If you have that experience or at least an urge to help sleep-deprived parents (especially moms), then, becoming a sleep coach and setting up your own sleep coaching business is perfect for you. It’s easy – don’t worry.
Perhaps no one will argue with us if we say that moms are one of the most sleep-deprived individuals in the world.
Caring for a baby is not easy — especially at night when all you want is to get some rest.
Babies, while they’re cute, can be the hardest persons to deal with when it comes to putting them to. No wonder why in a report by The Wall Street Journal, it says that based on a study by the American Academy of Pediatrics, it has been found that one in five parents of 6-month-olds is having problems putting their babies to sleep.
To address this problem, some parents ask help from sleep coaches or sleep consultants — not minding about the fees just to be able to learn how to put their babies to sleep so they too can rest.
On the same report, it says that parents find sleep coaches really helpful particularly in cutting through confusion about the best sleep training methods.
RELATED ARTICLES:
With so many current and incoming parents who need help, sleep coaching is definitely becoming in-demand.
With such demand, how else can you better take advantage of having your very own sleep coaching business, right?
That being said, today, we are going to particularly share with significant information on how to set up your very own sleep coaching business from the comfort of your home, at the same time, we are going to provide you essential information on how to actually become a sleep coach.
SLEEP COACHING DEFINED
Before we even talk about putting up a sleep coaching business from home, let us, first of all, define what sleep coaching is all about.
According to Boston Children’s Hospital, a sleep coach or also known as sleep consultant refers to a person “who provides education, advice and support services to help improve a child’s sleep“.
Furthermore, it says that “the criteria for who can call themselves a “sleep coach” can be quite variable and the term does not guarantee any specific training or certification”. Thus, when choosing a sleep coach or sleep consultant, it is best to do your own research about the coach’s background including the training he/she has gone through, and his/her overall sleep coaching experience.
Boston Children’s Hospital further states that as a sleep coach, your job is to initially perform a comprehensive evaluation of the child such as:
- assessment of current sleep patterns and habits
- full past medical history
- family history
- brief physical exam
It is also your job to discuss the child’s particular sleep problem or diagnosis to the parent or guardian in detail, and provide education about the following:
- how sleep works
- how this information relates to your family’s sleep issues
- how to fix the problem
Please note, though, that sleep coaching methods may differ from one sleep coach to another – that is why experts recommend really checking the background of the coach or coaches you are eyeing for to ensure you get the one that suits your needs.
Meanwhile, if you are unsure whether you have what it takes to become a sleep coach or not, here are some traits that every sleep coach must have:
- Flexible
- Humble
- Trustworthy
- Knows and understand the fundamentals of healthy attachment
- Knowledgeable about sleep training
- Passion for babies and kids
- Passion to particularly help struggling parents
STEPS ON SETTING UP YOUR SLEEP COACHING BUSINESS FROM HOME
At this point, no need to dillydally, we go straight to the point – after all, the very reason why you are reading this is to get the essential details you need to start setting up your own sleep coaching business from home, right?
With that, here’s a quick run of the five easy steps you need to follow to start your business:
- STEP 1: Become A Certified Sleep Coach
- STEP 2: Set Up Your Sleep Coaching Business
- STEP 3: Determine Your Price
- STEP 4: Market Your Sleep Coaching Business
- STEP 5: Start Making Money
STEP 1: Become A Certified Sleep Coach
This particular step is the most important of all. Obviously, without going through this, your sleep coaching business will never kick-off.
Before you even think about putting up your sleep coaching business, it is very important to start from the basic – start from literally the beginning — be a Certified Sleep Coach.
But how do you become a certified sleep coach?
Well, do not worry about that because we are going to provide you all the important information you need to become a sleep consultant or also known as a sleep coach.
As mentioned earlier, to become a sleep coach or sleep consultant, you do not necessarily have to be licensed. However, we highly encourage getting certified especially if you are new to this thing and you want to put up a business out of it.
A certification will greatly help in terms of credibility and reputation.
While sleep coaching is yet to be a licensed profession, you can definitely look for the most appropriate institution or coarse providers to be able to get your certification.
Preferably, though, we recommend finding an institution that is internationally recognized — needless to say, look into the institution’s reputation and make sure they are indeed reputable.
By the way, getting a certification from an internationally recognized institution allows you to coach people not just in the United States, or your country of origin, but all over the world.
Over the years, institutions have offered various ways of sleep coaching. But, the most recent perhaps are the ones that are more gentle and holistic approach, which is what most parents look for.
Before moving on, we are sharing with you a very insightful video created by Kim West. In the video, Kim shares four key steps to sleep coaching, which we thought are very helpful for newbies in this field.
Moving on, to be able to get certified, you will need to shell out a few dollars out of your pocket.
While courses differ from one provider to another, the self-paced home study courses (which happens to be the most convenient) usually run around six months.
Similar to course offerings and approaches, the fees range also differ from one institution to another. Typically, it can go as low as $2,000 and can go up to as much as $4,000.
Before you even freak out of the cost, keep in mind that it’s all going to be worth it anyway.
Also, most course providers offer bonus modules, which helps expand your knowledge about sleep coaching. These modules are particularly helpful if you have low knowledge or skills in business and marketing.
One more thing, most course providers offer a payment plan, which you can avail of if you find the cost too high to pay outright.
When aiming for certification, keep in mind that while it can be very pricey, it’s a very good investment for your business. Having a certification means getting more clients and getting back the money in just a small amount of time.
STEP 2: Set Up Your Sleep Coaching Business
Once you have already finished your sleep coaching course, and have been certified, it’s time to get down to business.
