45 Fitness Related Business Ideas You Can Start Today [2023]

45 Fitness Related Business Ideas You Can Start Today [2023]

Interested in starting a fitness business in 2023?

We put together 45 of the best fitness businesses you can start in today.

For each business idea, we’ll show you real-world examples of other fitness businesses to help you see what it really takes.

Here's the full list:

1. Become a mobile personal trainer ($720K/year)

How Much Can You Make?
$600 — $8,333,333/month
Average Initial Investment
$75,005
Time To Revenue
240 days
Time Commitment Per Week
Min. 4 hours/week
Skills
Interests
Business model

Chris Anderson from Overland Park, Kansas, USA started Live Fit about 12 years ago, a mobile personal trainer.

  • Revenue: $60,000/ month
  • Founders: 1
  • Employees: 1
  • Location: Overland Park, Kansas, USA

Case Study

I started Live Fit because I felt I was running out of options in the industry I loved so much. Personally, I felt the misses in the personal training industry and wanted to change that. Personal Training, as well as all types of fitness, can be very intimidating to most people. And honestly, the people that are most intimidated by fitness are often the people that need it the most. I set out to create a company that provided the same types of exercises, programming, and results as generally all fitness companies, but I wanted to make it a comfortable experience from the moment a potential client stepped through our doors.

All our processes, our studio layout, our team of trainers we have hired, and our entire mission are based on making clients feel comfortable, appreciated, and valued. We do things differently and over the past 10 years, I have seen other companies in our area follow our lead. Long gone are the days of slamming weights, extremely loud music, and uncomfortable gym environments. People want to go where they feel comfortable and respected.

I have always loved sports and started at a young age, with my dad as my coach. I continued athletics through high school and went on to run college track where I based my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees entirely on building my career in the fitness industry. The last thing I was willing to do was to throw it all away based on a lack of opportunity, so I created my own with Live Fit. I believe in spirituality and the law of attraction and base my life on those principles. So in early 2011 when I couldn’t focus on my spiritual study and spiritual growth because my mind was consumed with running numbers about opening my own company, I knew that was a sign from God it was time to create something great.

how-i-started-a-60k-month-personal-training-company

2. Start an archery range business

Examples of a successful archery range business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a archery range business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting an archery range business ➜

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3. Start a snowboards business

Examples of a successful snowboards business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a snowboards business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a snowboards business ➜

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4. Start a balls manufacturing business

Examples of a successful balls manufacturing business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a balls manufacturing business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a balls manufacturing business ➜

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5. Start a canoe and kayak tours business

Examples of a successful canoe and kayak tours business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a canoe and kayak tours business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a canoe and kayak tours business ➜

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6. Start a sports club business

Examples of a successful sports club business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a sports club business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a sports club business ➜

7. Start a baseball batting cage business

Examples of a successful baseball batting cage business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a baseball batting cage business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a baseball batting cage business ➜

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8. Start a badminton academy business

Examples of a successful badminton academy business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a badminton academy business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a badminton academy business ➜

9. Become a skiing instructor

Examples of a successful skiing instructor:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a skiing instructor:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a skiing instructor ➜

10. Start a sports wear store

How Much Can You Make?
$20,000 — $660,000/month
Average Initial Investment
$30,000
Skills

Examples of a successful sports wear store:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a sports wear store:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a sports wear store ➜

Case Study

Hi everyone! Welcome to my crazy journey! My name is Kressa and I am the inventor of the Shower Toga-The world's first and only waterproof changing garment. And this below is the best picture I have ever taken-lol. People look at me and then look at this photo and say “That’s not you” so I guess the stars were aligned that day. Thank you Mark for inviting me to sit in your chair. So here is my story.

