Coaching Business Plan: 10 Steps To Write A PERFECT Coaching Business Plan

Learn how to create an online coaching business plan and the essentials for making the business plan that will scale your coaching to the desired heights.

If you have decided that online coaching is for you, and you want to tow that career path successfully, you should put certain things in place to ensure that your coaching journey goes smoothly and successfully.

Part of making sure you have a great online coaching experience is creating an online coaching business plan.

We have written this post to show you how to create your online coaching business plan

Creating an online coaching program has many hurdles that you need to be overcome; some of these are writing the vision and mission statement, describing your services, identifying your target market, making packages for your services, setting prices, creating a marketing strategy, launching schedules, and executing your ideas. 

With this guide, you can create an online coaching business plan without a lot of stress or even needing a lot of resources.

It will save you time, energy, and money.

If you want to take your coaching to a greater level, then this article is for you.

Let’s get started.

1. Write Your Vision

Online Coaching Business Plan

You need to be able to define on paper the reason you got into this business in the first place.

This is super important because it helps you express your reason in your service to your clients and it makes it easy to be able to say to people “I do this because of so and so.”

Write your vision within the context of your needs too. 

Nope, that’s not selfish, your plan must serve the world and serve you too.

Also, when you can show people that you care about yourself, it makes it easier to believe that you will care about them as well.

This will also inspire them to care about themselves too.

Start by writing down what your ideal day looks like.

What does it look like in terms of work? How much time do you want to spend with family and friends?

What kind of lifestyle do you want to have? This will help you get a general idea for the type of business that you want to create.

Next, write down what your vision statement is.

This will help you define the purpose of your business and why it matters to people in general. It’s a way for you to communicate this with others and yourself too!

Write down how long you plan on working like this.

Write out when exactly do you want to take vacations? How much time do you want to spend with your family? What kind of lifestyle do you expect in terms of income and expenses?

Write down what are your core values.

This will help guide decisions that need to be made when things get hard or confusing which is inevitable in business!

2. Mission Statement

Online Coaching Business Plan

Now you have your vision statement written down, the next thing you want to do is write down your mission statement.

Your mission statement must describe your business

What exactly is your mission statement?

Well, it’s a statement that describes your mission.

Simply put, the mission of your business. 

This is a very important part of your coaching business plan and you cannot ignore it or pay less attention to it.

Your mission plays an important role as it drives both your professional and personal life.

You need to be clear about your goals when stating out your mission statement.

What change do you want and intend to bring to people through your business?

How do you want to help people through your coaching program?

Who is your program designed for?

These are some of the questions you should ask and answer as you proceed to write your mission statement.

This will help you visualize it better.

Make sure that it is something you can stick to and keep in mind as you move forward with your business.

Your mission statement should be able to inspire others too!

It’s a way of communicating what your coaching business is all about!

There are three questions you want ask yourself when writing your mission statement:

– What do I want to accomplish?

– How do I go about doing it?

– What is my end goal with this mission statement and vision for the future?

When you write your mission statement, keep in mind that it needs to be inspiring. It should make people feel good when they read it. Your vision may align with others but it should be unique to you.

Remember, it’s your business and no one else can write it for you!

Make sure that everything in your mission statement is something that you’re passionate about and believe in.

You also need to make sure that the language you use will inspire people when they read it.

Your mission should be able to touch people and make them feel something.

It’s the fuel that will keep you going when things get tough!

Keep in mind that it is an ever-evolving document and it should be updated regularly to reflect your current goals and objectives.

3. Describe Your Service

Online Coaching Business Plan

This is a core part of your online coaching business plan. 

You must be able to describe your service.

Before you do this, there are four important elements to creating your offer or service summary. 

Here they are:

a. Who Your Service Is For

In a short and simple sentence, describe your audience or market

Use words or descriptors that help to pinpoint or specify who they are.

An example is using “middle-class parents” or “new coaches,” depending on who your service is designed to address.

If you already have a specific target market in mind, then write about them.

However, if you are still unsure of who your audience will be or how big they may become, just describe the main type of people that this service appeals to. For example: “a wide variety of women ” or “busy moms.”

This will be a good starting point for you and can help to focus your efforts when you start to market your service.

b. Address Their Biggest Pain Point(s)

Here, you add the top pain points of your audience. 

You don’t have to list everything, just go for the most powerful ones, go for the ones that affect them.

For instance, when describing your solution to middle-class parents, who are looking to get out of debt, you can describe their situation as “in debt up to their necks.”

Or you could address new coaching programs with a situation as “struggling to market and grow their business.”

Just go for something that hits home, something they can relate to very personally.

This is where you can go deep and pull at people’s heart strings.

