Business Contracts For Your Coaching Business | The Contract Shop Review

I’ve heard so many stories about coaches who launch their businesses fueled by passion and get so excited to get started that they forget to protect themselves, their businesses, their independent contractors, and their clients with coaching contracts & other agreements. 

These “stories” oftentimes turn into nightmares and unnecessary learning lessons when the coach is forced to: 

• give refunds (sometimes after a significant duration of working with a client) 
• or a client stops payment without notice 
• or the coach gets sued 
• or someone steals their content 
• and I’ve even heard about someone getting hurt at a hotel during a seminar a coach was putting on and that coach ended up in court needing to pay medical bills.

So friend, I know you got into coaching so you can help people…. I did too! 

That’s all the more reason to clearly share, and have everyone agree upon standards, expectations, liability, privacy, and more!

When you find that perfect person to enter into a long term collaborative relationship with, it’s important to understand that you’re entering into an agreement where you’re providing a service and they’re providing payment (or vice versa if you’re working with an independent contractor).

During this time it’s imperative that you both agree to the terms of your time together, and you do that through either a coaching contract, an independent contractor agreement, or other relevant contracts that we’re going to go over in just a moment.

So let’s get into some of the basic agreements that you’ll need in your coaching business, as well as check out The Contract Shop, which is my go to resource that I send all my coaching clients to in order to legalize their coaching businesses right from the start.

Must Have Business Contract #1- Coaching Contract Template

If you’re offering 1:1 coaching as a service then having a solid coaching agreement is an absolute must!

Your coaching agreement clearly lays out all the terms of your time together. This can be things like: 

• Payment options 
• How much 1:1 time your client will receive 
• What support looks like in between sessions
• How to schedule sessions
• Content, Programs, and bonuses they will receive
• A refund policy
• And anything else you think would be important

So if you’re taking on clients right now without a solid agreement in place, now’s the time to get one! 

Must Have Business Contract #2- Mastermind Agreement

This agreement is perfect if you plan to host a mastermind, group coaching program, retreats and seminars. 

Yea see, before the group sessions begin you want everyone to be crystal clear on coaching boundaries, appropriate group behavior, and confidentiality (especially since members typically share intimate details about their businesses and lives).

You also want to have all members agree to things like:

• Payment options
• Intellectual property
• Liability Policies
• Media releases (Things like photos from the group, or if you plan to share group coaching recordings in future products)
• As well as the outline of the program details as a whole

Must Have Business Contract #3- Online Course Terms, Conditions & Privacy Policy

If you’re selling online courses, and/or digital products like templates and other downloadables then this one's for you!  

The online course terms, conditions, and privacy policies are there to support and protect you with everything from:

• Chargebacks
• Refunds
• And failed payments
• To intellectual property rights
• Earnings disclaimers 
• And protection from people sharing their password with others, and giving your content away for free

When you get this contract in place, you can rest easy knowing that your content is protected and your business is protected should anything be taken to court!

Must Have Business Contract #4- Independent Contractor Agreement

Now as a coach, you may not necessarily NEED this contract because the person you’re hiring typically has one.  However, I like to have an independent contractor agreement on hand for two reasons:

1. Your VA or designer or whoever else you’re hiring may not have one
2. You may want to set additional standards, boundaries, Non disclosure agreements, and intellectual rights agreements when your independent contractor is creating content for you or designing aspects of your business

An independent contractor agreement will lay out a full job description and outline of responsibilities so everyone is clear on the expectations.

It also describes things like payment schedules, project delivery expectations, confidential and sensitive content agreements, liability, and privacy.

Must Have Business Contract #5- Website Terms & Conditions & Privacy Policy

This one is a biggie, Coach! Your website is one of the main hubs where people are going to come to learn ABOUT you, learn FROM you, and buy your products, programs and services.  

Not only do you want your audience to feel safe knowing that their information won’t be sold by coming to your website, downloading your freebies and purchasing from you… you also want to cover your tushie if you give any advice on money, relationships, health, or any other area of life!  

That’s why you’re going to want your website to be GDPR and CaCPA compliant, as well as share any and all earnings disclaimers, and no guarantees clause, and any other disclaimers that will keep you safe while sharing your thoughts, ideas and coaching!

Now these 5 business contracts are just a few of my favorites from The Contract Shop, however there are still some others like an Affiliate Agreement, Blogger Disclaimer, and Trademarks on tap templates that you may want to purchase as well . 

My suggestion is to head on over to The Contract Shop to check out the Coaches Bundle, and individual contracts and see which contracts work best for you and your coaching business!  

Until next time, keep building your empire!

xo, KellyAnne

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