Starting personal training business

the_matrix

Hi

I am thinking of starting a small business where we go out to peoples houses and do personal fitness training.

I was thinking of:

1. I currently work self employed as a teacher.
2. Making it a Limited Company so I can keep it separate and no come back if someone gets injured.
3. Have a proper business bank account as Limited Company.
4. Maybe have a bank safety deposit box to store assets I would buy with the profit, eg gold coins. As making money self employed would this be a good idea? I don't need the money today but do need business to pay for retirement?
5. The people who work for me would be self employed or employees. Which is better?
6. What about NI, other stuff when employing people?
7. The people who work for me would be paid a set amount and the rest would be my profit. Say every X% of what paid per session.
8. The people who work for me would be insured by the company so if sued the insurance would pay up. Broke arm etc...
9. The people who work for me go out to people houses to do the fitness sessions.

MSEs what are your expert thoughts please?


Thank in advance :beer:

bris

You can't protect yourself from prosecution if someone gets injured just because you are a limited company. When it comes to injury the directors can be personally accountable, you can limit the finacial side of it with liability insurance, but if your negligence leads to injury then you can be prosecuted.

If you employ people exclusively then they are not classed as self employed, they would need other sources of income for that. They would then need to be PAYE, an accountant can help you get started.

Their insurance would be all rolled into one company policy, you need employee and public liability insurance, but take note of the first point, it's not just a case of getting the insurance to pay up if you or your employees are negligent and cause injury.

Point 4 is up to you, good luck with that though.

Point 7 is obvious, people work for you to make you money, they do the sessions and charge a fee for this, this gets paid to you and their wages come out of it, if there is nothing left your doing it wrong.

Good luck, are you already a personal trainer as well as a teacher?

gb12345

the_matrix wrote: »

[*]Making it a Limited Company so I can keep it separate and no come back if someone gets injured.

That would limit your financial liability as a shareholder it would not stop you from being prosecuted if you personally injured them while doing a training session.

the_matrix wrote: »

[*]Have a proper business bank account as Limited Company.

You have no choice in this - if you go Ltd Co then it has to have a proper business account

the_matrix wrote: »

[*]Maybe have a bank safety deposit box to store assets I would buy with the profit, eg gold coins. As making money self employed would this be a good idea? I don't need the money today but do need business to pay for retirement?

If you have a limited company you are not self-employed. Any money you take out of the company will be treated either as salary or dividends. Any money you don't need you can leave in the company. You would be advised to look at pension contributions (E'ee and E'er) though.

the_matrix wrote: »

[*]The people who work for me would be self employed or employees. Which is better?
[*]What about NI, other stuff when employing people?

You don't decide that - HMRC rules would determine whether they are employed or self-employed. If they are employed then you are responsible for operating PAYE and paying E'ers NI contributions.


You need to speak to an accountant and an employment solicitor probably to discuss whether Ltd Co is best route for you and also whether your "staff" would be employed or self-employed.

Savvy_Sue

bris wrote: »

Point 7 is obvious, people work for you to make you money, they do the sessions and charge a fee for this, this gets paid to you and their wages come out of it, if there is nothing left your doing it wrong.

Although you do need to give some thought to how you prevent your trainers (employed but ESPECIALLY if you find some way of treating them as self-employed) from passing on their own contact details and cutting you out of the picture.

Mistral001

the_matrix wrote: »

Hi

1. Making it a Limited Company so I can keep it separate and no come back if someone gets injured.

Who told you this? That is not what going Ltd means.

lincroft1710

What fitness qualifications do you have? Have you got a target market?

the_matrix

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

Although you do need to give some thought to how you prevent your trainers (employed but ESPECIALLY if you find some way of treating them as self-employed) from passing on their own contact details and cutting you out of the picture.

Good point

Mistral001 wrote: »

[/LIST]
Who told you this? That is not what going Ltd means.

No one told me this. Just what I thought.

lincroft1710 wrote: »

What fitness qualifications do you have? Have you got a target market?

I have a personal trainer certificate.

So what is the best way forward?

