How to Find a Business Coach Online on a Shoestring Budget
Business coaching is known as the fast-track to life and business success. The problem is, hiring a business coach has been known to be quite expensive and therefore reserved for the clients with the deepest pockets.
That’s why the phrase: “affordable business coaching” sounds more like an oxymoron than a realistic coaching option.
These misconceptions that business coaching programs have to break the bank are not completely unfounded.
So, let’s clear up the confusions with these questions:
Why is business coaching so expensive and out of reach for most people?
The world of business coaching has been built around the idea of: “you get what you pay for.”
This “elite” mentality equates high costs to high-quality services, which is why business coaches aim to charge sky-high hourly prices no matter their experience and value.
If you google “why are business coaches so expensive,” you’ll be able to scroll through countless blogs and articles written by “top coaches” and industry insiders trying to justify $600 an hour session for all of their clients, regurgitating phrases like: “if a coach charges affordable fees, they don’t value themselves!”
If this mentality is the force behind the coaching business, it’s no wonder most coaches dole out their services to the highest bidders.
How much does a business coach cost?
This is obviously a hard question to answer because prices vary depending on the area of coaching, coaching style, where you live, and what kind of coaching program you need.
However, Sherpa Coaching, a world-renowned organization, published a wide-scale 2020 survey that found that the average price of a coaching session is $300 per hour.
Furthermore, the ICF also released data that found that if a coach wants to earn between $100,000—150,000 per year, they have to charge an average of $365 per hour.
That's a lot cash for an entrepreneur, business owner, or anyone else that's part of the 90% of Americans making less than 100k a year.
How do coaches price their sessions?
OK, so a lot goes into pricing a coach’s sessions because there are different ways to go about doing so.
For example, some coaches charge per hour, some charge per month, some operate within group coaching programs, while others even charge based on your performance.
Take Marshall Goldsmith, a top-ranking executive coach, who created his own performance-based model. Basically, Marshall doesn't get paid if his client doesn’t reach their goals.
The most common form of pricing is in the form of billed hourly sessions. Some people prefer to work with monthly packages or weekly flat rate prices—it depends on what works best for you and your wallet.
The way the business coaching industry currently functions also makes it hard for a coach to offer more affordable prices.
Coaches may feel pressured to overcharge for their coaching programs for several reasons:
A coach largely relies on referrals to increase their client base, which isn’t necessarily a secure way of earning an income. Not knowing where your next clients will come from gives a coach less space to offer lower prices.
Many professionals are coaching as a side job and don’t have time to give their services to more than a handful of people at a time. Fewer clients mean they may feel the need to increase their prices to make ends meet or make it worth the while for them.
Many online coaching platforms, business coach websites, and agencies out there hire coaches to be on their teams. They provide clients and a platform for them to succeed. However, these agencies usually take over half of a coach’s earnings; this leads to charging higher prices to break even.
Who has access to business coaching?
Usually, those who have deep enough pockets to afford it.
To better understand the framework of exclusivity and elitism surrounding the coaching industry, we need to look back at the industry’s roots.
Coaching—as we know it today—began to take shape in the early 1970s in the realm of company founders and executives.
Big companies began to hire coaches or “counselors” to help guide and train employees in leadership positions in order to increase business growth and success.
Organizations were (and still are) paying big bucks to executive coaches to step in and coach their business leaders by acting as a strategist, giving advice, fixing mistakes, and whipping them into top shape.
This set a precedent in the coaching industry of high prices and the exclusive access to coaching usually reserved for the “higher-ups.”
Although companies and businesses usually hire coaching for their CEO and other management positions, a few are starting to hire coaching for more mid-level employees.
But what about the people at the bottom of those career ladders? The people who work for small startups instead of big organizations? Single salary mom entrepreneurs? Small business owners? Entrepreneurs with struggling businesses?
Automatically slapping on sky-high prices on coaching packages is a completely altruistic way of doing business because it leaves out the rest of the population with lower income.
Sadly, the clients that need business coaching the most are the ones that have least access to it.
The wisdom and advice from a coach would be a game changer for small business owners, entrepreneurs, women, men, and many others who are struggling to make ends meet.
So, is there really such a thing as affordable business coaching?
The short answer is—YES!
Are you ready for the long answer?
When someone gets fed up with the way things are done, that’s when an invaluable idea flourishes into a movement. That’s what happened to Bryan Rosenthal, his idea to rethink the coaching industry flourished into the online business coaching platform—CoCaptain.
Despite the deep-rooted elitism that is still lingering within the coaching industry today, there are people out there trying to democratize coaching services so that everyone—no matter their income—can receive the help of a business coach.
Bryan’s story is not uncommon; he experienced first-hand how certain companies hand pick who does or doesn’t get coaching depending on where they stand on the career ladder.
Well, CoCaptain wants to remove the career ladder from the coaching process, and any other economic hurdles that previously impeded people from working with a business coach.
How does affordable online coaching work?
CoCaptain connects business and life coaches, advisors, and subject matter experts with individuals at all career levels—from entry level to executives.
First, the Customer Success Team at CoCaptain considers a potential client’s needs, goals, and budget to create a customized coaching solution to fit the client’s needs.
CoCaptain offers a variety of different types of coaching with a wide range of prices to provide services for all career profiles and budgets.
Why CoCaptain is the best online coach solution for clients
Before, if you didn’t have $300 to spend on a session you either had to squeeze your wallet to pay the fee or you decided against working with a business coach.
With CoCaptain's wide range of options you can pick and choose what you can afford at any given time.
For example, say you’re a business owner that wants to move their business online. You desperately need help with marketing your brand to boost online sales but have a limited budget. CoCaptain could set you up with a marketing specialist (Subject Matter Expert) and try to work in as much content into three 45-minute sessions that you can afford.
Or maybe you’re a successful entrepreneur running two busy businesses and need a strategist to help you separate your work problems from life problems. You have a big budget to spend but have limited time. CoCaptain can set you up with weekly 30 minute online life coaching sessions to get you on the fast track to success.
At CoCaptain, there’s a service for every budget.
Bottom Line
There’s a flip side to the coaching industry that more clients and coaches are embracing, and that’s the idea of business coaching for ALL.
The value of business coaching is very well documented. You don’t need to be struggling to search for improvement with a business coach.
And you shouldn’t be deprived of the pursuit of improvement if you don’t have a high income.
Everyone deserves the support that comes from a coach that perfectly fits your needs. Budget-friendly coaching sites like CoCaptain make it easy to find that perfect fit without breaking the bank.
What do you think about the idea that high cost sessions equal high quality coaching? How has looking for an affordable business coach been like for you? Share you thoughts and experiences below:
