Being a business coach for health professionals is the most incredible career on the planet. Not only do you get to build a virtual health coaching business with location freedom so you can work anywhere you want, but you also have unlimited income potential while impacting your clients’ lives for generations to come.
It all starts with laying a solid foundation for your health and wellness business by making a handful of strategic decisions and taking a few key steps.
Thankfully, these five initial steps on how to start a health coaching business right now will take your ideas from dreams to reality, just like it has for hundreds of TPN clients.
Ready? Let’s go.
(Want to see me teach this step-by-step in a video? Just click the play button below! Or, feel free to keep reading for all the details.)
When I started my holistic nutrition coaching practice, I really wasn’t sure where to start. I knew what I wanted to do, but I wasn’t sure how I should set up my coaching business and what to offer for sale.
Over time, I made many unnecessary mistakes and changes. Luckily, I also made a lot of money and made an impact with my holistic nutrition coaching clients.
For that reason, I am excited to share five steps on how to start a health coaching business so you can avoid those mistakes for yourself.
Whether you are just starting out or further along in your health coaching or nutrition business, you can use the following valuable information. Perhaps doing a little audit will provide insight into where you can double down your efforts and where you can eliminate some busy work.
Before we dive in, let’s touch on something important: It is a privilege to be an entrepreneur, especially right now.
With very minimal overhead to get started and the potential for unlimited income, we are incredibly blessed with this opportunity.
There are three industries that history has proven time and time again to be completely recession-proof:
- Money (making it, keeping it, investing it)
- Relationships
- Health
If you’re teaching people how to make money, keep more of their money, or invest their money, you’re in good shape. That’s a recession-proof business.
If you teach people how to increase or improve their relationships, that is a recession-proof business.
Last but certainly not least, if you teach people how to improve or maximize their health, that is a recession-proof business. Plus, it is an amazing feel-good profession when you are helping people become the best version of themselves.
Luckily for both of us, we are in those industries.
I am always going to have an abundance of clients who want to learn how to make more money. You are always going to have an abundance of clients who want to improve their health.
That is not up for debate whatsoever. It’s not even remotely a question. It is the truth.
So, congratulations on choosing to start a business in an ironclad, battle-tested, rock-solid industry where your expertise and the tools you teach are valued and transformative to your client’s lives regardless of what the economy is doing.
Incredibly, we get to do this. As you move through the following five steps to start a health coaching business, remember to be grateful and appreciative of each person coming your way.
Read until the end if you want to help your clients create impactful and transformational change. Get results like this as own a health coaching business (this is what one of my students said)
Now get excited and let’s dive in.
Step 1: How to Become a Health Coach– Build an Impactful Business
Before you can implement the rest of the steps, you need to make decisions about yourself to become a health coach.
The best tip is to always choose not to be confused. Instead, choose to be resourceful and figure it out.
First, you decide.
Then, take imperfect action.
Lastly, evaluate every step of the way.
That’s the framework for growing your business. Decide, take imperfect action, and evaluate. Rinse and repeat.
Most people get this wrong and make their business way harder than they need to. This leads to confusion and feeling overwhelmed.
- Choose not to be confused.
- Choose not to be defeated.
- Choose always to be the kind of coaching business owner who figures things out and keeps things simple.
Repeat after me:
- Decide.
- Take imperfect action.
- Evaluate.
FREE COURSE
Grow your health coaching practice into a full-time income without relying on social media.
You’ll eliminate the confusion spiral, and your confidence will skyrocket. (Listen to “The importance of making decisions on your niche and moving forward” to deep-dive into that simple 3 step framework.)
Above all else, commit to yourself that you won’t quit when things get hard in your business because that’s not an IF; it’s a WHEN. Every professional health and wellness coach will experience the WHEN. Ultimately, it will be up to you to succeed or fail.
No matter what, you must remember that you can do hard things. When those hard things come up, it will be much more enjoyable to persevere when you have a figure-it-out mentality.
