Online coach? How to protect yourself financially

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What is a coach?

By definition, a coach is someone who teaches and trains an athlete or a performer, someone who teaches and trains the members of a sports team and makes decisions about how the team plays during games.

Naturally, you could apply that term to business, or any field. But that is the Merriam-Webster definition of the word.

You have probably also heard the term ‘coach’ used very frequently across social media platforms such as Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Google or ANYWHERE, and you can easily find coaches for all sorts of endeavors these days, especially in the fitness and weight loss scene.

It is true that one can become a coach with various levels of certification, ranging from basic, to very advanced, such as people who hold higher education/advanced degrees and certifications for technical skills.

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Many people who are online coaches are often distributing an affiliate company’s products, as well.

That person might be an independent distributor for that company. That means they might not just sell the company’s products, but they also aim to help their customers reach their goals by offering support and accountability, motivating them to reach their potential.

Today we will discuss how online coaches can protect themselves financially, and legally, when working with clients.

What is a coaching agreement?

A coaching agreement establishes up front the terms of service that will be agreed upon by the two parties involved.

For example, what services does the coach promise to provide to the client? For how long will the agreement be in effect?

If conflict should arise, in which state will the legal dispute be settled? What premises do each of the parties involved agree upon?

You could get extremely detailed in the agreement, but for basic legal coverage purposes, a legal template LIKE THIS ONE would be sufficient to protect you from any legal action that may harm your business – or you!

Who would need a coaching agreement?

A coaching agreement is a legal document that would be useful to the following groups of people:

-          Bloggers who coach clients

-          Coaches who use social media to work with clients

-          Coaches who operate social media groups such as Facebook groups or Pinterest boards

-          Coaches who mainly work with clients in person, but who offer a digital component to their clients for enhanced services

The list goes on.

How do you obtain a proper coaching agreement?

An adequate and basic coaching agreement is available HERE, from popular business lawyer Amira at ASelfGuru.com.

Amira’s legal documents have also been used by entities such as The Savvy Couple, Create and Go, Breaking the One Percent, and more! This legal template is also affordable, so businesses at all levels can take advantage of its benefits.

You can easily protect your online business with the legal contract, HERE. I highly recommend having this document in place to protect your business! Hear the stories about how other coaches saved their businesses by using the coaching agreement template, HERE. Some of these stories may sound familiar to you!

Conclusion

Although it is entirely up to you whether or not you decide to use a legal coaching agreement, it is notable to add that if you do so, a free template is not the best way, in my opinion, if you can even find one from some random place on the internet.

If you want to operate your business in a manner that states clearly how both parties will rise to meet expectations and how they will uphold their ends of the bargain, then this legal coaching document is definitely for you.

If you don’t think you’re ready for it yet, maybe your business isn’t where you want it to be yet, then click HERE for more information about it. I highly recommend this coaching agreement, however, that I have used with my clients, as well as many of my friends have used!

Thank you for joining me today! Please feel free to share this post with your other online business friends.