- Last Updated:
- 12/18/2024
- Tricia Johnson
This is not another TL;DR business plan blog.
Want a quick and easy breakdown of what makes a life coach business plan effective? You already know more than you think.
This express guide gets you to a business plan you’ll love by taking advantage of the planning skills you use every day. We’ll walk you through:
- Using a life coach business plan template
- How to write a life coach business plan
- Measuring success with SMART goals
Download our free life coach business plan template and follow along as we discuss each step! Business plan: done.
How to Create a Business Plan for Life Coaching
If just reading the term business plan makes you nervous, we’ll let you in on a secret: you already know how to do this. A business plan is just another organizational tool to put your thoughts on paper.
Breaking down the steps to success is where you excel. In a business plan, the major steps include:
1. Executive Summary
Clients sometimes need a framework to put into words what they want, why they want it, and the steps they’ll take to get it. That’s all your coaching business’ executive summary is.
An executive summary is an elevator pitch. Quickly catch investors’ attention, explain the most important aspects of your business idea, and give evidence for why it’s built to succeed.
This is the information you’ll want to include:
- Your business name
- Your vision statement: A one-sentence aspirational statement of what you want your business to achieve, who you want to reach, and why it matters.
- Your mission statement: A one-sentence summary of your plan to achieve that vision. Be specific about the solution you provide and how you’re uniquely positioned to help.
- Your company: Briefly introduce yourself by discussing your life coach certifications, education, or experience and the role of any staff in your business.
- Your services: Describe the services you’re selling, including the type of sessions (one-on-one, group, online courses, etc.) and resources you offer.
- Your goals and milestones: How will you measure the success of your mission over time? Use the SMART goals worksheet at the end of our business plan template to set milestones that are easy to track and tied to specific dates or results.
Pro tip: We suggest writing your executive summary last. As you start putting real numbers to your ideas, you may refine your goals. And that’s okay – embrace the process!
2. Value Proposition
The value proposition in your business plan answers the question “Why would someone choose me as their life coach vs. other options?” The answer depends on two factors:
- Your life coaching niche is the specific group of clients you want to reach. Your dream client might be in a certain demographic (like retirees or executives) or people struggling with a specific issue (like divorce or changing careers).
- Your unique selling proposition is the experience, connections, education, pricing, or skills you offer that other coaches can’t. What makes your practice different?
Pro tip: Match what’s unique about you as a coach to an underserved client niche. An unmet need + high experience in providing solutions + low competition = a strong business idea.
Questions to get you started:
- What causes, social issues, or groups are close to your heart?
- Who would benefit from coaching but doesn’t have many good options in your area?
- What demographic factors (like age, sex, gender, race, marital status, or employment) might affect what these clients look for in a life coach?
- What are their goals and struggles? What keeps them from achieving their goals alone?
- How can you help, and why might they listen to you?
3. Market & Competitor Analysis
This section is so important we gave it two whole pages in your life coach business plan template!
Calculating the market share of competitors and market saturation offers insight into your local competitive landscape. Discuss your major competitors and how the local market affects your strategy in the Top Competitors box of your template.
We’re betting you’re a big fan of coaching templates (safe guess, right?), so we included two tools to make presenting your research easy. You may even be familiar with them already.
Analyze Your Competitive Edge with SWOT
You’ve probably done a few SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analyses in your time. A SWOT analysis for a life coach business works on the same principles.
Competitive Landscape SWOT Analysis
This example SWOT analysis for a cultural transition coach (above) outlines strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats based on niche, value proposition, competition, and local factors.
Pro tip: Factor niche, local, and coaching industry trends into the opportunities section. You might discover a new niche as it develops if you research industry predictions, competitors, and shifts in local demographics.
Analyze Your Market With TAM SAM SOM
Calculating TAM SAM SOM compares the overall market size of your niche with the portion you could reach (which is crucial knowledge for you and investors) and displays it at a glance.
- Total Available Market (TAM): The total possible demand in dollars for your services if there were no limits on who you could reach. (Think global.) There’s a lot of variation in life coach market statistics, so use the most accurate facts for your coaching specialty.
- Serviceable Available Market (SAM): The smaller part of that market you could reach based on things like your location and services.
- Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM): The even smaller part of that market you expect to serve based on your resources, staffing, and competition.
Check out this TAM SAM SOM example (above) from Airbnb’s legendary initial investor pitch, which pinpoints the share of the total travel market their business could capture.
4. Marketing Strategy
Creating a life coach marketing plan may feel intimidating, but the psychology of marketing relates to your coaching skills, too. Marketing is just a plan to meet clients where they are and motivate them to take action (in this case, booking you).
Customer Reach Strategy
Step one is to explore how your target audience relates to life coaching. Are they actively looking for a coach, or do they not know what a life coach is? Talk to other coaches, chat with people in your target demographic, or send a survey to understand your market.
Once you know whether you’re trying to raise awareness or outdo your competitors, consider which of these channels will factor into your strategy, and the tactics you’ll use for each one:
- Professional website or app: Your website can be the hub of your practice online, with pages for services, pricing, your credentials, booking, and more. Be sure to include reviews and testimonials as social proof. If you’d like help managing your contracts, booking calendar, and more in one place, consider life coaching software like CoachVantage to engage clients with a sleek, all-in-one platform.
- Social media: List which channels and the strategies and tactics you will use for client outreach. Check out the profiles of life coach influencers to gather ideas and consider which social media platforms are most relevant to your audience.
- Directory listings: Directory listings amplify your business’ online presence and make it easier for clients to find you. At a minimum, include the strategy you will adopt for creating and managing your Google business profile, and consider additional directories like Yelp or life coach-specific options like Noomii or Life Coach Spotter.
- Professional networking: Since professional referrals are a common way life coaches get niche clients or speaking engagements, building your coaching network should factor into your marketing plan. Consider conferences, Facebook groups, certifications, associations, or other ways to connect with professionals in your niche.
- Speaking engagements: If you plan to offer motivational speaking or group training, a strategy to build your visibility and credibility as an expert presenter might include hosting webinars or guesting on podcasts.
- Paid advertising: Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest let you turn any post into a paid ad. If expanding your audience is one of your marketing goals, paid ads can help you reach people in your niche who aren’t aware of you yet.
- Content marketing: Coaching content is a powerful advertising tool and a good strategy to build your authority as an expert. Consider how motivational videos and exercises for social media or a tips blog on your website might factor into your marketing strategy.
Referral Generation Strategy
A 2022 Practice coaching survey found that responding life coaches got about 26% of their business from word of mouth and 20% from professional referrals. Referral program ideas like a discount for happy clients who recommend you to a friend can build a new business client base more quickly.
5. Pricing and Revenue
This section of a business plan for life coaches sets up the expected income you’ll use for the final section, your financials. For your pricing and billing strategy, consider these elements:
- Pricing menu: Put a fair market price on each of the services and sessions you listed earlier in your business plan (don’t forget to leverage your competitor and market research).
- Billing strategy: Note whether you’ll bill by the hour, as a monthly payment, for a long-term commitment, or in bundles of services.
- Revenue streams: Separating income from different sources can help you keep a tidy budget. Estimate the revenue total per month from each of your services (for example, how much do you expect to earn as passive income from a recorded online course vs. from one-on-one client sessions?)
Pro tip: It’s okay to make educated guesses in a business plan! As long as you show the number of clients you estimate, why you think you can get them, and why you can charge this rate based on local competitors, you have a solid estimate for your expected income.
For help with financial projections, consider investing in bookkeeping software for coaching businesses or hiring an accountant to consult.
6. Financials
If you’re not a financial planning coach, this is probably the section you’re dreading. Financial reports can get detailed, and some investors may want to see more numbers, but a simplified business plan like this one doesn’t need to show all the work you do behind the scenes.
Your projected income, expenses, and profit are a good start to prove your idea is profitable, which is the goal of your business plan.
- Projected income: How much do you expect to earn? Calculate projected income by totaling all your revenue streams, making sure to factor in any seasonal bumps or slumps (For example, job seekers taking a break for the holidays or wellness clients peaking at the start of a new year.)
