This post is going to be a tough read for any coach looking to get a feel for the state of coaching in 2023.
But it’s a necessary read if you’re looking to start a coaching business.
If you want unicorns, rainbows and assurances that doing what you love will bring untold wealth, you’re in the wrong place.
If, on the other hand, you want the opinions of a guy who has spent the last 18 years working in the coaching industry and has worked directly with over 500 coaches, then buckle up and stick around.
The ICF (International Coaching Federation) has polled its members worldwide every four years since 2012 to get a feel for what is happening in the coaching industry.
The last survey was conducted in 2020 and read more like a Hans Christian Andersen fairytale than a true reflection of where the coaching industry is at.
This is hardly surprising. No organization is going to commission a report that will cast them in anything other than a very bright light.
The ICF has a lot to lose by suggesting that most new coaches are at best struggling and at worst utterly fucked before they even start.
Like previous reports, the 2020 publication bore no resemblance to what I was seeing and hearing from the coaches who hired me, took my masterminds or courses, or interacted with me on social media.
So in 2021, exasperated at what felt like yet another work of pure fiction, I decided to do my own research by asking the people on my newsletter list and in the Fully Booked Coach Facebook group for their feedback.
Admittedly, my sample size is a lot smaller as I only have about 10,000 coaches available to me and the ICF has over 50,000 members.
Plus, because of the vagaries of social media and email marketing, it was a lot harder for me to get in front of my people because I couldn’t legally email anybody directly.
However, I’d be prepared to wager my firstborn (if I had one) that my results are far more indicative of an industry that is close to breaking point.
Hopefully, you will leave a comment under the post offering your opinions/thoughts irrespective of whether you agree or disagree with me.
Also, if you have any questions or if anything is unclear, please ask in the comments and I will answer as best I can.
The State of Coaching in 2023
A total of 95 coaches completed the survey which was down from 111 in 2022 the results of which are here.
However, I don’t necessarily see the drop-off as an indication that there are fewer coaches joining the industry.
That could partly be the reason as I expect a worldwide recession is making some people think twice about paying for training.
But also, when I transitioned from the old domain of Coach the Life Coach to The Fully Booked Coach in June of 2022 I removed over 2,000 people from my newsletter list, so I have a reduced reach.
You as a coach
Where in the world are you?
Understandably as I lived in Florida for 14 years and have been back in my native England since the end of 2020, the majority of people were in the UK or the US. But countries as diverse as Bali, Nepal, Israel, Japan and Barbados were also represented.
Where are you on your coaching journey?
Less than one-third of people were full-time coaches, but that is an increase from last year when the figure was just 27%
When did you start coaching?
Almost 40% of respondents had not yet started coaching or were in their first year.
I was reassured to see that over a quarter of coaches had been in business for over 5 years.
My sense after working with hundreds of coaches is that if you can get past the 2 to 3-year mark you’ve probably got your shit together.
Your coach training
Have you had formal coach training?
A whopping 80% of people reported that they had paid for formal coach training which is brilliant – good for you lot!
How much have you spent on coach-related training?
What is even more pleasing is the fact that almost 60% of those people have spent $5,000 or more.
The amount of money spent on coach training doesn’t necessarily equate to how good it is because there are some bad but expensive training companies.
But it does indicate how serious the person is about becoming a professional coach.
Did your coach training offer help with marketing?
Disappointingly, only 44 of the 81 people who undertook training got any help with their marketing whilst doing so.
I totally get that it’s not the training companies’ responsibility to ensure their students know how to get coaching clients. Even so, it’s disappointing that almost half of the people who had paid for training got no help in attracting clients.
How good was the marketing/business training you had?
What was even more disappointing, however, was that only 5 people out of the 95 who completed the survey had had marketing/business help which made them feel confident that they could get clients.
It would be interesting to follow up with the 55% of people who thought their marketing/business training was a good start but left them with gaps in a year’s time.
I’m confident that the gaps will have proved to have been much bigger than anticipated.
One of the main problems with marketing is not knowing what you don’t know.
I thought I knew a lot more about marketing when I started my first coaching business in 2005 than was the case. And I had 20 years of sales experience.
In working with scores of coaches who have had marketing help whilst on their coach training, it’s rarely better than mediocre and it’s frequently dreadful.
