Start A Counseling Business - Business Ideas
Mental illnesses can curtail an individual’s ability to lead a fulfilling life. Mental health issues can cloud relationships, family life, and careers.
Guidance and counseling experts help people deal with mental health conditions across economic, social, and racial groups.
To start a counseling business, identify a niche and focus on building expertise around that area.
For instance, you can concentrate on economic or financial counseling, social issues such as a family or marriage counseling business, or an education and life coaching business where you counsel people in choosing a career and chasing their dreams.
Once you have decided on the niche, market your services through focus groups or target individuals.
Starting a counseling business requires a great deal of effort, dedication, and most importantly passion.
If you're interested in how to sell counseling, or selling counseling online, you can use this page as a guide for everything you'll need to know.
Key Stats
Startup Costs
| Min Startup Costs | Max Startup Costs | |
|---|---|---|
|
Office Space Expenses |
$0 |
$7,000 |
|
Employee & Freelancer Expenses |
$150 |
$250 |
|
Website Costs |
$223 |
$7,015 |
|
Business Formation Fees |
$600 |
$4,700 |
|
Software Expenses |
$162 |
$2,894 |
|
Advertising & Marketing Costs |
$0 |
$1,400 |
|
Total Startup Costs |
$1,135 |
$23,259 |
Successful Businesses
| Business | URL | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Counseling and Life Coaching |
thriveworks.com |
112,721 |
|
|
DMI |
dminc.com |
171,164 |
|
|
OpenCounseling |
opencounseling.com |
368,153 |
|
|
The art of non-conformity |
chrisguillebeau.com |
463,000 |
|
|
ACBC |
biblicalcounseling.com |
641,269 |
|
|
Portland Therapy Center |
portlandtherapycenter.com |
1,054,883 |
|
|
iTherapy, LLC |
itherapy.com |
2,004,953 |
|
|
Kenya Institute of Business and Counseling Studies (KIBCo) |
kibco.ac.ke |
2,057,552 |
|
|
Wise Counsel & Comfort |
portland-therapist.org |
2,371,992 |
|
|
Oregon Counseling |
oregoncounseling.com |
4,285,919 |
|
|
The Counseling Team International |
thecounselingteam.com |
4,440,383 |
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Description |
|---|---|
|
Flexibility |
You can put as much time into the business as you'd like. If you like the work and have some initial experience, you can start small and manage all aspects of the business on your own. |
|
Ability to start your business from home |
It's not necessary to have a physical storefront or office space to get your business started. You can do everything from the comfort of your own home, at least in the beginning! |
|
Little startup costs required |
The cost to start a counseling business costs significantly less money than most businesses, ranging anywhere from 62 to 23,259. |
|
Rewarding work |
Starting a counseling business can be really rewarding work. After all, you are solving an immediate issue for your customer and you're working on something you truly care about. |
|
Scalable |
With businesses and processes changing daily, there will always be demand for new features, products and services for your business. Additionally, there are several different business models and pricing tiers you can implement that will allow you to reach all types of customers. |
|
No overhead costs |
To get your counseling business started, there are no costs associated with overhead, storage, packaging, etc. This will save you a lot of time and money! |
| Cons | Description |
|---|---|
|
Crowded Space |
Competition is high when it comes to your counseling business, so it's important that you spend a good amount of time analyzing the market and understanding where the demand lies. |
|
Longer Sales Process |
A counseling business can be a big time and money investment for your customer, so it's important you plan and predict a longer conversion funnel and stay in communication with potential customers. |
|
Work can be inconsistent |
As a counseling business, the amount of work assigned to you and schedule tends to be more inconsistent, which may make your income less stable. It's important to set boundaries and budget accordingly based on the amount of work you plan to have. |
|
Lack of benefits |
With a counseling business, you are typically self-employed and responsible for finding your own insurance, which can be quite costly and time-consuming. |
|
Isolation |
Often times, as a counseling business, you typically work alone and do not have much face-to-face interaction with other team members. |
|
Taxes |
As a counseling business, you typically pay self-employment taxes which can be quite high. It's important to understand what you will be paying in taxes each year so you can determine if the work you're taking on is worth it. |
Hey! 👋 I'm Pat Walls, the founder of Starter Story.
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