Starting a life coaching business may seem daunting, but with passion, expertise, drive, and education, you could help your future clients make their dreams a reality.
With life coaches popping up all over the internet, how can you set yourself apart? Prove the value of your services? And is a life coaching career sustainable and profitable?
Whether you’re just starting or looking to refine your current life coaching practice, this guide offers clear, actionable steps to help your business soar.
Table of Contents:
A Day in the Life of a Life Coach
Daily business management for a life coach is similar to running any small business. It involves budgeting, invoicing, client communication, scheduling, marketing, and planning.
From the practitioner’s perspective, life coaches also spend considerable time preparing for client sessions, both one-on-one and in groups. Due to the emotional demands of their work, self-care and reflection should be part of the daily work of a life coach.
Networking and ongoing professional development help prevent isolation and keep coaches updated on new methods and tools.
Many life coaches offer a free initial consultation to determine if they’re a good fit for the client, benefiting both sides. A typical session focuses on clarifying goals, identifying challenges, and developing a personalized action plan for growth. Coaches often assign homework to encourage accountability and ensure commitment to the process.
People seek life coaches for guidance and support in personal growth, goal setting, and overcoming limiting beliefs. They may need accountability, motivation, and strategies to tackle challenges.
Life coaches are often consulted during difficult times, such as coping with loss, navigating divorce, starting a new career, or managing other major life transitions.
A life coach can be found through referrals, social media, events, professional organizations, blogs, podcasts, or reliable directories like the International Coaching Federation (ICF).
The average day from the management perspective of a life coach includes:
- Session preparation and follow-up
- Marketing strategizing and implementation
- Administrative duties (e.g., scheduling, emails)
- Budgeting and financial planning
- Business strategizing and planning
- Client management and communication
- Updating website and social media platforms
How to Become a Life Coach: Credentials and Requirements
Life coaching is not a regulated industry, but like yoga teachers and other mindfulness and movement experts, becoming a certified provider gives you credibility.
It increases your confidence, skills, and knowledge.
Becoming a certified life coach involves selecting the right training program, obtaining certification, and the various accreditation standards available.
Once you have your credentials, the legal and ethical requirements of owning and operating a life coach business include:
- Registering your business
- Obtaining liability insurance
- Drawing up necessary contracts and agreements
- Purchasing data protection
- Securing your professional certification documentation
- Setting up a business bank account
Aside from legal and ethical requirements, a life coach should be:
- Altruistic
- Open-minded
- Approachable and accessible
- Non-judgemental
- Curious and helpful
Earning Life Coach Credentials
Completing a life coach training program is the first step in building credibility in the field. Most reputable programs are recognized by the International Coaching Federation (ICF), a non-profit organization widely known as the global gold standard for coaching credentials.
The ICF website features a searchable directory of accredited coaching education programs. As the benchmark for excellence, the ICF allows graduates of its recognized programs to pursue ICF accreditation.
Alternative programs may teach foundational skills, but they often do not meet the rigorous standards set by the ICF. The ICF’s standards cover all aspects of coaching, ensuring a thorough and complete training experience. Other accrediting bodies exist but don’t have the same global recognition or comprehensive standards.
Elements of a reputable life coaching program include:
- Accredited by the ICF
- Well-rounded, in-depth curriculum
- Experienced and educated instructors
- Offers practical experience
- Certification upon completion
- Professional development to maintain credentials
- Provides ongoing mentorship and networking opportunities
- Meets ethical and professional standards
- In-person and virtual offerings
- Large and active learning community
- Excellent testimonials
Life Coach Skills
Specific skills are essential to being an effective life coach. Some come naturally, while others are developed through practice. A successful coach needs to be adaptable, open-minded, and curious.
Coaches must recognize and manage their biases, ensuring they don’t interfere with the client’s progress. Remaining impartial is vital to focusing on the client’s goals without imposing personal views.
Here are some essential skills a life coach should possess:
- Active listener
- Empathic and understanding
- Excellent communicator
- Goal setter and problem solver
- Able to ask provoking, insightful questions
- High Emotional Intelligence
- Highly motivated
7 Steps to Build a Life Coaching Business
- Step 1: Choose Your Niche
- Step 2: Define Your Target Audience
- Step 3: Create a Business Plan
- Step 4: Develop Your Brand
- Step 5: Legal and Financial Considerations
- Step 6: Developing Marketing and Client Acquisition Strategies
- Step 7: Build Out Your Life Coach Offerings
Step 1: Choose Your Niche
Defining your niche is incredibly important to build a life coaching business. With a specific area of focus, you can tailor your offerings to address your targeted audience’s unique needs and challenges.
Your niche helps set you apart from competitors, position you as an expert, enable effective, clear marketing, and make it easier for potential clients to find you.
