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No jargon · Plain English

What every tool does, in plain English.

New here? Just out? Never built a business before? This page shows you exactly what each screen does — with a phone and desktop preview — so you know which tool to open and why.

Browse the toolsFind my tools (2 min)
18 tools

Section 01

If you want to train people

Tools for becoming a personal trainer — building sessions, getting clients, getting paid.

Tool

Workout Planner

Build a full week of client training in minutes — grounded in 1,133 real exercises.

A structured plan builder backed by a curated library of 1,133 exercises (873 with images), 13 equipment types and 17 muscle groups across 3 difficulty tiers (Beginner → Advanced — including muscle-ups, pistols, Olympic lifts, strongman carries and plyos). The AI retrieves matching exercises from your vetted library before writing the plan, so every session fits the client's equipment, level and target muscles — not generic AI guesses. Save per-client plans, pin your favourite exercises, reuse templates, and export a branded, client-ready PDF in one click.

For: Any PT building plans for clients — from your first paying client to a full book. Especially useful if you're new and want a senior-coach safety net behind every session.
Open planner
MEM

Week 1 — Fat loss · Sarah, 34, gym

  • 1,133 exercises · 13 equipment types · 17 muscle groups
  • Mon · Push — barbell bench, DB shoulder press, cable fly
  • Wed · Pull — pull-ups, barbell row, face pull
Open
Tool

AI Workout Advisor

Your 24/7 AI coaching mentor — ask anything about training clients.

A chat tool powered by AI that acts like a senior PT mentor. Ask it anything: how to program for a client with an injury, how to explain progressive overload, what to charge, how to handle a no-show. It gives you a clear, plain-English answer you can use straight away — no jargon, no fluff. Use it to plan sessions, prep for tricky clients, or learn on the job.

For: New and self-employed PTs who don't have a senior coach to ask. Use it before sessions, between clients, or whenever you're stuck.
Ask the advisor
MEM

AI Advisor chat

  • You: Client has bad knees — what do I program?
  • AI: Start with box squats and hip hinges. Here's why…
  • You: How do I progress her safely over 4 weeks?
Open
Tool

PT Rate Calculator

Work out what to charge per session — without underselling yourself.

Punch in your postcode, your gym rent (or mobile/outdoor costs), how many hours you actually want to coach, and the take-home you need to live. The calculator factors in tax, NI, no-shows, holidays and quiet weeks, then gives you a per-session rate that hits your goal — plus a 'block of 6' price and a 'first session' offer you can use to convert leads. Compare against the going rate in your area so you don't price yourself out or work for free.

For: PTs setting prices for the first time, anyone moving from gym-employed to self-employed, and coaches who suspect they've been undercharging for years.
Calculate rate
MEM

Suggested rate

  • Area: London E2
  • Gym rent: £180 / wk
  • Take-home goal: £600 / wk
Open

Section 02

If you're starting a business

From your first idea to a registered company — the boring bits made simple.

Tool

Self-Employment Hub

Pick the right setup: Sole Trader, LTD or CIC — without paying an accountant £200 to explain it.

A guided decision tool that walks you through the three legal structures most MEM members use — Sole Trader (cheapest, fastest, you ARE the business), Limited Company (protects your house if it goes wrong, lower tax above ~£30k profit) and CIC (Community Interest Company — for projects that exist to help people, unlocks grants you can't get any other way). Plain-English comparison of tax, paperwork, what happens if you get sued, what funders will and won't touch, and exactly which one to pick for your situation. Includes a 'I have a criminal record — can I still be a director?' answer (yes, with caveats — we explain).

For: Anyone going legit for the first time, anyone who's been cash-in-hand and wants to scale, and ex-offenders worried about the disclosure rules around directorships.
Start here
MEM

Which one are you?

  • ○ Just me, low risk → Sole Trader
  • ○ Want to grow + protect myself → LTD
  • ○ I want to help my community → CIC
Open
Tool

Business Plan Drafter

A real, funder-ready business plan in 10 minutes — not a homework template.

Answer 8 short questions about your idea, your customers, your prices and what you need money for. The drafter writes a full plan in the language banks, Start Up Loans and grant assessors actually score against — exec summary, market, marketing, ops, financials, cashflow forecast, risk register. Edit any section, regenerate the bits you don't like, and export a branded PDF you can send to a bank, a funder, your probation officer, or DWP for the New Enterprise Allowance. Saves to your account so you can come back and tweak it as the business changes.