Bad marketing advice is much worse than no marketing advice.
Your coaching practice
Do you have enough paying clients?
Of the 89 people who completed the question about having enough coaching clients, only 6 said they had enough paying clients.
I have worked, or am working with, four of those people and the other two have worked with a different coach. Maybe that’s a coincidence?
The really scary (but not at all surprising) stat was that almost 40% of coaches had zero paying clients.
How serious are you about succeeding as a coach?
Almost 40% of respondents said nothing will stop them from succeeding as a coach.
We shall see.
I’m all in favour of you having a total belief in yourself and your own abilities to become a fully booked coach.
But you have to be sensible and understand that there are always things that can stop you.
Life can fuck you up in a heartbeat – quite literally if you suddenly notice that you have no heartbeat.
The ‘nothing can stop me’ approach concerns me for three reasons.
- You may become too risk averse because with risk comes the chance of failing. Yet without risk comes certain failure.
- It may stop you from anticipating potential problems because, ya know, nothing can stop ya!
- If something does stop you (like it does most coaches) you’re going to feel like utter shit
Failure is always an option, so embrace it or go back to bed.
How much money do you need to earn as a coach?
I would wager your firstborn (if you have one) that the average person who thinks of themselves as being a coach earns a lot less than $20k per annum.
I rarely meet coaches who earn north of $50k that haven’t been coaching for at least 3 years.
Not that it can’t be done more quickly than that, of course it can.
It’s just very hard.
And getting harder.
56% of coaches who filled in the survey need that amount (or a lot more) if they’re not to quit.
If they’re not paying for help or are brilliant at marketing, let us offer them our thoughts and prayers.
Your marketing
What did you spend on growing your coaching practice in 2022?
But even though so many coaches need to scale up so quickly, only 10.5% spent over $10k in 2022 on marketing their business
A further 14.7% spent between $5k and $10k. Meaning 75% of coaches spent less than $5k growing their coaching practice and 21% less than $1k.
When I then asked coaches to estimate what they planned on spending in 2023 the figures were much the same.
How many competitive industries do you know that will allow you to break in and be successful with little to no investment?
Where do you plan on marketing your business?
I no longer encourage any of my clients to devote all their marketing efforts exclusively online unless they are already reasonably well established.
You can no longer succeed as a coach by marketing yourself exclusively online from a standing start.
Unless that is, you have a chunk of money to throw at ads. Or maybe 50+ hours per week to pour into your efforts.
That ship has sailed and there are just too many coaches vying for too few clients.
It would appear, however, that a lot of new coaches haven’t got the memo, or refuse to believe it. Because almost 60% are only going to market themselves that way.
I couldn’t do it if I was starting from scratch and I know a little bit about this online marketing malarkey.
How long do you spend marketing your coaching practice?
If the wheels weren’t off already they are now.
I think we can all accept that no matter what some of the less scrupulous training companies are apt to say, the industry is saturated.
I would conservatively estimate that there are 20 times more coaches than the industry can support at this moment in time.
That doesn’t necessarily need to affect you.
Most coaches are shit at marketing, so if you get to be good at it, you can leapfrog your way to near the top of the queue.
But there is one rather large elephant in the room-sized caveat.
You need to invest your time.
All things being equal, it will take the coach working five hours per week on their marketing five times longer to hit their income goals than it will the coach working 25 hours per week.
But, it gets worse.
The coach who doesn’t have much time is not only seeing the coach who is treating their practice as a business disappear over the horizon.
They are also being passed by all the new coaches flooding into the industry behind them who have more time.
If you have 5 hours per week or less to work on your business and that is all online and not likely to change, then you’re fucked unless you can afford to outsource your marketing.
Seriously, quit now and save yourself a lot of heartache and angst. I wouldn’t even take you on as a paying client because nobody can help you.
You won’t be surprised that 5 out of the 6 coaches who have enough paying clients were also spending the longest on their marketing
Note: I spend about 25 hours per week on marketing-related work and I’m only in maintenance mode.
What is a coaching client worth to you?
This is slightly higher than last year, but it’s still too low.
Almost two-thirds of coaches who gave an answer said it was less than $1,500.
For most coaches, the math doesn’t work.
