Photo by Keegan Houser from Pexels
There are some pretty interesting benefits to having a business as a life coach. For one thing, you will be doing work that can assist others in living the lives they want to live. Before you consider making this career change, take a moment to review some things you should know.
1. Certification Is Crucial to Your Success as a Life Coach
Life coaching is a largely unregulated industry. As such, you don’t need a lot of education related to the overall concept. However, would you see a “professional” who did not at least have some form of accreditation in their field?
Online life coach certification provides a fast track to earning the credentials that will impress and attract clients. In fact, the training program that results in certification will teach you exactly how to assist someone in reaching their personal goals.
You can’t just pick up all of these skills on the job. However, once you have these special skills, you will become a valuable resource to any and all of your clients.
2. Specializing Will Give You an Edge
Life coaching is a growing industry. Estimates float at it being worth somewhere in the neighborhood of several million dollars annually. That’s proof that there really is something to this life coaching thing after all.
However, in order to stand out from the crowd of life coach gurus, you need to be a little different. You do that by finding a niche to build your business around. Once you find one, focus on that as the foundation of your life coaching service. Look at it as you providing a unique kind of service.
3. Be Patient About Your New Career Choice
Hey, there’s nothing wrong with quitting your job and launching your life coaching business as soon as you earn your certification. However, you have to be realistic about it. Keep in mind that success is going to take a little time.
This is not something that’s unique to your business, either. Just ask anyone who has started a business. They will tell you the same thing. As we’ve indicated above, clients are spending a lot of money in this industry. If you’re a good coach, you’ll earn your fair share.
However, in the meantime, you might need to have a part-time job on the side just to stay on top of things. Therefore, be prepared for success to take awhile. However, if you focus on building your life coaching business systematically, success will eventually find you.
4. You’ll Need to Get Good at Marketing, Too
As an independent business owner, a good deal of your work is going to be life coaching. Nonetheless, you’ll also have to spend a good portion of your average work week on some non-coaching activities.
For instance, you’ll need to market your services. You’ll have to take care of the accounting and bookkeeping side of your business, too. What’s more, you’ll often be writing, sending, and responding to emails.
As a matter of fact, the bulk of your non-coaching time in the early stages of your new business should be focused on promoting your services. You can do this in several ways. However, it’s best to use both digital and traditional marketing methods together. This will allow you to cover the most territory at the least possible cost.
RELATED ARTICLE: MARKETING FOR NON-MARKETERS: GET GOOD AT IT BY LEARNING TO LOVE IT
5. You Are Coaching, Not Counseling People
Remember, you are a life coach. You are not a counselor of any kind. The service you provide to your clients can help them to move forward in their lives. To that end, you will assist them with taking specific actions to achieve certain outcomes. This will help them to reach their stated goals within a specified period of time.
On the other hand, a counselor works to help clients deal with and get past traumas that have affected their lives. In other words, a counselor is a healer of sorts. A life coach is a director.
It’s a lot easier to understand the difference when you look at each in this manner. You also have to remember to be clear with clients. There will be some who seek your services who should instead be looking for counseling. However, if you are clear about the services that you can provide, you should be able to prevent any issues.
In Conclusion
There are many challenges but also many rewards when you work to help people improve their lives.
Here’s how to know that you could be a good candidate for life coaching:
- Are you a people person?
- Do you want to be able to give others the direction and inspiration they need to make changes in their lives?
Life coaching is a specialized service. It is still an unregulated field. However, it has exploded in popularity. This means there is a demand for life coaching in today’s world.
The best way to become a life coach is to take an online certification course. Then spend time promoting your services.
It will take some time to see financial rewards from making this decision, but they will come. If you happen to be good at being a life coach in your specific niche, you will achieve success.
While life coaching is not for everyone, it could be just the right career choice for you.
