How to Start a Life Coaching Business: Everything You Need to Know

by Zoe Spanos

December 6, 2022
Blog, Solopreneurs

If you have ever pondered about how to start a life coaching business, then this post if for you!

A life coaching business is perfect for people who are passionate about helping others. It can be a rewarding experience guiding others to achieve their goals. Providing your time and effort to help clients can help establish your success within the industry.

Luckily, this post covers the first steps you need to know before you start your very own business and essentially provide a life coaching business checklist.

What is a Life Coaching Business

Life coaches help others overcome their fears and achieve their goals in their personal and professional lives. Essentially, a life coaching business is rooted in counseling.

Life Coaching Niches

When considering what services you want to provide as a life coach, it can be a good idea to specialise in a particular ares. It is quite difficult to market a generalised coaching services that don’t have a unique selling point. You should consider your own personal experiences and what you have learnt in the process, from here you can begin to establish how to provide the best possible service for your clients.

Your specific niche could range from relationships to professional development.

A life coach’s role is to help others. Hence, you need to have particular qualities that will make you appealing as a coach. You need to be trustworthy, organised and have problem-solving skills.

Getting Started: The Pre-Planning Steps

Research

Doing your research early on will ensure that everything is in order, when you launch your business. You should consider the cost of your services and what you will be providing. In determining your price, you must look into your competitor’s charging rates. Ideally, the cheaper your services the more inclined customers will be to contact you.

However, you must be careful not to make your services too cheap for two reasons. Firstly, you need to make sure that you are making a profit. Secondly, you do not want customers to assume that your prices are low because the quality of your services are compromised.

Location

You may want to have a physical location where you can meet your clients, but in today’s digitally connected world running an online business is easier than ever. This post will also cover how to start a life coaching business online.

Develop a Life Coaching Business Plan

Excellent planning will often lead to success. Using your research, you should develop a formal business plan to guide your business. This might include your:

Business objectives and goals
Business structure
Target market
Competition
Marketing strategy

You can always seek assistance from a professional accountant or business lawyer to assist you with this, if you aren’t confident in developing a business plan yourself. It’s important to revisit and review your business plan regularly.

Determine your Business Name

Now you need to decide on a business name. Once you decide on your name, you can check the availability of the business name you have chosen.

If the name is available, you can then register your business as a trademark to ensure that you have the exclusive rights to your business name throughout Australia.

Determining your Business Structure

You will need to decide on a business structure to establish your business plan. Consider whether you will operate as one of the following.

A sole trader is someone who owns and operates a business under their personal name.
A partnership is when two or more people come together to form a business.
A company is when you register your business as a separate entity from your personal affairs.

You should contemplate which structure will work best for your business goals. It is important to know what the legal ramifications are of each structure and how they can affect how you operate.

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Registering your Business

You need to register for a few things in order to make your business official. For instance:

A business name
An Australian Business Number (ABN) to help the Australian Tax Office (ATO) and customers identify your business.
It would be good practice to also register your business as a company (ACN) so you can benefit from limited liability.
Register your Tax requirements.
Ensure that all relevant licences or permits are valid.

Source Insurance

Insurance is the most important step when setting up your business. It is imperative that you protect yourself and your business from any legal action. Firstly, you will need a type of public liability insurance, this will be beneficial to limit liability.

Public liability insurance from insurance companies such as BizCover can help you protect your business.

Hire Employees

You will want to consider hiring additional staff to help ensure that your business runs smoothly, especially as it expands. You will need to decide how many employees you are looking to hire and what type of employment they will receive. Will they be full time, part time or casual workers?

You will then need the appropriate employment agreements drawn up and signed. There are different types of employees that you can hire, learn more about how they may affect your business in the Webinar below.

Marketing Your Life Coaching Business

Now all you need to have a successful business is working on appropriate jobs. When considering how to advertise your Life Coaching business in Australia to help you attract individuals in need of life coahces. You may want to implement a strategic marketing plan to cover all your bases. This will allow you to gain insight into your target market.

It will also be beneficial in helping you understand what is the most effective marketing method to reach your target market. Some marketing methods you may choose to use include starting a social media page or putting an advertisement in your local newspaper. Another simple and effective approach of reaching new customers is through word of mouth.

Having an online presence is important even for construction companies. Using websites like Shopify or GoDaddy can help you create a well-established business so that your customers can easily find you. Additionally, you should set up and maintain a website which means you need to consider any website terms and conditions to ensure that your customers are safe.

Popular Life Coaches in Australia

There are a variety of different life coaches you can choose from, but here are a few to have a look at.

Considering the Law

There are no legal requirements to become a life coach, however, it would be a great idea to get certified through International Coach Federation (ICF) or the International Association of Coaching (IAC) to show your clients you are committed to providing the best services.

Limiting Liability

Even though there are no legal requirements, you should ensure that you are not personally liable for your advice. By setting yourself up as a company, you can limit your liability and reduce the risk of legal dramas.

Legal Documents you will Need

To get up and running, you should consider these legal documents so that you can protect your business. Some documents you should consider include:

A Services Agreement can outline the service you provide so that your customer can know what to expect.
A Employment Agreement can outline your employee’s responsibilities and their obligations to your business.
A Tax Invoice allows you to create a formal request for payment and ensure your records are up to date.
A Non-Disclosure Agreement (Mutual) allows you and another party to share confidential information while legally forbidding either party from disclosing that information to any other person or entity.
A Privacy Policy outlines how your business will use, store and collect your customers’ information.
A Liability Waiver (Personal) is a legal document that protects someone who wants to reduce their risk of liability.
An Offline Privacy Policy outlines how your business will use, store and collect your customers information offline.

How Lawpath Can Help

At Lawpath, we can help guide you through starting your own life coaching business. One of our Experienced Lawyers can provide you with all the legal information and requirements necessary for your business to succeed.