Start a Sports or Fitness Business

If you are info physical fitness, becoming a personal trainer as a career has its benefits. For one, you can arrange your work schedule to fit into your life.

Based on a survey done by the American Council on Exercise in 2005, the average hourly wage of a personal trainer in the USA was $35. As you would expect, running your own personal training business, you could earn significantly more.

Although there is not yet a standard educational requirement to becoming a personal trainer, it helps to have a college degree in health or fitness or at least to have completed courses in anatomy, nutrition or exercise physiology. The Penn Foster Accredited Career School offers a Certified Personal Trainer course that you can complete online from home. This course includes Exercise Science Terminology, Fitness Anatomy and Physiology, Nutrition, Strengthening Upper and Lower Body and Flexibility Training and Injury Prevention. You also want to get your CPR certification.

You can become a Certified Personal Trainer through the National Board of Fitness Examiners, National Strength and Conditioning Association or the American Council on Exercise.

You don't even have to be a fitness trainer yourself. You can hire professional trainers and open your own fitness club (Athletic Club, Exercise Studio, Fitness Center, Gym, Health Club, Personal Training Studio or Workout Center) instead. This can enable you to offer more fitness services and create your ideal work space.

If you being around people, helping and motivating others and working in a "non-traditional" work environment, this recession-resistant field may provide the career you've been looking for. Consider other alternatives in your business planning phase, such as fitness club franchises and existing gyms which may be for sale. You may find some unexpected opportunities for ideas for your own health club.

Teaching yoga is extremely gratifying work. You can help people build strength, gain flexibility and at the same time de-stress and experience the joy of self-discovery.

And now, part of what's spurring the growth of this field is the attraction from the "baby boomers". But your target market doesn't stop there. There's Yoga Therapy, Spiritual Yoga, Prenatal & Postnatal Yoga, Yoga for Kids, Corporate Yoga and of course fitness.

Start by deciding the type of yoga you want to teach and the market you want to reach. Do you want to open your own studio or teach classes outdoors or offer personal sessions in clients' homes? After you have a basic idea in your head, it's time to put together a business plan.

Writing a business plan doesn't have to be hard, costly or even take a lot of time. With the evolution of business plan templates, you have the benefit of professional guidance, but you don't have to pay the expensive fee to a business writer.

You can see a sample yoga center business plan here, showing you an example of how you could similarly draw up your business plan. You can also find a free business plan template that you can download and use from the Microsoft Office website

Next, think of a name for your business and design a logo. You can actually do this yourself cheaply using online logo esign services.

Register your business with the County Clerk's office and apply for a business license. You can get information on where to apply in your city and download necessary forms at the Business.gov website.

Purchase equipment and furnishings for your yoga business and create a class schedule. You don't need to buy everything at once and your schedule doesn't have to be set in stone, but you want to create a good impression on your first clients if you want to keep them. Hire staff if needed.

Advertise your classes, hold events or offer free introductory sessions to introduce the community to your business. Often when you give something to your customers, they want to give back in return.

See also: How to Start a Yoga Business 1-2-3

As a sports agent, you can work for an existing agency - or you can branch out and start your own business, working as an independent sports agent.

So what does a sports agent do?

Sports agents can perform a variety of activities. You can design your career around activities that you enjoy doing, and you can offer additional services to your clients to increase your value as an agent.

Some jobs that sports agents handle include obtaining product endorsement contracts for clients, lining up personal appearances for clients, networking with other sports professionals, staying knowledgeable on current trends, salaries, contract negotiations, etc. and sometimes providing investment and legal services.

Sports agents can charge for their services in a few different ways. They can take a percentage of the athlete's contract, usually between 3-5%. Some agents may charge by the hour or perform certain services for a flat fee instead. You can see average sports agent salaries here

A sports agent is not required to have a college degree, but many successful agents have an MBA or masters degree. In order to represent athletes in the NBA, MLB, NFL or NHL, sports agents must earn a Sports Agent Certification. Organizations like Pro Sports Group offer online training, resources and certification for sports agents. You can several training programs by searching the internet.

Start Your Own Coaching Business for Dieters

Many weight-loss seekers fail to reach their goals because they don't have a good support system. As a coach, you can offer this support and help people achieve their goals. Coaching can be a very rewarding business. Combine health meal plans, fun exercise routines and motivational sessions.

Start Your Own Personal Chef Service

Create meals or menus to help people lose weight. Today, many people have busy lifestyles that make it challenging to cook healthy meals. Providing an easy meal solution for people-on-the-run can be very rewarding and fun when you are doing something you love.

Sell Health & Fitness Products Online as an Affiliate

Natural Health, Diet & Fitness are all Growing Markets. If you are creative, enjoy working independently, are willing to learn and can set aside 8 hours a week to earn extra cash, selling fitness products online offers multiple career benefits.

With an internet business, you can market popular fitness products without having to be a salesperson. This "franchise-style" online business doesn't require you to buy inventory. They provide you with a professionally-designed website that you can use as your storefront, and they drop-ship products to your customers for you. Understandably, this is the cheapest and simplest business to start that's listed on this page.

Athletes often put their bodies through a lot of stress and strain. Massage Therapists can help athletes relieve pain, stress and heal from injuries. Some athletes use massage therapy on a regular basis to keep them performing at their best, while others use massage therapy to aid their recovery from sports-related injuries. Sports Massage Therapy is one of the most profitable forms of massage services.

Start by setting goals for your business and putting together a business plan. (Free sample Physical Therapy Massage Business Plan.)Select a name for your company and decide whether you want to rent office space or work out of your home.

Get massage therapy equipment, supplies, apply for applicable licenses and permits and insurance. Licensing for your particular business will depend on where your business is located. There are federal, state and local licensing requirements that may apply to your business.

Business.gov can provide information for your local area and type of business at their website. You can enter your zip code and business type, and you'll receive information on licensing requirements as well as permits, tax documentation and contact information that is very helpful.

More Information: Resources for Starting a Massage Therapy Business

These days, you can literally start an online store and start selling products in one day if you want. Many companies like FlexOffers.com, Direct Response and Linkshare.com, offer affiliate programs. You can sign up for free and sell products from a variety of different sport-related companies within the network, and they will pay you a commission for every customer you refer to them that makes a purchase.