You want to become a coach and start a coaching business. Great! Because I’m here to tell you how.
First things first. Who am I? My name is EB Sanders and I am a multi-six figure career coach who helps folx create careers and coaching businesses they love so they can live the life they really want.
I’ve owned my own business and coaching practice for over 5 years full-time and it’s been a fantastic ride. But there was a lot of trial and error for me as I figured out that I wanted to be a coach and then quickly realized that I needed to learn how to run a business.
Those are two very different skill sets and one was definitely stronger than the other. So, I bought ALL the online courses that were supposed to help you “start an online business” and “make a six-figure income in six months.” I read all the ‘boss babe’ business books and blogs and watched all the “simple business tips and tricks” videos on YouTube and on and on.
Not to say that all (or even any) of that was bad, but it definitely was too much, it was not organized and none of it broke down what I needed to do step by step.
So let me do that for you! This is the list I wish I had when I was starting out. It is the basic beginnings of how to set up a coaching business that is all yours. Without all the trial, error and noise.
Ready?
Step 1. Coaching Certification
Do I need a certification to coach? Nope. You don’t. Many successful coaches never get certified and there is, in fact, no governing body for coaching. The ICF is the most widely recognized certification ‘authority’ but they are a for-profit organization, who offer training and certification not an actual governing body.
Many people who hire coaches in the corporate world prefer to hire ICF certified coaches because they do have requirements and metrics - but it absolutely isn’t necessary.
I am a certified coach myself. I wanted to learn the framework and vocabulary to do my job better. I also update my certifications and engage in continuing education. But none of that is required to start a coaching business. It comes down to personal preference.
If you do want to get certified, there are many ways to do it. You can do an online certification, an in person one, a hybrid etc. There are certifications that focus on particular areas of coaching and are taught in many different manners.
Do some research and decide what is right for you.
Step 2. You need a Niche
What’s a niche? Simply put, a niche is your speciality.
A coach can coach almost anyone about anything! Relationships, executives, students, artists, authors, health & wellness, spirituality, sales, parenting, finance etc. All coaches work with clients to overcome obstacles and mindset issues to help them to become their best selves.
Focusing and specializing in one niche allows you to become an expert on the problems that occur in that niche, to market to a certain type of person and to work with clients you actually want to work with.
My niche is that I am a Career Coach and as a subset of that I am a coach for creative thinkers. This niche allows me to really focus on clients who enjoy creativity, playfulness and exploration. My happy place!
The clearer you are on your niche, the clearer it will be who you can truly help. (No, you can’t help everyone!)
Finding your niche can be tricky. While some coaches already know exactly who they want to serve, most new coaches need to take the time to figure it out. Take your time with this and know that it isn’t set in stone! You are allowed to change your mind at any time. I promise you - your coaching practice will change and evolve and that’s a great thing.
Running a business can be difficult at times and if you choose a subject matter that you’re not interested in simply because you believe it will sell, you will find the struggle can overwhelm the good stuff.
Step 3. Know Your Target Audience
Once you have your subject matter niche it’s time to decide who you want to work with within that category.
For example, if your category is career coach that’s fantastic, but also really broad. To make sure you work with folx you enjoy working with you need to define who that is. If you don’t want to work with 30 year old, ex-frat boy, finance bro types then you need to know that.
Would you prefer to work with recent college graduates? Moms returning to the workforce? Middle of life folx who want to change careers?
The more clear you are about who you serve, the better you can market to just your audience so that you can attract the clients you want to work with.
Step 4. WTF is an ICA
Defining your ICA (Ideal Customer Avatar) is a slightly different exercise to defining your broader target audience.
Your Target Audience is a group of people, your ICA is one, very specific, person inside that group.
Your ICA is a stand-in for the person who is ideal for what you offer. If your ICA came across your offer today, they would immediately think "I NEED this! It was made just for me!".
They can be completely made up, based on your best friend, an ex-worker or even modeled on yourself. But you need to think of them as real.
This doesn't mean other people won't buy from you or aren't a good fit for your offer but creating your marketing as if you are speaking to this one person makes it 10x more effective.
Having one person in mind can help keep you from trying to reach everyone. There's an old sales adage that states "If you're not speaking to someone you're not speaking to anyone."
If you really want to resonate, you need an ICA. Someone to speak to.
Step 5. Legal up!
