15 Fun and Profitable Fitness Business Ideas

The fitness industry is booming, with more people than ever looking to improve their health, well-being, and physical appearance. In fact, the younger generations (Gen-Z and Millennials) make up 80% of the current fitness market, spending on average $124.40 per month on fitness services as of 2020.

This means there's never been a better time to start your own fitness business. However, with so much competition, it's essential to find your niche in the market.

You might already have plans for your own fitness business, or perhaps you're looking around for fitness business ideas. So in this post we'll dig into some of the most fun and profitable opportunities in the fitness industry.

Of course, these are just ideas to help you get started. Make sure to do plenty of research before you start a gym or fitness studio...

OK, so what are the best fitness business ideas for hungry entrepreneurs like yourself?

1. Personal Training Studio

Personal trainers are in hot demand. But having your own studio as a personal trainer gives you a different strategy and focus.

A personal training studio is a great fitness business idea for those who enjoy working one-on-one or in small groups with clients. By offering personalized training sessions in a private, well-equipped facility, you can help clients achieve their fitness goals more effectively than in a crowded gym setting.

To start a personal training studio, you'll need to have the appropriate certifications first. While the obvious choice is to open your own studio, you could also rent free space in a gym or community center to check out the demand for your service, before you commit to your own premises.

Of course, you'll need to invest in quality equipment, such as free weights, resistance bands, and cardio machines. Additionally, you'll need to create a welcoming and comfortable environment for your clients.

2. Group Fitness Classes

Group fitness classes are a popular way for people to stay in shape while enjoying a fun and social atmosphere. From yoga and pilates to Zumba and boot camp, there's a class for everyone. Opening a dedicated studio space for group fitness classes allows you to focus on providing a high-quality experience for your clients.

When starting a group fitness business, consider the types of classes you want to offer and the instructors you'll need to hire. Ensure your studio space is large enough to accommodate classes and that you have the necessary equipment, such as mats, weights, and sound systems.

Promote your group fitness classes through social media, local advertising, and partnerships with other local businesses. Offering free trial classes or discounted introductory packages can help attract new clients and encourage them to sign up for more sessions.

3. Online Fitness Coaching

With the rise of digital technology, online fitness coaching has become an increasingly popular fitness business idea. By providing personalized workout plans, nutrition advice, and accountability coaching through online platforms, you can reach clients from all over the world.

To start an online fitness coaching business, you'll need to develop a strong online presence. Create a professional website that showcases your expertise and services, and use social media to connect with potential clients.

You may also want to invest in video conferencing software or a platform that allows clients to access their workout plans and track their progress.

4. Mobile Fitness Training

For clients who prefer convenience and privacy, mobile fitness training is an excellent fitness business idea. By offering in-home or on-location personal training and group fitness classes, you can cater to those who may not have the time or desire to visit a gym or studio.

You'll need to invest in high quality and portable equipment which you can put in the trunk of your vehicle. As an example, this might include resistance bands, dumbbells, and exercise mats.

Some examples of mobile fitness business ideas might include:

• Boot camps.
• Soccer skills for kids.
• Mobile dance classes.
• Martial arts classes.

Of course pretty much any niche in the health and fitness industry can be adapted to mobile fitness training.

5. Fitness Retreats

Who doesn't love a fitness retreat? Fitness retreats combine some of life's finest things, including exercise, healthy eating, and relaxation in beautiful destinations. In short, you get an all-inclusive vacation experience, but with added fitness points.

As a fitness business idea, this is perfect for those who love to travel and have a passion for helping others achieve their fitness goals.

The type of fitness business retreat you create will depend on your speciality, your client base, location and even the time of year. Some popular ideas for fitness retreats include yoga, weight loss and extreme fitness boot camps.

Fitness retreats are also popular with businesses, as they can be great for building team morale and 'giving back' to their employees. So they can even be packaged with corporate wellness programs (see below).

Setting up a fitness retreat you will need to partner with an external venue such as a hotel, camping site or other location. There are a lot of logistics involved in managing a successful fitness retreat, but it can be a very lucrative business model.

