Fitness Training : Forming a Business Partnership

In a previous blog I stated that a Fitness Trainer who wants to operate their own business can do it 3 ways:

1. Be a Sole Proprietor
2. Form a business partnership
3. Get incorporated

If you choose option number 2 you will no longer be working on your own. However you will probably be working with other fitness aficionados which can make for a positive work environment.  Forming a business partnership can have certain advantages:

• As in being a sole proprietor, the start up costs can be low
• It is a simple business to initiate
• The partners share the expenses
• You have a greater potential to attract more clients
•  Different Fitness Trainer personalities can appeal to a broader base
•  A Fitness Trainer partnering with a Group Exercise Specialist can cover a wider spectrum of needs of the fitness demographic

   According to Greg Harvey, owner of Fit 'N'Well Personal Training Inc. in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada  "If you form a business partnership you will need to be either an incorporated partnership or a limited partnership. A partnership can't operate as a sole proprietor. Once in a business partnership you will need an accountant to take care of taxes and a lawyer to file the minutes each year. " 

The fact that it will not just be about you and your clients can also raise some issues. You will now be legally bonded to another person. You likely know couples living common law that decided to make it legal and tie the knot in marriage. Many will concede that the moment they signed the documents their relationship changed. It was no longer just for fun - it was now a serious relationship. Think of a business partnership in a similar vein. The parameters can change significantly. Business Partnerships can run into potential problematic scenarios:

• Fitness Trainers who socialize in and out of the fitness center may find that their interpersonal relationship changes when money becomes a variable
• One party may feel that the other party is not pulling their share of the work load 
• A client complaint against one Fitness Trainer may reflect badly on the others
• Issues of dishonesty or fraud by a partner can be disastrous to the business relationship 
• Someone you once got along with may turn out to be difficult to deal with in a work setting
• Your goals for the business may start to differ from those of you partner
• Your partner's financial problems could become your problems

   Should you decide that a business partnership is the correct route, do it wisely.

1. Ensure that you and your partner(s) share common goals 
2. Draw up agreed upon rules and guidelines. Consult with your lawyer
3. Document all financial transactions.
4. Use a competent professional accountant 
5. Be prepared for reasonable compromises.
6. Don't let divisive situations fester. Clear the air with discussion and diplomacy

Dishonesty or fraud within a Business Partnership can be disastrous!

  Operate your business as a professional operation and not like some back alley chop shop and success may follow.

Until next time,...keep fit

Little Bobby Strong

       schwabe27.uwmfatloss.hop.clickbank.net

References
1. Greg Harvey    Fit 'N'Well Personal Training Inc.  Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
greg@fitnwell.com 

2. The Business of Personal Training  Scott O. Roberts, Human Kinetics Publishers Inc. 1996