Starting A Life Coaching Business Successfully

Page Summary

This page will guide you in the right direction to embark of this exciting but challenging journey of starting a life coaching business. 

It will give you some essential information on fees, the systems and the legal protections you should put in place, marketing options as well as creating an efficient and comfortable work space.  Use the links below.

Quick Links

1. About choosing your niche
2. Putting business systems in place
3. Setting life coaching fees
4. Attracting clients
5. Agreements and contracts

6. Mastering online life coaching
7. Life coach insurance
8. Setting up the coaching space
9. Life Coach Training?
10. Coaches share experiences

FYI: I may receive commissions at no cost to you. Please see my affiliate disclosure for more.

About Choosing Your Niche

Much of the information you will read about starting a life coaching business starts will advising you to choose a niche - often a very specific with a narrow demographic. In fact many coach training schools encourage this as the first step, even before you learn how to coach, questions to ask a client🌝 or structure a program. 

For some this is easy, they know who they want to coach, but for others it an be a real struggle to come up with a niche so early.  My take on this is that when you start out as a life coach you may be best to either choose a broad niche (such as career, business, confidence, health etc) and a general client demographic. 

You may even opt to have no specific niche at all and just market yourself as a life coach who can take your clients from where they are to where they want to be. 

This means you will be open to far more opportunities to coach and gain and get experience and can let your preferred client base emerge naturally.  

I've written lots more about niches and choosing one

 Basic Systems For Setting Up a Life Coaching Business 

As with any business your coaching practice needs systems to keep track of prospective clients, client sessions, coaching session times, payments, expenses and so on. 

Coaching software packages: There are several software program systems specifically written for coaches which include a booking system for appointments and have functions that enable you to invoice, take payments and keep notes about client sessions and keep track of progress.

These heavily promoted software packages can be pricey and their format may not suit the particular records you want to keep. However, many offer a free trial period so you can try before you buy.

Or, until you reach a point where you really feel overwhelmed with keeping track of clients, bookings, payments etc, or if you are on a tight budget, keeping records and payments on simple spread sheets, an online calendar and in folders (physical or online) may be sufficient. 

Your business setup: One of the first things you have to decide on is whether you are going to set yourself up as a sole trader or a limited liability company or whatever structures are available in your country or state. An accountant may be the best person to advise you what would work best for your particular circumstances.

Deciding On Your Life Coaching Fees

Maybe you are confident about what you can charge. Maybe not! There are more words written about setting fees than almost any other aspect of starting a coaching business - apart from how to get clients. 

It is important to get it right if you are going to attract your ideal coaching client. Do your market research but don't fall into the trap of comparing yourself with what other coaches are charging. 

You'll find some useful information and pointers to help you get it right in Life Coaching Fees. 

Payments: How are you going to get paid? There are lots of options to research to find the one that suite you best such as Paypal and Stripe, Wise (previously Transferwise), or even direct deposit. Wise is excellent if you are planning coaching on an international client base as it allows you to open an account in any currency you choose without huge fees.

Design A Marketing Strategy To Attract Clients

You need decide how to build and grow your life coaching business by choosing what marketing methods appeal to you for getting out there and getting known both face to face and online as an expert coach. 

Your marketing plan to attract clients who want to have you as their coach need not be expensive. There are many ways to attract clients including networking, clever business cards, writing articles and giving presentations as well as social media options such as FaceBook that can raise your profile with prospective clients. See the related pages at the foot of this page for 12 affordable marketing ideas. 

As a start you could do no better than to watch this webinar What does it REALLY Take to Grow a Successful Coaching Business, 10 lessons with Emma-Louise Elsey of the Coaching Tools Company. Emma tells it how it is, warts and all, from her own experience in getting building her successful coaching business. It's current, well presented and has really good advice.

 How To Grow Your Coaching Business With Online Life Coaching

Covid19 has made many coaches transition to using phone or online platforms to coach their clients. Online life coaching can be a challenge if you’ve only ever coached face to face but the information and tips in Mastering Online Life Coaching will make coaching this way a lot easier.

I found remote coaching by phone or Skype, (which I've done for years) just as effective and intimate as face to face for the majority of clients. The trick was in convincing those who prospective clients who had reservations of the benefits.

So do check out the benefits of phone and online coaching for you and the client, as well as tips for mastering the technology and also looking and sounding your best online.

Life Coaching Agreements And Contracts

As with any business your coaching practice should be set up so you have protection from the unlikely possibility of legal action.

You need to have water tight agreements or contracts with your clients, disclaimers, copyright protection and even a refund policy. These are all critically important to have in place and agreed in writing so both you and the client know exactly where they stand in the coaching relationship. 

Lawyers can be expensive so as a start take advantage of this free general advice and explore the much needed agreements and tools you need to put in place to protect your coaching business. 

You might also want to check out this Welcome Pack from the Coaching Tools Company which includes useful templates including an agreement and invoice. 

Life Coaching Insurance

Some coaching services and coaches who recommend or employ coaches may ask you to have insurance to protect themselves against anything you might do in their name, which I think is quite reasonable. 

But personally, for coaches working on their own behalf, unless they are combining with therapy, I don't think it is a "must have" if you have legal agreements, contracts and disclaimers in place.

Life Coaching is unlike therapy, consulting or alternative medicine where advice is given. 

I've asked the question on coaching forums many times - has any life coach ever been sued and had to claim on their indemnity insurance  - and  to date never got a yes. The few cases I have heard of were because the coach had strayed well outside the boundaries of coaching and did not have the necessary protections in place.

So whilst taking our insurance may give you peace of mind you have to work out whether you really need it.

An Efficient Coaching Space For Starting A Life Coaching Business

How you set up your coaching space may depend on how you are going to deliver your coaching.  Do you prefer face to face interaction, or prefer an online coaching business using Skype or Zoom to connect with your clients? Maybe, as so many life coaches are now doing, you offer a mixture so you can serve the different needs of clients.  

Whichever way you decide to meet with your clients you will need the same basic furniture and equipment.

For face to face coaching at home or in a rented office, you have to think about how you can craft a space that is comfortable for you and private and welcoming for your clients. 

You can read about what to consider when setting up a life coaching office for coaches working from home and what you need to get started.

Training - The right foundation for building your coaching business

Finally, I'm assuming that you are starting up your coaching business once you have completed coach training and certification. If you haven't had any life coach training, then please, please put this on your to do list. It is the foundation you need to build your successful coaching business.

Whatever your background or other qualifications it is important to understand how life works and how it differs from other professions, so you can deliver it with integrity and authenticity.  
Here is the information you need to find the best training for you and avoid wasting your money. 

I hope this page has given you some help and suggestions for what is needed to start your coaching business.  As you can see it is about much more than getting clients. If you have anything to add do please either contact me or write your own story using the form at the bottom of this page to create your page on this site.