Should you hire a lawyer when starting a coaching business?

Do I need to hire a business when starting a coaching business???
I cannot tell you how many times I’ve heard this question. People want to start businesses, but they don’t want to have any upfront costs and unfortunately, that’s just not realistic. 

Starting a coaching business (or any business tbh) takes spending money:
Investing in a business coach.
Potentially investing in systems/softwares.
Investing in contracts. 
Registering your business. 
The list could go on. 

There are definitely ways to mitigate prices, but somewhere I would not recommend you skipping out is on contracts.

It’s necessarily necessary to hire a lawyer from the get go, but it’s definitely important to at least purchase a contract. 

I know it seems overwhelming, but trust me, when you get your first paying customer and you have an official contract to send over to them and get them to sign, you’re going to feel pretty legit. 

Let me tell you a little story:

When I started my business, I was totally clueless. No one told me that I needed a contract and so I thought I could make one myself by pulling from contracts I found on the Internet. 

I’m going to tell you right now, do NOT use a free contract. That truly is setting yourself up for failure and potentially shitty experiences with clients. 

Anyway, so I used this janky contract and no one called me out on it until someone did. When I started my business I was offering social media management and coaching. I would spend hours in Facebook groups trying to get management clients and one day I finally did. This woman was extremely successful (we’re talking multi-million dollar business) and knew what the fuck she was doing. Let’s just say, my contract was so bad that she refused to sign it and ended up sending ME a contract to sign.

It wasn’t the end of the world, I signed her contract and we got to work. However, it was embarrassing and it definitely didn’t make me feel like a CEO. Plus, in a coaching situation, you’re not going to have that kind of experience. YOU as the coach need to be the one providing the contract to your client. 

So learn from my experience and be prepared from the get go. My recommendation would be to start with a contract template from a contract shop and once you’re established, you can hire a lawyer to write a personalized contract for you. 

My favorite place to purchase contract templates is Coaches & Company. Be sure to use code BECKY10 for 10% off your order! 

Having a contract will make you feel professional and it will ensure that you are protected no matter what happens. When you purchase a contract template it will walk you through everything you need to do to said contract to personalize it to yourself and your services.

I know it might feel scary to purchase a contract before you even have clients, but it’s better to do it this way rather than to be stuck rushing to get one once you get a client. Plus, consider it good luck to believe in yourself so much that you invest in things that will help you once you sign that first client! 

Want more guidance with starting a coaching business?
Check out the rest of my posts on this topic: 

  1. […] Do I need to hire a lawyer and get contracts right away?  […]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *