For those of you looking for greater freedom and autonomy as a business coach, perhaps you’ve been looking for a franchise opportunity. However, coaching franchises can be extremely costly and restrictive. (If you’re unfamiliar with coaching franchises, you can read our article here.)
Today we’ll be weighing up the pros and cons of The Growth Coach business coaching franchise against Business Coach Academy, taking a look at what each company offers, the costs you’ll incur, as well as reviews from paying customers.
The Growth Coach is a “unique coaching business” that has established itself in over 150 markets in corporate America and abroad. The company focuses on helping small business owners achieve personal and professional goals and is currently expanding, seeking entrepreneurs with proven leadership experience to help their small business communities prosper.
More specifically, as a Growth Coach, you’ll help businesses enhance their processes and help sales teams develop their sales strategies by focusing on the unique needs of the businesses you work with.
The Growth Coach Cost
Before we get into the fine details, it’s very important to go over the costs you’ll incur with each business. To become a Growth Coach franchise owner, you’ll need at least $60,000 in liquid capital. While the initial franchise fee is as low as $27,900, opening a franchise can cost anywhere between $42,200 and $78,900. And when we say “low,” we mean when compared to other franchises such as Entrepreneurs Source, which can cost well over $100,000. Franchises are generally extremely costly, restrictive, and just not a great choice overall, but more on that later.
Becoming part of The Growth Coach means you’ll be assigned a territory encompassing around 12,500–15,000 businesses. If you wish to contact more businesses, you’ll have to pay another $5,000 to do so.
Many businesses have been forced to shift to remote work, and The Growth Coach is no exception. Because of this, franchisees only have to pay relatively small ongoing costs, if any at all.
Business Coach Academy cost
First and foremost, Business Coach Academy is NOT A FRANCHISE. This means becoming a ProCoach requires a minimum upfront investment of as little as £9,600. In fact, there are 2 options to choose from:
- Part-time – £9,600 initial investment and £695 monthly operating costs. This is ideal for people who want a side hustle that generates £10,000 per month.
- Elite – £19,500 initial investment and £1,950 monthly operating costs. This is ideal for people who want to be self-employed, earning £20,000–£50,000 per month.
Keep in mind that you’re not buying into a franchise, so it’s far more simple, flexible, and affordable compared to coaching franchises. Furthermore, if you don’t hit £10,000 per month, you won’t pay anything; you’ll get £1,000 cash just for the trouble!
Is Buying Into a Franchise a Good Idea?
Buying into a franchise can severely restrict your coaching business. Furthermore, some franchises may urge you to quit your current position, go all in, and take on a great deal of risk.
So buying into a franchise isn’t necessarily the best idea.
Solutions out there like Business Coach Academy are designed so that you can train to become a prestigious business coach while staying in your current role by simply dedicating a few hours to the training at the weekend.
The Growth Coach Franchise Reviews
The Growth Coach has been ranked as a top business coaching franchise, being one of the Eight Best Franchises that Support Businesses During an Economic Recovery, according to the IFA.
But, as with most coaching franchises, it can be difficult to find detailed reviews, testimonials, or case studies directly from the franchisor themselves, and The Growth Coach franchise reviews are no exception here, either. However, using the platform Glassdoor, we were able to find some reviews from Growth Coach franchisees. They gave the franchise an average of 3.3 stars, with 69% saying they would recommend it to a friend and most approving of the business outlook.
Most complaints seemed to be around the marketing materials and support that are provided to franchisees, with one Glassdoor user writing:
“Marketing support is not there. They promise you the moon, but after the contract is signed, they do not support you. You’re stuck in a contract for 10 years. I was told that most people make over 200k in their first year. This is not true. Most people fail, and almost everyone I’ve met is struggling. They do not have any back-end support for prospecting and don’t advertise for us, yet we pay for advertising.”
Another franchisee gave a similar review, saying:
“The material is pretty good, but similar material can probably be purchased elsewhere at a fraction of the cost. The support and training given to franchisees is poor, and most coaches make very little. No proven lead-generating system. Poor website.”
This seemed to be the consensus among most negative reviews from franchisees; however, there were a few positive reviews too. One user wrote:
“I spent a lot of time evaluating franchises and finally landed on The Growth Coach. At first, I thought I would go it alone, but after conducting a thorough analysis, I concluded it would cost me more to develop a professional curriculum, produce marketing materials, design a decent looking website, etc. than to pay a franchise fee. I couldn’t be more satisfied with my decision. I get to spend my time doing what I love and less time doing all those other mundane things involved in owning a business.
Don’t make any mistake about it; just because you join a franchise doesn’t mean it is going to be easy! Owning a business is hard work. But I know that my hard work is benefiting me, not someone else, so it’s a rewarding way of working.”
Quotes from Glassdoor
Business Coach Academy reviews
Business Coach Academy has all 5-star reviews on TrustPilot. They have an outstanding track record when it comes to training business coaches, with 100s of testimonials from coaches. Some of the results include:
- Coaches who have signed new clients in a matter of days
- Coaches who have gone from 0 to 6 figures in the space of a year
- Coaches who only have to work 10 hours per week
- Coaches who have gained the freedom to work from anywhere in the world
These are just some of the results they’ve been able to help their Certified Coaches achieve, and there are hundreds of others just like them:
Who is The Growth Coach Business Coaching Franchise aimed at?
The franchise aims to attract experienced executives, prior business owners, and entrepreneurial individuals from a variety of backgrounds who have had successful careers. They should have a proven track record in leadership skills and relationship building.