If you want to earn $50k, then you will need to attract 33 new paying clients every year.
That is hard.
Fucking hard!
If you doubt me and presuming you have paying clients now, how hard was it getting them?
Do you know how many hours you will need to put into your marketing to get 33 clients?
No, neither do I, but you’re not going to do it working 10 hours per week never mind 5.
Have you ever hired a coach to help you with your marketing?
Almost 60% of coaches haven’t hired their own coach to help them grow their practice.
I’m not entirely sure how many I have hired over the years, but it’s more than 10 and I have spent well in excess of $100k.
A coach who has done what you want to do offers you a shortcut and gives you an advantage over other coaches trying to figure things out on their own.
I totally understand if you cannot afford one, but at the risk of seeming insensitive let me ask you this: Can you afford to be a coach?
What has stopped you from hiring a coach?
I fucked this question up by inadvertently leaving Other as an option and so I had all sorts of random answers.
Having said that, I must have a messaging issue if 14 coaches responded that they hadn’t found one they trusted enough!
Hello <waves> you may want to check out this page if you’re a hard worker and very determined.
How do you feel about your coaching journey?
There were a handful of questions at the end such as asking why people chose to become a coach (mostly to help people as you would expect. And this one…
How will you feel if you have to quit because you can’t make it financially sustainable?
Here is a representative sample of some of the answers.
I have copied and pasted the responses and left out anything that may potentially identify somebody.
Disappointed, sad, frustrated
I won’t let that happen.
I would feel upset, and a failure, but it’s not the end of the world for me.
Like a failure
Incredibly frustrated. I wouldn’t want to say that it would be a waste of time though because I’ve learnt an enormous amount that will be useful whatever I do next. Still really annoyed though!
Disappointed and guilty
There’s no reason to quit if I can have a flexible schedule and incorporate other part-time streams of revenue to supplement along the way.
Not happening.
Defeated. That has been my story off and on for the last ten years. I’ve been fortunate to have other self employed work to allow me to continue to “coach on the side” but I want to make it my primary business.
I am 100% confident that I will make it work financially.
A broken soul, like an artist which has been ripped off its creative ability.
Disappointed, sad, and angry. Quitting is not an option for me, I would find other ways to make it work.
None of those makes for uplifting reading, but equally none of those people (and you may see your own answer there) need to fail.
Just learn marketing and sales and it becomes a moot point.
The state of coaching in 2023 – Conclusion
I think my thoughts on the state of coaching are obvious.
It worries me a great deal.
Too many coaches are entering the industry blissfully ignorant and unprepared for what lies ahead and how hard it is to succeed as a coach.
I don’t want people leaving our industry sad, frustrated and feeling like a failure.
Because they’re not failures, they’ve just been misled, or flat-out lied to on their way to following a dream.
And that reflects poorly on us all whether we are involved directly or not if we do nothing about it.
Which is why I choose to speak out.
Every coach, me and you included, has to take personal responsibility for our success or lack thereof.
But equally, the coach training industry has to shoulder some of the blame for the insane turnover of coaches.
I doubt there is an industry on the planet that has a higher failure rate than coaching.
And the unscrupulous marketers selling bullshit get-rich-quick schemes to desperate coaches are culpable too.
If I see one more marketer claim they can have coaches scaling to $10k a month using their high-ticket client attraction formula I think I’ll fucking burst into tears.
Reality update: There are NO quick wins!
If you have got to the bottom of this post and still feel confident you can become a successful coach, then good for you, I think you have a chance.
Most coaches won’t have got this far because it’s hard work reading a long post and they have lame memes and quotes to post on Facebook.
Or, they prefer to live in denial and/or think any form of negativity poses an existential threat.
But we need to, if not embrace the negative in our lives, then at least recognise it so we can manage it.
This post has taken me a lot of time to compile and I would love it if you could share it with any coaches you know and also leave a comment so we can broaden the conversation.
Thanks for reading.
Hey Tim, thanks for the post; whilst it’s not good news at all, I’d rather be aware of the situation so I can make a good game plan. I’m one of the people training atm so I will be bearing all this in mind as I go forward.
Excellent article – Thank you Tim for saying it as it is.