Running a coaching business is just that, a business and businesses need legal protections.
You will need to make some decisions like what type of business entity you will be. For example, will you be a sole proprietor or an LLC? Will you be doing business as some name other than your own? Then you will need a DBA. Once you know your entity type you will need to file for a business license with your state.
Will you need insurance? You’ll certainly need client contracts and a privacy policy on your website. Don’t leave these to chance. Do your research and seek out experts and services who can offer you the protection you need.
Step 6. Know Your Logistics
There are a lot of systems, processes and logistics that you’ll come to need in running a coaching business, but for now one of the most important is to know how you want to hold your sessions. Soon enough you’ll be able to meet clients in your virtual office within the metaverse but for now your main options are going to be:
Zoom/Meet etc., phone or in person. Some coaches even do their sessions via text/voxer or through a video recorder like Loom.There are pros and cons to each. And it all depends on what works best for you and your clients.
I personally use Zoom because it allows me to coach anyone anywhere. It also allows me to record sessions to send to my clients after we meet.
I started out meeting my clients in person and found that for my busy folx, having to run from a meeting to meet me downtown just added stress to their day. With Zoom they can hide in a conference room, their desk, be in bed (yes happens a lot), or on the couch in their comfies. Whatever is most convenient and comfortable for them.
I have one client who I only do phone calls with and she takes a walk outside while we do our work. It’s delightful.
You can experiment with a few different ways. See what you like and what works.
Step 7. Get paid
Unless you collect money from clients, you don’t have a business, you have a hobby. Which means you need to know how you will get paid. There are many options for this as well:
Venmo
Paypal
Stripe
Personal check
Cash
Bank transfer
Credit cards
Etc
You will need to decide how you want to collect money and then set up a system to make it happen. There is lots of small business software like Dubsado or 17hats out there to help.
I personally use a combo of Stripe, PayPal and Dubsado to make it all work for me.
No matter what you use, make sure the funds go to a business bank account for tax purposes!
Step 8. Business Banking
To make your business official and not get in trouble with the IRS, I HIGHLY advise that you set up a separate account just for your business. You want an account tied to the name of your business and ONLY used for your business.
Once you start a business many things that you purchase for that business become tax deductible so you want an account where keeping track of these costs is clear and easy.
This account will make tax time infinitely easier. We like easy.
Step 9. URL/Website/Email
Notice I didn’t say branding, colors or logo. So many new business owners waste precious time on those things. They aren’t half as important as you believe them to be.
You don't have to worry about all of those things yet, you just need a simple, clear website that directs is hosted on a professional URL and you want a business email because you are going to own a coaching business.
You don't need to spend $5,000 or $10,000 and have a designer build a beautiful multi-layered site for you yet. Maybe not ever! Head to a inexpensive designing site like Squarespace, Canva or Wix.They have so many templates that are plug-and-play, you can pick an easy one and just get started!
You can absolutely update this later. Not having a perfect website is not going to impact your coaching business. I didn't pay for professional branding until I was three years into my business, my very successful business.
I designed my website myself on Squarespace. I bought the URL for $11 and set up a professional email on Gmail. You don't want to be sending emails from your 9 to 5 work email or that Yahoo email that you've been using for years. Get yourself a professional URL and email ASAP!
Step 10. Offer
Okay so now you know who you're selling to, how you're going to take money and where that money is going to go, you just need to have something to sell!
In the coaching space this is called “an offer.” Your offer could be a coaching package of a set of coaching calls or it could be a single session.This will most likely change several times as you go on.
For example, when I started I was coaching people for a full 6 months and now I coach my private, one-on-one clients for just 90 days. But another offer that I have is a course that people can do on their own.
I have offered single sessions, I have offered group programs and workshops.
You have the ability to offer your coaching in any way that you want but you do need to know what that is so that when you are asking someone to buy it you know how to sell it to them.
You need to be able to explain to them what's included. People need to know if they're going to be working with you for a year or for a week. Will your sessions be 30 minutes or will they be an hour? Will your sessions be all in one day where you spend eight hours with a client?
Put together an offer or two that you think will work best for the type of people that you want to help.
That's it! You're officially the owner of a coaching business!
Looking for more? Enter your email to get your FREE Coaching Business Starter Kit right here!
Your’s in “You can ABSOLUTELY do this” goodness -
EBS
EB Sanders | Career Coach for Creative Types