For: First-time founders, Start Up Loans applicants, grant applicants (Awards4All, Prince's Trust, UnLtd), and anyone DWP has asked for a business plan.
Draft my plan
MEM

Your plan — page 1

  • About: Mobile PT in East London
  • Customers: New mums, ages 28-40
  • Year 1 income goal: £24,000
Open
Tool

Setup Checklist

Tick off every step to be 'open for business' — nothing missed, nothing scary.

The full ordered list of everything you legally and practically need before you take your first paying client: register with HMRC for Self Assessment, open a separate business bank account (we list the ones that approve people with a record), public liability + professional indemnity insurance (with quote links), enhanced DBS, first-aid + CPR cert, safeguarding training if you'll work with under-18s, GDPR basics for client data. Each item explains what it is, why you need it, where to get it, how much it costs, and how long it takes — so you can plan around the slow bits (DBS can be 6 weeks).

For: Anyone who doesn't know what they don't know, and anyone who's been told 'you need insurance' but doesn't know which kind.
See checklist
MEM

Your checklist

  • ✅ Register with HMRC
  • ✅ Open a business bank account
  • ⬜ Get public liability insurance
Open
Tool

Funding Finder

Grants and loans you might actually get — filtered to your story, not a generic list.

Tell us your age, postcode, background (ex-offender, care leaver, recovery, single parent, veteran), what you're building and how much you need. The Funding Finder filters live UK schemes — Start Up Loans (£500–£25,000 at 6% with free mentoring), Prince's Trust Enterprise (£5,000 grant + mentor, 18–30s), UnLtd (£500–£15,000 for social entrepreneurs), Awards4All National Lottery (£300–£10,000 for community projects), borough-level enterprise grants — and shows you only the ones you're eligible for, with deadline, ask range, success rate and how to apply.

For: If you need money to start, money to grow, or money to keep going through a quiet quarter — and you don't have a rich uncle.
Find funding
MEM

3 matches for you

  • Start Up Loans — up to £25,000
  • Prince's Trust — £5,000 grant
  • Tower Hamlets Enterprise — £2,500
Open

Section 03

When the money comes in

Track what you earn, what you spend, and what you owe — without an accountant.

Tool

Finance Dashboard

See every pound that comes in and goes out — without an accountant or a spreadsheet.

Add income (cash, bank transfer, Stripe, PayPal) and expenses (kit, fuel, gym rent, course fees, phone bill) as they happen — or upload a CSV from your bank. The dashboard splits everything into categories HMRC recognise, automatically sets aside ~22% for tax + NI so you don't spend it by accident, and shows you a live profit number so you know what's actually yours. Quarterly view ready for Making Tax Digital, CSV export for your accountant, and a 'what if' slider that shows how much you'd take home if you raised your prices by £5.

For: Anyone trading — even £100 in your first week. Especially useful for sole traders who've been keeping receipts in a shoebox and CICs that need clean books for funders.
Open dashboard
MEM

This month

  • Income: £1,420
  • Expenses: £318
  • Profit: £1,102
Open
Tool

Tax Estimator

How much tax will I actually pay? Find out before HMRC tells you.

Type in your self-employed income, any PAYE wage on the side, and your business expenses. The estimator works out income tax (across all bands), Class 2 + Class 4 National Insurance, your personal allowance, and gives you a single 'set this aside now' number for your tax bill — plus what your two payments on account will be next January and July. Updated for the current tax year. Shows the exact lines that will appear on your Self Assessment so there are no surprises in January.

For: First-time Self Assessment filers, anyone who's just gone over the £1,000 trading allowance, and side-hustlers juggling a PAYE job with cash work.
Estimate tax
MEM

Tax due

  • Self-employed income: £18,000
  • Tax-free allowance: £12,570
  • Income tax: £1,086
Open

Section 04

Get found, get clients

How people find you and choose you.

Tool

Marketing Coach

What to post, where, and when — to get your first 5 paying clients in 30 days.

A 4-week content + outreach plan tuned to community fitness, mobile PT and prison-leaver businesses. Tells you exactly what to post on Instagram and TikTok (transformation reels, day-in-the-life, client wins, mythbusters), what to send on WhatsApp to old gym contacts, how to ask for reviews without being awkward, and how to turn a free taster into a paying block of 6. Includes caption templates, DM scripts, lead-magnet PDFs you can share, and a content calendar that stops you staring at a blank screen on a Sunday night.