The same mentality goes for your clients.
They need to have a figure-it-out mentality and curiosity when things get hard. They need to be humble. They need to expect to fail and for some things not to work perfectly.
Naturally, they want their health journey to be smooth and predictable, but you know that’s not how it’s going to be. (cough cough, just like your health coach entrepreneur journey and growth….)
The more you know this to be true for yourself in your business as a health coach, the easier it is for you to facilitate this with clients. You need to show that figure-it-out-and-don’t-quit growth mindset if you expect your clients to.
In other words, everything you do and think is going to translate 100% into what your clients do and think. Your clients will always be a mirror for your beliefs.
Isn’t the psychology of business fun? It’s so fun.
Step 2: How To Set Up Your Health Coaching Business
Now that you’ve done a little self-reflection, let’s get into the nitty-gritty.
Step two is setting up the organization of your business.
I have an amazing podcast on how to brand, name, and make financial decisions for your online health coach business that will help you a lot. It breaks down every step of setting up your coaching business into even more detail. Be sure to listen to get the full scoop and ensure you are doing the right prep work.
For now, here’s an overview of what you need to set up.
Set up your dedicated business bank account.
Keep this bank account separate from your personal bank accounts. It would be best if this is an actual business bank account tied to your business tax ID number in a legal entity separate from your personal finances.
While this is not a make-or-break at the beginning services of your health coach business, it is important to do so, and I would recommend just doing it right away.
At the very least, have a different bank account and credit card from your personal bank account. This account may not be a dedicated business account. However, they HAVE TO be separate, so your end-of-year accounting and tax payments aren’t a nightmare.
In the future, you will be so grateful that you kept your business and personal income and expenses separated, so do not skip this step. In fact, just getting these ducks in a row for yourself will significantly upgrade your coaching business confidence and self-concept to pave the way for faster success.
Have a way to take payments online for your online health coach business.
You also need a way to take payments. People in the current world that we live in want to pay you online, so make sure that you have a way for them to do that.
Sometimes, I hear my clients say that their people will pay them with checks. Fantastic. Money is money, and in the beginning, that will work, but please also have a way for them to pay online. This is how 99.9% of the world would like to pay.
Don’t make it hard for people to pay you. Make it easy. Offer convenient options.
So that’s super simple: you’re going to need to have a payment processor, most commonly Stripe or PayPal, or both. People can pay you online, either through an invoice you send them or through a checkout page on your website.
To set up a business Stripe or PayPal account, you’re going to need a legal tax ID number.
The workaround that many people use is to get paid through a personal PayPal account or Venmo instead of setting up a business account with a tax ID. I don’t recommend you take payment through a personal PayPal, but could you get started that way while you’re getting your T’s crossed and I’s dotted for a few weeks?
Absolutely. Many people have.
If that’s how your brain works, I always want you to err on the side of imperfectly getting things going. You can work on figuring out the details later.
But not too much later, in this case. Ok?
You have now become a successful health coach. You want to take payments professionally and make it easier to claim your income correctly and pay the appropriate amount of taxes at the end of the year.
This brings us to our next fork in the road…
Set up your legal entity for your online health coaching business.
Set up a legal entity for your business if you still need to get one. Most people think this is way harder than it is. I can only speak to how this works in the United States, where it involves making one phone call to your CPA or to whoever prepares your taxes and asking what structure, based on your circumstances, you should be filling out a form for and starting.
Your tax professional will help you with this decision.
Is that an LLC? Is it an S corp? Is it a sole proprietor?
Usually, it’ll be an LLC or an S Corp. Ask your accountant. You don’t need to go down the rabbit hole and spend months and weeks researching everything to become a tax expert. Hire a tax expert to help you.
Then, you will go online to your Secretary of State’s website, pay about 150 bucks online (the fee at the time I paid), and fill out a form. It takes 5 minutes.
My friend, this is the easy stuff.
After filing this one form, you’ll get a tax ID number. You’re then able to set up your business bank accounts and accept online payments through Stripe using that entity and your corporate tax ID.
