Personal Fitness Professional - August 2008 - (Page 15)

The First Step: Assess Your Software Requirements There are many software programs on the market for the personal trainer. With so many choices, the task of ﬁnding the right one can, at ﬁrst, be daunting, confusing and intimidating — it doesn’t have to be. Making a simple list of your needs will simplify the job in the long run. Some programs may not have the features you need, some may have more than you need, and this in itself can narrow down your choices. First, are you a large, multi-trainer facility with thousands of clients and hundreds of trainers, a small gym with two to ﬁve trainers or a one-person operation? It may help to keep a footnote here on how you see your anticipated or desired future growth as well and try to buy into a program that will not outgrow your future needs or ﬁnd one that will grow with your needs (more on that later). Some software companies’ programs cater to the large corporate structures, while others may tend to make programs for the small business. And the pricing usually reﬂects that scope. Obviously, maintaining software to handle large multi-location fitness chains with thousands of clients requires more staff (meaning salaries), infrastructure, software support personnel, etc., and as such, the software price will reflect that need with higher pricing structures. This, of course, brings up the second item, which is the budget and amount of investment. How much can you aﬀord without jeopardizing your assets and business capital? A small, singleowner operation or two- to ﬁve-trainer business will likely not be buying the $10,000 platform with $500/month support fees. The good news is, just because it costs $10,000 doesn’t necessarily mean it is better than the $500 product (for the reasons mentioned above). A company that caters to smaller facilities has overall less overhead, and they can oﬀer a good quality product for less. Third, make a list of the services you provide or may want to provide in the future. Do you want to provide ﬁtness assessment reports? Do you want or can you aﬀord expensive, complex testing computer-linked equipment, or will you go with low-tech? For instance, VO2 with a box step test is low-tech, and a computer-linked bicycle ergonometric system is high-tech. Do you want to be able to create and track goals? Do you want to provide exercise or informational handouts and facility forms? Do you want to provide nutrition consults? How detailed do you want them to be? Do you simply want guidelines for calorie requirements with some basic meal plans, or do you want to provide a full diet analysis with a host of meal plans? ➤ AUGUST2008 · WWW.FIT-PRO.COM 15 http://WWW.FIT-PRO.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Personal Fitness Professional - August 2008

Personal Fitness Professional - August 2008 Contents Letter from the Editor It's a Weighty Issue Current Controversies Streamline with Digital Neuro-Linguistic Programming Continuing Education Mark Your Calendar Act Like You Know About Marketing Blog For Fun and Profit Exercise Spotlight Product Profile New on the Market Spotlight: Krystal Davis

Personal Fitness Professional - August 2008

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