It’s also the part that will make them feel “connected” to your service because it speaks directly to their needs!

Everyone wants help with something they are struggling with—this is what makes a great offer or product stand out from others.

Be specific about the problem they are facing.

For example, “struggling to pay their bills on time” or “worried that no one is going to hire them as a coach.”

The more descriptive you can be with this part of your online coaching business plan, the better! It will help to paint a clear picture for your audience.

c. Include A Key Feature Or Two Of The Service

You can highlight a key aspect of your service and juice it up further to catch and keep their interest.

You could also include more than one key feature of your program that appeals to them.

It should be an aspect they can perceive to be of immense value and help to them.

When describing your online coaching business to parents who are in debt, you could mention how this service offers a step-by-step guide on how to get out of debt.

Or if you’re targeting new coaches, you could talk about the one-on-one support they will receive from an experienced coach.

Keep it short and simple but describe it in a way that makes them drool!

It should be something they want to hear, something that will make their problems disappear.

Just like how you write your mission statement, use powerful words and descriptors here.

This is where you can get creative with the language of what people are looking for—the more you can build excitement, the better.

d. The Resultant Benefit

The last element of your service summary is the benefits that result as a result of taking your coaching program.

This is to top off or crown your description. 

Here, you simply point out the main or ultimate benefits that your clients stand to gain when they take your programs.

You should try to ensure that it includes physical or real things, as well as inner emotions or feelings of satisfaction, reduced stress, and a sense of enjoyment that comes from taking your coaching.

Remember that this is a summary

Don’t make it longer than it ought to be. 

So, what are the resultant benefits of your coaching?

For example, “you will have more money in your bank account” or “you will feel confident and happy with yourself.”

Just a few bullet points will do!

When you’re done writing this section, take a break! You’ve earned it.

4. Identify Your Target Market

Online Coaching Business Plan

Now you have come this far, the next step to take is to identify research and find out who your target audience is.

This is a vital point for any coaching business plan. 

You don’t have to go with everything. 

Just make sure you do a little survey and find out who needs your coaching session.

How do you go about this?

Simple.

First, you ask questions like:

Is my business niche for business executives seeking to grow their business?

Is my business niche for the college graduate who is looking for a job?

Is my business niche for women groups or mothers who are looking to work from home?

These questions will help you to identify your ideal coaching client

This will also help you to create your marketing ideas more effectively

With these, you can now focus your message on a specific group of people. Your target market.

Remember that knowing who you will be targeting is important in order to craft the right message and value proposition for them.

It’s also necessary so that you can know how best to reach out to people, identify their pain points, and apply a solution that they need most.

Next, you need to find out who your target market is and what problems they have so that you can create a solution.

You can use surveys, interviews, and social media platforms to do your research.

Just make sure you have a solid base of information to work from.

Now, let’s review the main points so far:

– Your overall goal and vision for your business.

– The problem that you’re trying to solve with your coaching service. It needs to be an important one that affects many people or else it won’t be worth it to them.

– The main features of your coaching service and how they will benefit your clients (use adjectives here).

– How you’ll provide support for your customers and what kind of results they can expect from taking the program. Mention physical things, emotions, or feelings that people experience when using this service. Keep it short!

– Who your target market is and what their main problems are. Remember to focus on adjectives that will help you to identify with them emotionally. This will help you to create a solution for them.

Now that we have these points down, it’s time for the next step!

5. Package Your Coaching Services

Online Coaching Business Plan

You may have more than one program or coaching service. 

You want to package your coaching services well so that people perceive them as quality.

Remember that you are up against stiff competition out there.

So, how do you package them?

First, think about what your clients need most from you and design a program or service around that.

Then, make sure that all of the components of your coaching program are high quality.  This means using excellent materials and having an excellent support team.

It will also mean having an excellent marketing strategy and a well-designed website to help you reach your target market.

This is the most important part of developing your coaching business plan!  If you skimp on this, it won’t matter what else you do because nobody will want anything to do with it anyway.

Remember that you want to create a perception of quality so that people are more likely to invest in your coaching services.

You may decide to go for one-on-one or personalized coaching services or you can settle for group coaching.

There is no right or wrong answer here.

It’s important that you choose a format that best suits your coaching services and target market though.

This will help to ensure long-term success for your business!

From this point, you can decide to upsell or cross-sell.

For example, if you have a financial coaching course available for purchase on your website, you might say something like:

You will learn how to take control of your finances and manage them effectively so that you can reduce stress levels. You’ll be able to pay off debt, secure your future, and make wise financial decisions.

You might also decide to offer a free gift or bonus with the purchase of each coaching program. This can be an additional lesson that ties in well with their main needs. For example, if someone is struggling financially you could provide them with tips on how to create passive income streams for extra money.

