An Insider Guide on How to Turn Your Skills into Profit

Are you looking for ways on how to turn your skills into profit?

Have you acquired some useful skills and experience that you would love to transform into a profitable business?

Whether you desire some extra cash to supplement your income or you're looking for ways to start a business from your talents and skills, then this post is for you.

We are living in a time when a lot of people desire to live life on their own terms. They want the freedom to choose their own path. They want to decide what to do, where to go, and who they will become.

In short, they want to truly enjoy the time they spend with themselves as much as the time they spend with others!

Most times, the quickest and guaranteed way to achieving this dream is through starting your own business. Unfortunately, this is only a dream for many. But, it doesn't have to be. Fact is, if you are a professional in any field you already have some skills and experience that you can turn into a business of your dreams.

In this post I want to share with you how you can turn the skills, knowledge and experience you've accumulated over your career into a sustainable coaching business. Any of these business ideas can be started as a side hustle but can easily be scaled into something genuinely viable.

World Youth Skills Day 2022: Transforming Youth Skills for the Future

As a side note, it's good to note that today is World Youth Skills Day. This is in accordance with the United Nations General Assembly's (UNGA) declaration in 2014 that July 15 every year should be so celebrated to mark the “strategic importance of equipping young people with skills for employment, decent work and entrepreneurship”. The theme for 2022 celebration is “Transforming youth skills for the future”.

With the challenges facing our world today amid climate change, conflict, persisting poverty, rising inequality, rapid technological change, demographic transition, etc. this year's theme, “Transforming youth skills for the future” is definitely right on point. I consider this post therefore as my own contribution to this noble cause.

Turn Your Skills Into Profit: Why Start an Online Coaching Business?

Of course, you may want to ask, why an online coaching business. What are the prospects of turning your passion and talents into an online coaching business?

You see, learning something new is fun but it can also be a challenge.

Many times we are required to learn something new with our job and in other times we may be interested in something and want to learn more about it. This is the situation around the world today. While many people are coming online to find new ways of either making an extra income or how to build their own businesses many others want help with their relationships or career. Unfortunately, many of these people are lost and confused in the midst of all of the information out there.

While one would expect that, with the volume of information on the net today, it would be easy for anyone to reach out and get what they needed but that’s really not the case. With so much information and options available the problem of information overload is getting worst by the day!

Apart from that, I'm sure you’d agree that it is not easy to simply learn some new thing and then apply your new found knowledge in a real-life situation. It isn’t that simple because learning something and doing something are two different things. Just look back to when you got started on something new and you'd agree to this.

Learning something and putting it into practice takes time, patience, and a good coach. This is where you come in handy. And so, no matter what niche you are serving right now you have acquired some useful skills and expertise that is useful to someone else.

Remember what Zig Ziglar once said:

“You can get everything you want in life if you will just help enough other people get what they want!”

This is why a coaching business is a great way to earn some good income online. In fact, a coaching business is a perfect business model for any one who wants to make a living on the net.

Recent research stats already indicate that coaching is one of the fastest growing industry today. For example, IBISWorld (a market research firm) reported recently that in the U.S. alone, business coaching size is $14.2 billion.

So, starting an online coaching business could just be that breakthrough you have been looking for!

How Can I Turn My Skills into a Business?

If you'll take a look around you will discover that there are different types of coaching businesses you can start right now. Just think about the skills, expertise and knowledge you currently have. Can you think of anything people need or want help with? Do you think they would readily give their money to get it?

Even if you cannot think of something right away the fact still remains that there’s a whole lot of areas people want help in and you can start a coaching business in any of these. Below I share with you ten coaching business ideas and how you can creatively turn them into a thriving coaching practice.

The following examples have been carefully selected to give you some ideas within different niches. You can use these as idea generators. Read each one and think of ways you can apply that knowledge to your own business. They are selected from different areas, including computer/IT, finance, career, parenting, gardening, school (high school and college), cooking, instruments, home improvement, and sales.

Each one is a different type of business, and you may or may not need any special experience to start any of them. However, it’s important that you let your potential clients know you are simply coaching and not giving professional advice.

Of course, if you are a professional in your chosen field then that’s great. In that case you’d be a step ahead of others serving the same field. But that notwithstanding, people will seek a non-professional who charges less to give supplemental knowledge to what they already know.

Again, do not limit your thoughts to what I have included in this list. You are encouraged to take these coaching business ideas and come up with creative ways to start your own business with your skills and expertise.

