LLC & Insurance Setup
Let’s be honest. You spent 6 months memorizing the Krebs cycle. You can name the origin and insertion of the supraspinatus. You passed the proctored exam and earned the right to put “CPT” after your name.
And none of that prepared you to run a business.
Your certification taught you to train bodies. It didn’t teach you to file an LLC, get liability insurance, or set up a payment processor. It treated “personal training” as a job you get, not a company you build.
This is by design. The industry wants you to feel helpless. It wants you to believe that business is complicated so you’ll gratefully hand over 60% of your income to a gym that handles the “scary stuff.”
It’s not that complicated. Here is the operational manual your textbook left out.
1. The Tax Reality (And the Arizona Advantage)
Most trainers default to being a “Sole Proprietor” simply because they do nothing. You start training, money hits your Venmo, and you figure you’ll sort it out in April.
This is a mistake.
In Arizona, forming an LLC (Limited Liability Company) is shockingly cheap and provides a layer of protection between your personal assets (your car, your savings) and your business liabilities (someone tripping over a kettlebell).
The Breakdown:
- Cost: It costs $50 to file your Articles of Organization with the Arizona Corporation Commission. That’s it.
- The “Publication” Trap: If you Google “Arizona LLC requirements,” you’ll read that you must publish a notice in a newspaper. Here is the nuance most guides miss: If your business address is in Maricopa County (Phoenix, Ahwatukee, Paradise Valley) or Pima County, the Commission publishes it for you automatically.
- Ignore the Mail: Once you file, you will get official-looking letters asking for $200+ to “order your labor posters” or “complete your publication.” Throw them away. They are scams targeting new business owners.
Note: We aren’t CPAs. Once you start netting over $70k/year, ask a pro about an “S-Corp election” to save on self-employment taxes. Until then, a standard LLC is your best friend.
2. Insurance is Cheaper Than Your Pre-Workout
A common fear among trainers leaving big-box gyms is the loss of corporate insurance coverage. The industry wants you to believe that liability insurance is a massive expense.
It’s not.
For an independent contractor, professional liability insurance typically costs $11–$29 per month.
- What you need: General Liability (slip and fall) and Professional Liability (claims that your advice caused injury).
- The Cost: Companies like Next, InsuranceCanopy, or K&K Insurance offer policies for ~$160/year.
If you are paying $120/month for supplements but “can’t afford” $14/month to protect your career, your priorities are wrong.
3. Stop Texting Clients at 10 PM
The fastest way to burn out is to manage your schedule via text message.
“Can we do Tuesday at 4?” “No, how about 5?” “Wait, I forgot I have a dentist appointment.”
This back-and-forth drains your mental energy and signals to the client that you are a casual buddy, not a professional service provider.
You need a booking platform. Modern software handles scheduling, payments, and programming in one loop.
- TrueCoach: Excellent for programming and communication.
- Trainerize: Great for habit tracking and “hybrid” online/in-person models.
- My PT Hub: Often creates a cost-effective flat rate for unlimited clients.
These tools cost $20–$50/month. If they save you one missed session or two hours of administrative texting per month, they have paid for themselves.
4. The Economics of Rent vs. The Split
This is the most important math equation of your career.
In a commercial gym “split” model, the gym takes a percentage of every session. If you grow, their cut grows.
Big Box Math: You generate $10,000 in sessions. The gym takes $6,000 (60%). You keep $4,000.
At Fitness 48, we operate on a rent model (capped at $800/month).
F48 Math: You generate $10,000 in sessions. You pay $800 (cap). You keep $9,200.
Your CPT certification taught you how to generate the result. We built the platform that lets you keep the reward.
The Next Step
You already did the hard part—learning the science of training. Don’t let a $50 filing fee or a lack of software stop you from owning your income.
If you’re ready to treat your training like a business, we have the facility to house it.