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Most Personal Trainers Never Escape This Trap
The difference between being the business and building a business
Cardy Brothers
May 08, 2025
15 years ago, I was a personal trainer renting space in someone else’s gym.
I showed up early. Stayed late. Filled my calendar.
And if I ever dared take a week off, my income disappeared with it.
No sessions = no money.
It was a great way to build experience. But it wasn’t a career.
It was just a job where I was the product.
A pic of me in my PT days. I filled every hour!
As time went on, I realised something needed to change.
If I ever wanted real freedom, time, flexibility and actual growth…
I needed one thing:
Leverage.
Leverage is making money without trading your time for it.
Most personal trainers don’t have any. They are the business.
If they stop, everything stops.
But here’s where things shifted.
We opened our own studio.
Starting our studio finally meant we had leverage
And that’s when leverage finally kicked in.
Now we have coaches delivering sessions under our brand.
We have systems that work 24/7.
That’s the power of leverage: it compounds.
Here’s a simple way to think about it:
If I’m a personal trainer charging £40/hour, the most I can earn from that hour is £40.
But if I own a studio and one of our coaches runs a session with 6 members, all paying £18…
That’s £108 earned in that same hour.
I pay the coach £25. That leaves £83 profit (without me needing to be there).
I can use that time to open the next studio and repeat the process.
That’s how you build a business.
That’s how you buy back your time.
There are four types of leverage:
Labour – other people doing the work (e.g. your coaches)
Capital – your money working for you
Code – systems that run without you (CRMs, automations)
Content – your brand working 24/7 (email list, reels, social proof)
“Leverage is the difference between rich and wealthy. Rich people make money when they work. Wealthy people make money when they sleep.”
As a PT paying rent in someone else’s gym, I had none of these.
Now I have all four.
If you’re still stuck doing 40+ sessions a week, you’re not doing it wrong.
You’re just early.
But make no mistake: if you want to build something that gives you freedom, you’ll need leverage.
And if you’re ready to take the first step, we’re building something to help.
Studio Prep Kit (Waitlist Now Open)
This is the course we wish existed when we were first thinking about opening a studio.
The Studio Prep Kit will help you go from:
“I think I want to open my own studio…”
…to “I’m ready to sign a lease and launch properly.”
Inside, we’ll help you:
Get clarity on your numbers
Find the perfect location meeting our criteria
Build your offer, pricing and positioning
Avoid the big (and expensive) mistakes when it comes to signing a lease
Understand what it actually takes to open a successful space
This is for trainers who are actively thinking of opening their own space and we’re capping the first intake at 10 spots.
NEW EPISODE
Why Online Isn’t the Only Way to Scale Your PT Business
In this episode, we share how we grew from PTs to studio owners, and the plan we’re now rolling out to help others do the same. Plus, we reveal our full campaign calendar for the year and how we’re fighting rising ad costs with smarter, seasonal offers.
You’ll learn:
Why scaling doesn’t have to mean going online
The mindset shift from coach to owner
Our full 2025 offer timeline (and how to make yours)
The internal systems we’re using to reduce CPA
Easy campaigns you can run without spending a penny on ads
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Cardy Brothers
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