6. Corporate Wellness Programs

Corporate wellness programs are designed to improve employee health, productivity, and morale by offering fitness and wellness initiatives in the workplace. As a fitness business owner, you can develop programs that include group fitness classes, health screenings, and educational workshops.

A popular way to run corporate wellness programs is to partner with local businesses and visit their offices to do specific classes or workshops. For example Monday morning yoga, or Thursday evening HIIT classes.

You can also work with a business to offer their employees access to your services. Of course the business will pay a package rate, and you manage the fitness of their staff.

7. Fitness Equipment Sales and Rentals

Selling or renting fitness equipment is a fitness business idea that caters to both home and commercial gym users. However, you don't have to be limited to gym gear.

While you can offer a range of standard gym equipment, such as treadmills, stationary bikes, and weight sets, there is also room to rent out equipment such as stand-up paddle boards (SUP), surfing equipment, bicycles or even winter sports equipment.

Of course this will depend on where you're based, and you'll also need to provide maintenance too. No one wants to hire a busted up treadmill or a paddle board with a puncture.

But with the costs of buying equipment, many other fitness business owners and the general public will happily pay to lease or hire your fitness equipment.

8. Outdoor Adventure Fitness

This is similar to a fitness retreat, but you will mostly have your own space in the location where you wish to host your outdoor adventure business. The idea is that people come to your outdoor adventure center to enjoy anything from hiking, long-distance running, kayaking, rock climbing, fishing or winter sports.

You might offer accommodation as part of the package, or simply provide the fitness equipment and guidance.

One great thing about offering that outdoor adventure experience is that it is very shareable online. If you create this sort of business, make sure to capitalize with good social media - and make sure all your clients share their images too with your personalized hashtag!

Of course in your role as an outdoor fitness personal trainer, you should have all the right certifications and insurances in place before hosting any clients.

9. Athletic Performance Training

If you have experience and a passion for working with athletes and sports enthusiasts, specializing in athlete performance training, or athletic training, can be a lucrative niche.

You'll design tailored programs to improve performance through strength training, conditioning, and sport-specific drills. This could include long distance running, team sports or simply offering elite level coaching for any sports professionals.

Athletic trainers will usually need to have strong qualifications, including degrees in sports training or other physical fitness related disciplines.

Your target market might be young hopefuls looking to advance their sports career. You could end up working with high level athletes looking to improve their performance. Or, you could offer athletic training to people looking to improve their own fitness, as a sort of high end personal trainer.

10. Sports Physician or Physical Therapist

When it comes to sports performance, keeping our bodies in peak condition is a key part of sporting success. But everyone, even elite athletes, experience wear and tear and even injuries.

Offering physical therapy for anyone from gym goers to professional sports people can be a very profitable business model.

This may include sports massage, or sports rehabilitation, through to prescribing medical treatments. This does of course mean that you will need to have medical training.

If you're looking for fitness business ideas that are in high demand and are lucrative earners, this is definitely a sector to look at.

11. Kids, Teens or Seniors Fitness Training

Promoting healthy lifestyles amongst both the young and old is most definitely a growing industry. Offering health and wellness classes to kids or seniors is a popular business model and one that can be adapted to pretty much any location.

Some examples might include visiting schools to conduct special fitness classes, or simply to give a talk on living a healthy lifestyle.

Or, you might partner with senior centers or retirement homes near you to do some simple workout routines every week.

While you will obviously focus on your niche audience, for example kids OR seniors, this can be a great way to work with the local community. And if you have a passion for health and fitness, this is one of those simple business ideas that could be perfect for working as a freelance fitness professional.

12. Specialist Sports Coaching/Sports Instructor

If you have a passion for a specific fitness discipline or sport, you can offer classes or one to one training.

An example here might be as a skateboarder looking to offer classes for learners, or as a yoga instructor training other yoga instructors. You can also include martial arts such as karate, ju-jitsu, Muay Thai/kickboxing or even boxing under this heading.

While this is a broad fitness business idea, offering specialist training is definitely in high demand. Think of it as personal training for a sport you have a passion for.

