Working as a life coach is a fulfilling career path that comes with freedom and flexibility. You can set your own hours, you can create a customized schedule, and you can even work from your phone in your pajamas if you’d like. However, getting started and ensuring your success means making challenging business decisions like how much you plan to charge your clients for your services.
Determining your rates as a life coach is a delicate balancing act between charging too much and asking too little. If your rates are too high, clients could be discouraged from seeking your help. If your prices are too low, then you end up undercutting your value and giving the impression that you are inexperienced.
So, when it comes to deciding your prices as life coach, what factors should you consider? Here are five points to consider when setting your rates:
#1 – Qualifications
What are your credentials? Are you a certified life coach from an accredited training program? Do you have a college degree? How many years of experience do you have working as a life coach? Your clients will want to know the answers to these questions as a way to gauge your level of expertise and value. The better your qualifications, the more you can charge.
#2 – Sessions
How you structure your coaching sessions will be one of the biggest factors that affect your price point. You can vary the cost of your services based on the following factors:
- Will you offer one-on-one coaching or group coaching?
- Will you create a series with a predetermined amount of coaching sessions?
- Will you offer package pricing, charge by the session, or bill hourly?
- Will you allow outside contact via text, phone, or email in between sessions?
- Will you charge an initial setup or enrollment fee?
#3 – Type of Coaching
Coaching is typically divided into two main categories – personal life coaching and business coaching. Your fees need to complement the kind of services you offer. For example, an in-depth coaching plan directed toward a business owner should not match the price of a basic coaching plan geared toward an entrepreneur.
#4 – Demographics
The type of coaching you pursue will lead you to your target audience, and the demographics of that target audience will impact your prices. If your niche is individual health coaching, then your average client could range from a college student to a senior citizen. But if you offer group leadership coaching, your clients could include corporate executives. These two distinct demographics cannot afford the same price points.
#5 – Location
How will you deliver your coaching sessions? In person or online? If in person, will you need to rent out an office space? Will that office space be located in a high-income area or a major city? Prime real estate will cost you, and you will need to adjust your rates to accommodate those overhead costs. Furthermore, location and target audience go hand-in-hand. The location of your office will attract a specific type of client.
Once You Set Your Rates
While there is no single correct answer to the question – “How much should I charge as a life coach?” – you can also consider the following when setting your rates:
Premium prices
Clients paying premium prices will expect premium services. You set the bar high when your services are priced high. Clients will come to you with expectations, and you need to be prepared to deliver a premium product. Otherwise, you run the risk of dissatisfied and underwhelmed clients, which leads to the next point.
Word-of-mouth referrals
Unhappy clients will talk, and likewise, happy clients will talk. But unfortunately, those bad reviews always seem to carry more weight than the positive ones. No one wants to pay for a service that is not worth the cost. What people share about your business can make or break your success, so be mindful of the power of word-of-mouth referrals.
Adjustments
Once you set your rates, you do not have to feel trapped at those prices for eternity. Your fees should grow with your business. As you gain additional training, certifications, and expertise within your niche, your prices need to reflect those qualifications. The key to increasing your prices is proper communication to existing clients. An unannounced price increase that shows up on their invoice won’t go over well.
Becoming a Life Coach
Setting your rates as a life coach can feel like an intimidating process. But before you get too overwhelmed, remember that you are not alone. You can seek the guidance of a life coach financial advisor to help you lay the foundation of your business.
Even coaches need some coaching from time to time, especially when just starting out. Financial advisor life coaching is an excellent resource that can help you determine the price point of your services. Asking the advice of others that have walked that road before could be your ticket to a successful life coach career.