Setting up own business, advice needed please!

Cliffy94

Hi guys abit of advice needed please if possible! I wasnt sure which board to post this on, so i have done a couple, i hope the mods dont mind!

Im considering setting up my own business here in the UK., in health and fitness. I have a degree in Nutrition, and i'm soon to be a qualified personal trainer. I was just wondering how much people would be willing to pay for personalised tailored nutrition and fitness plans? is this something people have had done? If so what have you paid? Just so i can get an idea of demand and what to charge clients!

That would be one aspect of my business, the other would be to do talks and workshops in schools to children on healthy eating/healthy lifestyles, as im also a qualified Youth Worker. The children would obtain a nationally recognised qualification from doing the course too. If people work in schools is this something that teachers/schools would go for?

Im in the process of trying to lose my beer gut which i have gained from a couple of bad injuries playing ice hockey, so that i can look the part to play the part!

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated!
Regards, Scott

digitalbill

In my own opinion, your business would fail.
Too many people have internet access now and it is much easier and cheaper to get what they need from the keyboard.
Your plan might actually WORK better however; that does not meen people will buy it.

Chief_Rocka

First, you need to write a BS diet book with a catchy title.

ladytinkerbell99

Hi guys abit of advice needed please if possible! I wasnt sure which board to post this on, so i have done a couple, i hope the mods dont mind!

Im considering setting up my own business here in the UK., in health and fitness. I have a degree in Nutrition, and i'm soon to be a qualified personal trainer. I was just wondering how much people would be willing to pay for personalised tailored nutrition and fitness plans? is this something people have had done? If so what have you paid? Just so i can get an idea of demand and what to charge clients!

That would be one aspect of my business, the other would be to do talks and workshops in schools to children on healthy eating/healthy lifestyles, as im also a qualified Youth Worker. The children would obtain a nationally recognised qualification from doing the course too. If people work in schools is this something that teachers/schools would go for?

Im in the process of trying to lose my beer gut which i have gained from a couple of bad injuries playing ice hockey, so that i can look the part to play the part!

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated!
Regards, Scott

^ I disagree with the other two comments. Yes, writing a qualified book on nutrition does not hurt, but over rated.
Your idea with children is a great angle. You should concentrate your efforts here, in my opinion.
My reason, everyone is addressing adults, few are looking at the # of children/ teenagers that are obese.
Good luck, it is a lot of hard work and determination (not unlike weight loss) but so worth it in the end! :flowerforyou:

ladytinkerbell99

In my own opinion, your business would fail.
Too many people have internet access now and it is much easier and cheaper to get what they need from the keyboard.
Your plan might actually WORK better however; that does not meen people will buy it.

^ I love how positive you are ....not!! Do you have your own business? What are you net profits?
Do you help other businesses to succeed or fail? If so, find another profession.

digitalbill

In my own opinion, your business would fail.
Too many people have internet access now and it is much easier and cheaper to get what they need from the keyboard.
Your plan might actually WORK better however; that does not meen people will buy it.

^ I love how positive you are ....not!! Do you have your own business? What are you net profits?
Do you help other businesses to succeed or fail? If so, find another profession.

Hello Tinkerbell.
I suppose I could have lied to him and told him that, financially, his business idea was a wonderful idea.
But, that would have been a lie.
He mentioned doing workshops in schools and such.
Who is going to pay for those?
The public school system?
They are lucky to pay for books right now.
Maybe private institutions would pay for it...
maybe....
but that is a finite number.
And I have been self employed three times. Twice I failed. Once was because, while I had a great idea, it simply was not profitable.
The third try.. well... here I am and so far it looks good.
Actually, I suppose technically I am not self employed anymore as I just got purchased so, it worked for me.
My wife is also self employed and she was making the same mistakes I made. One we were able to sit down with a spreadsheet and look at REAL numbers, she made the needed changes.

The IDEA of helping overweight kids to get back in shape is a noble cause without a doubt however; financially, I see it as a loss.

You keep blowing sunshine up his butt.
I will be honest with him.

In my opinion, if this is REALLY what he wants to do, he should start with full time employment at a childrens hospital first. Help with rehabilitation of kids.
Once he gets a good reputation, he could try the workshop/private stuff as a sideline that way, if the income is not what he expected, he still has his day job to pay the rent.

Wait.. was that a PLAN?

neverstray

I agree with both the positive and the negative here. Nothing speaks louder than a solid business plan. One thing that lacks in our education system is once you have that certificate, what's next? You should write out a business plan and STICK TO IT. It will be your business bible. While I don't want to be negative, I do think the business plan will tell you before you even start the business if it is going to be worth your effort. Things sound great when you talk about them, but at the end of the day, you need to pay rent, eat, and provide savings for retirement one day. All those things require solid profits year over year.

katozdad

Scott, great to hear what your business idea is, I know you've been cooking up the idea for some time. I won't comment on the pros and cons of it as I think you are looking for practical advice to move this forward and determine whether you want to go ahead with this yourself or not.

I have been cooking up my own business idea recently, also linked with fitness, but don't worry I won't be raining on your parade mate as it is more bike related, but I have found a useful tool called 'Mindmeister' for gathering together my ideas and working on it when I have a few moments spare. I have broken down my pan principally into Income, Expenditure, Premises, Services, Partnerships and Marketing (Marketing is a really big section) as getting the word out and maximising opportunities is paramount.

I would also think outside of the box with your idea. There are a number of private clinics in a given area, dropping a line to the reception to find out what services they offer may present an opportunity for you. There may also be an opportunity to practice out of one of them in pretty much the same way that a hairdresser rents a chair in a salon.

Also I have had support before from schemes such as Westfield and HSA (not weight related mind you), but if you can offer your service with a chance of cash back from these scheme, then this may help to break down some of the barriers around cost that some people have.

Best of luck and keep us posted. Carl :happy: