You’ll find a lot of coaches online, but what do they do?
Coaches help their clients achieve goals that help them improve their life. Depending on what kind of coach you’re dealing with, a coach focuses on specific areas of your life and achieving measurable outcomes.
For instance, a business coach helps entrepreneurs start and grow their business. A life coach assists a person in gaining clarity on his life goals and working towards achieving them. A health coach works with people who want to live a healthy, nutritious, and active lifestyle.
Other types of coaches you’ll encounter include:
- Career coaches
- Executive coaches
- Wellness coaches
- Performance coaches
- Skills coaches
- Financial coaches
- Spiritual coaches
- Relationship coaches
You may liken coaches to counselors, but unlike the latter, you don’t need a license to become a coach. You may also specialize in a niche, like focusing on weight loss as a health coach or zeroing in on marketing skills as a business coach.
Pay for coaches varies greatly, depending on the industry and type of coaching they provide. For instance, life coaches can earn anywhere from $29,000 to $253,000 a year, while business coaches generally get paid more because they offer coaching to businesses and not just individuals.
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Why Should You Become a Coach?
Wondering if you should go into the coaching industry? Here are the advantages of being a coach:
- It’s easy to enter the industry. Almost anyone can become a coach, as long as you’re committed to helping others. Coaching is not yet a regulated industry, so you can literally accept clients anytime.
- It’s affordable to start. You don’t need a lot of money to jump-start your coaching career. All you need is a laptop connected to the internet and some quality headphones. To talk to your prospects, download Skype for free. You can also create a website to attract more prospects.
- You find joy in helping others. Again, coaching is all about assisting other people and businesses in achieving their goals. If you have a knack for helping, coaching is one business that you’ll enjoy and thrive in.
- You can offer individualized or group coaching. Options are flexible when it comes to coaching. Many people like working one-on-one with their clients so that they can customize their approach. But there are also lots of people who want to avail of coaching but don’t have the budget to do so. You can offer group coaching to them so that they can still learn from you despite budget constraints, and you can help more people in less time.
Are There Any Disadvantages to Being a Coach?
Like all other endeavors, coaching has its drawbacks, such as the following:
- You need to get certified. Because of the fierce competition in the coaching industry, you need to offer something that will make you stand out. The easiest way to do that is by becoming certified in your industry to gain more trust and credibility from your potential clients.
- You need lots of patience. As a coach, you’ll deal with a lot of client objections, especially in the beginning. Many of them are resistant to change, so expect that some of your clients won’t always follow your suggestions. You need to have excellent people skills, empathy, and patience to cope with these people and help them achieve their goals.
- You’ll spend a lot of time on client meetings, mostly via phone or video conferencing. It’s normal to have multiple appointments in a day. But you always have to make sure that when you meet with a client, you’re always in top form.
- It takes a while to build a stable coaching business.
So, now that you know the pros and cons of starting a coaching company, it’s time to figure out how to start one.
Without further ado, check out the following steps on how to start a coaching company:
Steps on Starting a Coaching Company
Step 1: Decide on your niche.
Being a generalist coach is a nightmare to market.
To be a successful coach, you need to provide answers and fixes to a specific problem in a given situation. You won’t be able to do that if you’re casting too wide a net. Cutting back on sugar might work for those who want to lose weight, but it may not be as relevant for people who wish to advance their career or become a better partner to their significant other.
That’s why you need to choose what kind of coaching you want to do, first and foremost. As mentioned above, there are various kinds of coaching that you can pursue. A lot of people go for life coaching or business coaching, but you can also try being a niche coach specifically for weight loss, parenting, or productivity.
As a coach, you must know the pains, desires, and struggles of the people you wish to serve. You have to be confident that you can impart your expertise and experience to your students so that you can be the go-to coach in that niche.
To help you know what kind of niche you’re best suited to, here are some questions you should ask yourself:
- Who do you want to help?
- What problem do you want to help that person solve?
- What skill are you most knowledgeable and experienced at?
Use the questions above to create your unique offer: “I help [people you want to help] with [problem you want to solve] by using [your skill].
Don’t worry—as you establish your name in the coaching industry, you’ll get the opportunity to expand your services and client base as well.
Step 2: Consider getting a coaching training.
Though it’s not required to get a coaching training, enrolling in one can help you increase your marketability and credibility. It can also help you become a better coach overall as you get access to various tools and resources that you can use for your practice.
Step 3: Set up your business.
Create a business name and register to get a license in your local area.
Though creating a business name can be daunting, the easiest way to do this is by using your name. It immediately associates the coaching business to you, building top-of-mind awareness to your clients. It also establishes you as a brand.
If you’re planning to start a coaching firm in the future and don’t want to incorporate your name, you can create a name that speaks about the solutions you’re offering. This helps you speak to your ideal client and communicate to them the answers they’re seeking.
Another thing you need to consider before obtaining a license is your preferred coaching business structure. You can apply for a sole proprietorship, limited liability company, cooperative, corporation, or partnership—depending on your area of practice.
You also have the option to work from an office or the comfort of your home. If you have the budget for leasing and maintaining a professional office, you can get one as it gives you a more professional appearance. But if you like a more flexible and convenient way to go about your business, you can stay at home and work from there.
Step 4: Choose your platform and buy the right equipment.
Aside from licensing, you should also invest in tools and materials you’ll need as you go along. For instance, you’ll need a video conferencing platform if you’re planning to do your coaching sessions online, so choose one that allows you to record and store your calls.
If you’re thinking of doing group coaching, you may want to subscribe to an online meeting platform like GoToMeeting or WebEx.
You’ll also need a pair of quality headsets and a stable internet connection, so invest in one. Plus, you might need handouts and homework, so create downloadable PDF versions for your online mentees.
Step 5: Create a marketing plan.
Your coaching business won’t sell itself, that’s why you need to have a solid and detailed marketing plan to help you find the best clients.
Here are some marketing tips to remember:
Go to places where your clients hang out.
For instance, if you’re a career coach, having an active and optimized LinkedIn profile is a must. If you’re a weight loss coach, creating exercise videos on YouTube and sharing recipes through email newsletters should be part of your marketing plan.
Create a website
Building a website should also be a part of your marketing efforts in having an online presence. A lot of coaches are contented with creating a Facebook business page, not knowing that websites make you look more legitimate and trustworthy.
Plus, it’s more secure to have a website than a Facebook page because it’s not subject to Facebook algorithm changes. You have full control over your website, and you can post anything you want to market yourself, such as testimonials, case studies, and content that’s relevant to your target market.
Offer free consultations
When you’re just starting, you might also want to consider offering a complimentary 30-minute coaching session to give people a feel of what you can provide them. This allows them to try out your services without committing yet.
If you give them a value-packed free call, they might consider hiring you for a full coaching session.
Not all coaches have the capacity to succeed in the highly competitive coaching industry. Don’t be one of them.
Instead, follow the steps above, and you’re bound to achieve the goals you’ve set for your coaching business.