Just do it. People put this off way too long because it seems hard. Once they do it and realize it’s actually very simple, they feel so much more confident that they’re a real business and can receive payments professionally.
I have seen people who spend years looping on this, and they energetically push potential clients away. They’re thinking, “I hope I don’t get clients because I don’t know how to get them to pay me. I’m going to have to set up this payment stuff, and that’s hard.”
Don’t be that person. Get your legal entity figured out and get your business finances in line.
Give your wellness and health coach business names.
Naming a company can be hard. It is common for people to struggle to make this decision. However, don’t overthink it.
Go simple.
Just use your name.
As I said, I have an entire podcast about this, so if you’re having mental drama over naming your health coach business, listen to how to brand, name, and make financial decisions for your online health coach business to get a quick insight into naming your company.
Use your name or as close to it as you can. This will allow you to have flexibility later on to pivot if you start selling something a little different.
I did this initially. I had a different website URL at the beginning of my holistic nutrition business, which was a cutesy name I anguished over for months.
Why?
Looking back, I wonder why I spent so much time on this. It was short-lived anyway because I only had that website for a couple of months. I ended up changing the whole thing to AndreaNordling.com about six months into my business.
I wish I had chosen that from the beginning. As my business changed over the years, I didn’t have to change my website.
All that to say, keep your business brand name something simple. When in doubt, decide to name it something close to your name and move on.
Don’t let this slow you down. There are people who need your help, and there is no time to waste.
The Tech Stuff: Your health coach sites and Client Management System
Making decisions about your website platform is important. Likewise, it is important to consider your client management software and all the tech stuff you need to start your coaching business. However, they are only important if you can make them quickly without slowing down.
Again, we want to keep the momentum here. We want you to get clients and have people to pay you. We want you to start testing out your processes, working with people, and getting data under your belt.
This allows you to figure out what’s working and how you can do it even better. DATA.
We don’t want you sitting at your desk all day perfecting your logo. Or redoing your fonts and moving the drag and drop all around your new website platform.
Instead, you need to be telling people how you can help them.
If you need a quick website how-to, I created a very simple to complete course called Website In A Weekend for exactly what to say (and what not to say) on your simple health and wellness website that converts clients while you sleep.
After all, your business needs to generate sales to be successful.
Step 3: How to Pick Your Niche for Health Coaching (if any)
There are just a few things that you need to figure out to be able to sell your services to clients. Don’t be overwhelmed. Take a deep breath.
Say it with me: I need to make just a few decisions. There are no right or wrong answers here.
You’re just going to commit to a few decisions and move on.
Don’t ruminate. Don’t second-guess yourself.
That is where things spin out of control for most nutritionists and health coaches I work with. It costs them months, if not years, of lost income.
Don’t do this to yourself. Make decisions and keep moving forward with your business.
What niche to choose to become a successful holistic nutritionist or health coaching business
First, decide IF you’re going to focus on a niche. You don’t have to in the beginning. I have an entire podcast about how to choose the most profitable niche for an online health coach business to help guide this decision.
If you are scaling with a digital product, a group program, or an online course, you want a niche. This is the same for a digital program like The Profitable Nutritionist. If you are bringing people through a journey and working towards a specific goal, you want a specific niche.
Until you are at this point, you don’t need a defined niche if you don’t want one. In fact, in the beginning, you only need to decide IF you’re niching down or not.
You can use Google to find people according to your niche.
I recommend you commit to your niche-or-no-niche decision until you’ve brought in at least $100k
Here’s why: by just putting your head down and executing your niche decision, you’ll see it doesn’t matter WHAT the decision is. You just need to make one and don’t second guess it.
I’ve worked with hundreds of practitioners and coaches at this point, and an equal number are wildly successful with a niche as without in the beginning.
Here is an example of my other client, Charlotte, who is consistently making massive sales one after another through her coaching business.