For: Anyone who hates marketing but needs clients, anyone whose Instagram has 200 followers and 0 enquiries, and coaches relaunching after a quiet patch.
Get a plan
MEM

This week

  • Mon · Post a transformation reel
  • Wed · DM 5 old gym contacts
  • Fri · Ask 1 client for a review
Open
Tool

Coach Directory

A free public profile so clients, gyms and councils can find you — and message you direct.

We list you on memacademy.org/coaches with photo, bio, specialism (fat loss, strength, mobility, post-natal, prehab, youth, prison-leaver), area, price band, qualifications and verified DBS status. Clients filter by postcode and need, then message you through the platform — no fee, no commission. Your profile also gets indexed by Google so you show up for 'personal trainer + your area' searches. Toggle availability when you're full, pause when you're on holiday.

For: PTs ready to take on new clients, coaches building a waitlist, and CIC project leads who want their community work findable.
See directory
MEM

Your profile

  • Photo · Bio · Specialism
  • Area: Hackney + Tower Hamlets
  • Price: from £40 / session
Open

Section 05

Built from lived experience

Tools we built because the people we work with told us nothing else fits — community projects, food on a tight budget, accounts you can actually understand, real grant money, and a way to make a living from your story.

Tool

Lived Experience Hub

Turn your story into a community project — CIC, sessions, partnerships, all of it.

A step-by-step hub for ex-offenders, care leavers and people in recovery who want to set up a Community Interest Company, run sessions on their old estate, or partner with a prison, probation service or local council. You get: CIC registration walkthrough (Form CIC36, Asset Lock, Community Interest Statement), MOU templates for prison and probation partnerships, safeguarding policy template, risk assessment template, session plan templates, a 'first 6 sessions' delivery playbook, and case studies from MEM members already running it. Written by people who've actually done it — not consultants.

For: Anyone who's lived it and wants to change it — and wants the templates instead of paying £2,000 to a consultancy.
Open the hub
MEM

Your project

  • Step 1 · Pick your community
  • Step 2 · Register your CIC
  • Step 3 · Find a venue + funding
Open
Tool

Nutrition Planner

Real meals, real budgets, no faff — for clients or for yourself.

Build a 7-day meal plan around a calorie + macro target (fat loss, muscle gain, maintenance, prison-leaver budget, food-bank-friendly). Pick from a library of cheap, simple, high-protein meals — oats, eggs, chicken, rice, frozen veg, tinned fish, lentils — with portion sizes, calories and per-meal cost. Swap any meal for an alternative (halal, vegetarian, no-cook, microwave-only). Auto-generates a printable shopping list grouped by aisle, with a total weekly cost so you don't go over budget. Save plans per client or print one for yourself.

For: PTs writing client nutrition plans, anyone eating on £30 a week, and people just out who need to eat well in a hostel kitchen with one hob.
Plan meals
MEM

Mon · 2,100 kcal

  • Breakfast · Oats + banana
  • Lunch · Chicken rice + veg
  • Dinner · Tuna pasta
Open
Tool

Clara the Accountant

An accountant in your pocket — and a Universal Credit guide. Answers in 10 seconds, costs you nothing.

Snap a receipt and Clara reads it, categorises it (fuel, kit, training, phone, subsistence) and logs it. Ask 'is this allowable?' for any expense and she explains the HMRC rule in plain English. Paste your figures and she'll explain your profit, your tax bill and what to do next, line by line. Handles VAT thresholds, simplified expenses for vehicles, the £1,000 trading allowance, and the 'is this drawings or wages?' question that confuses every new LTD director. **Universal Credit support built in:** report your monthly self-employed income to UC the right way, understand the Minimum Income Floor and the 12-month start-up grace period, work out how earnings affect your award, log allowable expenses UC accepts, and get plain-English help with your journal — so going self-employed never costs you your safety net. Talks like a friend who happens to be a chartered accountant — not like HMRC or DWP.

For: Sole traders, CIC directors, first-year LTD owners, anyone on Universal Credit going self-employed, and anyone who opens a brown envelope from HMRC or DWP and feels their stomach drop.
Ask Clara
MEM

Clara chat

  • You: I'm on UC — how do I report this month?
  • Clara: Income £820 − allowable £190 = report £630
  • You: Will the MIF apply yet?
Open
Tool

Grant Builder

Win real grant money — without a fundraising team or a £3,000 bid writer.

