Start A Doula Service
About
Starting a doula service requires a great deal of effort, dedication, and most importantly passion.
If you're interested in how to sell doula, or selling doula online, you can use this page as a guide for everything you'll need to know.
Want to learn more? You can check out our full guide on how to start a doula service ➜
Key stats
Startup Costs
| Min Startup Costs | Max Startup Costs | |
|---|---|---|
| Office Space Expenses | $35 | $3,250 |
| Employee & Freelancer Expenses | $0 | $5,500 |
| Equipment & Supply Expenses | $550 | $6,000 |
| Website Costs | $232 | $6,500 |
| Business Formation Fees | $600 | $4,700 |
| Advertising & Marketing Costs | $75 | $4,286 |
| Software Expenses | $150 | $2,420 |
| Other Expenses | $0 | $800 |
| Total Startup Costs | $1,642 | $33,456 |
Successful Businesses
| Business | URL | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
DONA International | dona.org | #648,220 |
|
DoulaMatch | doulamatch.net | #718,531 |
|
The Happiest Doulas | happiestdoulas.com | #3,079,271 |
|
National Black Doulas Association® | blackdoulas.org | #3,100,996 |
|
blissfulbabydoulas | blissfulbabydoulas.com | #3,317,899 |
|
Postpartum Doula, Baby Nurse, Newborn Care Specialist | babynurseanddoulaservices.com | #3,319,362 |
|
Mamaste Doula and Birth Services | mamastedoulade.com | #3,812,191 |
|
Maryland State Doulas | marylandstatedoulas.com | #3,855,696 |
|
International Doula Institute | internationaldoulainstitute.com | #3,920,364 |
|
L.A. Doula Care | ladoulacare.com | #4,086,815 |
|
Mother Us | motherus.com | #4,165,997 |
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! |
| Rewarding work | Starting a doula service 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. |
| Meaningful business connections | You never know who you will meet as a doula service. This could be the start of an incredible business opportunity! |
| High customer retention rates | Once a customer invests in your product, they've invested their time and energy to utilize your product/service which is highly valuable to them. Typically, your product or service becomes indispensable to your customer. |
| Pick & choose the clients you work with | Doula Servicees have the ability to choose the clients they work with. You have the freedom to work with only a few loyal clients or with hundreds of clients! |
| Cons | Description |
|---|---|
| Motivation of employees | If you plan to have a sales/content team on board, finding creative ways to motivate them can be a challenge. It's important that you're able to offer great incentives and a good work environment for your employees. |
| Low margins | The gross margins for your doula service are typically around 27%, which can make it more challenging to incur new expenses and maintain profitability. |
| High employee turnover | In the doula service, employee turnover is often high, which can be quite costly and time consuming for your business. It's important to try and avoid this as much as possible by offering competitive pay, benefits, and a positive work environment. |
| Taxes | As a doula service, 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. |
| High overhead expenses | With starting a doula service, there are overhead expenses that come with selling a physical product. You will want to make sure you strategically budget for these overhead costs. We discuss this more in the startup costs section below. |
| Churn | In this business, customers can cancel their membership or subscription for your services - which can make revenue forecasting challenging and unpredictable. It's important to focus on your churn rates and trends so that you can prevent this as much as possible. |
Marketing Ideas
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1
Word of mouth
The most tried and true way to grow a doula service is through word of mouth - some entrepreneurs would say it's more important than all social media.
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2
Advertising on social media
Social media advertising is one of the leading ways to get the word out when it comes to doula service.
There are various different Social Media platforms available to you. Some may be more critical for your marketing efforts than others, however, it's important to have an understanding of what's out there and available to you.
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3
Pay Per Click Advertising
Pay-per-click (PPC) is a performance-based marketing method that allows you to show specific ads for services or products oriented to a very defined target, with the goal that the user visits your website or landing page.
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