Your First Steps

Most trainers get to their first paying client in about 30 minutes. The Dashboard guides you through four steps. This page expands each one and links to the detailed guides for the parts that trip people up.

Step 1: Create your first training plan (5 min)

Click New Plan from the Dashboard or Library > Program Templates. Three paths:

- AI-generated: describe the goal, target client type, and equipment. Repley builds a periodised plan in under 60 seconds. You can edit any session before saving. - Manual build: start from a skeleton wizard (split, movement slots, equipment filter), then fill in exercises. Auto-saves every 2 seconds. - Bring an existing program over verbatim: if you already have plans written in another tool (Google Doc, Word, Trainerize export, Notion, your own notes), paste them into Repley and tell it to save verbatim. Exercise names, sets, reps, and your coaching notes get stored exactly as written, no AI rewriting. See Help: Save an Existing Program into Your Library (Verbatim). Most useful if you're switching from another platform and don't want to rebuild your library from scratch.

Save as a template once you have something you like. Templates are reusable — assign the same plan to multiple clients without rebuilding.

For deep AI assistant onboarding, see Help: First-Time User Onboarding.

Step 2: Invite your first client (3 min)

Two ways to add a client:

- Send an invitation email: Clients > Clients List > Invite Client. They get an email with your business branding, click "Accept Invitation", set a password, and they're in. - Add manually: Clients > Clients List > Add Manually. You enter their details directly. When you're ready to give them access, hit Send Setup Email on the client edit page.

The invitation email now includes App Store and Google Play links so your client can install the mobile app at the same time. They sign in to the app with the same email and password they used on the invitation.

For the manual-add flow, see Help: Send Setup Email to Manually Added Clients. For what your client experiences on iOS, see Help: Your Clients on the iOS App.

What your client sees: an email from "[Your Business Name]" (not BuildStability), with your logo and brand colour. After accepting, they see your branded portal on web and mobile.

Tip — message your client first. A quick text or WhatsApp message ahead of the invite stops it landing cold and reduces spam-folder risk. Something like: *"Sending you an invite to my new training app, look out for an email from [Your Business Name] in the next few minutes. Hit reply if it doesn't arrive."*

Step 3: Assign the plan to your client (1 min)

From the plan, click Save + Assign and pick the client. The plan starts today by default. The client sees it the next time they open the portal or mobile app.

You can assign different plans to different clients, version a plan over time (each new assignment creates a snapshot, history preserved), and supersede an old plan with a new one if goals change. Only one plan is Active per client at a time.

Step 4: Turn on billing (10-15 min)

Two paths depending on how you want to bill clients:

- Stripe Connect (recommended) — clients pay you directly. Payouts go to your bank, no commission to us. Full setup guide at Help: Step-by-Step Stripe Setup. Stripe's onboarding asks for your ABN, bank details, and a verification ID. Allow ~10 min. - Manual billing — you invoice and collect outside the app, BuildStability tracks the sessions, credits, and memberships. Full guide at Help: Creating Services Without Stripe.

Either way, your next step is to create a Service (a 1:1 PT session, a 10-pack, a recurring membership, a class drop-in). Business > Membership Plans. Once you have at least one service, you can attach it to a client invitation or recurring appointment so payment is collected at the point of booking.

For why Stripe Connect matters (and why your BuildStability subscription is separate from it), see Help: Why Connect Stripe?.

After the four steps

These aren't on the main 4-step Dashboard but most trainers want them sorted in week one:

- Branding — upload your logo, set your primary brand colour, pick a font, write a tagline. Everything in your client portal, mobile app, and email templates uses these. See Help: Branding Setup. - Booking & availability — Calendar > Availability. Sets the windows clients can book inside. Required if you want clients to self-book sessions. - Team members — Calendar > Team Members. Only relevant if you have multiple trainers.

Common stalls and how to unstick them

- *My client didn't get the invitation email.* Check spam first. The trainer-welcome and client-invitation emails are sent from your business name, which is a first-touch sender for the client. If still missing, hit Resend Invitation on the client edit page (rate-limited to 3 per hour). - *My client can't find the mobile app.* The invitation email now includes both store links. If they already have the email, ask them to scroll to "Prefer the mobile app?" section. Or share Help: Mobile App for Clients directly. - *I want to take payments but Stripe Connect feels like a lot.* Skip it for now. Use manual billing (Step 4 above), invoice outside the app, and come back to Stripe Connect when you have 2-3 clients on a recurring plan and the manual chasing gets annoying.

Each step can be skipped and revisited. The Dashboard tracks your progress.