Giving back is very important to me. I have to say that as a small start-up company, giving back, to the extent that we do, is probably not the smartest financial move but I do my best to balance it. My goal is not to get rich. My goal is to grow my company and have security for my family, but more importantly, it is to make a difference in the lives of others. That can be something as simple as giving someone confidence to grab a bite to eat after a long, sweaty beach day or as complicated as helping a migrant child at the border clean up with privacy & dignity in a safe manner.

traveling-in-an-rv-to-promote-our-240k-year-waterproof-changing-garment-as-seen-on-shark-tank

11. Start a billiards hall business

Examples of a successful billiards hall business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a billiards hall business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a billiards hall business ➜

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12. Become a sports blogger ($134K/year)

How Much Can You Make?
$250 — $18,400/month
Average Initial Investment
$200
Skills

Examples of a successful sports blogger:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a sports blogger:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a sports blogger ➜

Case Study

My name is Seth Keysor, and I’m the creator of the Chief in the North Newsletter, a Substack publication dedicated to covering the Kansas City Chiefs and the NFL at large.

In under 2 years since I started this site, over 5,500 subscribers have jumped on board and it’s reached a point that it’s gone from a hobby that pays to a legitimate side income of over $4,000 a month.

how-i-started-a-nfl-newsletter-that-earns-4k-month-side-hustle

13. Start a sports shop business

How Much Can You Make?
$100,000 — $1,000,000/month
Average Initial Investment
$5,000
Skills

Examples of a successful sports shop business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a sports shop business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a sports shop business ➜

Case Study

Hello, my name is Chris Meade, and I’m the co-founder of CROSSNET, the world’s first four-way volleyball game. We have created a revolutionary four-way volleyball net where four players compete in a hybrid version of foursquare and volleyball in a competitive game to 11, win by 2.

We began working on our first prototype of CROSSNET during the summer of 2017 when I and our co-founders Greg Meade and Mike Delpapa moved to Miami to start our business. In 2018 we did $74,000 in revenue and just one year later we 30x’d our business in 2019 to $2,250,000 in sales.

how-we-invented-a-2-5m-year-four-way-volleyball-net

14. Start a swim school

How Much Can You Make?
Skills

Examples of a successful swim school:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a swim school:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a swim school ➜

Case Study
  • Paulana Lamonier started this swimming coaching school named Black People Will Swim specifically to break the stereotype that black people don’t swim.

  • Although Black People Will Swim officially launched in January 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic delayed the start of swim lessons until July 2021.

  • Paulana Lamonier's small business journey began operations thanks to a tweet. When she tweeted that she wanted to teach 30 Black people how to swim on Long Island, New York, she received hundreds of requests from people all over the country.

  • Motivated by her personal experience and tired of stereotypes and statistics, Lamonier set out to change this statistic, and thus Black People Will Swim was born.

  • Within a few years, the 31-year-old was able to secure a pool, hire swim coaches, and begin teaching students.

  • The founder used $5,000 of her savings to start the company, which included forming an LLC, renting a pool, and hiring a business coach and a creative director.

  • Since then, she has raised nearly $136,000 in grants, including a $10,000 grant from Adidas and a $25,000 grant from American Express, both of which aim to support female founders who are making a difference in sports.

  • Currently, Paulana makes around $500 to $1000 after paying for the rent, the instructors, and her aquatic director.

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15. Start a golf instruction business

How Much Can You Make?
$165,000/month
Skills

Examples of a successful golf instruction business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a golf instruction business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a golf instruction business ➜

Case Study

Hello, my name is Sean Petersen and I am the founder of Golf Trip Junkie, a trusted source for delivering memorable customized golf vacations to our valued customers.

My business is growing more than I ever expected, with average monthly revenue of $165,000.

how-i-built-a-1-98m-year-business-planning-golf-inspired-vacations

16. Start a cycling club business

Examples of a successful cycling club business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a cycling club business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a cycling club business ➜

17. Start a boxing center business

Examples of a successful boxing center business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a boxing center business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a boxing center business ➜

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18. Start a bounce house business

Examples of a successful bounce house business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a bounce house business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a bounce house business ➜

19. Start a windsurfing coaching business

Examples of a successful windsurfing coaching business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a windsurfing coaching business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a windsurfing coaching business ➜

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20. Start an indoor games academy business

Examples of a successful indoor games academy business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a indoor games academy business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting an indoor games academy business ➜

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21. Start a campground business

Examples of a successful campground business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a campground business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a campground business ➜

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22. Start an athletic club business

Examples of a successful athletic club business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a athletic club business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting an athletic club business ➜

23. Start a chess school business

How Much Can You Make?
Skills

Examples of a successful chess school business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a chess school business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a chess school business ➜

Case Study
  • Jeff started Elite Chess in 2012 to teach chess to young minds.
  • Running his own camps allowed him to earn five times as much as when he was teaching children how to play chess while working in summer camp chess programs for $17 an hour.
  • He then transitioned to an online recurring membership model, in part due to the pandemic to keep his business afloat.
  • Right now he provides both virtual and in-person classes and organizes special summer and chess tournaments. His mission is to teach young minds this beautiful game of chess and help them develop chess skills & life skills from a young age.

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Read the full article on sidehustlenation.com ➜

24. Start a basketball academy business

Examples of a successful basketball academy business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a basketball academy business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a basketball academy business ➜

25. Start a bungee jumping service

Examples of a successful bungee jumping service:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a bungee jumping service:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a bungee jumping service ➜

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26. Start a shuttle cock making business

Examples of a successful shuttle cock making business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a shuttle cock making business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a shuttle cock making business ➜

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27. Start a nutrition guides business

How Much Can You Make?
$500,000 — $1,000,000/month
Skills

Examples of a successful nutrition guides business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a nutrition guides business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a nutrition guides business ➜

Case Study

Mike saw people didn’t have a problem with fitness, but a problem with nutrition. He started Stronger U, a nutrition coaching company, and makes $600k/mo.

28. Start a fitness center

How Much Can You Make?
$20,000 — $39,875,000/month
Average Initial Investment
$100,000
Skills

Examples of a successful fitness center:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a fitness center:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a fitness center ➜

Case Study

My name is John Zarbock. I am the CEO and Founder of BioFit. I started my business in November of 2018 in St. Louis, Missouri. We build better humans by providing them with the most effective, efficient, and safe exercise on the planet. We do this through the High-Intensity Training (HIT) methodology mostly by leveraging the Adaptive Resistance Exercise (ARX) machines. They are designed to achieve exercise results in as little as 20 minutes a week by performing not only each rep and set near perfectly but also allowing for the maximum amount of intensity every moment of every session in the safest way possible while giving each client real-time feedback on progress and performance. We deploy a simple success formula: Work + Rest = Growth.

We currently have approximately 125 clients and our average monthly revenue is $20k. We have about an 80% closing ratio and our client retention is over 70%. The intricacies of the business have been very dynamic as I have served more than half of my time operating it while on Active Duty for the Army. I am currently deployed overseas in Kuwait so there have been challenges in growth and scale but we have grown year over year in both memberships and revenue despite having a skeleton crew of dedicated team members and partners in the last two years.

i-built-a-240k-year-business-while-deployed-in-kuwait

29. Start a karate studio business

Examples of a successful karate studio business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a karate studio business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a karate studio business ➜

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30. Start an online sports shop business

How Much Can You Make?
$2,500 — $300,000/month
Skills

Examples of a successful online sports shop business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a online sports shop business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting an online sports shop business ➜

Case Study

I'm Shenglong You, one of the co-founders of Thurso Surf. We make award-winning stand-up paddleboards packages with best-in-class accessories to make every step of your journey to the water easier than ever so you can focus on having fun out there.

