Do you have a desire to help others change their lives and wish that was your profession? You may be interested in becoming a Christian Life Coach for those looking at how they can use accountability, goal-setting strategies, and their faith to better their lives. The following are three important steps you can take to get you on your path to becoming one.

1. Complete Your Life Coach Certification

To help you prepare for the role of life coaching, take this opportunity to get certified! Life coaches are often faced with questions about what their job entails and whether or not they’re qualified. You will want to make your prospects feel confident in your abilities so they are comfortable paying for your services. Pursuing a life coach certification is a way to prepare yourself, as well as reassure your potential clients that you yourself have put in the time and effort to prepare for this role.

Likewise, set aside some time and budget for investing in continuing education along the way. This will keep you sharp, constantly learning, and aware of the trends and issues your clients might expect you to be aware of concerning coaching techniques and strategies. There are certification courses out there for six months as well as even longer courses; some courses take place in person, and some online.

Selecting a certification that matches your specific interests and target audiences is very beneficial, and there are a wide variety available which cover various niches. Making sure your training program is ICF-accredited is just the beginning! If you’d like to learn more, we published a complete guide to choosing a life coach certification program.

Certification is becoming more popular among life coaches. A recent ICF study showed that almost 90% of those who pursue certification do so because they want to give clients the peace of mind knowing their coach has been trained according to the most up to date industry standards and ethical practices working in this field.

As a life coach, you are an advocate, and as a Christian, also a spiritual encourager, you will be helping others set goals to get them from where they are now, to where they desire to be, in a steady and consistent Christ-Like manner. You will get to help people become more and more of who they are in Christ, developing their own talents and skills to reach their God-given goals. It is a blessing to be able to walk in your purpose as a Christian Life Coach and use your spiritual gifts and talents to help others flourish in their own lives. .

2. Find your Niche as a Christian Life Coach

Even within the Christian life coaching world, you’ll want to find your niche. Do you want to work primarily with college students, full of potential and possibilities and seeking the Lord’s will for their lives? Or maybe you would like to work with empty nesters who are reinventing life so to speak at a new stage, awaiting new direction in their spiritual lives as well? Would you like to help veterans who have served their country and want to share their story of faith?

Are you more focused on helping people with their professional or personal lives — perhaps relationships, balancing work and family time, leadership skills, physical health, mental health, or spiritual growth in particular interest you? How about aspiring writers – would you like to be the sounding board that ensures they get to the finish line with their manuscript to reach others with hope, healing, and adventure?

When you’ve considered the type of people you’d like to work with and what topics you are skilled at coaching, it’s then wise to spend some time defining your offered services, package costs, and optional add-ons. While these aspects may — and should — evolve over time as you see particular needs in the communities you serve as — having some solid options to start with puts your clients at ease as they explore working with you.

Of course, you will also likely expand your offerings as you grow in your own abilities and skills over time. Even so, well defined services give clients a sense of what to expect both during the process and the results of choosing to work with a Christian Life Coach.

Decide how you’ll work with clients, as well – in person, over an online platform, over the phone, a mixture of all of the above? Which online platforms are you comfortable with, and which are familiar for your target audience? One benefit of Covid has been the general population’s greater familiarity with online video conferencing platforms. Also, even if you primarily work in person, developing your website into a polished, professional resource will be a necessity – which brings us to our next point.

3. Set up your Life Coaching Business

First you’ll need to look at registering your business – have you researched the differences between a sole proprietorship, LLC, or corporation? Registering with your state may be necessary.

You’ll need to look into developing your digital presence and decide what social media accounts you’ll want to manage, what resources to include on your website, and where you will need to focus your marketing efforts. You may want to spend some time listing your business in both local and more broad resources, developing your network for opportunities to speak at events, and hosting online events that mutually benefit causes and organizations you care about. Set aside time for setting up your business and set a budget for marketing early on even if you’re working with limited financial resources to start with.

Budgeting is a huge part of the ultimate success of your organization. Don’t let others talk you into costs that you can avoid, but also choose to carefully invest in what brings you results and closer to your goals for your business. Each business set up requires different things, but consider the following:

• Rent and insurance on a physical space
• Furniture
• Printer and supplies
• A website
• Marketing budget
• Business cards
• Business insurance
• Technology and software
• Training and certification costs
• Subscriptions to any programs or software needed

These are just three steps to becoming a Christian Life Coach. With owning and running a business, there will always be various ongoing responsibilities you must manage. The most beneficial way to get started is to get certified, because you will learn so much valuable information that will carry you forward on your journey to becoming a coach your clients will trust.