Great read. I’m new (less than a year) to coaching but everything you stated is spot on from my limited experience talking with other coaches. I’m in this for the long haul. I don’t intend to quit my day job for at least another 5 years. So I have time to figure out what I like, what’s working, etc. Appreciate the real and raw perspective.
The best way to succeed as a coach Kari is slowly. Good for you for allowing it to build slowly.
There’s a lot of money to be made by people who tell coaches they can generate all the business they’ll ever need via social marketing, SEO and the like. Coaches want to hear that due to a fear of selling, so they sign up, try the tactic, take the course, buy the software, etc.
I’ve been doing this 23 years. Have written a book, spoke hundreds of times for free, been on TV, radio and podcasts, had 7 different websites, been quoted or had articles printed in magazines, and tried other marketing tactics as they rose in popularity. The only tactic that has ultimately generated the revenue I want and need is 1:1 conversations that start “high level” and build to a relationship nurtured over time. It takes a LOT of time and attention. But fortunately I love 1:1 conversations and have developed a sales process that when followed, works. (I screw it up now and then but learn from it and don’t beat myself up. )
What you write here rings true and appreciate your candor. Most coaches I’ve met are good, caring, well-intentioned people who want to serve and hate to “sell.” If we don’t coach/train ourselves to get comfortable with that aspect of the business, we’ll never make enough money to sustain our business. There really are no shortcuts in my experience.
100% agree that most coaches really want to help others. I’ve met very few coaches who were in it for the money.
It is possible to succeed with SMM and SEO. I know, because I did it. It’s just really, really hard and you have to be very good at it.
Should have clarified that I’ve seen people get very successful using SMM and SEO. I just hate and/or suck at both and am too frugal to pay the considerable fees to have someone to do it – successfully – for me. Like anything else, every tactic has worked for someone but perhaps not everyone. Never want to diss an approach just because it wasn’t for me.
Absolutely.
Thank you for sharing your perspective Mary!
Always a valuable read – thank you for dedicating time to doing this research for us Tim.
Glad it was useful Sam. I know you have been at it for quite a while and know it’s not easy.
I spent well over $10,000 for my training as a coach a few years ago. One of the reasons I chose the program I did is because it specifically said it has a marketing/business component to it. Come to find out, it was so basic that it was not as helpful as I needed. I am a really great coach, but the business side is challenging for me. I wish I would have known what I know now. If I did, then in addition to the coaching training, I would have known what to look for in the business portion as well. But on the bright side, I still push through and am now getting that training I was looking for (right? lol).
I have a hunch you will make it as I think you have a relatively competent coach 😉
Thank you Tim for this post, in particular, for the research you did, for your honesty, and for telling it exactly as you see it. Much appreciated.
Pleased to see someone at last sharing about the get-rich-quick clowns who advocate they can change one’s fortune virtually overnight. I told one individual in Australia what I thought of his BS. His response – “I know your type.”
Neil
Somerset West
South Africa
LOL! I saw a post along those lines yesterday. Somebody called a person out who had Dmed them and the guy went into full-on attack mode rather than just apologise.
Excellent article. While I applaud those people who think they “won’t let themselves fail” or “It’s impossible to fail”, they’re being completely naïve.
I think I have easily spent over almost $30k on marketing via “Done for You” services, Facebook ads, Google ads, etc without much of anything to show for it. One particular person I signed up for was just someone who repackaged another marketer’s material and sold it as his own. When you become a coach, you’re basically chum in the water for all the sharks that are looking to separate you from your money, including the ICF.
The coaching landscape is so competitive these days, and if I had known what I know now 5 years ago, I never would’ve started my training to become a coach. I love coaching, but it’s definitely disheartening looking at the lack of money I’ve made over the years, as there has been a huge opportunity cost for me as well.
Disappointed to hear that Derrick because i know you’re one of the good guys.
The problem is that some of the people selling to coaches look really plausible.
There was a women giving her coaching away in a large Facebook group the other day. She’s written a bunch of long posts offering help on various topics.
I thought that it smelt too good to be true and sure enough when I did some digging she was nothing more than an MLM marketer. Yes, she *gave* her coaching away because she taught you how to sell a product and she then took a commission on every sale you made.
But she seemed to fucking plausible and if I’m unsure with my sketical/cynical attitude I can understand why people would be taken in.