Since 2018 when we launched thursosurf.com we have grown rapidly and earned a name as one of the best SUP brands in the highly competitive mid-range market. We've sold thousands of boards in dozens of countries, including the US, Canada, the UK, and the EU. We’ve been named one of the top blogs in the SUP sector and we've seen traffic increase 16X since our first year in operation with sales not far behind. We're still in rapid growth mode and don't plan on slowing down!

these-childhood-friends-designed-a-1-2m-year-stand-up-paddleboard

31. Become a football referee

Examples of a successful football referee :

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a football referee :

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a football referee ➜

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32. Start a sports memorabilia business

Examples of a successful sports memorabilia business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a sports memorabilia business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a sports memorabilia business ➜

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33. Start a health consultations business

Examples of a successful health consultations business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a health consultations business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a health consultations business ➜

34. Become a sports photographer

Time To Revenue
180 days
Skills
Business model
Work from home

Examples of a successful sports photographer:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a sports photographer:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a sports photographer ➜

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35. Start a sports bar

Examples of a successful sports bar:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a sports bar:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a sports bar ➜

36. Start a martial art school

Examples of a successful martial art school:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a martial art school:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a martial art school ➜

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37. Start a sports scout business

Examples of a successful sports scout business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a sports scout business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a sports scout business ➜

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38. Start a sport coach training business

Examples of a successful sport coach training business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a sport coach training business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a sport coach training business ➜

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39. Start a tennis academy business

Examples of a successful tennis academy business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a tennis academy business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a tennis academy business ➜

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40. Start a sports magazine publishing business

Average Initial Investment
$1,000
Skills

Examples of a successful sports magazine publishing business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a sports magazine publishing business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a sports magazine publishing business ➜

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41. Start a video game parlor

Examples of a successful video game parlor:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a video game parlor:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a video game parlor ➜

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42. Start a sports camps business

Examples of a successful sports camps business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a sports camps business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a sports camps business ➜

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43. Become a yoga instructor

How Much Can You Make?
$60,000/month
Average Initial Investment
$25,300
Time To Revenue
240 days
Skills
Business model
Work from home

Examples of a successful yoga instructor:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a yoga instructor:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a yoga instructor ➜

Case Study

Hey everyone! I am Chris and in March 2011 I started Live Fit. Live Fit is a personal training company that was created to change the standards in the personal training industry. Early on I focused on building a company that is not only based on results, as most fitness companies are, but that is also focused very heavily on relationships. Relationships create trust, trust creates buy-in, and buy-in leads to the accountability and dedication it takes to get results.

how-i-started-a-60k-month-personal-training-company

44. Start a sports t-shirt making business

How Much Can You Make?
$475,000,000/month
Skills

Examples of a successful sports t-shirt making business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a sports t-shirt making business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a sports t-shirt making business ➜

Case Study

Under Armour is one of America's top sports equipment & sports apparel manufacturing companies. Patrik Frisk is the present CEO.

In 1996, Kevin Plank started the brand from scratch in the basement of his grandmother's house in Washington, D.C.

The idea behind the brand was generated on a football field in 1996 when Kevin Plank was playing as the captain for the University of Maryland special teams. He had the epiphany that there must be a better option as he looked down at his bulky, sweat-soaked cotton T-shirt.

One of the first products of Under Armour was a sports shoe, and Kevin began by creating a synthetic base layer that would wick away sweat. From there, they expanded the range of Under Armour's products to include long-sleeve shirts, cold-weather clothing, and later, football, cross-training, and running shoes.

Fast forward to 2019, they just reported $5.27 billion in revenue.

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Read the full story on cnbc.com ➜

45. Start a sports copywriting business ($240K/year)

How Much Can You Make?
$300,000/month
Skills

Examples of a successful sports copywriting business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a sports copywriting business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a sports copywriting business ➜

Case Study

I’m Zack Johnson, and I run ggCircuit,which provides premium software, services, and support for esports arenas around the world.

UC Irvine Esports Arena - One of our first university customers in 2016

we-offer-premium-services-for-e-sports-arenas-worldwide-3-6m-year

Pat Walls,  Founder of Starter Story
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I'm Pat Walls and I created Starter Story - a website dedicated to helping people start businesses. We interview entrepreneurs from around the world about how they started and grew their businesses.

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