Is Life Coach a Good Career in the U.S.?

A life coach is a guide who helps individuals find easily implementable ways to achieve their life’s goals. As a life coach, you will have the opportunity to build an emotionally rewarding career in the service of those who could benefit from your help.

But, is the job of a life coach financially rewarding, stable, and risk-free, particularly in the competitive life coaching industry of the United States, where an estimated 22,500 life coaches are already in the market?

A $2 billion industry

Globally, the self-improvement market is growing at a tremendous pace. This segment includes everything from weight loss apps to self-help books to life coaching. As awareness about the self-improvement industry grows, more people are investing in products and services that help them with personal development.

Studies show that today’s Americans spend over $11 billion on the self-improvement market. In particular, the life coaching market is estimated to be worth a whopping $2 billion, and the demand for life coaches sees a steady increase. If you’re considering taking up a career in life coaching, now is the time to do so.

Why does the US have such a huge demand for life Coach?

The unique demographic and psychographic characteristics of the United States makes life coaching a very lucrative field.

For decades, America has been called the Land of Opportunity. For a large part, this is true. The US offers innumerable opportunities for professional and personal growth. Right from myriad academic degrees offered in American colleges to the massive job creation that occurs in multiple niches/industries, people in the US have numerous options to pursue when deciding the direction of their lives.

Related quotes:  Reasons why you should sell custom products

However, the opportunity comes with a cost. With too many choices comes dissatisfaction, and people are unsure whether they made the right life choices or not. This confusion and the desire to reconcile their professional choices with their personal ones have led to a demand in life coaching.

More people in the US are seeking professional support from life coaches to get clarity about their lives and become more accountable towards their personal and professional goals.

Additionally, multiple cross-continental surveys show that residents in the US get paid much higher than their counterparts in other countries, irrespective of the nature of the profession. This gives the US residents more disposable income to spend on personal development activities such as life coaching.

Today, life coaching in the US isn’t just the luxury of the financially-secure Baby Boomers or Gen Xers. Many millennials too are spending actively on life coaching, thereby exponentially expanding the customer base of the life coaching industry.

Earnings life Coach can expect in the US

According to the International Coach Federation (ICF) research by Price Waterhouse Coopers, full-time life coaches earn an average of $214 per session, earning upwards of $60,000 in the year. This is higher than the $56,516 median pay in the US. Additionally, depending on their tenure as a life coach, expertise in specific types of life coaching, and the target market they cater to, life coaches can earn anywhere up to $1000 per session.

If the life coach works in cities like Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Phoenix, Seattle, Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Denver, Minneapolis – where the demand for life coaching is high – they earn much more than life coaches working in other parts of the country.

Furthermore, life coaching is one of the few careers that doesn’t have a high starting investment. Currently, there is no recognized licensing body that licenses life coaches in the US. So, licensing is not mandatory.

Related quotes:  How To Make Online Classes Interesting This Year

However, practicing life coaches may choose to get trained & certified in life coaching at any of the local or international life coach certifying institutions. Depending on the type of certification obtained, the location and repute of the training/certifying agency, and the specialized skills acquired, the expenses of starting the life coaching business also changes.

Finally, life coaching is a business that doesn’t require the coach and the client to be physically/geographically in the same place. Many life coaches choose to provide their services online. You’ll only require a laptop and internet connectivity to get started. This way, you can forego office rentals as well and easily start your life coaching business with the least investment.

According to the above ICF research, life coaches typically generate an ROI that is 3.44X more than their initial investment.

Mitigating the risks of a life coaching business

As a life coach, you help your clients overcome their mental blocks and develop accountability towards their lives. You guide them by offering knowledgeable recommendations and practical advice.

However, you don’t control the actual implementation of this guidance. That responsibility lies with your client.

Sometimes, clients may misunderstand your well-intentioned advice and indulge in actions that may harm them or prevent their achieving the desired results. Dissatisfied clients may consider your guidance to be poor quality service and may sue you in the court of law for giving bad advice that resulted in personal injury or property damage. The expenses of protecting yourself against such lawsuits can be astronomical.

A good way to safeguard yourself and your business against such risks is to get professional liability insurance. This insurance is designed to indemnify you against any financial expenses and losses that arise out of profession-related lawsuits. If you are sued by a client for negligence or wrongful advice, you can protect your personal and business assets through professional liability insurance.

Leave a Comment