Pricing Your Coaching

When you're starting your coaching business and you've come to the question: What do I charge?! Don't worry! Honestly, there are a million formulas out there you can use. But none of them are right or wrong. Nor do they add inflation into the mix.

There are a million opinions, and although they can be helpful to listen to, the only one that matters is yours and what truly works for you and your life.

So first, sit with yourself and do some soul searching and calculations. How much money do you want to make? All judgements and insecurities aside, what do you actually want to bring in from your coaching business?

Here's what I've found over the years of my coaching journey and the simplest answer I know:

1. If you work a lot for free, you'll gain a ton of experience and confidence in your abilities. You may also receive other forms of abundance such as clarity in your field, friendships, wisdom, gifts, and hands-on experience. This is very valuable. Your education is very valuable. But if you keep working for free, your calendar will be booked and you'll bring in $0 to build the lifestyle of your dreams. 

2. In my experience, offering my services free to multiple people led to multiple no-shows. Many people tend to find more value in what they have to pay for. Not always, but psychologically a lot of people operate this way. Although it's changing with raising consciousness, it's still relevant. This is the only reason I started charging for workshops and coaching programs early in my journey. The show up rate was better. Which meant more people learned stuff.

3. If you charge too little, your calendar will be booked but you won't be making a living or building the lifestyle you want to live. I always tell people: "If your calendar is full or your classes or programs are full, you aren't charging enough."  Most people tend to under-value their services, so starting high is better than starting too low. 

4. Different people are attracted to different price points. For example, when I raised our prices in one of our businesses, we got a completely different type of client. When we charged too little, some people questioned the value we provided. This is detailed and involves lots of psychology... which is why what matters most, is what works for you and your business. 

5. If you charge too much, people won't buy your services or your stuff. 

6. Pick a number you're happy with and feel good about and go from there.

Honestly, that's it. That's my formula.

But if you're craving more detail, here are my thoughts which you may find helpful as your coaching business grows and develops:

As a beginner I recommend 3 potential options:

1. Offer free services to gain experience as a coach. Coach as many people as possible. This is a priority for you at this point in your journey. This may also help you become more confident working with people and it will help you develop. You can do this for reviews and for your own education. 

2. Ask your potential client what their budget is per session. Come to an agreement for individual sessions or a package (i.e. 3 package deal). I do recommend all agreements be written either through an email or a written contract. This generally helps people stay accountable and helps everyone stay focused on the overall goals of the client.

3. Pick a number you feel good about and you're happy with and go from there.

There is a lot of value for you to give and receive as you gain experience as a coach regardless of financial exchange. So when it comes to you staying open to all forms of abundance, if it makes you feel better to offer your services for a low price or for free, then do that. 

It's important to see the experiences you gain as a form of abundance: your lessons, your learning, and people (clients and teachers) who are helping you develop in the early days of your coaching journey in exchange for your valuable guidance. <3

Coaching as many people as possible will help you determine WHO your target market is and WHO you love to help, i.e. all men, men over 40, women, both, and exactly what you're helping them with (niching up or down). You'll need to go through this to determine who your best ideal client is.

This is part of your journey and life path. The process is the point. There are no shortcuts. 

For example, I used to coach people through trauma recovery. I met a client who I supported for years, let's call her Sarah. I worked with her for free for nearly 3 years. Without me asking, she reviewed all of my work, showed up for all my programs, commented on all of my posts and applied the lessons to herself as best as she could. She ended up becoming a really good friend.

She gave me feedback on my programs and helped me understand what worked for her. I learned about her life, her struggles, and how I could show up better for her... and how I can show up better in life. The lessons I learned from her are irreplaceable.

Sarah has since passed away from cancer, but she lives in my heart. Everything I learned from our interactions is imbedded into my soul. I became a better coach and guide because of her, because I was so determined to help her heal and to help her make a new life for herself. Now, Sarah helps me from the other side of the veil. I always feel her presence, she is still a student to me, and I am still learning from her. 

I helped people with trauma recovery for months on end. I showed up in facebook groups, gave away free programs and pulled as many people as I could out of the water to keep them from drowning.

Until one day, the universe gave me a lead. That I was to move on from this work. I was getting sick and feeling ill. It was hard for me to energetically recover from the healings I had been doing. This was just one cue to move on into a different arena. So I listened to my instincts and guidance and moved onto teaching people how to swim... instead of saving them from drowning. 

Knowing I have friends in the natural healing arenas, trauma informed therapists and specialists that help people recover from trauma... I felt good about moving on without regret. However, it was part of my earth lessons and lessons as a coach to help where I did and to meet Sarah.

Without taking on clients in this area, I wouldn't have obtained the skills and knowledge I needed to move onto the next steps of my development. And now I absolutely LOVE helping heart-centered entrepreneurs make impact on society and transformational coaching!

Even now, years into my journey, I offer a set amount of free coaching hours every year. It's always been a way for me to give back. 

Intermediate:

Determine what your time is worth and what price would make it worth you to coach individuals, group (large and small), etc. For example one of my clients, lets call him Edward, decided that to do 6 months of coaching (14-16 sessions) with an individual, that it's not worth it for him to offer this for any less than $9,000.00.

Edward has a family, and 3 other businesses. Individual coaching isn't his primary means of income. He does a lot of group programs and mentorships that he loves to lend his time to. So it's not that he won't do private coaching, it's just that it has to be worth it for him to pull time from his other endeavors. Even then, he only takes on specific clients that he chooses to work with for equal benefit to both of their growth.

This will become more clear to you as your programs, packages, and business model evolves, too.

Advanced:

Regardless if coaching is your primary, secondary, or alternate form of income for you, determine how much you want to make a year on your coaching business and how many days of the year you want to spend on coaching. This will help you perfect your business model, enhance your coaching packages, and provide you with a simple structure you can expand your business upon that works for your lifestyle.

For example, a client determined she wanted to make 500k a year as a part-time coach. So we configured a simple outline like this because it works for her business, her lifestyle, and the programs and services she loves to offer. She never would have been able to determine what she loves without putting herself out there, coaching, and moving through the experience of her own development, expertise and knowledge. She also never would have been able to develop her successful programs without trial and error. 

So doing and applying is what is most important. She said that if she had followed someone else's formula, it would have taken her off course from her own internal compass. She would likely be charging a lot less and working a lot more.

Private 1 on 1 coaching. Slots available: 10. Price: 15,000  10 x 15,000= $150,000 year (140 coaching hours per year).

Course + Group Coaching. Slots available: 60. Price $499 60 x $499 = $29,940 month x12 $359,280 (48 coaching hours per year).

In all 3 of these stages, what works for your lifestyle is key. What feels good for you to do is extremely relevant when it comes to making these decisions. There is no wrong answer. So follow your instincts and your internal guidance as best as you can while you grow and develop your passion led business. This is your journey. No one else's.

If I were to sum all of this up, follow what feels good and exciting for you. Focus on impact and keep financial thoughts separate from the value and service you offer. You will gain knowledge and clarity on your entire business including the growing, building, creating and expanding, as you continue to move forward.

You are already valuable, worthy, and capable of helping people transform lives. Once you feel this confidence and Truth regularly, the sky is the limit and you can charge whatever you want. 

Much love,

Until next time...

Lora

www.loraperry.com

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