Tell the Grant Builder your project (what, who for, where, outcomes). It matches you to live UK funders that fit (National Lottery Awards4All, Reaching Communities, UnLtd, Comic Relief, City Bridge, borough small grants), drafts the application in each funder's actual scoring language, and shows you the assessor's marking criteria so you know exactly what they reward. Builds your outcomes framework, your budget breakdown, your safeguarding statement and your monitoring plan — the four things that kill most bids. Save and reuse for the next funder.

For: CICs, charities, grassroots community projects and individual social entrepreneurs chasing £1k–£50k — especially first-time applicants who don't know the language.
Build a bid
MEM

Your bid · draft 1

  • Funder · National Lottery Awards4All
  • Ask · £9,800 over 12 months
  • Outcomes · 60 people, 3 sessions/wk
Open
Tool

Creator Hub

Make money from your face, your voice, your following — even if it's small.

Set up a creator profile, link your socials (Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Threads), and get matched to paid brand briefs and UGC (user-generated content) jobs from MEM partners and outside brands. Tracks your follower count, engagement rate, completed pitches and paid jobs in one place. Briefs include exact deliverables, fee, deadline and usage rights — no chasing, no ghosting. You don't need 100k followers; brands often pay more for 2k engaged followers than 50k passive ones.

For: Coaches, ex-offenders, community voices and lived-experience speakers building a platform — including people who think their following is 'too small'.
Open creator hub
MEM

Your creator page

  • Followers · 2.4k IG · 800 TikTok
  • Brief · 30-sec UGC reel
  • Fee · £180 + free product
Open
Tool

Fashion Hub

How to start your own activewear or streetwear brand — from idea to first drop.

A step-by-step founder guide built for people who want to build a brand, not just wear one. Covers how to find a UK manufacturer, price your first collection without killing your margin, set up a Shopify store, launch on social, and handle the legal basics. Includes an AI business plan generator, tell it your brand name, product type, target customer and budget, and it drafts a UK-ready plan you can export as a PDF.

For: Anyone with a brand idea, a design, or a story they want to put on a garment — from first concept to first sale.
Open fashion hub
MEM

Brand Builder

  • Manufacturer lookup · UK based
  • Pricing model · 60% margin target
  • Shopify setup checklist
Open

Section 06

Look after yourself

Because you can't help anyone if you're running on empty.

Tool

Wellbeing Check-in

A 60-second mood + energy log — spot the dip before it floors you.

Three quick taps: how did you sleep, how's your mood (1–10), did you train, one word for today. Logs over time so you can see patterns — the low-mood Mondays, the sleep dips before a crash, the weeks you stopped training and felt it. Optional prompts nudge you toward the right tool when something's off (poor sleep two weeks running → wellbeing reading list; low mood three days running → 24/7 helpline numbers). Private to you. No data shared with staff or partners unless you choose to.

For: Everyone. Especially useful in the first 90 days post-release, during a stressful business stretch, or after a relapse — no shame, no judgement, no clinical labels.
Check in
MEM

Today

  • Sleep: 6 hrs · ok
  • Mood: 7 / 10
  • Trained: yes
Open

Our story

Why we built these tools

Short version: nothing else fit the people we work with.

In 2017, Derrick was invited by Penrose London CRC to a prison employment fair at HMP Pentonville. Amongst far larger organisations, he had the most visited table — because candidates heard his story and recognised something none of the other tables could offer: proof.

Prison in the US. Self-employed PT on release in 2008. Sportswear brand mem.fitness in 2011. Community Interest Company in 2015.

That job fair became three years of weekly visits to Pentonville's Getting Right Programme. Bounce Back, Catch22, DWP Pentonville — all referred. Every candidate received consultation, course access, and work placement on MEM's community projects. The loop closed when they became the lived-experience coaches — delivering prevention programmes in the same deprived communities they came from.

Self-employment support existed. What didn't exist was a SaaS platform built specifically for this journey — fitness-sector focused, free from day one, with the tools shaped by the people who actually needed them.

In 2024, funded by City Bridge Foundation, MEM returned to HMP Belmarsh. The demand was the same. The gap in digital infrastructure remained.

MEM Academy is the world's only SaaS platform built for this pathway — by someone who made the journey, tested by everyone who followed.

Still not sure where to start?

Take the 2-minute starter — we'll point you at the 3 tools that actually matter for you, today.

Start here
Common questions

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers on workout planning, HMRC/MTD finance and setting up a CIC.