Why Most Coaching Businesses Don’t Make Money (and How to Build One That Does)
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Starting a coaching business has never been easier.
You can create a simple website, create a scheduling link, and start offering your services pretty quickly. There’s no shortage of advice, tips, and guidance online about how to launch, grow, and scale your coaching business.
But there’s a gap that doesn’t get much discussion.
While starting a coaching business is relatively straightforward, building one that consistently makes money is where most people get stuck.
A lot of coaches getting started are having a hard time getting consistent business and turning that into consistent income.
Let’s talk about why many coaching businesses struggle to generate income and ideas that can change that.
The Reality Most Coaches Don’t See
The coaching industry has a relatively low barrier to entry. Anyone can be a coach! While there are professional associations that certify and accredit the profession, like the International Coaching Federation (ICF) or the International Association of Coaching (IAC), you don’t need a specific degree or license to get started in many niches. If you have the experience, insight, or genuine interest in helping people, you can begin.
That’s part of what makes being a coach so appealing. It also means there are many of coaches out there. When it’s easy to start and do, it becomes harder to stand out.
At the same time, much of the advice aimed at new coaches focuses on mindset, visibility, and/or consistency to overcome fear, build trust, and gain momentum. Those are foundational soft skills that can commonly address common pitfalls of new coaches, like imposter syndrome, perfectionism, or erratic marketing efforts.
Those things can help, but they don’t replace a clear, solid business model.
You can be consistent and still not get clients.
You can show up every day and still feel stuck.
Passion is important, but on its own, it doesn’t create demand.
And visibility without clarity rarely leads to success.
The Four Reasons Most Coaching Businesses Don’t Make Money
Coaching businesses that aren’t seeing revenues often have similar patterns.
1. There’s No Clear Offer
A lot of coaches describe their work in broad terms, such as “I help people transform their lives” or “I support growth and clarity.”
While that may be true, it’s not specific enough for someone to understand what they’re actually buying.
A clear offer should be able to answer the following questions:
Who is this for?
What problem does it solve?
What does the process look like?
If your service is unclear or it’s hard to understand what you do, prospective clients are unlikely to take the next step with you.
2. Trying to Help Everyone
It’s very common to keep things broad and general to cast a wide net of possible clients at the beginning of your business journey. Narrowing your focus may seem risky, and you don’t want to miss out on potential customers.
But when your message is broad, it tends to blend in.
Specificity actually makes it easier for the right people to recognize themselves in what you offer.
And that’s what leads to conversations.
3. Pricing Doesn’t Match the Value
Pricing is a major source of uncertainty for many coaches. Research indicates that over 60% of coaches struggle to price their services effectively.
Some coaches may set their prices too low to be accessible to everyone, which, ironically, attracts “value seekers” who are often less committed and require more of your energy for a lower financial return.
Other coaches charge their time for money (hourly rate) and may offer a lot of time and support without clear boundaries, which can make the work feel unsustainable.
While there isn’t one “right” price, there are factors that can help you align your price with your services, including:
Industry standards
Geographic location
Client’s budget
Your niche/speciality
The result you help your client achieve
When those aspects are clear, pricing tends to be more straightforward.
4. The Business is Treated Like a Side Project
A coaching business often starts alongside other commitments, and that’s typical.
But when the work put into it is inconsistent, it’s difficult to build any real traction.
When you continue to run your coaching business as a hobby, it’s easy to start and stop efforts, which can make it challenging to see progress, even when you put in effort when you can.
What Actually Works
Coaches who are seeing progress in their businesses aren’t necessarily doing more. They’re usually doing a few things consistently and clearly.
At a basic level, a successful coaching business needs three parts working together:
1. Offer (What You Sell)
Your offer is your foundation. It’s the reason why you started a coaching business in the first place. If you know what problem you’re helping with, who it’s for, and what the process looks like, everything else becomes easier.
When you focus on a specific, tangible, painful issue that your ideal client is experiencing, you move away from selling your time to selling a desired outcome. For example, a Career Coach helps female technology leaders get promoted.
Your offer should explain how you’ll help your client achieve the desired results. Your process should be a clear, actionable roadmap that shows the transformation from “before” to “after”.
2. Audience (Who It’s For)
Be specific about who you serve. Remember, when you serve everyone, you serve no one. Defining your customer helps them see themselves in your offer. For example, it may not be as clear if you help anyone lose weight than it is that you help dads over 40 who haven’t stepped foot in a gym in years.
When you’re clear on who your ideal customer is, it’s much easier to create relevant content, have focused conversations, and position your offer in a way that resonates.
This isn’t about limiting yourself. It’s about giving your work direction.
3. Acquisition (How You Get Clients)
This is where many coaching businesses struggle.
It’s not because there aren’t any options. It’s because there are TOO many options.
You don’t need to be everywhere. You need to focus on a select few paths. Are your ideal clients hanging out on social media? Are they people you already know or have worked with in the past? Could you meet them live at an event or through a professional networking association?
Once you decide on one or two sources where you can meet your ideal customers, create an acquisition plan that includes building authority and sharing your story and expertise through those channels.
You Don’t Need a Perfect Plan – You Need a Working One
Don’t get caught up in the planning.
Refining your niche, adjusting your messaging, and researching strategies can feel productive, but they can also delay taking action by directly connecting with and having conversations with your audience.
Imperfect action beats perfect planning.
Clarity comes from doing. Real world conversations can lead to iterative growth. Moving forward with one or two paths to get to talking to your prospective clients sooner rather than later can help you learn fast on what’s working and what needs to be adjusted.
Final Thought
Coaching can be a fulfilling and meaningful way to work. There is a real potential to build a business that supports both your clients and your own goals.
Coaching businesses that grow aren’t necessarily built by the most certified coaches, or the ones with the most polished branding or the ones with the largest following. They’re the ones built on a clear foundation: a defined offer, a specific audience, and a consistent way to connect with the right people.
And if you’re feeling stuck, it’s worth taking a step back and asking yourself a simple question: “Are you running your coaching business intentionally or hoping it comes together over time?”
When you start approaching your work with structure and clarity, your business will shift in a positive direction.