Examples of life coaching niches:
- Health and Wellness
- Personal Growth
- Relationship Coaching
- Life/Career Transitions
- Health coaching
- Creativity coaching
- Mindset coaching
- Financial coaching
- Performance coaching
- Parenting coaching
- ADD/ADHD and behavioral coaching
- Spiritual coaching
- Public speaking coaching
- Confidence coaching
Step 2: Define Your Target Audience
Your target audience is the people most likely to benefit from your services.
To identify this group, life coaches typically define their niche, find individuals who align with it, and seek that specific support. Market research through surveys and analyzing existing industry data is necessary to gather appropriate insights about your target audience.
Once your target audience is clear, it’s not just about tailoring your marketing, branding, and communication. It’s about deeply understanding the nuances and challenges facing this group of people so you can offer specific solutions that truly resonate and draw them to your services.
These shared characteristics define a target audience:
- Demographic: age, race, gender, socioeconomic status, education, etc.
- Psychographic: values, goals, interests, lifestyle, etc
- Geographic: country, city, neighborhood, etc.
- Behavioral: purchasing style, hobbies, or beliefs
Step 3: Create a Business Plan
A life coaching business plan is an essential, detailed document that outlines a business and its growth trajectory. It is a foundational roadmap that includes your objectives, strategies, and goals to navigate from startup to the future.
A business plan is also necessary to secure funding through loans, grants, or other financial resources.
10 Components of an Effective Life Coach Business Plan:
- Executive Summary: Mission statement, vision statement, services, and other details to showcase strengths and potential.
- Company Description: Target audience, their challenges, and how your expertise, education, and other strengths can help them.
- Market Analysis: Industry data and research that analyzes trends, existing practices, and successful case studies regarding your target audience and niche.
- Organization and Management: Responsibilities of you and your team and identify the type of business entity–sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, or a limited liability company (LLC).
- Services offered: Services and products offered and how they will benefit your future clients.
- Marketing Strategy: Strategies and plans to promote your services, attract clients, build your brand, and make sales.
- Financial Projections: Numerical tools that provide security and control and allow you to make informed decisions and prepare for the future.
- Pricing Structure: Your pricing model, including fees for individual and group sessions, packages, memberships, on-demand courses and videos, and other sellable life coaching business ideas.
- Budget: Outline your fixed costs, variable costs, and allocations for various business needs in alignment with financial projections.
- Funding Sources: Loans, investors, or grants needed, plans for securing these funds and how they will be used to support business goals.
Financial Planning and Budgeting Considerations
Effective financial planning and budgeting are essential for the success of your life coaching business. You’ll need to account for initial startup costs such as certification, marketing, office setup, business registration, and liability insurance.
Maintain a detailed and adaptable budget to manage fixed expenses like rent, utilities, software, and professional development. Set realistic revenue goals and regularly track income and expenses to understand profitability.
A financial cushion helps handle unexpected challenges and prepare for client retention and engagement fluctuations. Solid financial planning will help you make informed decisions and successfully navigate slow and growth periods.
Step 4: Develop Your Brand
Life coach marketing and branding are crucial for success as they shape how clients perceive you and understand your services. Crafting a strong, consistent brand helps build trust, attract the right clients, and differentiate you from competitors.
Maintaining a professional online presence is essential for engaging potential clients as it is the first impression of what you offer.
Online elements you should consider to reflect your brand:
- Website: Clear description of offerings, an about page, testimonials, a simple booking system, a blog, a store/on-demand courses, and a lead magnet.
- Social Media: Engage authentically and consistently, have a calendar for posting, and use interactive content like Q&As, polls, stories, and contests. You may consider paid advertising to increase reach.
- Content Marketing: Blogs, podcasts, videos, and email newsletters to showcase your expertise and experience.
- Collaborations: Partner with other businesses and guest write blogs and appear on podcasts.
- Online Communities: Join or create communities for genuine engagement and relevant content sharing.
Need Guidance on Authentic Brand Development?
Download Our Step-by-Step Guide to Develop a Brand That Represents You and Your Business.
Step 5: Legal and Financial Considerations
You might be wondering about all the legal requirements for life coaches.
Like, does a life coach need a business license to operate?
Unlike therapists and counselors, life coaches do not need a business license. However, some exceptions exist around niches like nutrition coaching, so be aware of the regulations governing where you practice.
Does a life coach need liability insurance? Although there is no specific legal requirement that life coaches have liability insurance, given the nature of the work, it is essential to protect yourself from unforeseen circumstances.
Understanding the tax implications of a life coaching business is crucial and empowering. Detailed accounting and financial management give you the ability to understand your business’s overall financial health, including when it comes to taxes.
The tax implications will vary depending on the business entity you choose for your life coaching practice. Sole proprietorships and partnerships are taxed as individual income, while corporations and limited liability companies have separate tax structures.
Consult with a tax professional in your area to decide which would benefit you and your life-coaching business ideas.
Essential Financial Basics to Establish:
- Register your business
- Get an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS website
- Set up a separate business bank account to distinguish personal and business finances.
- Use accounting software to track transactions, manage invoices, and organize taxes.
- For accurate reporting and auditing, maintain organized financial records, including receipts, contracts, and bank statements.
Step 6: Develop Marketing and Client Acquisition Strategies
Developing effective marketing strategies is crucial for life coaches in such a competitive industry. It plays a key role in client acquisition and retention.
To effectively reach and build your audience, focus on marketing channels that align with your target audience. A well-rounded strategy should incorporate online and offline methods to maximize visibility and establish your brand.
Marketing for New Life Coaches:
- Develop Strong Branding: Design a clear and compelling logo, tagline, and messaging, and look for your business materials.
- Establish a Professional Online Presence: Set up profiles on social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
- Optimize your website for SEO: Add new content with keywords, include backlinks from reputable sites, and use and optimize images.
- Plan Content Strategically: Create a content calendar for blog posts, social media updates, and newsletters.
- Implement an Email Campaign: Grow your email list and set up an email marketing system for client communication and newsletter distribution.
- Network and Partner: Build relationships by networking with relevant groups, attending events, and forming partnerships.
How to Find Your First Clients
It is both thrilling and nerve-wracking to find your first life coaching clients. We recommend using all available online and offline life coach resources to connect with potential clients and showcase your expertise and services.
Tips to Find Your First Clients:
- Lean into your existing network: Inform friends, family, and professional contacts about your new coaching business and offer a referral incentive.
- Host free events: Provide value through webinars, classes, and Q&A sessions to attract potential clients who might benefit from your coaching.
- Be active on social media: Engage with relevant communities on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram to discuss your services and connect with those seeking your expertise.
- Join professional groups: Participate in industry-specific associations or groups online and in person to expand your network and visibility.
Client Management and Marketing Software Tools and Recommendations
Client management and marketing software is crucial for efficiently running your life coaching business. Managing various aspects of your business, such as client data, marketing, and financials, can be challenging.
All-in-one solutions are especially valuable for small businesses like life coaching, as they consolidate client management, marketing, newsletters, financials, and scheduling into one platform.
This integration reduces the hassle of transferring data between systems, streamlines your operations, and enhances overall efficiency, helping you stay organized and maintain accurate records.
Step 7: Build Out Your Life Coach Services
When launching initial offerings as a new life coach, consider various formats that cater to different client preferences, broaden your reach, and diversify your revenue streams.
When creating your offerings, keep these points in mind:
- Stay True to Your Niche: Focus on your target audience and avoid diluting your brand.
- Address Client Needs: Design your services to meet your clients’ specific needs and challenges.
- Diversify Your Offerings: Consider including one-on-one sessions, group coaching, and online courses to reach a broader audience and cater to different preferences and budgets.
- Budget and Resources: Ensure you have the necessary budget and resources to develop and deliver each type of service you offer effectively.
Becoming a Life Coach FAQs
Below are some of the most common questions about becoming a life coach and starting a life coaching business.
How Much Do Life Coaches Make?
According to the International Coaching Federation (ICF), the national average coaching salary is $67,800/year USD. Life coaches make the highest salary in Hawaii, where the average is $66,081 USD, and the lowest in Florida, where the average is $44,737 USD. The average hourly rate is $100-$150/hour USD, depending on niche, offering, and business acumen.
Is Life Coaching a Real Job?
Yes, life coaching is a real job. Through structured guidance, life coaches assist their clients in achieving their personal and professional goals. Although it is not a regulated industry, there are high standards of ethics that life coaches adhere to.
Life Coaching vs Business Coaching: How Are They Different?
Life coaching and business coaching are often grouped together, but they serve distinct purposes. Life coaching is about personal growth, assisting people in navigating relationships, identifying their values, and achieving their goals.
On the other hand, business coaching is more specific to professional development, boosting productivity, and leadership skills within a corporate setting.
While life coaching enriches personal lives, business coaching guides professional success.
Build a Thriving Life Coaching Business with OfferingTree
Although it’s a competitive field, there’s still plenty of room for you to shine as a life coach and offer valuable support to those who need you the most.
To simplify your business operations and enhance client management, consider using OfferingTree’s all-in-one platform. Sign up today for a free trial or explore our demo video library to see how OfferingTree’s services can help you streamline your processes and build a successful life coaching business.
