How to start a coaching business with little money?

STOP!!! DON'T DO IT. GO GET A REAL JOB!! PLEASE! You don't plan to be a consultant. You become a consultant because the experience and wisdom you have is so obvious that those around you are eager to pay you for your insight. It's a calling -- not a job. Giving your "business advice" to a startup is like telling a 2-year-old to go "poo poo in th potty" -- anyone can do it. You just have to be a little bit more sophisticated than a baby. To service people who have money (and who are serious about how they spend that money) you need to take you game to a whole new level. I suggest you intern or partner with an amazing consultant who does this already. Learn. Do the gritty work that no one else is wiling to do. Everyone is a coach. Right? Drink a beer on game day and you supposedly know more than than the dude on the sidelines with the clipboard. But is that "really" the case? Of course not... DON'T BE A COACH. BE A LEADER.

Finding a coach is easy - there are many of them out there. Finding the right coach is the challenge. There are several factors to consider: Working with a coach that has similar experience in their background is not absolutely necessary, but can be very valuable. Having someone that can truly understand what you're trying to accomplish, and can empathize with the challenges you face, will help smooth communication. Coaching skills are equally important, though. Many experienced business people position themselves as "coaches", but they aren't actually very skilled at coaching - they're more likely to tell you what *they* would do, rather than truly help you dig deep and find the right answer for yourself. The result is that you end up pursuing your version of someone else's goal, or someone else's version of your goal. Neither is totally fulfilling. "Fit" is also really important. Personality, communication style, sense of humor... - these all factor in to the quality of a coaching relationship, and are very personal and unique to each coach. Take the time to meet several potential coaches and see who you connect with. Also, don't ever feel bad about saying "this just isn't working". I used to be very skeptical of coaching as a profession, for a number of reasons. Once I found the right coach, though, the experience was transformational for me, and pivotal to my success as an entrepreneur. I'd be happy to have a conversation to determine if there's a "fit". I work with dozens of entrepreneurs, having been one myself for over 12 years. I'm not right for everyone, though. You have to make that determination for yourself.

Assuming you are qualified to create this kind of offering, I think you can safely determine that there is need for this service. I know many doctors who struggle with the business of their practice and could benefit from coaching. That being said, if you believe this is an area you want to devote years of your life to, I would consider the infrastructure that will be required to support your success. Over time, you're going to want to build out the following (or a version thereof): Creating your brand identity Building your website Developing your funnel to generate leads Developing your pricing model Inbound marketing strategy and execution Social media strategy and execution Sales strategy Long-form content creation for email capture Short-form content creation for traffic generation SEO for organic traffic Advertising for paid traffic Presentation planning and coaching Possibly a book I would recommend thinking about as much of this ahead of time as possible to give yourself the greatest chance for success.

Hello, I like how you have identified your passion and understand who you want your target audience to be. I have sold technology solutions for 6+ years to entrepreneurs and business owners- a big part of the selling process requires value-adding, which can only be achieved by understanding the minds of your target audience. To find a niche, you need to start by asking yourself what kind of value you can bring to your specific target audience of entrepreneurs or business owners. Everyone has limited attention span these days and unless you can figure out what these people care about and how your coaching/consulting services can benefit them, it will be difficult to connect and add value for the entrepreneurs. In short, you should determine your niche by figuring out what these folks care about and then hone your craft around providing value for those individuals. Happy to get on a phone call if you want to talk about specifics. Best, Kevin

A mentor should consist of 3 things 1. Have a track record, be knowledgeable and connected in your the area of your startup (e.g. real-estate, fashion or semi-conductors, building a startup, writing a book) 2. Share your vision 3. You should think he's cool and he should think you're cool If you have all of these 3 things, then the mentor is valuable and you can think about giving a stake in your company.