Remember, you cannot do this wrong. The only “wrong” is not deciding. Or spending too much time thinking without making decisions.
The pattern of not making a decision quickly leads to second-guessing yourself and trying something else. Then, you scrap that decision and try something else. Again and again.
Don’t do this.
That’s the cycle that keeps people stuck for too long. The niche isn’t the problem. The constant change in decisions is the issue.
Sometimes, you don’t need a niche, especially if finding a niche has you stuck.
The pros of not having a coaching business niche are working with diverse clients where you can blow their minds with what’s possible. You can do this by just focusing on your foundational processes.
When you go that route, you’ll get lots of experience with many different types of clients. Best of all, you will get to “test drive” many different niches before committing.
The truth is, if you get to work, your health and wellness niche will probably reveal itself. It will happen when you take the pressure off of deciding and figuring it out.
There are going to be some topics and types of clients that you gravitate toward and will work with over and over again. They’re going to organically just be showing up because of how you talk to people and marketing your health coach business. These are the people you’re most excited about, and they’ll probably become your defined niche at some point.
The pro of having a defined niche from the get-go is tightening up your processes because you’re really specialized.
You also tighten up your wellness and health coach marketing around the specific problems and the specific solutions you offer. This is great for growing a community, a group program, or a digital platform in the future.
All that to say, eventually, you will want a niche to help your business scale and grow. I’m not against niches, as they truly are where you’ll find the riches.
Unfortunately, trying to find the “right niche” keeps people stuck for way too long in the beginning. Since we’re all about you getting maximum momentum here, know that not committing to a niche, in the beginning, is just fine.
You can easily get to six figures a year in income working with 1:1 clients without having a defined niche.
For more resources specifically on niching down, look at:
- The Most Profitable Niche For Your Health Coaching Business
- No Niche, No Problem – How To Succeed In Your Nutritionist Coaching Business With Chelsea Duffy
Next, figure out the health care coach offer you will sell your clients.
Now it’s time to sell.
What are you actually selling?!
My recommendation is you sell only one thing until you’ve made $100,000. This may freak you out, just like committing to your niche or not making a niche decision, but trust me.
I’ve sold many offers all at once and also just one offer at a time.
Follow my advice and see how my client Ankitas draws new clients regularly and boosts her sales.
Your business becomes much simpler and much more profitable when you sell one offer at a time.
For example, working 1:1 with clients and everything that’s encompassed in that container could be your one offer.
In that example, you don’t offer a group program, an online course, or a membership in addition to your 1:1 offer. You just stick to one, and you master selling and delivering that one offer.
Your clients get better results because you focus all your time and attention on making that one offer incredible.
You’ll receive more referrals because people are getting better results. This will make your life easier and improve every aspect of your coaching business.
You will be a stronger business owner, coach, and guide for your clients when you focus on one offer.
No one wants to pay for someone to be scattered and inconsistent.
Trust me. This is the approach I’ve used with hundreds of people, including myself. Start by focusing on selling one thing and become exceptionally good at delivering it. You will have enough referrals coming in that your client roster is full.
Then, and only then, consider introducing another offer. Only do this if you’re making at least six figures a year.
Truthfully, I would suggest you wait even longer before adding another offer. Don’t spread yourself too thin. You will end up losing your clients from your first offer if you do.
I recommend beginning with offering one-on-one packages. It is best to do this unless you already have a fully developed digital course, group program, or digital product that’s already established and selling successfully.
If it’s already created and successful, there’s no need to start with one-on-one packages. You can stick with what’s working.
However, if you’re starting from scratch, I highly recommend one-on-one packages. They require less tech setup, are easier to sell, can be priced much higher, and provide valuable experience and feedback for you.
It’s also way easier to sell 1:1 packages to your clients.
Selling one-on-one is different from one-to-many selling through copy and emails.
In the beginning, it’s essential to have one-on-one sales conversations with people to gather valuable intel. This includes their questions, objections, and concerns. This information makes future sales efforts better.