- Projected expenses: How much will it cost to run your business? Total the startup and overhead costs for the investment you need to launch, then identify your recurring costs. For example, you may budget yearly for marketing or renting office space.
- Projected profit: Find your projected profit by subtracting your expenses from your income. Consider calculating your profits over several milestones, like one year, three years, and five years.
Pro tip: Don’t forget to budget for legal considerations like registering your business, taxes, and the cost of life coach insurance. Like taxes, no one loves paying for insurance. But planning and responsibility now can pay for itself many times over if you have to file even a single claim.
We included space in our life coach business plan template for a certificate of insurance (COI). Displaying proof of life coach insurance shows investors you understand your financial and legal risks and have a plan to stay protected.
Next Steps: Measuring Success and Tracking Progress
The last page of your template is a SMART goals planning template, another tool you’ve probably used before. As it does for your clients, goal setting for your coaching business clarifies the path forward and reveals when your plan needs adjusting.
Attach a specific, measurable metric (like sales figures, new clients per month, or users coming to your course from social media) to each of your goals and set a timeline for tracking progress.
Pro tip: In case you haven’t used this goal-setting tool before, SMART stands for:
- Specific: Does your goal clearly define what you want to achieve?
- Measurable: Can you track your progress toward achieving this goal?
- Achievable: Is it realistic for you to achieve your goal with the resources you have?
- Relevant: Does the goal tell you something valuable about your business success?
- Timely: Does the goal include a specific start and end date?
A SMART goal with all of these characteristics is built to help you easily gauge your progress toward realistic milestones that are meaningful to your success.
Your Coaching Dream Starts With a Solid Plan
Whether you dream of a small-town practice with a purpose or a global coaching network, a business plan proves to investors (and yourself) that you have what it takes to bring your business from first client to finish line.
Invest in yourself by downloading your life coach business plan template today!
Life Coach Business Plan FAQs
Is Life Coaching a Profitable Business?
The average life coach earns $67,800 per year, but the big players can take home over $100,000! Whether life coaching is profitable for you depends on factors like your experience, location, and coaching niche. Executive, career, business, and corporate coaches usually charge the highest rates.
How Do I Start My Own Life Coach Business?
Starting a life coach business is all about planning and realistic goal setting — where you excel! Start by choosing a coaching niche or specialty, then get certified or trained to offer top-notch advice. A life coach business plan will help you outline each step of building your business, including registering your business, building a website, and marketing to clients.
How Long Should a Life Coach Business Plan Be?
Small businesses like a life coaching practice may have two versions of their business plan: one mini business plan of 1 to 5 pages (like our template) that lays out the basics of your idea quickly, and a 15- to 20-page plan you can provide upon request. Match the level of detail in your plan to the occasion by thinking about what the person you’re presenting to needs to know.
How Often Should I Update My Business Plan?
Update your business plan at least once a year or more often based on major changes in your business, market, or industry. For example, if you add services, face new regulations, or see big changes in your competitive landscape, it’s time for a refresh. Make sure you’re keeping up on tracking your SMART goals at least quarterly.
Tricia Johnson | Copywriter
Tricia Johnson, a licensed insurance agent in the state of Ohio, leverages her experience as a digital marketer and former literature teacher to make insurance a page-turner. She holds a master’s in English Literature from Miami University and a bachelor’s degree in the same from Ball State University. Before working at Veracity, she taught college writing courses and honed her product marketing skills at Zulily, an online retailer. Fully trained in Insurance Canopy coverage, Tricia now writes to help educators and product creators find best-in-class insurance.
Tricia Johnson, a licensed insurance agent in the state of Ohio, leverages her experience as a digital marketer and former literature teacher to make insurance a page-turner. She holds a master’s in English Literature from Miami University and a bachelor’s degree in the same from Ball State University. Before working at Veracity, she taught college writing courses and honed her product marketing skills at Zulily, an online retailer. Fully trained in Insurance Canopy coverage, Tricia now writes to help educators and product creators find best-in-class insurance.
