One huge downside is there's no moat, so anyone can be a coach and sell courses. Even ex-clients who are already comfortable talking in sessions like this can t

One huge downside is there's no moat, so anyone can be a coach and sell courses. Even ex-clients who are already comfortable talking in sessions like this can turn into direct competition after seeing how you do it. On the customer side of things, there's no way to "prove" how effective coaches really are since there is no hurdle to entry and they aren't accredited. It's not like framing a house or software engineering or legal counsel, in that way. Another downside might just be the vicarity of it. Instead of spending time and energy improving yourself, you're focused on improving others. Some of your biggest success cases may leave you feeling oddly empty. Maybe there's a case where helping a client becomes directly at odds with helping yourself - which do you choose? The personality upkeep. Coaches, instructors, and mentors aren't really allowed to have off days - you are the beacon that moves others forward. You have to act and be motivating, positive, and encouraging no matter how you're actually feeling that day, or when you have a rude or uncharismatic client. Low pay overall ($384 in 7 months). My strong opinion is that nobody should do any in-person client work of any kind (photography, massage, therapy, coaching) for less than $50 USD per hour, given communications overhead and transportation costs. If the work in question is valued at less from your research, there's not enough opportunity to justify doing it IMO (at least not for the money) - unless you see some trajectory where it scales or amplifies. If you can offer the service completely virtually and bring on other mentors, that's an example of a trajectory where it scales. Sometimes you have a great idea and passion that just needs a slight change in how it's brought to market.