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Meet Mahesh,
He owns and runs a small personal training business called Upstart Fitness along with his wife. Mahesh is responsible for running most of the personal training sessions, however, he was also responsible for putting together the business plan and maintains the associated duty of care responsibilities.
What does your business plan cover?
It includes our mission statement, description of our services, an overview of the company structure, marketing initiatives, financial information, workplace health and safety, and risk management.
Have you made many adjustments to the plan since starting the business?
Mainly updates to things like the financial information as our cash-flow and profits have grown. We need to improve the marketing section and take it to the next level, we plan to consult a professional agency about that. The company structure will soon be changing since we plan to expand and put on two new staff members, so that will be a major amendment.
What has been the hardest part of developing the business plan?
Probably the Workplace Health and Safety and Risk Management section. I am very conscious of the potential risk of injury or other incidents to occur as a result of undertaking physical activity. Whilst there are some excellent resources and templates available from the Government and industry bodies like Fitness Australia it is still a nerve-wracking job and I was very careful to ensure we thought of everything and had all the necessary insurances in place.
Apart from safety what other risks have you identified?
Well, market competition is a big one. Personal training is a very competitive market at the moment and there are lots of gyms, health clubs, and independent trainers who are offering the service, sometimes at much lower prices than we charge. We're doing OK though, our overheads are quite low and we focus on offering a really friendly and enjoyable service. We're also really flexible in where and when we schedule our sessions and our clients really appreciate that.