How long does it take to make money as a life coach?
How long does it actually take—really—to reliably start to make money, as a life coach? It can be surprisingly hard to figure out the answer to that question because of a few factors. Each of these factors really point to something positive about the industry—which is how infinitely scalable it is, putting you in the driver’s seat of how you do things—but it can also leave new and emerging coaches feeling confused about how to predict what their own coaching business will look like.
Key Factors for Making Money as a Life Coach
One, many coaches structure their businesses in completely different ways. How long it takes one life coach to start making money could differ from another coach, purely based on the business model. For example, if you’re an executive coach pitching organizations on a package for the entire leadership team, you’ll see different results than if you pursue just a one-on-one coaching practice model.
Two, coaches put different levels of effort into building their businesses. The coaches who choose some kind of consistent approach to marketing their coaching businesses and then stick to that are more likely to make money as coaches than those who put up a website and just hope for the best. (That’s not a judgment of the coaches who only put up the website; it’s just a reality of marketing).
Three, different coaches will earn different income depending on niche and how well they position themselves to talk about the problems their clients face and solutions that their coaching can provide. It takes time to refine that kind of messaging. Most people agree that when you’re more generalized, it’s harder for potential clients to see why they should hire you as a coach, but when you’re more specialized, it’s easier for potential clients to connect to why your coaching can be a benefit for them (“Oh, she helps divorced women like me recover from years of gaslighting! I’m in!” is easier for people to recognize than, “She’ll help me live a ‘better life.’”).
Why The Money Conversation is So Challenging for Life Coaches
Money is a charged topic for most people—and especially when coaches are already doing the brave thing by taking a step in the direction of a new career, there’s often a sense of wanting to know “how long will this take?” that’s really asking another question, underneath: How long before I feel secure and stable?
Some people are going to brush off that question, as if you’re superficial for asking it and the higher purpose of meaningful work should be all you ever worry about.
We’re going to treat it as a practical one. You have bills to pay and you want to know how you can make money while doing what you love as a coach. The money conversation is challenging, and yet, we have to be real about it.
So How Long Does it Take to Start Making Money as a Life Coach?
In this video (which is on our CLCC YouTube channel) we’re getting into this topic and exploring how long it realistically takes for life coaches to start making money. We’re not going to sugar-coat it and make it seem easy and effortless, but we are going to give you the real deal on what it takes.