Cathy Liska This is 2 in a series of 24 blog posts on Business and Marketing.
When you are starting a business, coaching or otherwise, a first step is figuring out a name. This sounds obvious – do think about it. Sometimes people use their own name. What are the pros and cons? If your name is known and recognized positively, this can be an advantage. If your name is unknown, it may be perceived is a small, independent start-up and some wonder if you will stay in business. When you name your business, what does the name mean to others? Do they know what kind of business it is?
The next consideration is the type of ownership. Local and state laws vary so it is important to find out requirements and implications. For example, some find a license, partnership, or DBA is fairly simple and inexpensive. Others explore types of corporation because while it may require an extra hour or two of work and a few hundred dollars more, a corporation is separate which means your personal finances are then separate from company finances in terms of liability and bookkeeping.
Once you have your coaching business established legally, most banks will require an Employer Identification Number, EIN, along with your business organization papers to set up an account. The EIN is free and is basically the IRS version of a social security number for your business to track it and use on tax returns.
A question many consider is whether to have insurance as a professional coach. Of course the ideal is that because as a coach you do not give advice, there is no reason for it. The reality is there is risk, so it is about weighing the cost of insurance against that risk.
Explore professional services including legal and accounting. Knowing your options now whether you wait to engage these services or not makes it easier when you do decide you want to work engage professional services.
