Business coaching sells on outcomes: more revenue, better systems, calmer founders, sharper leaders. Clients pay for your judgment, so the bar is real experience — but "experience" is broader than people think.
You don't need an MBA. You need a track record of solving the problem you'll coach on — running or growing a business, leading teams, marketing, sales, operations. Your lived results are the credential. Name them clearly.
"Business coach" is vague; "coach for service-business owners stuck at $10k/month" is sellable. Choose a client type and a problem you've genuinely solved. A tight niche shortens every sales conversation — more in how to niche down.
Business coaching usually runs as a multi-month engagement: a diagnostic, a plan, then regular sessions with accountability between them. Price it as a package or retainer, not per hour — see pricing coaching packages.
Start with a couple of clients at a fair rate, get measurable wins, and turn those into case studies. Referrals and results are how business coaches fill their calendar — not cold ads. Land the first ones with the first-clients playbook.