How To Start a Coaching Business
Starting a coaching business is easier than ever, thanks to remote work trends. More clients want to work with coaches who can support them during times of change, and more people than ever are interested in remote sessions. That means it’s easier to start a business with clients all over the country or world. They key? How to stand out from the competition. If you’ve been thinking about starting a coaching business, here’s how to get started.
Decide On Your Business Location or Specialization
Coaching businesses often start local and then expand online, but these days you can start online through a platform or just have great social media and content marketing to find clients through specializing in a particular area of focus that sets you apart from other coaches.
First, look up professional networking and business organizations in coaching that you might join for networking and referrals. See if any have professional business listings. And think about what you’re especially good at. Have a lot of business experience? You could coach executives or startup founders. Another way to think about this is to focus on the question: what kind of person do you want to serve? Having a mission your coaching serves can help you build a clientele and marketing, as well as focus your intention in why you’re starting a coaching business.
Legal, Licensing & Tax Requirements
If you start a coaching business, you’ll need several things to start. One is an EIN, or employer identification number, which functions as your business’s social security number for tax purposes. You can get this from the state by filing your own paperwork, but it can be easier if you have someone help you. You’ll also need general legal advice, or at least someone to call when you have a question or need support doing legal paperwork for your business. Tax prep for a business is best handled by the professionals, as is accounting, so you’ll want to hire an accountant, and you might want to hire out bookkeeping as well so you can run your business and not spend all your time counting beans. Check out 1800accountant and LegalZoom to learn about what paperwork you need to get started as they charge small fees to walk you through the process.
In some cases, you might also need a business license, depending on the type of coaching you’re doing and what state you’re in. Generally, coaches don’t need licenses or special permits, but you will want to check before you begin. Look up your state’s business license regulations to check what paperwork you might need.
Banking & Insurance Requirements for Coaching Businesses
Once you have an EIN registered with the state, you’ll need a business bank account to process all your financials. Try to use your business debit card for expenses when you can to keep your bookkeeping simple and above board. You need the EIN first in order to open a business banking account, and you’ll need a business address. For most paperwork, you’ll use the address of your registered agent, but for any financial documents you need, give them your address.
You’ll also need basic liability insurance to protect your business against claims if there is ever an issue with your services. There are insurance agencies that offer affordable basic liability insurance for wellness businesses. Look up a few services and see which ones offer comprehensive coverage.
Marketing Your Coaching Business
When you’re first getting started, marketing your coaching business often is a matter of word of mouth. These days that looks like social media pages that offer new customer discounts or referral bonuses, and word of mouth or local flyers and advertising in local media publications. Also, you’ll want to be listed as a business on Google, and ask your first customers to review you on business review sites.
Once you have a marketing budget, try Google Ads to target online searches for businesses like yours. You can also run social media campaigns. The trick with a coaching business is targeting customers in a specific niche you serve. Don’t sign up for any marketing that doesn’t get in front of eyeballs that are relevant to your company. If you scale your business nationally, focus your advertising on unique services you offer, to set your business apart from other businesses.
We hope this helped you get your coaching business off the ground, and helped you create a list of to-dos to make it happen. One final tool you’ll need for your business is Yottled. Yottled handles scheduling clients, payment processing, keeping in touch with customers, and even invoicing, all in one simple tool. You can even use Yottled to host coaching events or sessions online. Once you’ve got your coaching business started, keep Yottled in mind to keep it running smoothly.
