Top Mistakes Aspiring Career Coaches Make Before They Even Start

Are you considering becoming a career coach, or did you recently get started?

If you’re the right personality fit, career coaching can be a terrific career path. The pay is good, the hours are flexible, and you get to watch real people’s lives change before your eyes.

But just like with any job, it can take some time to master your craft, and there are some pitfalls that can slow your progress down. 

Fortunately, if you take a strategic approach, you can dodge some common mistakes and build a successful practice faster.

I’m Cara, President of the International Association of Career Coaches. And after training hundreds of new career coaches, I’ve seen firsthand which early mistakes hold people back and which actions help them thrive.

In this post, we’ll go over the top 6 mistakes new career coaches make so that you can start off on the right foot.

Here’s a preview of what’s to come:

Mistake #1: Waiting Until You Feel 100% Ready to Start Coaching

I know coaches who sign up for a training, and once they finish, they think, “ahhh, I’m not quite ready yet. I’ll just do one more training.” 

And next thing they know, they’ve read book after book, done multiple trainings and workshops, without ever actually seeing a client.

Usually, this happens when someone has impostor syndrome. They want to prove to themselves that they’re legit by getting certification after certification. Especially since coaching isn’t a regulated industry, some people try to overcompensate by overqualifying themselves.

But the reality is, you’ll build your confidence and refine your skills as a coach by coaching. Not by studying hypotheticals.

So yes, it’s extremely helpful to get trained. But finding clients—even free ones—is what really moves the needle.

✅ How to avoid this mistake

Find a pro bono client as soon as you can. Ideally, while you’re getting certified and not after!

Hopefully, your training will require you to find a practice client. That’s what the Senior Professional Career Coach training does. But not all trainings are like that.

So take it upon yourself. As early as possible, find someone to coach for free.

Mistake #2: Trying to Be Everything to Everyone

I know how tempting it is to want to serve every career level and every industry.

But if you want to succeed as a coach, I suggest you pick a niche.

A lot of new coaches fear that if they narrow down, they’ll miss out on potential clients or turn people away.

But in reality, when you narrow down, you attract more clients.

Let’s say you’re a parent. Play along with me for a sec.  

You used to work in real estate, but decided to put your career on pause to raise your three glorious kids. Now they’re all grown up and off to college. You kinda think you want to return to work. But you have zero idea where to start. So you decide to hire a career coach.

Okay. Now, which coach would you rather hire?

Probably the coach on the right, yeah?

That’s because that coach has a niche. They have a specific offering that speaks directly to you and your problems.

Sure, the coach on the left doesn’t turn anyone away. But their marketing is too generic, so nobody will feel called to work with them.

✅ How to avoid this mistake:

Pick a niche!

The best way to do this is to pick a “who” and a “what.”

Who do you want to work with? And what problem do you help them solve?

As a new coach, you could consider whether people in your life tend to come to you for advice about a particular situation. That could be your starting niche.

Or perhaps there’s a particular challenge you’ve overcome in your career; you could help people who are stuck in that same problem.

Or maybe there’s just a topic and type of person you feel interested in, or called to help. That works too.

I’d recommend you pick some niche, even if it’s not perfect (who you help and what problem you help them solve), and then let it evolve.

If you’d like more ideas on how to pick a niche, here’s an in-depth guide. 

Mistake #3: Undervaluing Your Services

I can’t tell you how common it is for new coaches to grossly undercharge for their services. 

Even experienced professionals who transition into career coaching can find it challenging to price themselves confidently.  

There are two main reasons I see why new coaches undercharge.

The first reason coaches undercharge is because of impostor syndrome. 

They’re a new coach, so they think, “How could I possibly charge hundreds or thousands of dollars for coaching? I don’t know what I’m doing! What value could I possibly provide?”

But the truth is, even a brand-new coach can still provide a lot of value.

Having another person’s undivided attention and support is rare and goes a very long way. 

And further, charging more for your coaching can actually help your clients get more value from your offering. Paying a little extra can help a client put “skin in the game” and motivate them to show up more committed to the coaching package (and hence, to their career growth).

The second reason coaches undercharge is the “helper” identity. 

Like therapy, social work, or even nursing, coaching is a helping profession; people get into this career path because they feel called to help people. 

They may know the pain of stumbling in their career, and want so badly to help others succeed. And for some new coaches, it can feel really hard to charge someone whom they’d gladly help for free.

But as long as you want coaching to be your career, you need to make money from it.  

And hey, you’re always welcome to coach people pro bono. I know coaches who have built a hugely successful practice, but always take on one pro bono client at a time to express that helper identity and keep their services accessible. 

But remember, as we said before, paying for coaching can actually help people get more out of it. So, undercharging can rob clients of the opportunity to fully commit to changing their careers.

✅ How to avoid this mistake:

First, it can be helpful to recognize that when you charge less, you subconsciously communicate to your client that your coaching is of lower quality.

For example, assuming the two wine bottles below are identical, which would you assume is of better quality?

Definitely the one on the right. And further, studies confirm that when people drink two identical wines at different price points, their brains actually experience more pleasure from the more expensive wine!  

So when picking your price, try asking yourself these two questions:

• What are other coaches in your niche charging?

• What’s the highest rate you can handle telling a client without fainting or apologizing?

If you’d like more ideas on how to price your coaching package, here’s a full guide.

Mistake #4: Underestimating the Business Side of Coaching

Most people want to get into coaching because they’re drawn to the idea of having meaningful conversations with clients. Especially if they’ve worked with a coach themselves, they know how impactful coaching can be.

But career coaching is a business. And while coaching conversations are a big part of the business, they aren’t the only part.

To build a sustainable business, coaches need to market, network, conduct sales/discovery calls, do admin work and billing, and continually train.

Here’s a rough breakdown of how you’ll actually spend your time as a coach:

I only share this because I’ve seen new coaches who are thrilled to do this work. But they come in blind to the business side of things, and they get scared off when they realize that being a professional solopreneur ultimately means being a professional marketer too.

Falling in love with the process of coaching is vital. That’ll be the backbone of everything you do. 

But as long as you want coaching to be a financially sustainable business and not just a hobby, then ideally, you’ll learn to fall in love with the business side of things too.

Fortunately, there are ways to approach marketing with integrity and authenticity. You can read more about that here.

✅ How to avoid this mistake:

Invest in an education in business and marketing.

There are lots of ways to do that. You could listen to podcasts. You could read books. You could hire a business coach. 

But one of the best ways to learn business is to take a structured course.

I’d recommend the Business and Marketing Foundations training for career coaches. It’s a cohort-based course where you’ll learn everything from a marketing strategy to systems for working for yourself. 

Mistake #5 Doing It All Alone

It is possible to succeed as a coach alone. You can call yourself a career coach, develop your own framework, and find clients. 

It can be done alone.

But it’s sooo much easier to go at it in a community, especially as you’re getting started.

When you have a community of other career coaches, you can learn from their mistakes, get advice on your own challenges, keep motivated when you’re feeling low, and stay attuned to what’s happening in the industry. 

But even more than that, you gain a sense of belonging. Instead of building a career in isolation, you can surround yourself with people who get the ups and downs, celebrate your wins, and help you get back up after your losses.

While I’m sure you can figure it all out by yourself, you don’t have to go at it alone. Figuring it out in community will be easier, faster, and more effective. 

✅ How to avoid this mistake:

Find a group of coaches.

Whether it’s a support network, a supervision group, a peer group, a referral circle, or a formal training program, community makes a huge difference, especially early on.

In my experience, trainings and certifications are the best places to find a lasting coaching community because you bond deeply by growing together.

You get the shared vulnerability of practicing new skills together and the trust that comes from being in the same trenches. Those relationships often turn into ongoing sources of referrals, accountability, and emotional support.

👉 If you're looking for a supportive, practice-rich environment to grow alongside other coaches, check out the IACC Certification Program.

The good thing about the IACC training is that once you graduate, you don’t have to let go of the community—you can continue connecting with other graduates in the graduate community. 

Mistake #6: Neglecting Your Own Professional Development

Often, people become career coaches after finding success in their own careers and wanting to share what they’ve learned.

It can be an easy trap for such people to think they don’t need training or certification, that they’re experience alone is enough.

And, I would definitely agree that any coach's career and life experience are huge. It’s the wisdom they’ve earned and the knowledge they’ll draw on to empathize with clients.

But no matter your background, I’d recommend taking a career coach certification training.

It’ll fill in your blind spots, give you a coaching framework, and teach you about the career coaching industry.

Plus, as we mentioned earlier, certification programs often give you community support and access to the expert guidance of your teachers.

And while you can learn a lot of the content from podcasts and blogs, piecing together short-form content isn’t the same as going through a structured, time-bound training.  

✅ How to avoid this mistake: 

If you are serious about starting a profession as a career coach, look into certification programs.

If you’re not sure where to start, check out the Senior Professional Career Coach Training.

The Best Way to Avoid These 6 Mistakes

When you get started in anything, career coaching included, mistakes are an inevitable part of the process. 

But it’s not necessary to make every single mistake on your road to building a coaching business.

And in fact, if you want to skip as many mistakes as possible and learn from expert coaches who have built a business themselves, check out the Senior Professional Career Coach Training.

It’s a 9-week program where you’ll learn the key skills and mindsets that go into becoming a successful career coach. It’s also cohort-based, so you’ll get a strong sense of community along the way.