Setting up a Coaching Business
When setting up a coaching practice you need to think of running it as a successful business even if you started to coach from a choice and a way of life. Follow the five easy steps to sustaining a profitable coaching business:
1. Be a trained and accredited coach : Being able to present recognisable coaching qualifications and continuous professional development (CPD) shows your commitment to the profession.
2. Be professional: The professional coaching body that you chose to align yourself to will probably have access to services and information you will need to establish yourself as a business professional. Points to consider include: subscribing to data protection and having a professional indemnity policy. You should also investigate whether you need to be a sole trader or a limited company and be VAT registered.
3. Identify customers and create awareness: Do you have specific clients that you would like to coach? Is there a special niche of coaching you would like to create? Will you offer group coaching as well as coaching individuals? Do you prefer to coach by telephone or face to face, or will you offer a combination of both? Do you need a printed brochure or will you have a web presence? When you have answers to these questions then you can formulate a marketing and public relations strategy to raise awareness.
4. Networking and professional contacts: Which kind of networking associations would you like to be a part of? Which of the associations are your clients members of? In what kinds of situations are you most enrolling as a professional? How and where do you enjoy meeting people most? Coaching is a service that creates business through building relationships and personal referrals rather than advertising and cold calling. However you decide to create new networks and use existing ones, there needs to be a constant flow of new business.
5. Professional fees: If you are a professional you need to charge a professional fee. There are coaches who run special discounted schemes for clients they would like to coach, who cannot afford their fee. Some coaches even commit to having one or more pro bono clients at any one time. They choose to do this as their way of giving to the community and not because they do not know how to charge a professional fee. To be unclear about your fees and to be fearful of properly charging for your services undermines the skills and the professionalism that you have.
