Returning to work - demand for personal/professional coaching?

[jessplussomeonenew]

Do you think there would be any interest in coaching sessions targeted at women returning to work, helping them think through their options, consider new ones and plan and act on what they would like to do?

I'm a trained coach, and have lots of experience supporting people returning to work or preparing for other professional transitions. I'm also returning to work soon but considering shifting to more family friendly work myself, so I think this would be something I'd be well placed to empathise with. I could arrange sessions in childcare friendly times locally, or do phone/video conferencing.

It seems a huge transition that people don't get much support with. I think the supportive listening and questioning which a trained coach like me could provide would really help people assess and transform their situation. But I'm not sure whether this is support that people would be ready/able to pay for. Any thoughts?

[Allconsumingshitstorm]

My old employer did this. I'm sorry to say but I think it was a waste of money on my employers behalf. More of a box ticking exercise to be seen as family friendly ('ha'!). Problem is, unless you are industry specific, it's very hard to empathise and plan for the specific challenges. It was hard to see what the coaching could specifically add. Not sure everyone feels as I did but from a candid discussion afterwards with the other parents to be, it was agreed it was pretty wooly, and didn't tell us anything we didn't already know. The company offered 1:1 'support' in return to work, but I didn't take it up. Others did.

[tutorproof]

I run my own business and attend lots of networking events. I meet LOADS of them.

Either the market is flooded or there is a genuine need. Difficult to say.

However I had one and found her invaluable. She really helped me deal with a lot of the things that were stopping me from being successful.

There are lots of funded programmes about that offer free coaching to people starting a business. They often hire associate coaches.

A lot are EU funded and coming to an end but new ones will be starting in the autumn.
Have a look into these.

A lot of the people you are targeting either don't want to or can't pay what you need them to.

[Timeandtune]

I am a fan of life coaching. I have had some myself and organised some for my staff team. The only thing I would say is restricting yourself to a certain category / gender of client may make it harder to generate income.

I would be inclined to adopt a more generic approach. You might find that people who already have an income might be more inclined ( or indeed able) to spend money on them selves in this way.

[jessplussomeonenew]

Thanks for the thoughts.

Allconsuming, I can imagine a group session could be a bit generic, it's with one to one support where I think a difference could be made. And my experience is that specific knowledge of the industry can sometimes get in the way of bringing out the client's own knowledge and experience.

Tutorproof, that sounds interesting - will look into that.

Time, I'd be very happy to keep things open, but all the stuff I read about marketing says that it's helpful to find a niche and stick to it, at least to get started. I agree people not currently in employment are possibly not the brightest niche to aim for!