Business startup advice for healers, coaches, and spiritual business owners. Some of the main things you should be considering before starting up your holistic or spiritual business. Or things to consider before changing your holistic or spiritual business direction.
Starting any business comes with its challenges. Starting a holistic or spiritual business has its own unique challenges. One of the reasons I believe you can save your self a lot of money and stress if you get the right business startup advice.
And get the right business advice mentor preferably someone who is been in business for a long time. Knows and understands your type of business very well.
Biggest Mistakes Many Spiritual Business Owners Make
Businesses born from passion and purpose are not always approached like a business. Some approach their business like a hobby or as a vocation. They lose sight that if they want to make an income they need to treat their business like a business.
Many actually assume because they are helping others that their will automatically be enough clients who want their products or services.
Many assume they don’t need to invest money in marketing because again they are doing what they are supposed to be doing. Or the think their energy, vibration or manifesting is so strong the right clients will just find me. Again without very little marketing or effort.
Others make too many assumptions about their ideal clients, many are focusing on the wrong ideal clients. That is why I suggest to most of my clients and students to focus on Soul Clients. You can learn more about What is a Soul Client? here
Many healers, therapists, and coaches spend years focusing on the wrong audience. They can waste thousands of pounds, energy, and resources because they didn’t get this right at the beginning of their journey.
Business Startup Advice For Spiritual Business
There are many things you need to consider when starting a holistic or spiritual business. But below is some of the most important.
- Is there enough demand for your product or service?
- Do you really know your ideal client’s needs and wants?
- Your start-up costs
- Your operating costs
- Your marketing costs
Business Startup Advice For Healers, Coaches, Therapists
Why business startup advice for healers, coaches, and therapists can be a bit different than for other businesses. Most people come into healing, therapy, and coaching to firstly make a difference. While most other types of businesses are mainly focused on making money. Most Healers, Therapists, and some types of coaches have a different why. Their main motivation is NOT around money. Passion and purpose can be a very powerful place to come from. But it also can come with its own set of business problems.
Business Startup Advice For Coaches
If I could give any coach one piece of advice it would be coaches, coach on your areas of expertise. If I hire a health and wellness coach, I expect that coach to have a high degree of expertise in this area. Just like if I hired a business coach or marketing coach.
You see sadly the coaching industry in recent years has taken a bit of a battering in reputation and quality. Coaching used to be something associated with an area of expertise. So a business advisor or business executive would become a business coach. A nutrition or wellbeing expert would become a wellbeing coach.
Now we actually have people who just add coach to their name or title. And many who don’t know the difference between a coach and a therapist, coach, and teacher. Although many of us come into this sector as coaches, healers, teachers, and therapists. It is important in coaching and mentoring, to know the difference between what coaching a client means, and being a client’s therapist or just teacher.
Some clients actually tell me that they have simply added the word coach or coaching program so they can up-level their prices. Sadly this sort of approach is just one of the reasons the holistic and spiritual sector is presently facing a lot of criticism. And causing a lot of client confusion.
But believe me, this sort of illusion and delusion doesn’t last. The long-term business success in the coaching, healing, and therapy industry completely depends on reputation.
A healthy business focuses on it’s biggest strengths. Create products and services that can fulfill a gap in the market you have the expertise to fill. Focus on your ideal clients, those you are best suited to serve. Don’t make business any harder than it needs to be. Try and avoid the same products and services that everyone else in your industry else seems to be offering.
Best Business Advice For Healers and Spiritual Teachers
The best business advice for healers is don’t undercharge and don’t make claims you can’t guarantee. One of the biggest mistakes many heart-based healers make is undercharging for their services. And as mentioned above underestimating costs in marketing and other running costs. So they don’t have a clear figure of what they need to charge.
Most healers enter this industry because of their own life journey. Now it doesn’t matter how powerful your story is. You need a plan of action for your business, you need some sort of marketing plan. And you need to work out what you need to charge to cover your outgoings. Undercharging can kill a business as much as overcharging.
When you know yourself, your areas of expertise and greatest gifts it can be easy to charge what you should be.
Marketing Be Careful What You Claim
In most industries, you are selling the benefits and solutions of a particular product. Most products are put under some sort of testing and consumer research before they go on the market. Testing to prove the product actually does what it says on the packet.