Remember, it’s important to make sure that your coaching services are well-packaged so that people perceive them as being of high quality. You can do this by using attractive graphics, making a video explaining what your program is all about, or providing a free trial.

People are more likely to purchase something if they know what they’re getting and how it will benefit them.

6. Set Your Prices

Online Coaching Business Plan

Financial planning is not just for individuals or families. 

You need financial planning as a coach too.

First, you’ll need to set your prices.

Once that is done, then you can do the math and figure out how much money per month or week that needs to come in for you to achieve financial success with this coaching business.  Look at it like any other job!

You will want to factor in costs such as advertising, website design and maintenance, materials, and your time.

Remember that you are worth more than minimum wage!

You also need to think about what you’re offering in terms of value.

How much is a client likely to save or earn as a result of working with you? What kind of results can they expect?  What kind of skills will they have when you’re done working together?

The more value that you can provide, the higher your fees should be.  If someone is getting rich quick schemes or “lose 30 pounds in 30 days” promises then it’s not worth very much.

You might decide to charge per hour, per month, or flat fee for your services.

It’s important to be flexible with your pricing, but also remember that you need to make a good living from this coaching business too!

You should also consider raising your rates over time as you become more successful and gain more experience.

Charging by the hour can be risky because it’s based on how much work you do, so you’ll need to be really efficient with your time.

Flat fee means a single payment for a specific number of hours or sessions and this is good if the coaching services are going to take up a lot of your time. You can set it at an hourly rate though as well.

Finally, charging per month will give you a monthly income and is good for long-term coaching relationships.

It’s important to decide what you will charge and how you will bill your clients upfront. This helps to set the tone for your coaching business and shows that you’re professional and serious about your work. You don’t want to undervalue yourself, but you also need to be competitive.

7. Make A Financial Model

Once you’ve decided on your pricing, you’d need to outline your financial model.

The following is required in your financial model:

  1. Your Start-up Cost: Find out what you need. Do you need to lease an office space? How much would it cost? Do you need a computer and internet? What will you need to start, and how much will it cost?
  2. Your Monthly Expenses:  You need to plan for your expenses. What are the necessary monthly expenditures? Rent, phone bill, website hosting and upkeep, etc.?
  3. Your Profit Margin:   This is how much you want to make after all bills have been paid each month.
  4. With this information in hand, then you can ask yourself how many clients you need each month to achieve your desired income.
  5. Make Financial Projections: Mention all you need to include or add to your profit-and-loss statement, make your financial projections and include them in your online coaching business plan; this is also part of your financial model and your online coaching business plan is not complete without it.
  6. Funding Via Investors: how is your business going to be funded? Do you need a loan to support it? Who are the investors? Can your audience afford your rates? How much does your target audience earn per year? Answering these questions will help you to match your rates with your target audience.

8. Create A Marketing Strategy

Online Coaching Business Plan

What marketing strategy or methods do you intend to use?

How do you make people notice you?

Are you going to do the marketing/sales all by yourself or do you intend to appoint someone to do it? 

What sales strategy do you feel will work best for your business model? 

These are questions that you must answer while creating your marketing strategy.

There are a lot of ways to market your coaching business, but some will work better than others for your specific niche.

Some common marketing methods include:

Developing A Website Or Blog: This is the first place most people will go to learn about you and what you offer. Make sure it’s professional and easy to navigate, and include all the information you want potential clients to know.

Building A Mailing List: You can get people’s email addresses by offering something of value, such as a free download or an exclusive report for signing up. Then use your list to offer more products and services later on down the line.

Social Media Marketing: Create profiles on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and any other social media sites that are relevant to your niche. Use these profiles to share valuable content, connect with potential clients, and build relationships.

Paid Advertising: This can be a great way to get in front of your target audience quickly. However, it can also be expensive, so make sure you have a solid marketing strategy and a healthy budget.

Building A Community: This can be done offline or online. In fact, both types of community are valuable as they offer different things to the business owner and their audience.

Attending Events And Networking: These events provide you with an opportunity for face-to-face interaction that is invaluable in building relationships with other professionals. You never know who you’ll meet and what opportunities may come your way.

You might need to plan both offline and online marketing strategies in your coaching business plan. 

For this explanation, we will share a bit of the online marketing strategies that will work.

For your online audience, you can use various social media tools like Facebook and Twitter. 

You can also use Google Ads which is an amazing sales tool. You can place your ads in specific places, and it will be very effective at targeting people who are interested in your services.

You might also want to think about developing a website or blog. This is the perfect place to share information about you and your business, as well as showcase your work.

Make sure you include clear contact information on your website and make it easy for people to reach you.

To get rankings on a search engine, you can make your website search engine optimized.

If your business model involves coaching over the telephone or Skype, then a website is not necessary. You can share information via email newsletters that will be sent out periodically. Just make sure what you’re sending offers enough value that subscribers don’t mind getting them from time to time.

In order to get more clients, you might want to consider paid advertising.

You can also begin to publish articles in popular magazines and newspapers, create a blog or write articles for other blogs and media which can help you gain exposure, as well as credibility.

You can also start an online community for your clients. 

When there is a new post, you can get them to share the group among others. 

This will help you to scale your business. 

You can also attend offline events and networking meetings.

These provide an opportunity to connect with potential clients in person, as well as learn from other professionals in your field.

Make sure you have a business card that provides all of your contact information, so people will be able to reach out to you easily.

Online marketing can be a great way to get in front of your target audience quickly.

However, it can also be expensive, so make sure you have a solid marketing strategy and a healthy budget.

9. Launch Schedule

Online Coaching Business Plan

You also need to get a launch schedule. 

What exactly is a launch schedule?

The launch schedule is a calendar that guides the activities in your business.  It has a plan for what you will do and when you will launch your new product.

It shows when your programs open and when they close.

Launch schedule is an extremely important part of online business planning because it can guide the activities in your coaching business. It’s basically a calendar that tells you exactly what to release, how much time should be spent on each activity, and when they need to happen.

You can also use the launch schedule to plan out the steps you need to successfully launch your program.

If done correctly, the launch schedule can help you avoid overwhelm and ensure that all of your activities are aligned with your overall business goals. It will also help keep you on track so you’re not working on things that don’t matter or aren’t helping you reach your desired results.

Let’s say, for instance, you may need to create a sales page. 

The steps to take would be that your sales page needs to first be written, it needs to be designed, and to be set up on your website.

When you’re writing your launch schedule, it’s important to be realistic with the tasks.

If you try and rush through things, then there is a risk that something will slip or not get done correctly. This can cause problems down the line which may end up costing more time and money.

It also helps if you set specific deadlines for each task and then work backwards from there.

This will help ensure that everything is completed on schedule.

The launch schedule should also be tailored to your specific coaching business. So, make sure you take the time to sit down and create a plan that works best for you.

Now that we’ve gone over what a launch schedule is and why it’s important, let’s take a look at how to create one.

This is a vital part of your online coaching business plan.

9. Execute Your Idea

Online Coaching Business Plan

This is the last bus stop. 

This is the part your intentions come to life. 

This is the part where your intentions become a reality as you take action on your ideas.

The execution of your idea is what will make the biggest difference in your business.

It’s what will help you achieve success and reach your goals.

This step is where a lot of people fall short because they don’t take the time to plan and execute correctly.

They may have all the right intentions, but if their actions don’t reflect that, then they will not reach their desired results.

That’s why it’s so important to have a solid plan in place and to take action on your ideas.

The execution of your idea is what will make the biggest difference in your business.

It’s not enough to have all these great and nice ideas on paper. 

They will do no good if you do not take action.

You must take action on your ideas.

This may seemingly be the hardest part because this is where you get to work and work is not always fun. 

This is where we recommend that you make sure you get or have an action plan

Once your plan is in place, then all there’s left to do is execute it!

Your action plan should include small tasks and their timeframes that you can stick to.

This is to help you start attacking the tasks off your list easily.

You can do this one by one.

When you have an action plan, you can easily break down massive tasks into smaller chunks. 

This will help you focus and stay on track.

But with a good plan and execution, you can get there!

Action Steps:

-Sit down and come up with an action plan for your coaching business. This should include specific tasks and their timeframes.

-Take action on your ideas and make sure you are executing correctly. This means completing the tasks in your action plan!

– Make sure you continue executing your action plan. This will make it easier for you to take massive tasks and break them down into smaller chunks.

Remember, Rome was not built in a day!

This will allow you to be a more productive coach and help to speed up your journey to experiencing a great and successful coaching business.

Conclusion

When you follow the steps mentioned here, you will make better decisions, and also have a solid action plan to follow.

This will allow you to be a more productive coach, and help to speed up your journey to experiencing a great and successful coaching business.

When it comes down to making better decisions or taking action on those ideas, I think it’s important for you guys not only as coaches but as people in general.

We all want to be successful.

But, in order for us to achieve that success, we need to take massive and consistent action towards it.

It’s not going to be easy, but with the right mindset and writing tools at your disposal, you can make it happen!

So what are you waiting for? Start taking massive and consistent action towards your success today!

We hope you found this article valuable and useful. 

Let this motivate you to create your business plan as this will move you faster towards achieving all that success that you deserve.

Cheers to your success.

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