It’s been one week since Boris Johnson declared “a moment of national emergency”, with strict new restrictions in place to help keep the disease at bay #stayathome. It was a relief to finally be told the right thing to do. With the government recommending stricter measures with clearer guidelines it was time to put my fallback plan into action.
In the weeks running up to Boris’ announcement I had already explained to clients that they may need to transition to online training if Coronavirus took full force in the UK. As a pro green trainer, it is a somewhat alien concept to be offering this alternative but, fundamentally, the wellbeing of my clients is at the heart of my business and therefore the location becomes irrelevant when it’s either to train or not to train.
Like so many self-employed workers, my business has taken a massive hit. As I write this the sun is shining, it's a peak season for outdoor training and I would usually be receiving enquires from potential new clients. Going online has enabled me to continue training my current clients however, due to the financial insecurities many of us face at this time, for now it’s as quiet for enquiries as it is on the streets.
I would like to say a huge thank you to my loyal client base who have joined me, embarking on this new adventure in Cyber-world and have kept me busy and sane. As a small business I rely on referrals, word of mouth and the repeat business of my clients. I would like to express my gratitude by adding an extra session to the end of each package booked by repeat clients, referrals and new clients. I'm also including a complimentary program to thank each individual for their continued support during these difficult times. As always, anyone interested in online personal training can book in for a free session to meet me and get a taster of the experience just by sending an email to becksacefitness@gmail.com.
I believe that there is always a silver lining to every bad situation, for me my silver lining is that in January I began online training. I did not see it’s being utilised for these current circumstances; it was originally an opportunity for clients outside of East London to train with me. My first online client was Maryum in Essex. She contacted me after seeing an old post I'd written on Instagram about training clients through Ramadan, which she had always found difficult. Maryum is a fulltime mum and has a serious back injury. She’d struggled finding the time to exercise and also hadn’t found anyone who’d been able to adapt to her injuries. I created a bespoke program that would target the usual weight loss and toning goals despite this. I asked for her feedback after a month about how she felt her sessions were with me; specifically, I wanted to know if I’d managed to train her online in a way that met her goals and that she felt I had avoided aggravating her injuries? Check out this excerpt of the 5 out 5 review I received:
And so, it’s begun. For those who are currently training online we've made an amazing start to this venture. It's been full of laughter, hard work and tremendous leaps in fitness and development. My husband has been an absolute gem as always; I've taken over the main living area for work relegating him to one of the smaller rooms. He keeps me inspired to stay active and focused, he also keeps me fuelled with amazing food and has shared the workload that keeps the high standard my clients are used to while I scrambled to re-write everyones programs ahead of schedule.
I've expanded my Italian language by training a fantastic couple from Grosseto, Italy. One of the girls spoke little english but despite this language barrier we had a wonderful time laughing as I taught the girls how to do press ups and burpees.
I've "virtual visited" all my client's homes and even had tours. I've been able to check up on who actually did buy exercise equipment when I asked you all to in the first week of training too 😉.
My client Amy has bought a French Bulldog pup to keep her company and running around through isolation. What a face 🥰
I'd also like to do a special shout out to my client Sophie who works for the NHS at Homerton Hospital. I am really proud of her, she's such a trooper and shows so much strength going to work every day but also coming home after a long, hard day at work and toughing it out with me for an hour, remaining upbeat and focused throughout.
This smooth transition is all thanks to your positivity guys and we will get through this!