You might become a:

• Surfing instructor.
• Fit for Basketball coach.
• Ski or snowboard coach.
• Swimming teacher.
• Boxing/martial arts coach.

Again, this is a fitness business idea with many opportunities.

13. Dance Workout Classes

There are many different dance based workout classes that have become very popular in recent years. The best known is probably Zumba, but there are other dance based workouts such as Dancercise, RockFit and even a Bollywood dance workout.

One of the benefits of dance workouts for fitness business ideas is that they are relatively affordable to become certified. Zumba instructor training costs under $200, and is relatively fast, compared to specialized fitness coaching such as personal training.

If you're looking for a fun way to help people get fit, dance workout classes could be the perfect business idea for you....

14. Keto or Paleo Fitness Trainer

Health eating and fitness goals go hand in hand together. So a health and fitness business idea that incorporates the most popular diets might be the perfect business for you.

Diet based fitness trainers will take into consideration the challenges of the diet, and the best workouts to accompany them.

Keto or paleo fitness trainers help their clients on their fitness journey by also incorporating their nutrition and diet into the plan.

With the huge interest in these diets, there is lots of potential to build a health coaching business focusing on diet and workouts.

15. Fitness Rehabilitation

Another fitness sector that is often in high demand is fitness rehabilitation, or exercise therapy. This is where you use fitness and exercise to help people to either recover from injuries or regain motor function as a result of traumas.

Of course, this is a very specialized fitness role, and one that needs to be performed by someone medically qualified. But if you're looking for a rewarding and potentially lucrative fitness business idea, exercise and fitness rehabilitation is a great choice.

How to Start Your Fitness Business Plan

As you've seen from all of these fitness businesses, there are many variables and things to consider. Taking any fitness business from idea to execution will take many steps.

We've looked at the steps needed to start your own gym business right here on the Arbox blog, so take a read of that if you're thinking of starting a gym.

But to summarize what you need to know into a TL;DR:

• Choose your business model and build a plan of how you will provide the service.
• Check what certifications, insurances and other regulatory requirements are needed in your area before you start.
• Do you need permanent premises? Or can you manage with outdoor space or rented floor space? Work out the pros, the cons and the costs associated with the different space options.
• Build your online presence. Even if you're not running an online fitness business, you will still need a website, social media accounts and tools for scheduling classes and taking payments. Arbox offers everything you need to manage your fitness business online, so sign up for free.
• Make a marketing plan to promote your business.
• Start hosting clients and making money!

Of course, this is a heavily condensed strategy, with each stage above having multiple steps of its own.

How to Market Your Fitness Business

Marketing your fitness business is crucial for attracting clients and is a key part of any fitness-based business model.

Make sure to check out our guide to marketing your gym business for more in-depth information on growing your client list. But, because we're nice people here at Arbox, here's the rundown of what you need to know:

• Make sure to have a good website where people can find out all about your services.
• Identify the best social media platforms for your business and target audience. This will most likely be a mixture of Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and maybe also Twitter or possibly Linkedin.
• Create content for your website and/or your social media accounts that offers genuinely useful information. It might be how to guides, nutrition advice or other info that resonates with your target audience.
• Have a strategy to create and share useful content as often as possible. Consistency will help you build an audience and attract more clients...
• Use Arbox gym management software to track your signups and take payments. You can also send communication such as email marketing direct from your Arbox dashboard, helping you to retain customers, win more reviews/testimonials and get more clients.

Managing Your Health and Fitness Company

Once you start getting some traction and success, managing any business in the health and fitness industry can quickly get overwhelming. With different classes, clients, pricing structures and partnerships, it's important to keep things organized from the start.

Arbox gym management software offers the best method to manage your business as a fitness entrepreneur. Whether you're a gym owner and you manage multiple fitness centers; or if you are running yoga classes in the local park, Arbox simplifies the complex side of business management.

Take payments, manage staff, track classes and communicate with your clients, all from one easy to use platform.

Fitness professionals love Arbox. Sign up today for free.