Now if your selling a healing session, a coaching program, or therapy session the level of benefits for every client is not always tangible. And in many cases can vary greatly. The biggest mistake someone can make in the spiritual industry is to make claims about their product/services they can’t back up. It is not only unethical but can be dangerous and cause you legal issues.
The only sort of claims you can and should be making is those you can prove in a legal way. For example testimonials, especially testimonials written on social media by your clients.
As a healer, and complementary therapist I discovered very early in my career and own journey how much was often implied but not true. Now more than ever consumers want more transparency and authenticity.
Choosing The Right Technology For Your Spiritual Business
A lot of energy workers either struggle with technology or struggle with the energy of technology and social media. So they sabotage their business by avoiding the things they should be doing to grow their business. Or don’t use technology that would be better for their customers.
I remember paying a healer for 3 x 1-2-1 healing sessions in advance. Instead of using something like Zoom or even skype she actually decided to do the healing session through facebook messenger. I was shocked any healer would conduct their healing through FB messenger now this was not FB Rooms. But I was mostly disappointed because I paid her a lot more than I would normally give any healer. It felt very unprofessional and definitely not ideal for someone who was highly empathic. She hadn’t considered what was best for her client’s needs.
If you are a healer, coach, or therapist who is going to charge premium prices. Make sure you give your ideal clients and soul clients, the premium service to match. Invest in the right technology, the right training platforms, or the right help.
Best Business Advice For Therapists
Best business advice for therapists is focus on the solutions you solve for your clients than your modalities. Consumers are buying a solution, they are seeking the benefits, they are not buying the therapy. So many therapists get so over-identified with their type of therapy or modalities that they lose sight of what the client is seeking.
Too many therapists assume their ideal audience knows what they are offering when they don’t. So when starting out make sure you focus on solutions not just your modality.
Common Assumptions New Businesses Make
Assuming that there is a demand for your product or service without actually researching the market.
Make assumptions about who your ideal clients are without any analysis or again any market research. This includes thinking your ideal client is who you want it to be.
Assume you are the only person in your area offering your type of service. Of course, there is no one like you offering that service. But never assume too much, know your market. Then focus on your uniqueness.
Assume you have niched down enough or assume you know what your target market really wants again without proof. Too many holistic and spiritual businesses are not niching down enough in their products or services. Mainly because they are encouraged to study many forms of therapy and healing. And think they can help almost anything and everything. They become so entangled on what they can offer they don’t focus on what they are actually best suited to offer.
If you are ready to start up your own holistic or spiritual business or are changing direction and would like some business start-up help. Check out our Business Start-Up Advice Course For Healer’s Coaches, Therapists
It’s important to understand the different types of Startup Costs you’ll have as a new business. Theoretically, it’s good to take note of what costs are fixed, variable, essential or optional. But let’s get concrete. Here’s a list of costs you have as a new business:
Web hosting and other website costs
*Rental space for an office
*Office furniture
*Labor
*Basic supplies
*Basic technology
*Insurance, license or permit fees
*Advertising or promotions
*Business plan costs
Thanks for this, yes these are great examples of the many start-up costs for more traditional businesses for spiritual and holistic businesses the start-up often also includes training, clinic rental or online platform cost, etc
Great article. Have you also considered the opportunity costs of it all? I know traditionally, most people refer to the costs they can see. But with opportunity costs, by doing one thing, you’re missing out on another way to make money.
For example, if you start this business, what opportunity are you missing out on if you were employed full time? That is the opportunity cost and also needs to be factored in.
Jonathan Kruger recently posted…The Best Office Chair Covers: Most Reviewed, Great Prices
Great comment Jonathan I think one of the big differences with a Spiritual Business or Heart-Based Business is they are motivated by the purpose and passion. And in many of these type of careers the only option is being self-employed. But in many ways I agree what your saying many newbies to Business have no awareness how costly running a business is
Thanks for the reply Eileen. Very good point, from the perspective of being motivated by the purpose and passion of it all, it definitely makes sense that the primary driver is self-employment and not necessarily looking at the opportunity cost.
You’re right, the perceived benefit of running your own business results in many newbies overlooking critical business functions as well as costs.
Looking forward to reading more of your articles!
Jonathan Kruger recently posted…A Practical Strategic Approach in a Modern World
Having trusted outside sources available to help grow the business is something a lot of firms don’t necessarily have readily available.
Amazing Article. Thanks for sharing such valuable information with us. This article is very helpful for those planning for business startups.
Really done great work.
Muhammad Karim recently posted…blog 3