If you're a life coach, do you think the sector is totally oversaturated? Thinking of career change...

[Bollyhood]

Exactly that. Thinking of life coach as a different route workwise. Yet to refine my area of interest, but have a few ideas. I'm doing a lot of research but I'd love to hear people's thoughts who are currently working in that space.

There are so many of these life coach and the like courses online that anyone could set themselves up with 'qualifications' it's all smoke and mirrors with idiots daft enough to pay for 'advice' that used to be called common sense.
I've watched medical operations online so I guess I'm now a surgeon...

Agree. Mumsnet is a great resource and a way of testing things and asking questions.

Not liking helpful and informed responses and being snippy is a sign that coaching work might not suit you.

It's relevant because prospective clients are going to ask. Some people undoubtedly are daft enough to pay for a service without being satisfied that the person providing the service has passed some objective test of her ability to deliver it, but you can't rely on there being enough of them to keep you in business.

You've misunderstood. I have health qualifications that have nothing to do with life coaching. I then added a coaching certificate as an add on so that I could serve my clients better, especially in corporate health and wellbeing.

Just saying health is meaningless tbh, why not just answer the question? Unless it's a mickey mouse 'qualification which is what peeps will asume.

Cross posted.

I have answered it to another poster. I don't have a 'health coaching qualification'. I was already a qualified health professional. I then added a coaching certificate.

Ok. So I'm back to address some of these issues.

When I posted originally, I guess my biggest mistake was generically using the word 'life coach'. I was thinking more broadly - including those who have experience/niche/qualifications in a specific area. I didn't realise the word 'life coach' would spark such an immediate pile on. It put my back up. I gave away nothing about myself in the original post, for good reason, and so many assumptions were made.

Anyway, I have been defensive and I apologise.

I completely agree that the unregulated space makes it a free fall for anyone who thinks that they can make a living out of 'coaching' people. This is what makes it spectacularly unattractive to me. I've had a very successful career in the area I'm interested in - but want a change for various reasons - I've got two MAs under my belt in my area, and I'd add counselling skills and some coaching certificate on top before I headed off to 'coach.' I am not someone who would ever work without integrity or experience. I would hate the imposterishness of it, and making money out of people without being able to back it up.

I was just interested in the business side. Whether people were making money from it. It was a tossed out, casual question and I underestimated it would be like a match to dry wood.

The one successful (or seems to be successful) life coach was the biggest bullying piece of shit at our school. Pampered, over parented, had a mother who would come up the school within 5 mins of anyone said anything bad to her boy - ie stood up for themselves. He now teaches men how to stand up for themselves in the work place and gives big speeches whilst driving his car simultaneously.

I would not in a million years employ a life coach based on this

Sounds a good plan. This I what I did and yes, I make money from it.

How many people do you know who have paid for life coaching?

This is a genuine question, not a snipe, as it’s about the size and location of your market.

Drawing a comparison to personal training, at one point I knew more women who were training to be personal trainers than people who actually used personal training!

Can you ad test your offering? Spend a bit of money on a social media advert and see if you get any enquiries. Far cheaper to do so than to invest in a training course.

After reading your update, maybe it's more of a mentor role you want to have?

Yes, ditto a friend of mine. He was a 'property developer' which actually meant flogging off land he'd inherited; then he became a 'life coach' so his wife is working 12 hour shifts to support him.

Complete charlatan.

Did a life coaching/NLP course nearly ten years ago. Toyed with setting up a business, but was more about self development. A year of fortnightly weekend workshops and an exam/practicals at the end. Contingent on you spending money being coached by other coaches (so a self perpetuating pyramid scheme, really). Highly rated and registered with all the usual certifcation boards. Of the people I trained with, most are no longer ‘practicing’ - and certainly not full-time - as it really only generated a few hundred a week on average. People like Rich Litvin make a bomb selling the training to become a successful life coach, but he is US based and I do think that ship has sailed now.

My DH’s firm used to offer life coaching/mentoring to execs to the value of £10k, so if you were appointed by a big corporation there was money in it, but they (like most companies) disbanded the scheme as the return on investment was just not seen as significant. In fact I’ve not heard of anyone being offered mentoring/coaching by external people for more than 5 years, it is all peer to peer/or designated management mentorship now.

I’d avoid training/starting a business in these field like the plague. The skills were useful and I use them in the pastoral care side of student mentorship at the university I am at, though.

I think you need a niche. There is a decluttering life coach near us who makes a fortune and is constantly recommended. Similarly, more specialist training to help adults with ADHD or coming out of a serious episode of depression, that kind of niche.

The few people I know that are life coaches are quite rich, so they are not looking to make a living out of it, mostly just a hobby and a social media thing.

To me "life" is too generic. Can't you be a dating coach or a weight loss coach or make a niche with whatever you are good at?

Yes I know that, and I asked who your certification was with for coaching. What regulatory body issue coaching certificates.

Same question to another poster who said similar

And who is the coaching certificate with?

My question was straightforward at the start,, I wasnt asking about your 'health' qualifications' you were clearly being asked who your coaching certificate was with, who issues those?

I run a company that teaches personal development in a particular modality (NLP). On our courses we get a mix of people including but not limited to managers, therapists, counsellors, HR, psychologists, coaches and people that wish to become coaches. Of those that are coaches, in my opinion the ones that seem
to be successful and make a living are the ones that are using their already gained expertise or experience experience in a particular field/ career and have added coaching skills/qualification. If you are looking at training I’d advise going for something certified and you could look at the ICF or Association for coaching or something like the European mentoring and coaching council. Your question is it a saturated field, I’d say yes at a certain level and it can take quite some effort to start up and get going but if you have a decent qualification plus your previous experience and expertise and you can demonstrate that you can actually help people then it’s possible.

I will not be listing my exact qualifications on what is meant to be an anonymous forum. Please respect my boundaries around not wanting to be outed.

You're a life coach.

Surely the obvious question is why are you asking us? Surely it's your remit to coach yourself into a new life?

Sorry, but I'm another one of no thinks this is a non career.

The amount of people who are willing to pay for a life coach must be incredibly small.

OP, using the term 'life coach' shows that while you have MAs etc you clearly don't know what you're doing.
As @LadyQuackBeth and other PP point out there's lots of money in a niche. A 'career' coach, neurodiversity life skills coach, etc etc. fair enough.

I'm in IT and there are people making good money being career/attitude coaches for specific issues such as working on people skills, confidence etc.

A coaching qualification is piss easy to have, it's all the other stuff. Like if you wanted to coach, say women recovering from abusive relationships you need specific experience in that area. Maybe you been a specialist counsellor or worked with domestic abuse charities.

Also you have to work out who will pay for your services.... Your customer base needs enough disposable income to afford it.

Outing!! lol

If there is a regulatory body for 'coaching' then tell us who it is, no need to be so coy now, you said you were a qualified coach, what does that mean then

I second what @NotOneOfTheInCrowd says above. I left the coaching industry because it became absolutely mortifying to be associated with it. Retraining in something completely different now with considerably more dignity.

On the other hand, I know a couple of people in very specific career coaching though (medicine etc., and working with people at very specific career junctures) and they make good livings without being twats or going along with the essentially pyramid scheme side of it.

I don't really understand what I'd want a life coach for. I have a therapist and if I need career or work advice I can seek coaching or mentoring through my employer and if I need personal advice I'll go to someone who knows me.