Setting up the business can be tiresome for some, but actually, it’s not for as long as you are focused on the things that you need to do.
To put up a sleep coaching business, you basically just need to follow the same rules as to set up any other types of businesses out there.
You basically just need to follow the following process:
Develop a Business Plan
This is the very core of setting up a business. Your business plan will serve as your guide, and it will help keep you on track. Without a business plan, you will, most likely, be cluttered (which is not a good thing at all because that means wasting a lot of valuable time and resources).
When creating a business plan, it must have the following components:
- Executive Summary – This one serves as a concise overview of the business. This is very important as it will set the tone for the entire business plan.
- Business Description – This refers to a detailed overview of the business
- Products and Services – Obviously, this refers to what your business offers. In this case, it is sleep coaching or consultancy.
- Marketing Strategies – In reality, this part requires a huge amount of research. However, with the help of technology, this should not be as tricky as you thought anymore. Anyway, later on, we’ll talk about this more.
- Design and Development Plan – This basically refers to the detail about your sales strategy. This section should outline how you plan to operate your sleep coaching business. Although, in this case, it’s obviously operating from home.
- Financial Factors – Of course, you have to ensure financials are taken into consideration. Although, since it’s a business from home, apart from your initial investment, which is the certification, there should be a very minimal expected expense.
Determine the Insurance You Need
The next step in the whole process is to determine the types of insurance your business needs especially if you are going into other people’s homes.
Look into what kind of identity checks you will need to work with kids and police checks as well.
Doing this will make the families you work with feel assured and secured that they are trusting with the right person, and that their child or children are in safe and good hands.
Create Contacts and Liability Forms
Lastly, create contracts and liability forms. Make sure you know the specific insurance policies that cover you when you enter someone’s home.
While protecting your business is important, protecting yourself is a must especially these days when the world is uncertain given the effects of the new virus.
Also, protecting yourself through written documents will ensure that there would be no confusion when it comes to what your service entails and otherwise.
STEP 3: Determine Your Price
Hiring a sleep coach is not a necessity for most families, however, some parents may just go through a very hard time that they may need an expert’s help.
To be honest, being a sleep coach or sleep consultant is not an easy thing. Imagine having to deal with a baby! But, nonetheless, it is very satisfying.
As mentioned earlier, to become a reputable sleep coach, you got to be certified, which also plays a big part when determining your fee.
Generally speaking, how much a sleep coach or sleep consultant makes depends on various factors like the certification, the experience, and the years spent as a sleep coach. Also, the amount of work that needs to be done will also greatly affect the price.
While some data say that sleep coaching fees range from as low as $100 up to as high as $1,000 per consultation. According to the same article we mentioned earlier by The Wall Street Journal, sleep coaches/consultants charge “fees ranging from about $300 for two weeks of consultations by phone and text to $7,500 for 72 hours of in-home coaching”.
Meanwhile, according to Glassdoor, sleep consultants in the United States earn an annual average base pay of $77,368.
While some parents find the idea of hiring sleep coaches ridiculous because of the fee, others find it a necessity and would not mind paying the price for as long as they get the job done. At the end of the day, having a sleep-trained baby means having the opportunity to catch sleep to recharge and regain strength once the baby awakes once again.
STEP 4: Market Your Sleep Coaching Business
So, we’re done with the nitty-gritty part. This time, it’s about making your business known. A business is not a business without clients, right?
Since you will be working home-based, the most efficient marketing strategy would be anything online — needless to say, people nowadays rely so much on online that almost every piece of information they need, they resort to what they find online.
Ideally, you set up a website for your sleep coaching business. Building a website is not as costly as you think.
However, if you are not into setting up a website yet, you can make use of social media platforms to spread the word. Create a Facebook Page, an Instagram account, and most importantly, make one on LinkedIn.
Most of these social media platforms also offer advertising services for a very minimal cost, which you may also consider if you have extra funds.
Of course, literally, word of mouth is the best marketing strategy of all. You may also ask family and friends for referrals.
By the way, also part of the marketing strategy is working on your branding. Branding is helpful especially when you are just starting out.
From your social media pages to your email signature to writing down your goals, everything has to be aligned. All of these will help keep our brand-focused, visible, compelling, and concise.
By the way, another way to market the sleep coaching services you offer is to create a Facebook Group. What is nice about the Facebook group is that it allows you to focus only on engaging only with people within your target market.
The internet has definitely made marketing easier especially for people who do business from home like what some sleep coaches do.
STEP 5: Start Making Money
Last but not the least, start making money! That’s the best part of every business, right?
Initially, it’ll be tough, but once you have managed to gain a few clients, and you did well, expect more clients to get to you as time goes by.
One thing about working as a sleep coach is that you will surely never run out of opportunities given the fact that every single day, a lot of babies are born, which means a lot of parents will also go through a hard time dealing with sleep deprivation.
FINAL THOUGHTS ON SLEEP COAHING BUSINESS
The idea of putting up a business such as a sleep coaching business is actually very thrilling. While it requires a lot of thinking and strategizing, once it is up and running, everything will be just as smooth as you want it to be.
Of course, you always have to keep everything on track. Making sure your clients get the best of what they have paid you for.
As we have mentioned earlier, while the thought of sleep coaching may be tricky for some, it’s actually fulfilling in the end. Imagine being able to help struggling parents, at the same time being able to sleep train a baby – that feels so great.
The whole idea of sleep coaching may not be as popular yet to as many parents out there, but, it surely has already started its way up – and in no time, you’ll be surprised it’s going to be one of those in-demand jobs.
Are you ready to set up your sleep coaching business yet?
Leave a Reply