How do I start my own parent coaching business?

Keep it simple

Let’s start with the best news… there’s no need to overcomplicate things! Once you’re certified as a Parenting Coach, you really only need three things to get started:

1) A way for people to get in touch with you

Again, no need to overthink this. If you have a phone and an email address, you’re good to go! You can easily create a new email just for your business. It only takes a few minutes and will get you into your new headspace as a business owner! 

Having a business card is also a great tool for keeping it professional when you have an awesome conversation at the park or on the sidelines of a soccer game with a parent who’s interested in your services. That way, you don’t end up scrambling to write your number on the corner of a crumpled receipt fished out of the bottom of your purse.

2) A place to hold your sessions (virtual or in-person)

You can choose to meet with clients either in person or over Zoom, Facetime, or any other online video platform. 

That’s just one of the many flexible elements of having a parent coaching business.

 

You can connect with clients anywhere in the world, from wherever you are! You can also work with a mix of local and remote clients. 

Maybe you like to meet face-to-face with your one-on-one clients and save Zoom for your group coaching sessions. There’s no right or wrong here; it really just depends on what works best for you and your clients. 

You simply need to provide a space for your sessions that gives you and your clients privacy and is free from interruptions.

3) A payment method

With so many payment methods out there, at first glance, it can seem like a bit of an overwhelming decision. All you have to do is choose whichever one works best for you and your clients. 

Paypal, Stripe, Venmo, Cashapp? 

If you’re located in the U.S.A., you have a few choices. But if you plan to work with anyone outside the United States or you live somewhere else in the world, as many of our coaches do, Paypal and Stripe seem to be the best options for international use. 

You can easily create invoices and even schedule them in advance. Both platforms will send them out automatically on your behalf. If you do all your invoices from there, it also makes keeping track of your income unbelievably easy!

It doesn't have to be perfect in order to launch

Over time, you’ll create other supporting elements for your business, like a website and social media accounts, as well as presentations or workshops to give in your community. The good news is you can build those pieces as you go (if you don’t already have the Jai Institute’s Business in a Box). 

Your work with parent coaching clients can start right away! (Some of our coaches even have paying clients before they graduate.)

What we offer in the Jai Business training sessions

Since laying the groundwork is a vital part of starting and maintaining a parent coaching business, we offer four weeks of hands-on get-all-your-questions-answered business coaching to all Jai parent coaches right before graduation so you can be confident and ready to start your business right away!

Our graduates’ community is also filled with brilliant coaches who have been running their businesses for years. They love nothing more than sharing what they’ve learned with our Jai family of coaches. Our coaches and team members are all deeply committed to raising each other up in their parent coaching careers.

Where do I find clients?

There are lots of different ways to find clients. Wherever there are parents or people who work with children, there are opportunities to connect with clients! 

Don’t worry if social media is not your favorite place to be or if the thought of going live on Facebook makes you want to pack up and leave the country. You have options! 

Here are the top places our coaches connect with new clients. Some use just one method, some use two or all three—it’s totally up to you!

Parent coaching business strategy

Social media, Facebook ads, and funnels, oh my! 

Here’s the secret: you don’t need an award-winning funnel or the perfect Facebook ad. Your marketing secret sauce is you. 

Although online marketing resources are extremely helpful in building your business, investing a large amount of time and money into them doesn’t guarantee that you’ll reach your ideal clients. (We don’t recommend investing in paid ads until you're making six figures.)

The best business strategy to follow to ensure your success is… drumroll, please… going out and talking to actual people who need your work (which is nearly every parent out there, give or take)! 

Whether it’s out in your community giving presentations, networking with parents and educators, or offering workshops on a wide variety of topics, connecting directly with your audience is the fastest way to book clients and build your business. 

Social media

There are many parents on social media consuming parenting content and looking for a support system (like you) to guide them! 

With social media, consistency is important when it comes to reaching and connecting with people.

Scheduling your posts in advance is a great way to put content out there consistently. It’s also a great way to overcome the days when you don’t feel like it or know what to write. 

Applications like Later are a fast and easy way to schedule your entire week (or month) of content well in advance. 

Another great way to connect with parents online is to make videos. Not everyone feels comfortable with filming themselves, but if at least a tiny bit of you is willing to hop in front of the camera, go for it! 

Start filming videos with the mindset that you don’t ever have to post them. That way, you’ll have the freedom to try things out and see what works best for you.

Be silly, stumble over your words, and always be willing to make mistakes. Be gentle with yourself, and don’t forget your sense of humor ;)

Also, you don’t have to have professional gear to film videos! Your phone or computer camera is enough, and even the best parenting content creators just use their iPhones.

In order to avoid overthinking your content, allow yourself to spend only a certain amount of time working on it. 

