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It's time you earn your Olympic Gold Medal and put your business on the podium where it belongs.

Vancouver is buzzing with excitement over the Olympics and it's hard not to catch Olympic fever. I'm mesmerized watching the athletes perform and feel so inspired. They've all worked so hard to get to the Olympics and some with very little financial support from their countries or their sport. It takes years of training, hard work and dedication to develop as an athlete and they don't do it alone. They have a team of coaches, therapists, psychologist and plenty of family support to get them to their Olympic dream. Alex Bilodeau, winner of the Olympic Gold in men's mogul freestyle, is a perfect example.

In an interview with Randy Starkman of the Toronto Star, Bilodeau spoke of all the people who helped him realize his Olympic dream but it's his brother, Frederic that's had the greatest impact in his life. Bilodeau believes his brother's attitude has rubbed off on him. "I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have the same perseverance if I didn't grow up with him," said the 22-year-old from Montreal. "I'm someone who never quits, even in training. I'm going to fight until the last moment, until I crash really bad.

"In training, it's just like competition and I'm fighting until I can't go any more and until I'm on one ski or something. Even then, I try to pull it back. I grew up with the mentality, `If my brother would have that chance, would he take it? Would he try more?' I always - I always - come to that same answer and it's, `Yes, he would try more.' That's why I can do it."

While not all athletes win Olympic gold, they all strive to earn a spot on the podium and realize their Olympic dream. As a personal trainer, you can appreciate the dedication it takes to make that happen. It's that same dedication and work that will get your business to earn gold. A few concerns I've heard over the years as a fitness educator and business coach is that independent personal trainers often feel isolated.

They find it difficult to juggle training clients, run their business and still find time for a personal life. If you step back from the situation and analyze why these businesses are not performing as top athletes, you would likely find the following reasons:

1) Lack of clear focus and direction - Businesses that lack focus and direction wander all over the place and often times down the wrong path. Imagine an athlete taking a wrong turn on a cross-country skiing course. It's hard to find the finish line when you aren't even on the right trail. This often happens when trainers try too many different approaches to marketing, zig-zagging from one strategy to the next before achieving any results. The secret to winning a gold medal in business is to "pick your course" and focus on one task at a time. For example, if you want to improve traffic to your website and turn clicks into clients, then this becomes your focus and project for the year. All your business decisions will center on optimizing your website and you won't wander off course.

2) High expectations and unrealistic goals - Does this one sound familiar? Clients have this issue all the time when it comes to exercise and believe it or not, so do personal trainers. It's like an athlete expecting to win gold but not understanding how to train properly for the event. These high expectations and unrealistic goals relate to marketing and attracting clients. For example, trainers post a website and expect people will instantly flock to their site and sign up. However, they may not have taken the time to learn how to best optimize their website to increase traffic, how to write web-copy that converts clients and has a call to action. Without understanding all the intricacies of how prospects surf the Internet, trainers are often disappointed with their results.

3) Spending too much time "working in" the business rather than "working on" the business. Trainers like to train and that's why they go into the industry. However, it takes as much time and dedication to build a business as it does to train clients. Neglecting this side of the business will cause it to lose momentum which means less clients and less revenue.

If all an athlete did was train their bodies and not work on their mental game, nutrition or injury management how likely would they be to earn a top spot at the Olympics? It's a fine balancing act between doing the work you love and having to do the work to keep it going.

To help keep you balanced between training and business here are a few tips.

•  For every hour of training book 30 minutes of office time.
• Block-off office hours in your non-training hours and stick to it.
• At the start of your office hours pick only one or two tasks you will accomplish for that day. Let your to-do list of a hundred items go. You'll never get them all done and it just feels overwhelming.
• Make time in your schedule for yourself and your workouts.

4) Trying to do things on your own. Earlier in this article I stressed that no athlete makes it to the podium on their own. They have a team of people helping them in every aspect you can think of. When it comes to running a successful personal training business there are plenty of resources available today that didn't exist five, ten and even fifteen years ago.

There are books, magazines, periodicals, courses, workshops, CDs, DVDs and business coaches to help ease the stress of running a personal training business and teach you how to make it successful. A trainer who tries to go it alone is like an athlete learning to train themselves. While some may make it many more will quit before the race has even begun. It's been my experience as a fitness educator and business coach that only 10% of people who start a personal training business achieve enough financial success that they stay in the industry. That means that approximately 90% of trainers leave the industry because they can't earn enough money to support themselves. I find that statistic to be quite alarming especially because all it would take for many of these trainers to succeed is some help.

I've given you the four obstacles most personal trainers and their businesses face. Now all you have to do is navigate your course in the right direction and turn sharply in the direction of success. There's no doubt that to get your business on the podium and earning a gold medal will take a lot of hard work, a clear focus and dedication. But it's worth it when you hear the anthem being played and you know it's because you've earned it.

Go Canada Go!

Donna Hutchinson is the owner of On The Edge Fitness (www.edgefit.ca),  the author of the How to Guide: Starting a Personal Training Business, and is a business and marketing coach for fitness industry professionals.

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