Learn from me.
I should NOT have started health coach with an online course offer at the beginning of my nutrition business. It was incredibly challenging to sell.
I wish someone had advised me on a more scalable and sustainable approach, which we’ll discuss later. It would have saved me years of lackluster income, mediocre client results, and general frustration.
When deciding how to work with your clients, offer long-term packages, not just one-off appointments or sessions. Packages, meaning a series of multiple sessions, are more profitable and lead to better results.
Trust me. It will feel so nice knowing you have a steady and consistent profit coming in.
Realistically, one coaching session won’t bring about massive health transformations. We know this. It’s important to communicate this to your clients by setting them up for success with a series of sessions. Put them all in one package deal.
When forming these packages, it is normal to get stuck on the duration. Should it be eight weeks, three months, six months?
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer because people achieve results at different rates. You’ll find that some clients progress faster than others. That’s just the nature of the journey, which means there’s no perfect duration that will be ideal for everyone.
Your best guess is to decide on a timeline and move forward. Again, it is all about not getting stuck in the decision-making process. You can adjust later if needed.
Are you wondering what happens if people don’t get the results at the end of the working period? I know I was.
Yes, you can offer them another package. Some people will need more time.
On the flip side, what if people achieve results earlier than expected? Will they feel like they got ripped off paying for more than they needed?
No! They’re thrilled, feeling like star students and ahead of the curve. They’ve got the results they wanted even faster than expected. They’re tickled pink.
They will know how your process works. They will rave about you to others, which will naturally grow your coaching business through word of mouth and referrals.
After all, clients aren’t paying you for your time – whether it’s three months or six months. They’re paying for their results.
Read that again and tattoo it on your arm if you need to.
If they get results faster, they’re happy. If it takes a bit longer, they’re still content as long as they’re seeing progress.
I understand there are lots of variables to consider when deciding what actually to offer for sale to your people. This includes different offer structures, price points, marketing strategies, tech setup, and a whole lot to manage all at once. This is especially true in the early stages of your health coach business.
My goal is to simplify things so you can maximize your income quickly and build and scale your business more efficiently. I want you to do this without unnecessary stress or the need to start over. I’ve personally experienced this pitfall and want to help you avoid it.
So, start with one offer. Like I said before, if you don’t already have something to sell, begin with one-on-one packages.
Continue perfecting the marketing, selling, and delivery of those packages until you’re fully booked and have a waitlist. You’ll likely increase your prices along the way, further boosting demand for your offer.
Fully booked and with a waitlist is where you want to be when you eventually create and launch a digital product or program. You’ll have already created such demand that transitioning into the new offer will be seamless, preventing a gap in your income – something few people talk about.
Don’t take my word for it. You can listen to my podcast episode, where I discuss in detail how changing offers and gaining momentum can impact your online health coaching business with The Profitable Nutritionist Program student Peg Wedig.
Are you struggling with any of these decisions about how to work with clients and be a health coach, the duration of your package, and whether to have a niche or no niche?
If so, ask yourself, “How would this look if I kept it simple for both me and my future clients?”
Good questions yield good answers. You already have the answers. Your brain knows what’s perfect for you.
Decide on the pricing model for your health coaching business.
Some coaching business decisions require you to make a choice and stick with them. Pricing is not one of these.
You can adjust your pricing as demand grows. Start with a price that allows you to gain clientele and adjust from there. As your business evolves and demand grows, you can increase.
Remember, transformation starts with the transaction. Clients value and commit to the transformation when they’ve invested. Don’t sell yourself short.
Pick a number that makes you slightly uncomfortable, which probably means you’ll actually be making a profit. Start there if the math pencils out.
If the math doesn’t pencil out? Pick a bigger number.
In fact, I usually suggest that my students take the number that initially jumps out at them as their rate and double it.
Yes. Double it. You know how your process will transform the lives of your clients, and it’s worth far more than that.