With that said, here are…

Business Ideas for Turning Your Skills into Profit

#1: Computer and IT

Computers are designed to help people to become more productive. But there are times when they can slow us down. If you are great with computers, you can start a coaching business to help with those pesky issues that get in the way of getting your daily tasks done.

Let me walk you through some ideas to get you started with this type of business.

If someone has a minor issue and he/she cannot afford to pay a professional, you can charge a lower rate and coach them through the issue(s) from home.

Beyond computer issues, there are also lots of computer programmers out there who may need a little coaching to help them apply what they learned in school to their career. Using your knowledge either in computers you can actually be the help they need.

#2: Financial

Money management can be very tough for many people. It is very important to have your finances in control if you are to be prepared for your today and your tomorrow. You know the saying “save your pennies for a rainy day.” You literally need to save your money so that it works for you and not against you. The unfortunate thing is that so many people borrow more than they make in one year.

The best way to help anyone is to help them before they get into a financial bind. As a financial coach you are there to help people make sound financial decisions. The fact is that coaching is a great way for motivating people to take action and be wise with their money.

It is heartbreaking to see people when they lose so many things they worked so hard to get. Financial coaching may be the most sought after and necessary business today.

As you may have noticed already when people get into desperate situations they look for someone to help them out. While many people may fall into this situation for different reasons the fact still remains that in this day and age, it is hard to survive on the little income most people make. There are however, ways to manage your money well and live off of the income you have and be in good financial standing.

So as a financial coach, you will be giving sound advice and helping people learn how money works.

#3: Career Coaching

Your career is the most important decision you will need to make in life. It will give you income and ultimately help you to decide your best path through life. It is hard for some people to decide which career path will ultimately allow them to live the life they choose.

You might believe your dream of becoming a doctor or nurse when you were five years old is the best career choice. When you reach adulthood however, your way of thinking may change significantly.

In reality, the best way to choose a career that is most fitting to you is one that reflects the lifestyle you want. There are tests you can take and studies performed that act as a guide and give you advice on a career but this may not give a definite answer.

So, if you have a lot of knowledge about careers and which ones are ideal for certain personalities, you can build a great business as a career coach. Sometimes it helps if you studied psychology because much of how you match someone up with an ideal career has a lot to do with his or her psyche.

Do remember this and all businesses in this article are ones you will not need previous experience to start, but it does require some ability to work well with others.

You need to be good with people, understand their concerns, and attract people who are willing to take advice. They should be informed that the final outcome of the coaching sessions is a reflection of their choices. You are only there to help them see things with a different perspective.

#4: Parenting

Having children is a blessing but knowing effective ways to parent your children can seem obscure or even a little difficult at times. You will also notice each child is different.

The best advice for someone to start a parenting coaching career is to have some background working with children. It is even a good idea to have a degree in child psychology, but this is not required.

It’s important to repeat that coaching is about giving people advice and supplemental knowledge. Therefore look for people who are willing to take advice as sometimes giving parenting advice can turn people off.

One resource that will help you in this area is a show called “Nanny 911.” You may want to check it out and learn from it. These professionals have helped many families get their children on the right track behaviorally. Better still you can get their Kindle book that detail their strategies and tips.

Check it out here.

A lot of the strategies you will learn from this show has to do with the parent changing the ways they believe they should discipline their children. Success only comes from taking the advice the nannies give and working with their children in a consistent manner.

So if you feel you have what it takes and love working with children and are good at helping others see things from a different view, then this can be a very rewarding business.

Again, remember the world needs people who are willing to help others in need.

#5: Gardening

No matter what season it is, people love to garden. Some have indoor plants while many others plant outside during the spring and summer months. Others have greenhouses where they can plant any time of the year.

No matter how you setup your garden, I always hear people say they do not have a green thumb and their plants will not last.
It is those people who many times want to learn to garden but feel they do not have what it takes. This is where a gardening coach comes in handy.

There are many facets and different crucial elements that go into gardening in order to have the most success with it. Each plant is not created equal and will require different types of attention and nutrition.

If you are great at gardening and have had much success with it, then you might consider coaching others through it. It is always best to have a coach of some sort help another person. Hearing the advice and seeing it put into action are very different.

There is also terminology that is easier to show than to just know the definition.

#6: School (High School and College)

Learning is very rewarding but can be challenging at times. It does not matter who you are, your upbringing, or how well you absorb information.

