How to start a life coaching business online

Do you feel like you can help people take better control of their life? Life coaching is part of the self-improvement industry, and it’s rapidly growing with a 33% increase worldwide. So, many people are looking for life coaches to help improve themselves.

Even better, you can be a life coach from the comfort of your own home by offering coaching over the phone or video calling. If this is something you’re interested in, you can earn well from the business. But, you may wonder how to get started as a life coach online. Luckily, we can help with that.

This guide will cover how to start a life coaching business online, including: 

• What you’ll need to start a life coaching business online
• How to set up your life coaching business 
• How to market your life coaching business
• How Countingup can help start your business

Part of knowing how to start a life coaching business online is having the necessary skills and tools to get started. 

Life coaching is unregulated in the UK, which means you don’t need specific qualifications or certifications to do it. But, to start a life coaching business online, you’ll still need the skills to coach other people. 

This means you’ll need sufficient knowledge about life coaching and everything that it involves. For example, many coaches use neuro-linguistic programming, a popular approach to communication and personal development. 

If you don’t yet have life coach training, consider looking into programs that are accredited by coaching associations like the Association for Coaching or the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy. These can prepare you with professional and effective coaching techniques. 

You’ll also need to determine your life coaching focus. Is there a particular type of coaching you want to do? What experiences and skills can you coach about? List your strongest skills to determine the type of coaching packages you can offer. By narrowing your business focus, you can determine what customers you hope to attract. 

Aside from having the skills to get the job done, to start a life coaching business online, you’ll want to do market research on the industry. This is a relatively new industry that has grown since the technological era. So, it’s good to know how many coaches are out there and who you’ll have to compete against for customers. 

Since you’ll be life coaching online, you’ll be able to work with nearly anyone. But, this also means you’ll be competing with all other online life coaches rather than just people in your area.

So look at similar businesses to understand what they’re doing to succeed. This will also give you an idea of demand and typical pricing for these services. Understanding the industry well will prepare you to enter it and start earning money from clients.  

Your market research will also help you determine your target audience for your coaching focus. Determining your ideal customer will help you know which services to offer and what this customer might be looking for. Plus, you can plan your marketing methods around this target customer. 

To succeed as a life coach online, you’ll need to understand how to market yourself well. You may want to brush up on your marketing skills to grow your small business audience and find potential customers. These skills will help you convert leads and increase your client base. 

Because you’ll be running your life coaching business online, you won’t need to find a business space. You also may not need transportation for your services. This can make the startup costs of your life coaching business more manageable. 

With that said, you’ll still likely need a workspace where you can run your coaching business. This could be a designated office in your home from where you can take coaching sessions. A designated workspace will help you organise your business and separate it from your personal life. 

Aside from a workspace, you’ll need a reliable computer to run your business on and a way to communicate with clients. 

A well-planned business can be the difference between failure and success. So before you get started, you’ll want to put together a business plan. This plan will outline and summarise your business intentions and help you weigh important decisions. 

A business plan can structure your new business and help you get an overview of everything you’ll need. You can incorporate your market research into the plan. Plus, you can outline your startup costs and establish a budget for starting your business.  

Knowing how to start a life coaching business online also means you’ll need to set that business up legitimately. Setting up your business right from the start can help you maintain organised and profitable operations. 

The first step in setting up your life coaching business is registering as either a sole trader or limited company. A sole trader is easier to set up, and you’ll be personally liable for your business. Meanwhile, a limited company is a bit more complicated, but the company will be a separate legal entity from you. 

As a small business owner, you’ll be responsible for reporting and paying your taxes, including income tax, dividend tax, and national insurance. With a limited company, you’ll have to pay corporation tax. Plus, if you expect to earn over £85,000 annually, you’ll need to register for VAT. 

You may also want to insure your business and services to protect you from financial risk. For example, professional liability insurance can protect you if your client faces injury or property damage because of your services. Plus, since your small business will be online, you may want to look into cyber insurance that can protect your data. 

Before you can start finding clients, you’ll also need to put together a price list. This outlines your services and how much you’ll charge clients for them. A clear price list can help you appear professional and organised to clients. It can also increase transparency so clients know what they’re signing up for. 

To add structure and organisation to your daily operations, you could benefit from business management software like Google Workspace or Microsoft 365. These platforms keep your communications, calendar, and documents in one place so you can stay on top of everything. For example, you can email a client with a calendar invite for a session. 

Then, you can use these platforms to call clients via video conferencing. Having everything linked together can help you manage your business operations and stay professional and present for clients. 

A big part of starting a life coaching business online is organising and managing your finances. Tracking and analysing your financial data will be important for tax reporting and tracking your business performance. First, a business current account can help you separate your business finances from your personal ones. 

But you’ll also want to track your bookkeeping and financial statements to understand how much you earn and spend on your business. Recording and keeping all this information will help you put together income and cash flow statements and maintain your balance sheet for financial accuracy. 

Accounting software like Countingup’s two in one business current account and accounting app will help you save time and understand your finances better. With this app, you can easily create and process invoices on the go. It also offers automatic expense categorisation based on HMRC regulations. Plus, Countingup provides cash flow insights so you can cut down on unnecessary expenses and understand your money better overall. 

Once you know how to start a life coaching business online, you’ll need to market that business to start finding clients and earning money. We’ll cover a few tips to start your marketing right. 

Branding is a big part of how to start marketing your life coaching business online. To market yourself well, you’ll need to brand yourself to promote awareness and look professional. Your business brand is the way that you present your business to the public. It includes a consistent design and tone that focuses on your target audience. You can learn more about building a brand identity here. 

You can use your brand to increase the accessibility of your life coaching business with a website. You can build a business website using tools like Squarespace or WordPress. Just make sure it’s easy to use and has all the important information about your business, such as its name, contact information, and services. 

Also, consider adding a blog to your business website. By creating regular blog content for your business marketing, you can show potential clients your credibility and dedication to your business. By factoring in SEO best practices like using keywords and links, you rank on search engines and increase traffic to your website. 

On top of your website, social media marketing can help you reach more potential clients. If you create social media accounts on platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, you can create regular content about your business and industry. Be sure to engage with the platform and your growing audience regularly to maintain relevance. 

When planning a social media strategy, consider how you can find your audience on each platform. You may want to join relevant groups to market your services and build relationships. For example, Linkedin can help you find professionals that may benefit from your services. At the same time, you can network with other people in the industry. 

Aside from your website and social media platforms, you can also list your services on freelance sites like Fiverr or Upwork. You can also look into platforms like Upskill Coach that are specifically for life coaches. 

When creating profiles on these platforms, use other developed profiles as examples. Add as much information as possible to show your experience. Then, try to reach out to those looking for your services to secure your first clients. 

Once you find your first clients, consider asking them for feedback and reviews to add testimonials to your website. This can not only help you improve your services, but the best reviews can show potential customers that you can help them. The more positive reviews you can collect, the more you’ll be able to establish a steady client base. 

As you get your life coaching business up and running, you’ll need to manage your growing finances. It’s key that you keep your personal and business finances separate from day one – to save yourself from time-consuming admin further down the line. 

That’s why thousands of business owners use the Countingup app. When you sign up for a Countingup business current account, you’ll receive free accounting software with a range of time-saving tools. 

With features like automatic expense categorisation, invoicing on the go, receipt capture tools, tax estimates, and cash flow insights, you can confidently keep on top of your business finances wherever you are. 

You can also share your bookkeeping with your accountant instantly without worrying about duplication errors, data lags or inaccuracies. Seamless, simple, and straightforward! 

Find out more here.