Pro Tip: Avoid seeking input from others on your pricing. Also, steer clear of comparing with what others are charging or figuring out the going rate. (It doesn’t exist.)
Your offer and your business are different than anyone else’s.
As a word of caution, many health and wellness practitioners struggle financially because they are under charge. Then, they can’t keep their business running because they don’t have the funds.
Don’t be one of them.
Decide on your pricing, choose a figure that challenges you a bit, and know it will likely change as your demand grows.
That’s it for your offer.
As a recap, this step involves making a few key decisions:
- What are you selling? Is it one-on-one packages, group programs, or an existing digital product?
- What will you charge for that offer? Make yourself uncomfortable with the choice so you can actually make a profit and stay in business for the long term.
Decide and stick with that decision. You’re now ready to start selling.
Sidebar: Should you work with some clients for free in the beginning? There’s no right or wrong answer. Here’s a podcast episode to help you test your process and know if you should work with clients for free in the beginning.
Step 4: The Secret to Marketing Virtual Health Coaching
Step four is about marketing and selling to become a successful health coach.
Here’s where I have to be honest: I don’t know how you will make your next coaching business sale. I don’t know how you will get that next client.
The mind-blowing part is neither do you. Not yet.
Once you get started, then you’ll know. Part of starting a business is learning as you go. It is about figuring out what works and what doesn’t.
There are infinite ways you will sell your offer to your perfect, ideal clients. I couldn’t even give you a list because it would be so long. The great news is that your best methods will quickly reveal themself to you.
Health Coaching Business Example
Want to see what others are actually doing? Here are some of my talented clients who’re using their expertise in their health coaching business, and yes, they’re crushing.
Alyssa helps people through her podcast and takes charge of their health.
She started out new with podcasts but signed two new clients within a week and had 170 downloads within seven days.
Dawn has changed numerous people’s lives after starting a nutrition coaching business
Don’t live with regrets like Dawn, who took a long time to make a decision. To become a successful business person, you need an effective health coach business plan.
There are infinite ways you will sell your offer to your perfect, ideal clients. I couldn’t even give you a list because it would be so long. The great news is that your best methods will quickly reveal themself to you.
Think about what business marketing you’ve seen that you like. Think about what you do not like. This is a great way to begin deciding how you want to market and sell your own health coach side hustle business.
You’re going to start conversations. You’re going to do some selling, and it’s all going to work out. You’re going to know how once you’ve done it.
Then you can reflect and evaluate and go, oh, yeah, that’s how that worked. Likewise, you will go oh, yeah, that did not work out. Being a health coach entrepreneur requires you to be flexible and adaptable.
I have a podcast episode on this as well: Do you know where your next health coaching client will come from?
- How does this work?
- How do people find me?
- How does marketing work?
- How do the sales work?
There are many ways. For example, you may present at an event and talk about what you do.
You can’t predict all opportunities. They will just come to you when you start talking about what you do.
Another example could be a friend reaching out on Facebook or through another friend because they’ve heard about what you’re doing.
Maybe an old coworker posts or talks about dealing with acid reflux or some other issue that’s been debilitating for them. Then, you chime in, saying, “Oh my gosh, I can help you. Did you know that my favorite clients to work with have acid reflux? If you know anyone else struggling with acid reflux, send them my way. They need to talk to me.”
Boom. Now, that person forever associates you with acid reflux, and anytime they hear someone suffering from it, they’ll pass along your info. You already have more clients coming your way by a simple conversation.
Do you hear how simple and easy that can be? It doesn’t have to be complicated. It can be playful. You can approach various problems with various solutions from all angles. For instance, your chiropractor or gym owner friend might mention the number of clients struggling with weight loss; that’s your chance to say, “I can absolutely help them with that. It’s my specialty.”
Or, if someone in your family complains about insomnia, you can say, “Oh my gosh, insomnia is my favorite. It’s so satisfying to work on. I’d love to help them. If you know anyone else with chronic insomnia, have them reach out to me.”