Awesome post, mate. Truthful, hard hitting and yet with an optimistic path out of the doom’n’gloom for those willing to put in the effort to learn marketing.
Agree mate, there’s always a path even if it’s tough to spot on occasions.
Tim, thank you for taking the time to compile these results. I makes salutary but unsurprising reading.
It will be surprising to many coaches Geraldine, sadly.
Thanks Tim for a good read. Reality checks are always good when starting on any journey and coaching is no exception. So reading this post is a real eye opener that will be built into my plan.
Glad it helped Karen.
Thank you! As a new coach, I’d rather know what the market is like, so I have a reference point. You are certainly confirming my concerns about coaching as a business– so, I have some thinking and planning to do.
Planning is good!
Interesting feedback Tim! Good to have the awareness and also to know I’m doing all the right things to succeed. Having your support on the journey is invaluable, so thank you for that
And that should be the take away from EVERY coach.
Am I doing the right things?
If yes, then do more of them. If no, then change your approach.
There’s no need for any coach to start stressing,
powerful article and very honest take on what it needs to suceed.This is the realwst acknowledgement of struggle that I have heard.much more concerted effort in marketing than people are told
Well, you are *partly* responsible for this post by introducing me to the Life Coach Snark Reddit group. I’d already planned to write it because of the survey, but it maybe wouldn’t have been quite so harsh. So thanks mate!
Thank you so much for the time you took to compile this and to the coaches that responded. There are some valuable insights here. I especially appreciate the real-talk about the number of hours and money spent on marketing.
I don’t think there is a stronger correlation between hours worked and results achieved when you look at successful coaches.
I started a marketing course before my coaching training started because I know from previous experience how key it is and how long it takes. Currently in training, I am still worried about getting clients particularly from people who see coaching as fluffy and a joke. There’s too much lack of regulation which has allowed people to set up with no training or accreditation and con people giving coaching a bad name at the same time. Therapy is finally dropping it’s stigma and people are accepting of it. We need that for coaching too.
It would have been interesting to see how many people in your survey have a niche too.
I agree regarding regulation although I have no clue how you enforce it. Having said that, Austria has done just that, so maybe it’s possible. How was the course you took Laura?
Thanks for the insight and thoughts on coaching and the state of the union. I recently left a career by choice of 30 plus years and all that experience that goes with it into this new realm of wanting to help people thru coaching. I have to say, that I miss the days of having so much knowledge and expertise in my field, to being a beginner again. I’m eager to get experience under my belt.
I left a very (financially) successful sales career to become a life coach and that was scary as fuck. But as they say in Gestalt Therapy, anxiety if excitement without the oxygen. Enjoy the ride!
Thanks Tim, for putting in all that effort to shed some light on the industry. This reminds me of something I thought of a few days ago. To share a little bit of my story, you could probably include me in “coaches who didn’t make it” group. I got my training and diploma a few years ago, but I never made it past the marketing barrier, even though I tried my best and invested in a coach to help me.
I’m not too sad about it, though, since there were a few things early on that made me feel worse and worse about pursuing this path. Like, the really low bar for entry and unethical marketing practices that cast a bad light on coaching. And then there is a whole other subindustry of coaches who coach other coaches, and at one point I started feeling too overwhelmed by all the 10k-a-month formulas that were just everywhere (by that I mean Facebook).
On top of that I was worried about my own claims to be a coach, especially as I was reading more and digging deeper into understanding helping industries and related professional standards (or the lack thereof). My hunch was – something wasn’t right with the path I was on.
For me it meant taking a step back and coming up with a hybrid approach – one that incorporates my other passions AND coaching skills in the form of social entrepreneurship for supporting young scientists in my country.
Perhaps that’s what coach training industry should steer towards – instead of selling tickets to coaching careers, they could focus on creativity and multi-passionate approach to support people in creating their own paths and careers in the form only they can imagine. That’s what academia (where I’m originally from) did a long time ago – they explicitly state that only a small percentage of trainees will secure a position in a university or so. Most PhDs will need to move to the industry or figure things out themselves. And nobody feels they’ve been lied to.
I think too many people have too much money invested in the current pyramid scheme for that to happen Diana.