Batching posts (which just means sitting down to write them all within a set window of time) is a great way to get things done without overthinking them. 

All you need to do is have fun making content that feels authentic to you and is inspired by the passion you feel for this work!

Tapping into your current networks 

Before you cringe at the idea of sliding into the DM’s of your long-lost bestie from high school… that’s not what we mean by connecting with your current networks. 

Getting in touch with the people who already know and love you is a great way to find clients. 

It’s really as simple as letting people know what you do, why you love doing it, and the incredible difference it’s made in your life and the lives of any clients you’ve worked with! 

Reaching out to people you know and talking to them about your exciting new business is the most straightforward way to get the word out.

You don’t even have to ask them if they want to work with you! Asking them to keep you in mind if they know anyone looking for support is all it takes. There will always be someone who is looking for support in parenting, even if they don’t know about parent coaching… yet! 

You might have someone in your indirect network who owns a Montessori school, someone who has a popular parenting meetup group, or a friend who has a large parent-based following online or on social media. 

When you offer a service people so universally need, the conversations happen naturally.

Speaking events in your community

Schools, churches, and organizations of all kinds are always looking for new speakers and workshops to offer their communities. This is a great way to open the door to local one-on-one clients or ongoing group sessions. 

The possibilities for when and where to reach parents are truly endless.

How do I find my niche?

Niche vs. generalist

Some coaches feel confident right away about what area they would like to focus on in their practice. Many more take their time working with clients and see what naturally arises as their area of deepest interest, passion, and expertise. 

There are so many exciting areas you can specialize in as a parenting coach. You can choose to work with parents who have children of a certain age, such as toddlers or teenagers, you can work with blended families or families who have neurodiverse children, or you can simply work with parents of all kinds without specializing. 

If you’re clear on the niche that you want to serve in your coaching, go for it! If you’re not, don’t sweat it. Picking a niche is completely optional. 

The most important thing is to get out there and work with clients! 

Your pre-existing superpower

Getting in touch with your pre-existing superpower can help you decide what direction to take with your practice. Have you previously been an early childhood educator, and do you feel called to work with other teachers and facilitators? Maybe you love meditation and want to mold your curriculum around guided meditation… Perhaps you’re passionate about caring for children with special needs and want to support other parents who have children with special needs.

Your passions and what you’re knowledgeable about are your pre-existing superpowers. If you can bring passion, information, empathy, and support to the topics you focus on, you can support a lot of parents in the areas you serve through your coaching practice.

Coupled with your parent coaching certification, life experience can be a powerful source of knowledge and skills when it comes to supporting other parents. 

You can incorporate your life as a military spouse, a parent who has cared for a neurodiverse child, or your work as a pediatrician into your coaching practice. Your experiences make you, and even the most difficult of your struggles can be your individual superpower that you use to heal your community.

How much should I charge for parent coaching?

Ultimately, that’s up to you! 

Some things to consider are your level of experience, complimentary professional designations (nice to have but not at all required), and the market you live in. 

You’ll charge a higher price for one-on-one support than for groups or workshops. How willing you are to get out there and fill up your calendar are all factors in how much you can earn as a parenting coach. 

You will likely charge less while you get your business going, which is true in any career. Over time, as you gain more experience and confidence and your services become more in demand, you will increase your rates to reflect that! 

Your parent coaching business is here to work for you. If you want to spend a lot of time with your kids, no problem! Since it’s your business, you get to limit how many clients you take on and the times during which you schedule them so you can have the day you want to have. 

If you’re looking to dive into meaningful, fulfilling work that brings in a great income for your family, your parent coaching business will allow you to take on as many clients and make as much money as you wish! 

Between deciding on a payment option, setting up your method of contact, and getting your first clients, starting your parent coaching business is really quite straightforward. 

The pace that you wish to move, where you want to take your practice, and how large you want your coaching practice to become is entirely up to you. We’re here to support you every step of the way in our program and beyond!

When you enroll in the Jai Parent Coach Certification Program, we provide you with all the detailed information and support you need in the Jai Business training portion at the end of the program. With this content-rich four weeks of class and hands-on guidance, you’ll feel confident and equipped with business tools to jumpstart your practice and get clients.

If you’re ready to begin your journey towards having your own parent coaching business, Jai gives you everything you need to make a parenting coaching business work for YOU, your family, and your life! 

It’s a business that can grow and develop WITH you.

Explore becoming a peaceful parenting coach today!

Meet Your Author, Katie Owen

Jai Business Coach & Marketing Mentor

As a former practicing therapist turned copywriter and marketing strategist, Katie is passionate about the intersection of marketing and mindset. Mentored by Kiva for several years, Katie embodies the practices of taking the simple actions, consistently over time, that create epic results.

A master storyteller, Katie works with our coaches to refine their message, increase their visibility and get clients!