Do you work as a personal trainer but would you like to set up on your own and run your business in a more professional manner? If the answer is yes, opening a PT studio is the best choice for building a solid future in the fitness world.
To understand where to start, what are the regulatory requirements, the costs, how to equip your studio and how to position yourself on the market with an exclusive service proposal, continue reading the advice that TECA Fitness has prepared for you.
What is a PT studio? The question arises spontaneously and the answer is quite complex. Here’s why.
As much as the word PT studio might lead you to imagine a miniature gym, this is not the case at all. The PT studio is a private professional space where we offer an exclusive and very personalised service to train people privately, either one-to-one or in small groups.
What differentiates a professional personal training studio from a gym?
First of all, the ateco reference code of the professional category. Let me explain further. While gyms organise their activity in the form of a business, with people training independently, a PT studio is a professional space where the personal trainer follows a small number of people. The personal trainer, in this case, acts as a self-employed person and sells private lessons and/or advice in the field of psycho-physical well-being.
While, in terms of equipment, the PT studio can be set up like a miniature gym, there is a huge difference between these two types of activity. In the PT studio, the equipment plays a secondary role as the personal performance of the trainer takes first place.
In other words, a contract of trust is established between client and PT, with the client paying a higher fee than for a classic gym membership in exchange for highly personalised advice that presupposes the intellectual work of the personal trainer.
According to current regulations (Art. 2238 of the Civil Code), the pt, in practice, is not an entrepreneur (a person who professionally exercises an organised economic activity for the purpose of producing and exchanging goods or services) but a professional (one who professionally exercises an intellectual activity). Obviously, the conditions may change: if the activity carried out by the pt becomes an organised activity, such as a gymnasium, for example, the professional becomes an entrepreneur and will have to adapt its structure according to the requirements of the law.
To give a practical example, being a fitness entrepreneur means fulfilling cadastral requirements, requiring Asl authorisations, and having different tax obligations (taxes) than the owner of a professional studio. To find out more, you absolutely must read on.
Advantages of opening a PT studio versus a gym
Certainly, in comparison to the traditional gym, which gathers a mostly varied target group, the PT studio enters the market with a proposal of ‘tailor-made’ services for a very specific segment of the population.
It is precisely the current regulations that define the mission of a PT studio: the personal trainer organises himself as a self-employed person to follow his clients with individualised lessons and a quality approach at the expense of quantity (the number of people followed).
Whether they are women who want to lose weight, busy people who need to optimise their time, or simply people who want to get in shape, to give a few examples, the mission of the PT studio is to offer a service that is tailored to the needs of the clients and that will help them fully achieve their fitness, health and/or wellness goals.
In the PT studio, it is undoubtedly the tailor-made service and the focus on the individual that will make the difference. The quality of service of a PT studio can guarantee extraordinary results for its clients, unlike gyms and fitness centres where the focus shifts from individual clients to large numbers. More users, more revenue, in short.
However, quality of service is not the only advantage you can gain if you decide to open a professional studio. There are also important economic advantages, in particular
– less expenses (rent, tools, taxes and other fiscal obligations)
– more income thanks to the specialisation of services.
Business models for the PT studio
There are several business models that you can implement in the PT studio, and each of them allows you to position yourself in the market on a higher price range than traditional gym services. In fact, the professional personal training studio can offer
– one-to-one training (1 to 1 training)
– small group training
– specialised services in collaboration with other professionals (nutritionist, physiotherapist, masseur, massage therapist, etc.), thanks to which you can get a percentage of the proceeds.
Which business model to choose? If you don’t know where to start, fear not. With personalised advice from TECA, the business partner of hundreds of gyms and PT studios, you can
– start off on the right foot in this business adventure
– grow your business turnover
– avoid unnecessary waste of time, resources and energy.
In other words, you will be able to acquire more customers, retain them for a long time and sell at the right prices because the value of your service will be recognised at first glance as your one and only choice.
But before talking about business models, it is important to find out what it takes to open a PT studio. Let’s find out together.
How to open a PT practice: costs and procedures
Here are the steps to follow:
1. Identifying the structure
Professional activities, such as the PT studio, must be carried out in a premises registered as A/10 (office), although it is also possible to use a non-prevalent portion of a building for residential use, with the general requirements of hygiene, urban planning and agility. Since it is not a business activity or a health profession (such as that of a physiotherapist, for example), no authorisation from the Asl is required.
However, before opening the activity, it would be advisable to consult the town planning office of the municipality and the relevant Asl (health authority) to obtain all the information also regarding hygiene and health requirements.
With regard to the size of the premises, a space of 100 square metres may be sufficient to create an elite studio.
– Identifying the tax regime
Although they are professionals, the activity of personal trainer does not entail enrolment in any particular professional register. You can open your PT studio under ateco code 93.19.99 (“Other sporting activities nca”), which includes professional activities carried out by independent sports operators. Once you have identified the most appropriate tax regime, you will need to register the start of your activity within the next thirty days with the Internal Revenue Service.
– Opening a tax position
The type of clients you follow in your PT practice will determine the social security management to which you must register. If they are sportspeople, the entity is Ex-Enpals, while for clients who only want to improve their psycho-physical wellbeing, they must register with the separate INPS management.
As far as tax obligations are concerned, the provision of services in a PT studio is subject to value added tax (VAT), on the taxable amount resulting from sales transactions. The rate is the ordinary rate of 22%. Some persons are exempt (e.g. those who choose the flat-rate scheme. In this case, the rate differs according to income bracket).
To summarise, the main costs that a PT firm has to bear:
– Opening a VAT number.
– Premises rent and possible renovation costs.
– VAT at 22% or reference rate under the flat-rate scheme.
– Equipment.
There are other important things to know. Firstly, compared to the gym, clients of the PT studio are not required to present a medical certificate of sporting fitness. Nor is the provision of a defibrillator, which is compulsory in sports clubs.
Although the opening process is fairly simple, I advise you to carefully examine local regulations, as some regions may prescribe certain mandatory requirements for facilities in which motor activity takes place, such as the presence of at least one instructor in charge with an ISEF diploma, a degree in motor sciences, or an equivalent foreign qualification legally recognised in Italy. Or require other authorisations than the national regulations.
Indispensable tools for a PT studio
Before listing the equipment that is absolutely essential in an elite PT studio, a premise must be made. The equipment in the PT studio should be chosen in such a way as to leave more room for movement for the client to gain body awareness through training.
As mentioned earlier, nothing prohibits you from setting up the PT studio as a miniature gym. However, the equipment must be functional to the very mission of the practice, which is to improve the psycho-physical well-being of the client in an easy, fast and targeted manner.
With this in mind, you could opt for exclusive systems such as TECA’s Stand Up and Multiplanar global strength machines, advanced and ultra-versatile systems that have the great advantage of training people while standing.
Stand Up and Multiplanar equipment make the personal trainer’s job easier because the equipment in a standing position
– are easy to use
– replicate the most important movements of everyday life
– help improve motor patterns and posture
– preserve the health of the spinal column
– promote functional recovery
– allow you to work on several of your clients’ fitness goals in the same session, thus optimising their time.
Systems such as Stand Up and Multiplanar, which allow you to improve several fitness parameters at the same time, will ensure that your clients’ results will also be much faster. With TECA, therefore, you have the certainty of offering an exclusive, quality service that will allow you to really stand out from your competitors.