As a child, many times you can absorb information like a sponge. However, when you reach adulthood, learning is NOT the same. There are many resources out there to help you learn something, but there is no such thing as too much help.

With so many learning styles and information changing so rapidly, there is a NEED for people to coach others through their learning experience.

Now there will most likely be some subjects you excel at and others you are not so great at. So think about what you are good at and work with people with that subject.

#7: Cooking

When you open your Facebook or Twitter profile, you will notice there are a lot of recipes and videos of people making the recipe. They look so good and so you just want to try it. For some reason, you quickly think, “I won’t be able to make it as good as they did in the video.” But you know that simply is not true.

You probably will not be making a career out of a few people who just have an interest in making one simple recipe, but rather someone who has a deeper interest in it.

So how will you know if they do or not?

You can look at the comments on the videos to get an idea of how to market this type of coaching business. However, you may never know who is really interested until they respond to you ad.

To advertise your cook coaching business make your own video of a recipe and put a link in it or in the description letting people know you have coaching sessions for people who want to become chefs or improve their cooking skills.

#8: Instruments

Music is often considered a universal language. It reaches deep down in our souls and touches many generations. When you like something you are listening to, you will put your own meaning to it.

No matter what language you speak, music will be interpreted in your own language even when you do not understand the words and their meaning.

People want to carry on a legacy that has been passed down for generations, or they want to make a crowd of people have a great time. No matter what the reason, learning instruments is, and will be in high demand for a long time.

If you know an instrument and have a passion for helping others learn to play, you are on the fast track to growing a lucrative business and earning many clients.

What instruments are easy to learn without being face to face with an instructor?

Pretty much every instrument on the planet and that is due to video and web cameras.

#9: Home Improvement

Your house is your home. You want it to be more than just a building where you eat, relax, and sleep in. It is a part of your well-being. Keeping your home in working order and having it look presentable is something we all desire. Sometimes we do not know where to start and we begin to look for some good advice.

If you have the expertise in home improvement, then why not create a coaching program for it?

For example, say you want to lay new tile in your kitchen. It may seem like no brainer, but there are actually some important things to keep in mind so you can prepare yourself before you start. The measurements of course, along with how to prepare the sub-floor and so on are all things a good coach can help with.

#10: Sales

Selling is a part of life.

Whether you realize it or not, when you go to a job interview, you are “selling” your expertise and skills to the potential employer.

People think of sales in a negative connotation, but here is your chance to show people that it is not so bad. Besides, people who are already in the sales profession know that they always need to find ways to improve.

This is why sales coaching will be a great profit maker for you. More and more people are starting their own businesses, and guess what; sales are going to and always will be a big part of it.

So, if you have some experience and success as a sales person then starting a sales coaching business is not out of place for you!

Turn Your Skills into Profit: Resources for Your Coaching Business

To build a successful coaching business, you need the right resources. But apart for that, resources help with credibility.

For example, if you want to increase sales a good resource for you is someone such as Tony Robbins. Tony Robbins is a renowned leadership expert and helps people plan their businesses. As a life coach himself, Tony has helped tons of people achieve goals they can only dream of.

Part of your career as a coach is your ability to speak in front of people. Again, Tony Robbins is a great example to use. You can find out more about Tony Robbins on his website at: https://www.tonyrobbins.com/

Apart from people like Tony, what other resources can you trust?

Of course, for every one of the coaching business ideas discussed about there are a wealth of resources. For example, for the financial coaching type there are resources such as Warren Buffet, Napoleon Hill, and Dave Ramsey to name a few. These people are resources when it comes to helping people make their money work for them.

You can also do some further research for peer reviewed articles. If you are not familiar with what a peer reviewed article is, they are written by experts in a particular field and reviewed by other experts in that field. After it has been carefully reviewed then it is published.

You can find peer reviewed articles, journals, and other texts of the like at your library or through the library’s website.

Please be advised that you should get as many resources as possible and refer back to them as needed.

That’s it for now. In our next entry we’ll discuss how you can market and get clients for your online coaching business. Watch out for it!

Recommended Resource: The Business Book of Online Coaching is a step by step blueprint for starting and growing a widely lucrative online coaching business from the ground up! The Updated & Expanded 3rd Edition is now available for purchase at a special discounted launch price. Check it out on Amazon.com.

Your turn: What's your take on turning your skills into profit? How do you think we can better celebrate this year's World Youth Skills Day? Share your thoughts with us in the comments area.