from

the emotion. You may not be aware of this level of encounter and the mental appraisal of the

person and the situation may override the original intuitive experience or it might reinforce it.

Try to get your immediate emotional response which contributes towards the healing process.

It allows you to accept the person and remain open to the messages the person is giving you.

This allows you to put the client at ease, instils trust and confidence.

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2. A personal case history record is always necessary it gives insight into the situation and

condition and allows you as the therapist to understand the client. Do refer to the personal

case history example given at the end of the assignment. You are however free to compile

your own record.

TUTOR TALK: Well done on successfully completing this assignment. Now all that

remains is for you to answer the questions and return your completed test paper to the

College for marking.

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Personal Fitness Trainer Diploma Course – Assignment Twenty – Page 9

Client Consultation Form / Personal History Record

Personal History Record

Date

Name Age

Date of Birth Education

Profession Hours worked/day

Occ. Hazards:

Marital Status Children

Relationship within the family

Address

Tel (work) Tel (home)

Medical History

Recent Checkup

Past Diseases

Operations

Traumas

Family History

Sports/Hobbies/Relaxation

Are you currently on medication?

Are you pregnant?

Has your doctor referred you?

Any known allergies or sensitivities?

Personal Fitness Trainer Diploma Course – Assignment Twenty – Page 10

Personal Fitness Trainer Diploma Course – Assignment Twenty – Page 11

STUDENT NOTES: Please use the space below for recording what you consider to be

any pertinent information or notes. You may find it helpful to refer back to it later on!

Personal Fitness Trainer Diploma Course – Assignment Twenty – Page 12

STUDENT NOTES: Please use the space below for recording what you consider to be

any pertinent information or notes. You may find it helpful to refer back to it later on!