Notice how straightforward it is? Every time someone hears this, they’ll start associating you with insomnia or whatever issue you’re addressing. They’ll have conversations on your behalf with people facing similar problems, and those people will start coming to you.
At first, you may not know how it’s happening, but the word is spreading, and people are seeking your help.
You just need to speak up whenever the opportunity presents itself.
This is what I mean when I say you don’t know how yet. Once it works, you’ll figure out that it all stems from starting these conversations. This may be direct conversations with you or discussions between your contacts and their contacts, unbeknownst to you.
It’s incredible. Even internal conversations your future clients have with themselves after hearing about you can lead to them deciding, “I really need to work with her.” These are just conversations.
Conversations that can make a massive difference as a wellness or health coach.
Start as many conversations as possible with various topics. Make it a game, keep it playful, and have fun.
Then, when it’s time to sell, here’s how: tell people you can help them.
When these conversations come up, instead of hesitating, lean forward and deliver the four-word sales pitch, ‘I can help you.’ That’s it. Watch the magic happen. People who are bringing up these issues need help. Your help.
Many health and wellness coaches who are struggling in their businesses shy away from the selling part. Subconsciously, they fear that they can’t help people. They might think, ‘What if I can’t help them?’
As a result, some go for the health coach certification, hoping it will guarantee their ability to help people. This creates a cycle that keeps repeating. It’s also a disservice to those who genuinely need the help and are connecting with your message.
They would love for you to say the words confidently, ‘I can help you.” When you do this, they will borrow your confidence.
It all begins with a simple conversation.
Now, your brain might freak out about not knowing how everything will work. That’s completely normal.
Many people go back to step three at this point and start reconsidering their decisions. They think, ‘Maybe I should create a course,’ or ‘I need a new niche.’
Don’t do this.
Resist the urge to remake your decisions. You made those decisions for a reason.
This is the comfort zone talking.
The essence of entrepreneurship is moving forward when you’re uncertain about how it will all come together. It’s seven days a week of discomfort. Embrace it, as it’s often a sign you’re on the right track.
But you know what else is uncomfortable? Not living your dream or commuting to a job you hate. So, choose the discomfort that comes with unlimited income and impact.
You’ve already made decisions about what you’re selling, who your target audience is, and your pricing. You’re not second-guessing any of that.
What remains open for discussion is how you’ll make these sales. You can start with a blank slate anytime you want, getting creative with your marketing. Don’t get too attached to what worked in the past or the magic formulas you see others using. It’s not the only way.
The ‘how’ is a blank slate when it comes to your marketing and selling. You won’t know how it’ll work until it does. It’s a surprise for everyone, including you.
- Try various approaches.
- Have lots of conversations.
- Be curious.
- Think outside the box.
- Add playfulness to your strategies.
Profitable business owners approach things this way.
In contrast, those who are broke, overwhelmed, and overworked tend to be perfectionist, rigid, and unoriginal. Don’t be that guy.
The best question to ask yourself regarding your marketing and selling is: ‘How can this be simple?’ Similar to step three, simplicity should guide your actions in the beginning.
Your brain will want to make elaborate, complicated hoops for you to jump through. This is especially true if you are busy looking at other, more advanced businesses and trying to model what they’re doing.
Don’t make this mistake.
Stick to what feels natural to you. Ask yourself good questions like, ‘How can this be simple?’ and ‘What would make it easier or even unnecessary?’
When you ask yourself great questions, you’ll find great answers.
For more resources specifically on marketing your new nutrition or health coaching business, look at:
- 9 Ways To Market Your New Business Without Social Media
- What to do when you don’t have health coaching clients
Step 5: How to Scale Your Health Coaching Business With Courses and Programs
Step five brings us to growing sustainably and smart scaling. Yes, this seems weird to think about when this entire guide’s topic is how to start and grow a health coaching business.
However, it’s crucial to think long-term from the beginning. Many people overlook this, and I made the same mistake once starting a holistic nutrition coaching business. It cost me years of progress because I wasn’t thinking ahead.
As a coaching business owner, you always need to be thinking about the future.
In step five, I want you to have an idea of the order of operations. The top aspects to consider include raising prices and potentially introducing new offers. You don’t have to do these immediately, but you’ll likely want to at some point.
You need to give yourself time to plan.
Here’s the approach: Focus on building demand and selling out your current offer. Then, consider raising your prices while maintaining that level of demand.
As your demand continues to grow and your client roster is full or your groups are filling each time, continue to raise your prices.
When you decide to introduce a new offer eventually, you should have already created the demand for it and have a waitlist full of eager clients. Patience is key.
You need to think long-term and not scratch the edge like most people do. I was guilty of creating a new offer or two offers, or at one point, I had five offers.
Your brain will freak out about countless health coach business ideas and want to execute them immediately. You will feel overwhelmed and not be able to offer the best health coaching business services to clients when you do that, so resist the urge until you’ve generated substantial demand and income, preferably reaching six figures or more.
Think long-term and avoid the common mistake of introducing new offers prematurely without the demand to fill them.
Remember, in your coaching business, you’re just having conversations. You’re putting tips on your website, and someone’s sharing your emails, and clients are just coming. It will feel mysterious because you can’t pinpoint just one way they’re coming, but it’s all the compounding conversations. Online and in person.
Your brain is going to have a problem with that. It’s going to argue with you that it is not sustainable. It is going to make you think you need to jump into action and sell a new offer to “strike while the iron’s hot” and that your success is just a fluke.
Absolutely, none of it is true.
Be prepared for these thoughts to arise.
Silence them.
Otherwise, you may start introducing new products, changing prices, or over-committing to new marketing channels. You will end up abandoning what was working.
Don’t give in. Have confidence and faith in yourself.
When you are feeling like this, surround yourself with successful people. Success leaves clues, so surround yourself with people who are at the same stage or, even better, further along.
You can learn from their strategies and receive valuable support. You can get strategies that work instead of getting overwhelmed with all of the sparkly squirrel tactics and all of the things you could try.
My business went from about $150,000 annual income to nearly a million dollars in just three years because I invested in high-level coaching programs. I surrounded myself with peers who were ahead of me. I spent time observing them and learning from their experiences.
It was a complete game-changer in growing as a coach entrepreneur.
I have recorded several podcast episodes specifically about the process of scaling a profitable online health and wellness coach business.
When you’re at that stage, tune into:
- Should you create an online course or membership for your health coaching business?
- Planning for Capacity Growth In Your Coaching Business
OK, we covered a lot, but you don’t need to do this all at once. Just follow the 5 simple steps for starting a health coaching business of any type:
- Step 1 How to Become a Health Coach– Build an Impactful Business
- Step 2: How To Setting Up Your Health Coaching Business
- Step 3: How to Pick Your Niche for Health Coaching (if any)
- Step 4: The Secret to Marketing Virtual Health Coaching
- Step 5: How to Scale Your Health Coaching Business With Courses and Programs
Within each of these steps, there are shortcuts and strategies to help you move through them faster and with less stress. Your clients come to you because they are hoping to do the same with their goals, too, right?
This is why I’d love to invite you into The Profitable Nutritionist Program, your ultimate step-by-step guide for making your first $100K in your practice. The program includes unlimited LIVE coaching directly with me and my personally trained team of support coaches, so you’re never confused about what to do next.
These 5 Steps to starting a health and wellness business just scratch the surface of the detailed support and coaching you will receive inside the program, where we will all help you get across that milestone six-figure mark.
Best of all, you’ll do it without losing your own health and sanity along the way.
If you have already made your first $50K and have the goal to scale your nutrition or health coaching business to multiple six figures in the next 12 months, your next best step would be to apply to be part of The Streamline + Scale Mastermind where I will personally mentor you through the advanced scaling process.
Join The Mastermind waitlist, so you’re the first to be notified when applications open.
