The New Year is always a time for fresh starts in your training, diet, and life. While I have training and nutrition goals, those are definitely going to be overshadowed by a new beginning with my life.

First, I’ll give you a little background. I plan to write about my journey every month for at least the next six months to let you know what I’m doing as I try to stay on pace to reach my goals. I don’t have an educational background in strength and conditioning, but I do have an MBA. This means that I will be doing the opposite of what many other personal trainers do. I need to become the best trainer I can because the business side of things is already in my blood. I’m currently studying for my CSCS exam, and my goal is to pass the exam before the end of January.

My most recent employment position was as a strength and conditioning coach at Averett University in Danville, Virginia. It was more of a volunteer gig as I finished up my degree, but it was the best thing I could have ever done. Many others have written articles and said that they learned more in the time they spent actually training people than all the years they spent reading. I feel the exact same way. Nothing comes close to actually working with athletes and/or individual clients.

So here are my goals and some other things to keep in mind:

Goal: To start a personal training business that will allow me to stay away from a “real job.” My ultimate goal (two years) is to have my own space to start a warehouse gym for primarily sports performance.

Obstacles: I’m currently borrowing an extra vehicle from my parents, so I need a car. I have to start paying back my student loans in six months.

Advantages: I’m living at home and am only paying for gas, some food, and my phone bill. My biggest advantage is definitely the fact that my father and stepmom own a fitness center in my town. It has a membership base of about 400 people with two other personal trainers, who together train less than five people.

Why: This is my passion. Since I first found Joe DeFranco’s site five years ago, I’ve read everything I can on strength training. I’ve sat in on kinesiology classes, read articles daily, and received training books as birthday presents. Training has completely consumed my life. I’ve had other jobs in sports and nothing compares to training people. I love being in the gym and I love helping others reach their goals.

So now onto the business side of things…

Because I’m just starting out, I’m offering very cheap and free training sessions to anybody who is willing to give me a try. Every client will also have the ability to give referrals, and if somebody comes in on a referral, he or she will get more free sessions. I currently have one client working with me twice a week.

The first thing I’m doing is looking to make as many contacts as possible by reestablishing the networks I have in my hometown and surrounding communities. I need to make sure people know what I’m doing. I will also be offering free training sessions to high school and AAU teams. I will use that time to speak with coaches about the benefits of working with a strength coach.

Any revenue that comes in will be going back into my business. This money will be used for equipment purchases and personal development such as seminars, workshops, and books. I already have a list of equipment I’d like to have, but I also need to put that equipment in order of necessity because I will hopefully be doing some on-site training with basketball teams in the coming months. As soon as I pass my CSCS, I will set aside the time to write up a full business plan, complete with marketing, rates, SWOT analysis, growth strategy, and financial analysis.

I decided to submit this article for a few reasons. First, I’ve learned a ton about training, business, and life from the articles on this site. I figure I already have my goals in place. Why not share them with the online community that I most associate myself with? Second, I think it will help hold me accountable. I have read and heard that when you have a goal, tell as many people as you can so it holds you more accountable to your own goals. That’s what I’m doing with this.

Third, I feel the opinions of anyone reading this series on this website will be greatly beneficial to me. I urge you to let me know if you think I’m doing something right or wrong in business or training.

The next six months is filled with daily goals. These daily goals should lead to the short-term goal of operating a successful personal training business within the next six months. This is the goal I need to reach in order to keep on pace for the long-term goal of opening a warehouse gym within two years. Let the journey begin!