Cost of Starting An ONLINE COACHING BUSINESS From Scratch in 2021
Have you wanted to start an online coaching business, but you're afraid to get started because you're not sure how much it's going to cost?
In this episode, you'll discover the actual Cost of Starting An ONLINE COACHING BUSINESS From Scratch, and I think the answer will surprise you.
I'll share the bare essential tools and software that I think all new coaches should have in place to optimize their business operations. PLUS, I'll be taking you behind the scenes of my own business and show you EXACTLY how much it costs me to run my 6-figure online coaching business, so stick around until the end.
How much does it cost to establish my business legally?
If you're starting to earn your first $100,000, keep things simple by establishing an essential Limited Liability Company Cost (LLC). Setting up your business as a limited liability company costs less than you might think.
Note that you may be required to pay a standing fee once the business is up and running to allow your company to operate as a legal entity recognized by your state. You can hire a lawyer or do it yourself using Legal Zoom for only $79.
When one is selecting the best business structure, ensure you choose one that:
Increases credibility
Allows growth
Maximizes profit
Protects privacy
Safeguards your assets
It protects you, the owner, and your employees from being held accountable for debts and activities of the business. For instance, if you catch one of the employees organizing illicit environmental schemes. The company could be held responsible. The court should go for the assets of the company but not the owner. It would be a particular case if the owner were aware of the illegal activities, then he would be held liable.
The filing charge differs from state to state, but they range from $100-$150 annually.
Next, be thinking about protecting your online business and drafting up a legal contract for your clients.
A great low-cost resource for this is Rocket Lawyer. For as little as $39.99 per document, you can have legal documents drawn up to protect your business.
Where do I host my online coaching business?
Social media is great, but it's not a proper place to house your online business because you can't control what gets shared, blocked, or shut down. It would help if you had a custom domain name and website to send your prospective clients to.
You have one core place to funnel your prospect to makes it easier for people to understand your brand and how you can help them solve their problem. It's a place to house your content marketing, serve your clients and boost your ability to be found in Google search.
Wix.com is an excellent choice for hosting your website. It offers easy-to-use, professional designs that can quickly help your brand stand out from the crowd. They provide plan options for startups for as little as $14/mo.
The domain is the website's name that entails a distinctive blend of characters and numbers known as the internet protocol (IP). Since the IP is difficult to recall, the machines use a word-based name that is easier for the users.
There are many platforms that you can go to buy and host your domain name. My favorite website is Google Domains. Domain names vary in price point, but if you use your name or you're creative enough, you can find one that costs as low as $12 a year.
How do my clients book coaching calls with me?
Making it easy for your clients and prospective clients to connect with you is a must when owning an online coaching business.
To help keep your calendar organized, you need a scheduler.
Know that there are many options out there, but my favorite is Calendly because it's inexpensive. You can use their free trial or upgrade for as little as $8/mo.
Calendly is easy to use, and once set up, it automatically sends email and text message reminders to both the client and the coach.
It also integrates with my website and payment processor to send clients to the calendar linked to my website and collect payment when they book a call.
How do my online coaching clients sign contracts?
Use a software tool called Hello Sign. It is business-oriented software that makes doing business easier.
Implementing signature software is essential since it:
Improves security of your online coaching business
It boosts the workflow in your company; sending hardcopy documents via mail can be quite a task and might take a lot of time. With the signature software, one can send documents for signature within minutes.
The cost is low. Paper printing can be expensive together with the cost of many copies of one document.
You can get started with the free trial for up to (3) signature a month. If you want to make all signatures legally binding, you upgrade to the appropriate plan for as little as $20/mo.
How do my clients pay me?
Another critical element when planning to start an online coaching business from scratch is invoicing and accounting. This software helps you to manage your business securely and efficiently.
Invoices are documents that show transactions between the buyer and the seller. Invoices are paramount aspects of accounting.
Stripe and QuickBooks, which are among the best payment collecting accounting software, give you access to your online coaching business from anywhere and at any given time.
Stripe is free to use. However, Stripe does charge a 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction, so you'll want to factor that into your final coaching packages and program pricing.
Stripe also is a tool that easily interacts with most other applications. For example, it seamlessly syncs with Calendly so that your clients can make a payment while they book their first or next coaching session.
Once you've made some bank, be sure to set up an account tracking software so that you make your life easier come tax time.
You can get started with QuickBooks for as little as $12.50/month. Once set up, it automatically tracks your transactions and offers accessible, downloadable documents you can send to your accountant, minimizing the stress of filing your business taxes.
How do I meet with my coaching clients?
After making the appointments, you will need to meet with the clients. All one needs to do is set links and send them to the clients for joining in.
The clients can choose to join via video or listen in. There are also other options for giving feedback using the chat room.
One of the most commonly used tools is Zoom. Zoom provides video conferencing, audio calls, screen sharing, and recording. You can get started with the free plan for as little as $12.50/mo.
Another tremendous low-cost tool is Free Conference Call. You can get a business phone line set up for free and have your clients call in there. Free Conference Call will record the calls and keep them stored for you, ready to be downloaded and shared when you need.
How do I stay in touch with my clients and prospective clients regularly?
Set up and email marketing campaigns to connect with your clients and prospective clients all at once continuously.
Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to boost your online coaching business. It allows you to create a rapport with your past, current, and potential clients directly through their inboxes.
The best and most affordable email marketing software is ConvertKit. ConvertKit offers a free plan, allowing you to grow your email list to your first 1,000 subscribers. Once you've hit 1,000, you upgrade to the next plan for $29/mo.
ConverKit allows you to send one-off email campaigns to your entire list or segments of your list. You can also create lead-generating landing pages, sell small products, and set up auto-responders so that you only have to write an email sequence once. It'll automatically drip to your subscribers promptly.
Now, when sending one email to one particular client, I highly recommend that you set up a business email account using GSuite. For as little as $12/mo, you can create an email address that syncs with your website, allowing you to look super professional and be able to respond to individual emails at a moment's notice.
Where do I house my coaching materials?
Also, with a GSuite subscription, you get unlimited cloud storage to house your online business materials via Google Drive. It's a win-win.
Cloud storage enables you to store your data and access it at any time and anywhere that there is an internet connection. It's wise to back up all of your data onto a cloud storage platform at the end of each workday.
Using hard drives can be great, but it is also wise to store your data on cloud storage. In case your hard drive is misplaced or misbehaves, you'll still have access to your data.
Now when it comes to your online courses and online group coaching programs, I highly recommend that you consider setting up an 'academy' to house all of your paid work. For this I recommend Thinkific.
Thinkific is a beautiful tool that's low-cost, easy to use, and offers a great customer experience for your clients.
For more details on what Thinkific offers and why I love it so much, watch this episode.
How do I market my online coaching business?
Marketing tools for your online coaching business are essential since they allow you to notify the public about your business. Without marketing, how would your online coaching business make any money?
Free marketing tools that you can use include, but aren't limited to, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, etc.
All of which can play a crucial role in helping you get a steady stream of new clients non-stop.
However, my best students inside of The Income Amplifier Program use social media to bring prospective clients into their marketing sales funnel. Then they send them to their webinar, where they further educate and nurture them, helping them say yes to paying for their coaching programs and services.
My recommended go-to platform for streaming LIVE webinars and then turning them into evergreen training that runs on automatic, allowing you to get paid while you sleep, is Webinar Jam and its sister software EverWebinar.
Now, suppose you plan to make several sales videos. In that case, you will need a safe place to store your video footage that's easily accessible and integrates seamlessly with your webinar hosting platform. For that, you'll need to consider getting a Vimeo account for as little as $7/mo.
How much does it cost to start an online coaching business from scratch?
So in total, if you start your online coaching business from scratch, leverage all of the tools mentioned above, but starting with the free plans first, your cost would be $82/mo. Not bad, right?
Now, do you have to use all of the suggested tools and software listed above as no two online coaching businesses are exactly alike? But if I were to start my online coaching business over from scratch, these are the tools I'd invest in.
For the paid subscriptions of each, you're looking at a total cost of $2,428.94 per year. It is divided by 12 months, which comes to only $202.41 per month. Still affordable.
Tell me what step you'll take next to build your profitable and portable online business by dropping a comment below.