I have seriously considered changing industries because I hate being lumped together with all the other coaches who coach coaches. My marketing knowledge is directly transferable to any online marketing business, but I love working with committed coaches. And I like to *think* that because I actually built a successful coaching practice I have a lot more credibility than 99% of other people doing what I do.
It’s not always easy to explain that though.
Thank you for sharing this interesting information. Did you happen to capture age range data for the survey participants? I would be curious to see whether there is a positive correlation between age and coaching income.
I don’t Kaley tbh.
And I’ll be honest and say it’s not something I have thought about. WHat would your guess be?
Thank you for your thoughtful commentary. I am currently employed full-time while I am building my coaching practice. I paid thousands of dollars for marketing help and ads, and tried all the ways that the coach suggested. I did get results, I got people to join my webinars and take discovery calls, but what they wanted in a coach is not what I was offering.
Clear lesson – I was not talking to my people, the ones who would really benefit from what I have to offer.
Back to the drawing board. Taking the organic approach now. I have refined my messaging and am clearer on what I do and how I can serve. I have a few clients – which lifts me up, and they are giving me referrals, which humbles me.
I just signed up to receive your Three Pillars to Becoming a Fully Booked Coach. I want to set the foundation securely so that in 2-3 years time I will have the pipeline and roadmap to scale up my practice so I can leave my full-time position.
Thank you for this thoughtful discussion.
Your messaging is sooo important and I’m glad you were able to take a step back and regroup Theresa. Best of luck with it!
Tim,
I was a little late to the comment party but read this the day it came out. Thank you for putting yourself out there (as always – which is why I was in one of your six month groups in 2018). We need more people to say it like it is – successful coaching businesses come from successful marketing. Period.
My problem over the years is that I got too caught up in people’s “systems” (shiny object syndrome) and bought into slick marketing but never had a solid foundation to begin with. I was constantly putting the cart before the horse and never committed to one thing long enough. I’m still in the coaching business but it’s definitely a slog. Reading your survey results confirms that steady results come over time, not overnight.
Over the years, I’ve never seen anyone coaching business basics, let alone provide basic digital marketing concepts AND a plan all in one place. Kept me squirreling from thing to thing. Until I began learning and coaching business and marketing foundations, I never felt like I was getting anywhere. I have a feeling many in this crowd just get completely overwhelmed with what to do and how to do it.
I tell people if they can create a plan and stick to it, they will survive. I also have realized that I cannot do it all by myself. Getting help (coaching and other) has been the number one reason I have not dropped out yet. And if you can partner up with other coaches and referral sources (joint ventures), you’ll get there much faster.
Thanks again Tim. The industry needs you to keep ripping off the rose-colored glasses and keeping it real. It just might save someone from heartache and bankruptcy.
Hey Tim
Great read!
My thoughts are that the “Coach the Coach” niche (save for you and a few others) has become too much of a pyramid scheme and there are so many “t’internet marketers” abusing the system to make a quick buck and not being realistic on the journey taken.
They promise they can make you Usain Bolt before you can walk and the amount of people claiming to be the “messiah” yet turning out to be “very naughty people” is unreal. It brings Coaching a bad name.
Having been on a journey and now taking a break from the industry to follow my own advice, I see the coaching industry has gone downhill. My favourite pastime is to call them out on their BS over social media by reading their T&C’s and quoting it back to them.
The ICF are about as useful as a chocolate teapot and really do need some serious competition to stop the “clique” mindset.
They could be world leading and visionary, yet they are resting on their laurels and trading off their privilege position of being the only real regulating body in the industry.
I always like seeing someone speaking out against the industry in order to improve standards.
Keep being that realist the industry needs!
We must keep spreading the Gospel of Brian.
Ha Ha! When you know you know!…yet alas that is the way I see the coaching industry at the moment. That is why I limit what I see to only a few key people (yes that includes you Tim).
Thank you, Tim. Very interesting article. As you said, a bit harsh but reality is reality. Thank you for putting it together.
I am a relatively new coach (under 2 years) and I never thought when I started that it would be so difficult to learn the marketing and “business side” of the business. But it can be learned and I am determined. I beleive that it will not be too much longer before I can say I am making my living as a coach.
Glad it helped Miachael. I think you may enjoy a post that’s coming your way very soon if you like fair but harsh 😉