There’s a paradox when determining your fees as a business coach. You are offering a professional service, based on your credentials, experience, and competencies and therefore you deserve to be remunerated accordingly. However, you need to make a living and you don’t want to scare off potential clients by being too expensive. So, what’s the balance?
Why Does Your Client Need a Business Coach?
There are a number of reasons why a businessperson would hire a business coach, amongst these are the desire to grow, diversify or save their business, streamline or expand offerings, or learn about running a business more effectively.
Those who are looking for a coach for a positive reason, or a ‘pull’ in the right direction, are able, and most likely to be willing to pay more.
Those who need a business coach to save themselves or their business are being ‘pushed’ into this situation and are usually not able pay a lot of money. This puts you in a quandary:
Do I charge less to get the client,
or do I stick to my price and let them go elsewhere?
How Much to Charge
Business coaches’ fees range from approximately R 500 per hour to R 5 000 per hour. Factors such as the coach’s industry experience, specialisation, and business experience all play a part in setting the fee.
Do you charge hourly, weekly, monthly, or do you charge a package?
There are also those who have a menu or price list that they work with: As a coach, you can also determine how much the client can afford, and charge accordingly.
If it is a corporate client, then you can charge the top fee. If it is a business owner with an average turnover, then you move to your lower level. If it is an individual, then you charge your basic fee.
There are also discounts and packages to consider, which means that you know your minimum requirement for you to survive.
Here are a few options:
- Charge hourly, allowing your client to determine how often they want to have sessions
- Charge monthly factoring in a set number of sessions
- Create coaching packages which include a set number of sessions with an overall discount so you are guaranteed of the work and that can be spread over a period of time.
The process is complicated, and there needs to be a realistic perception of what you feel comfortable charging, aligned with your professional worth.
Determining Your Value
Referrals and repeat business are the greatest compliment that a business coach can receive.
The more traction you gain, the more you can charge because your reputation precedes you. However, the more pressure you may feel to perform well.
Coaching fees are not necessarily a reflection of the value received in coaching, but are also a reflection of your own self-worth as a coach.
Too cheap fees may give the impression of not having value to give, too expensive may be out of range for most clients.
Take a step back, consider your competence levels and experience and what value you can add to your clients, and try to position yourself according. The market will give you feedback: Either they will engage, or they will disappear. In both scenarios you gain an insight into how well you’ve placed yourself and how accurate your pricing structure is.
SA Business Coaches trains and guides business coaches on setting up their business coaching practices. We also give you information from real experience to help you build and grow your Coaching practice.
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