Starting a Coaching Business

So, would you like to know what is involved in starting a coaching business?

Typical Services

Typical coaching services generally involve a weekly or fortnightly telephone session where the coach assists the client to develop clear goals and action plans to enable the client to achieve them.

A coach helps the client to solve problems, reach goals, design a plan of action and to make decisions.

Over time the coach provides support and guidance for the client as they work towards whatever goal they have selected. They do this by keeping the client on track and holding them accountable for completing the tasks they have agreed to complete.

Qualifications?

Training and certification to become a qualified coach is a significant cost.

Specialised coach training schools will charge you anywhere between $3,000 - $5,000 for a coaching course. My own coach training, which earned me a Certificate IV in Coaching (an Australian qualification) cost me $4,500. If you are looking for a good coaching school, and believe me some are much better than others, check out the coach training pages on the International Coach Federation website.

Equipment?

If you are planning to coach your clients by telephone, your equipment needs will be minimal.

You should invest in a good quality telephone and a headset, on a separate phone line. A computer with an internet connection and an email account will enable you to communicate with your clients, source research materials and to manage your client records.

Startup Costs?

Apart from the cost of coach training and equipment mentioned in the sections above, your startup costs will include advertising, membership fees for professional associations and business insurance. Although most coaches emphasise before, during and after the coaching relationship that the client is solely responsible for their on decisions, some clients will inevitably seek to blame others for poor outcomes.

You will also need to set aside enough to pay your bills for at least the first three months that your business is operating.

Potential Income?

As a coaching business is a personal service your income will be limited by the number of productive or chargeable hours you have available for coaching. Typical fees for life coaching range from $150.00 per month up to $450.00 per month, depending on the skills, experience and reputation of the coach. The fee usually covers four telephone coaching sessions per month plus e-mail contact between sessions.

Each session lasts for 45 - 50 minutes, with 15 minutes either side for preparation and writing up client notes. Most coaches also leave another 30 minutes between sessions for clients whose session run long or for those who call in late. So allow 1.5 hours for each session, or 5 sessions per day.

As with many other small businesses, you will need to set aside a certain amount of time to work on the business. If you allocate a day a week to managing your business, you have four days to coach your clients which equates to twenty sessions a week.

Depending on the fee charged, yearly earnings of coaches with twenty clients per month will range from $36,000 to $108,000. Very successful life coaches can earn much, much more than this by being able to command a higher fee, or by producing complimentary products and services.

Additional Resources

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