Leadership Coaching Business Success Stories [2024]
Want to make a real impact in the professional world? Consider launching a leadership coaching business.
Leadership coaching involves working with clients—often executives and managers—to enhance their leadership skills, emotional intelligence, and overall effectiveness. By offering one-on-one sessions, group workshops, and customized training programs, you'll help individuals unlock their potential and drive organizational success.
To succeed, you’ll need deep knowledge of business operations, strong communication skills, and a knack for motivating others. Continuous learning and professional certification can add credibility, while networking and marketing efforts will help grow your client base.
This business idea provides the opportunity to make a meaningful difference in people's careers and lives. If you're passionate about leadership and have the expertise to guide others, this could be a rewarding venture both personally and professionally.
In this list, you'll find real-world leadership coaching business success stories and very profitable examples of starting a leadership coaching business that makes money.
1. SquarePlanet ($3.49M/year)
Brian Burkhart, founder of SquarePlanet Presentations & Strategy, came up with the idea for his business after witnessing a top doctor give a painfully boring presentation at a healthcare conference. The wasted time, money, and missed opportunities motivated him to help people improve their presentation skills. With his experience in business communications and a deep understanding of what makes presentations go wrong, he created SquarePlanet to provide consulting, training, and execution services for impactful presentations. The company has since seen consistent and upward revenue growth, working with big brands like Coca-Cola and Google.
How much money it makes: $3.49M/year
How many people on the team: 7
SquarePlanet Presentations & Strategy is a Phoenix-based business communications firm that helps its clients tell their stories in the most impactful ways possible through meeting creative, brand voice, presentations that matter, engineered delight, speaker training/workshops, and keynote addresses, resulting in consistent and upward trajectory since inception.
2. World Renowned Coaching & Consulting ($576K/year)
Neal Oates, Jr. identified a growing demand for coaching and consulting services in the real estate sector and launched World Renowned Coaching and Consulting in 2022. By leveraging his luxury real estate experience, Neal turned his business into a $48,000/month enterprise that serves nine different industries.
How much money it makes: $576K/year
How much did it cost to start: $1.2K
How many people on the team: 0
Case study about the founder building a successful coaching and consulting business generating $48,000 monthly, expanding from real estate to service-based businesses in nine industries, with growth for three consecutive quarters.
3. Agile Worx ($480K/year)
David Bishop, the founder of Agile Worx, came up with the idea for his business after realizing that the knowledge he accumulated in the technology industry was constantly becoming obsolete. He decided to pursue a Ph.D. and focus on creating a long-lasting body of work. While working with a firm that was struggling to adopt agile and scrum techniques, he applied his new research skills to create a scientific theory and patented framework called "Metagility" that maximizes productivity and efficiency for technology companies.
How much money it makes: $480K/year
How many people on the team: 3
How a Ph.D. in computer engineering created a patented agile framework and turned it into a profitable training and consulting business, after realizing that his accumulated technology knowledge was losing value over time.
4. GoEdison ($216K/year)
James Harper, the founder of GoEdison, started the business after seeing a major need in the small business realm for better marketing. With experience in the industry and a desire to provide a better service, Harper launched GoEdison and quickly gained positive cash flow. The company has since evolved and now focuses on specific services such as B2B lead-generation email marketing and Google advertising. A content strategy proved successful in attracting clients, and GoEdison is now planning for major growth in 2020.
How much money it makes: $216K/year
How much did it cost to start: $500
How many people on the team: 1
James Harper founded GoEdison, a small business marketing agency that specializes in B2B email drip campaigns for service-based businesses specializing in strange niches, achieving $17,000 - $20,000 in recurring revenue, attributing their success to keeping their business model simple and evolving over time.
5. Humor That Works ($150K/year)
Andrew Tarvin, the world's first humor engineer, came up with the idea for his business, Humor That Works, while working at Procter & Gamble. He started incorporating humor into his job, adding jokes to his emails and teaching improv exercises to his team. Realizing the same skills needed to be an effective improviser were the same skills needed in the workplace, Andrew built Humor That Works part-time, eventually leaving his six-figure salary to focus on the company full-time.
How much money it makes: $150K/year
How many people on the team: 1
Humor That Works is a training company that focuses on human effectiveness, and has worked with thousands of people at over 250 organizations, including Microsoft, the FBI, and the International Association of Canine Professionals, and has grown 24% YoY.
6. Thrivette ($120K/year)
Stacey Haynes, the founder of Thrivette, came up with the idea for her business after realizing that many people settle for an unfulfilling Monday-Friday work week and put off their dreams due to a lack of motivation and money. She and her husband, Jason, used their skills in design and customer experience to start small businesses and fund their bigger dreams, eventually earning over $165,000 through Kickstarter. Thrivette now offers consulting and free resources to help others achieve their goals and make their dreams a reality.
How much money it makes: $120K/year
How much did it cost to start: $10K
How many people on the team: 2
This case study follows the story of Stacey Haynes, founder of Thrivette, a business consulting and resource community that helps people start and grow their businesses, and how she and her husband have made over $10k per month through consulting and merchandise sales on platforms like Amazon, Etsy, and Shopify.
7. Personal Growth Base ($120K/year)
came. One of the most important lessons I learned is that success doesn't happen overnight. It takes time, dedication, and consistency to build a successful business. Additionally, I learned the power of personal connections and the importance of over-delivering and providing value to customers.
How much money it makes: $120K/year
How many people on the team: 0
A 22-year-old entrepreneur from Vienna built a $10k/month personal growth business by executing ideas quickly and targeting needs, as well as delivering quality services and personal connections to his customers.
8. Service Based Businesses ($72K/year)
Anthony Tumbiolo, the founder of ServiceBasedBusinesses.com, came up with the idea for his business while running his multimillion-dollar digital agency, Jakt. He realized that there was a need for a community where digital agency owners could come together, connect, and learn from each other's experiences. With revenues of approximately $6k per month, Tumbiolo is focused on providing valuable resources and support to his members in order to help them grow and scale their own agencies.
How much money it makes: $72K/year
How many people on the team: 0
ServiceBasedBusinesses.com is a community for agency owners created by the founder of multimillion-dollar digital agency Jakt that provides access to exclusive resources and Q&A sessions, generates $6k/month in revenue, and serves agencies with revenues ranging from $100k/year to $2M+.
9. Pause Box LLC ($12K/year)
Meredith Vaish, the founder of Pause Box, came up with the idea after leaving her corporate job due to a repetitive stress injury. During her year-long break, she discovered the power of intentional pauses and wanted to make spiritual retreats accessible to modern, non-religious individuals. With over 20 years of experience in brand and email marketing, she launched Pause Box in September 2019 and has been generating nearly $1k in monthly revenue.
How much money it makes: $12K/year
How many people on the team: 0
Founder of Pause Box, Meredith Vaish, shares how she launched a business helping people take intentional breaks, with her revenue in the first year almost hitting $1k per month through virtual retreats, personalized pause day designs and a new Pause Box containing retreat essentials.
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Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