Although there is not a rigidly fixed criterion for ownership, their ideal franchise owners are investors who have access to capital. Individuals need to have the financial and professional resources available to provide for all startup costs and the costs associated with living while they get their business off the ground.
Preference is given to those with a solid history of business, training, human resources, or coaching experience. But if you can check off some of these many boxes, becoming a Growth Coach may seem like an attractive career to you.
How to apply to The Growth Coach Business Coaching Franchise
You can apply to The Growth Coach by completing a short form and submitting it on their website. Within 1-2 business days, a Franchise Director will call you.
Once you’ve decided that the franchise is right for you, you will be provided with a territory based on market availability and demographic information.
You’ll then be invited to the corporate headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio, where you will meet the operations team, the senior leadership team, and corporate partners. Once you’re approved by a Franchise Director, you’ll be on your way to starting.
What does the training include?
During your one-week training, you will:
- Attend interactive classes taught by the best industry experts that will empower you with all the ins and outs of running successful business ownership.
- Meet and connect with like-minded entrepreneurs from various backgrounds.
- Establish a path to success.
Once you have paid the initial fee, you will receive:
- Access to their coaching community.
- Their 90-day “Secret to Success” professional marketing strategy.
- Training programs and site visits to The Growth Coach group sessions.
- A franchisor who will be with you at every step of the process to help you develop new materials and respond to market demands.
The Growth Coach franchise model claims to be more effective than other franchises. Unlike most coaching franchises that focus on individual coaching, The Growth Coach’s proven model of group coaching allows you to build a more efficient business model for your own coaching franchise.
Who is the Business Coach Academy License aimed at?
Business Coach Academy’s program is for people with a high level of business experience; either they’ve worked as business leaders at the director level in the corporate world or ran their own business previously. This experience gives you a strong framework and credibility as you begin your journey towards becoming a prestigious 6-figure business coach.
The program is designed so that it can be done part-time, too. This means that, unlike franchises, you won’t have to give up your busy role, incur huge costs (both upfront and ongoing), and go all-in, taking on a huge level of risk as you do so. They’ve helped directors from prestigious firms like Apple, JCB, IBM, and Nike become successful coaches.
How to apply for the Business Coach Academy License
You can learn more about the license and book your call via the Business Coach Academy website. Once it’s been established that you’re fit for the program, you’ll have immediate access to the profit coach platform, community, resources, and materials.
What does the training include?
The 9-week online program provides you with all the tools, training, and resources to launch your own highly successful coaching business.
The ProCoach Training
Each program has slightly different training. The Certification consists of 9 modules, while the Part-Time program has an additional 9 modules around sales and marketing. Finally, the Elite program has an additional 3 modules to help you build your coaching business to £20,000–£50,000 per month. Here’s an overview of the first 9 modules you’ll go through as part of the ProCoach Certification.
Each module is an in-depth discussion around one vital aspect of business coaching, and once all 9 modules have been completed, you’ll receive your certification. You’ll also have access to the course and the 9 modules forever on any device, as well as complete flexibility as to whether you want to pause or repeat any parts of the program.
Here’s a breakdown:
- 9 weeks training
- 1 year mentorship
- Full access to the extensive coaching community
- Monthly live Q&As
- Expert tools, worksheets, and materials to help your coaching business
- 1-1 calls with a millionaire coach
Here’s an overview of each coaching module:
Going Pro
The first week of the profit coach training is all about laying the foundations for your new business. This involves structuring and optimizing for achieving success in the easiest, fastest way possible.
Best Coach
The second module is concerned with learning the best coaching skills to handle any situation. This second module is designed to give you total clarity about the difference between business coaching and other change models, such as consulting. This means you only need to do what’s necessary to get your client exceptional results, and, as a result, your services will be in very high demand.
Coached Model
In the Coached Model module, you’ll learn the exact questions to ask clients. You’ll learn precisely how to create major personal shifts in any business owner by following a proven process—a 4-step system to deliver immediate value to every client you ever coach. You’ll have a clear coaching plan and know exactly how to deliver immediate value to any new client. Every session will be templated and already done for you, making your life as easy as possible.
Client Rulebook
By week 5, you’ll be learning how to create a clear process that helps you deliver exceptional results and, most importantly, retain your clients for years.
Proof Generator
In this stage of training, you’ll build confidence and credibility by getting and conducting free business coaching sessions. These will prove that you have the ability to change people’s businesses and lives by following what you’ve learned in the previous modules, eliminating any sense of imposter syndrome or lack of confidence in yourself and your own ability.
Perfect Offer
By the end of week 7, you’ll have crafted the perfect offer and profile setup to attract prospects who are ready to talk and become paying clients without having to deal with overly complex marketing funnels or things of a technical nature.
Fast Funnel
Nearing the end of your training, you’ll be able to use the FAST Funnel with $0 ad spend, a proven system to generate $1000-$5000 PCM clients on-demand. This means you can increase your income whenever you want and achieve true financial security.
Income Escalator
In the final week of your training, you’ll learn how to continuously make your coaching business easier to run and, at the same time, more profitable. These elite tools and tactics have helped generate results like this:
Business Coach Academy or The Growth Coach?
Both businesses offer a good opportunity if you’re looking to become an established business coach. However, if you’re looking to become a prestigious coach without taking on excessive risk and paying big chunks of your capital up front, Business Coach Academy is the best option for you.
Final Note
Feeling overworked in your corporate position? Dreaming of a better life where you have the autonomy, work-life balance, and family time you deserve? Or are you worried about job security and feel like you need an exit strategy from your current high-stress job? Learn more about how you could become the next Business Coach Academy success story here.
