How to Build a Career Coaching Business

Many of my Certified Professional Career Coaches ask me how to build a career coaching business. 

Building a business is akin to a job search and career management.

I coach clients seeking to build a business, much like a job search client. Instead of a résumé, the client may need a prospectus instead, for example. However, for government contracts, the client may need a past-performance résumé. A job seeker and a business developer will need a LinkedIn profile. 

I use Diane’s 5 P’s as the structure for the coaching program and constructing the business development plan, and I ask a lot of decision-defining questions:

Purpose * Planning * Preparation * Practice * Perseverance

Purpose: 

• What is the purpose of the business? 
• What is your purpose in delivering the services and products you intend to deliver?
• What value will you deliver to clients?
• What are your goals and objectives?

These questions are helpful in developing marketing messages and branding statements for the new company.

Planning:

• Will you be a sole proprietorship or LLC? Why? (An LLC protects the client from losing personal assets in the case of being sued; an LLC requires an EIN and payroll; a sole proprietor requires careful monitoring of income to formulate quarterly tax payments.)
• What is the name of your business?
• Does the business have a logo?
• Will you have an attorney, bookkeeper, accountant, webmaster, or Virtual Assistant?
• Will you be a virtual business or a brick-and-mortar? Why?
• Will you provide services to a local community or globally?
• Who is your client population? (College graduates, mid-level professionals, executives, military?)
• What services will you produce?
• What fees will you charge? (Have you prepared a budget analysis to determine your minimum hourly rate?)
• What is your budget for marketing, professional development, membership dues, conferences, website maintenance, utilities, rent, insurance (umbrella, liability, omissions), phone, and service expenses (attorney, bookkeeper, accountant, website maintenance)?
• Will you provide/deliver à la carte services or bundle packages? 
• What does a career coaching package look like? (How many hours will you coach face-to-face, and how many hours will you engage in back-end services, like writing a résumé and reviewing an assessment tool?
• How will you market your business? (Via social media, at local conferences, via your website, via a faith-based organization, Chamber of Commerce, or library?)
• How will you manage bookkeeping and accounting (QuickBooks/similar app managed by you or a bookkeeper and tax accountant)?
• Did you open a bank account (savings and checking) and a business credit card in the company name?

Preparation (The checklist):

• Secure a business name with GoDaddy or a similar company.
• Register the business name with the state you live in.
• Prepare the LLC application or hire an attorney to help with the process.
• Develop a budget and profit and loss projection.
• Prepare a business summary detailing all of the business’s objectives and purpose. 
• Plan to save 30% of all income for taxes. Any funds left over after taxes can be used for capital expenditures, savings, or owner draws. 
• Secure a web site designer and web master for hosting and maintenance.
• Decide on the service and product offerings and attach prices.
• Develop a past-performance résumé, prospectus, and LinkedIn profile, as well as business cards for in-person meetings. 
• Develop marketing packages to deliver to potential client companies. 
• Purchase the required company assets: computer, printer, phone.
• Purchase insurance (some companies and government agencies require a $1M insurance policy if you train on their property or travel for their projects).
• Open bank accounts.
• Open a credit card account.
• Select a credit card service for the company, e.g., Square, PayPal, QuickBooks, other.
• Create a file system / or purchase a file system, calendar system, and online meeting platform.

Practice:

• Ensure the company name is registered. 
• Review website development.
• Continually develop marketing and decide where and how to begin the marketing launch (consider marketing options like Google ads and click-throughs, writing blogs for companies to attract your client population, writing LI articles/features, joining LI groups, and attending conferences and association meetings. Talk to your web designer for marketing ideas and speak to a marketing agency if your budget allows for it).
• Be credible and visible by engaging on LinkedIn, posting on the website, and offering to post articles and blogs on client population-specific websites.
• Attend conferences and join associations.
• Begin career coaching with new clients to gain experience and confidence.
• Build a support network.
• Draft a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). Use the SOP as an operational guide for someone who might need to run the business while you are away (sick, traveling, on sabbatical, incapacitated). A SOP should be written such that anyone reading it can fill in for a few days, weeks, or even months. 
• Consider adding a very trusted person as a manager on an LLC to manage in your absence. This status allows the designated person to speak with official entities such as the IRS, state, and bank, and to make decisions as needed. 
• Don’t forget to complete annual requirements for an LLC, like the annual report on the state’s website.  

Perseverance

• Be prepared to work more than 40 hours a week for the first couple of years to build a business.
• Do not give up. Many failures, disappointments, slow starts, and errors turn into tremendously financially stable businesses over time. We learn from mistakes.
• Reevaluate the business operations semiannually or annually. Monitor business cycles. Remove any services and products that do not generate revenue, and advance or elevate those that do. 

Building a business plan also enables the owner to more easily secure financing if needed, as it is written and details the business objectives. 

Building an entrepreneurial career coaching business is very rewarding. Following a business development plan makes the process much smoother and streamlined. A business plan outlines the process a new company needs to follow to achieve its goals and bring its ideas to reality.