Fire_Fox

the_matrix wrote: »

Hi

I am thinking of starting a small business where we go out to peoples houses and do personal fitness training.

I was thinking of:

1. I currently work self employed as a teacher.
2. Making it a Limited Company so I can keep it separate and no come back if someone gets injured.
3. Have a proper business bank account as Limited Company.
4. Maybe have a bank safety deposit box to store assets I would buy with the profit, eg gold coins. As making money self employed would this be a good idea? I don't need the money today but do need business to pay for retirement?
5. The people who work for me would be self employed or employees. Which is better?
6. What about NI, other stuff when employing people?
7. The people who work for me would be paid a set amount and the rest would be my profit. Say every X% of what paid per session.
8. The people who work for me would be insured by the company so if sued the insurance would pay up. Broke arm etc...
9. The people who work for me go out to people houses to do the fitness sessions.

MSEs what are your expert thoughts please?


Thank in advance :beer:

What experience do you have in the field? You literally only have your level 3 PT? How recently have you worked alongside other PTs, have you ever assessed and managed them? Who did you qualify with, have you undertaken regular CPD since then? Are you on REPs?

Presumably you are aware that ~80% of people who join a gym have at least one medical condition/ significant symptom that comes up on a PAR-Q and screening. How many staff are you going to have that are hold additional registration categories to permit them to work with these issues?

L3 doesn't cut the mustard it's the bare minimum, public liability insurance doesn't cover instructing anything you are not qualified for. Which you should know, given you are qualified. Who is going to pay the PTs travel costs and travel time between clients?

If you are going to offer just vanilla sessions to the minority who have no health problems or only the most minor health problems, what is your USP? If you are going to offer a broader more exciting service how are you going to source PTs with advanced qualifications who want to give you a cut from their hard work? Why wouldn't they just work self employed out of a chain gym, give a cut to the gym, have access to a huge client base, get paid to teach group exercise, no travel costs or travel time?

the_matrix

Fire_Fox wrote: »

What experience do you have in the field? You literally only have your level 3 PT? How recently have you worked alongside other PTs, have you ever assessed and managed them? Who did you qualify with, have you undertaken regular CPD since then? Are you on REPs?

Presumably you are aware that ~80% of people who join a gym have at least one medical condition/ significant symptom that comes up on a PAR-Q and screening. How many staff are you going to have that are hold additional registration categories to permit them to work with these issues?

L3 doesn't cut the mustard it's the bare minimum, public liability insurance doesn't cover instructing anything you are not qualified for. Which you should know, given you are qualified. Who is going to pay the PTs travel costs and travel time between clients?

If you are going to offer just vanilla sessions to the minority who have no health problems or only the most minor health problems, what is your USP? If you are going to offer a broader more exciting service how are you going to source PTs with advanced qualifications who want to give you a cut from their hard work? Why wouldn't they just work self employed out of a chain gym, give a cut to the gym, have access to a huge client base, get paid to teach group exercise, no travel costs or travel time?

Thanks for all the superb advice.

I see where you are coming from. What would be the best method to make them self employed. This way I do not employ them as so they can get their own liability insurance. Would make this a more viable venture.

fluffymuffy

the_matrix wrote: »

What would be the best method to make them self employed. This way I do not employ them as so they can get their own liability insurance. Would make this a more viable venture.

If your staff were all self-employed they would need to sort out their own tax returns and would not be paid for holidays or sickness, and in addition they each need to take out an insurance policy. What's in it for them? Why should they work for you? These people would be intelligent enough to have become qualified - they'd be asking this same question.

Say, for example, I might be tempted to become a fitness coach on a self-employed basis, ..... I'd pick a major company who already has this sort of network in place and the resources to back it up, such as those who make exercise DVDc etc.

Mistral001

the_matrix wrote: »

Thanks for all the superb advice.

I see where you are coming from. What would be the best method to make them self employed. This way I do not employ them as so they can get their own liability insurance. Would make this a more viable venture.

It looks like you will be offering your trainers very little. With a little bit of advertising they themselves, could operate on their own and keep all they make themselves. You need to provide more in my view to get anybody to join you.