As a coach of any kind – whether it be a business coach, career coach, financial coach, fitness coach, etc – your primary goal is to serve your clients. Which meanssss it’s probably not your utmost focus to comb through your client agreements to make sure that they’re legally sound and actually protecting you (and the client) in various ways.
And while I totally understand that you want to spend the majority of your time on what people hired you to do, what if I told you that your client agreements could actually cost you?
ESPECIALLY if you decide to DIY them.
While it might be tempting to draft your own agreement or use a generic template you found online, this approach can leave your business vulnerable to misunderstandings, legal disputes, and financial loss.
Now, I’m not saying you can’t create your own contract, I’m simply saying that if you’re going to do it, a big part of your job DOES need to be combing through it to make sure you’re protected in every aspect.
To help you protect your business and your clients, in this blog post I’m sharing five common mistakes coaches make when drafting their own agreements — and how to avoid them.
5 Common Mistakes To Avoid When Creating Your 1:1 Coaching Agreement
1. Failing to Clearly Define Services
As a lawyer, I cannot overstate how important it is to be SOOOOO detailed and specific in your contracts. I don’t care if something sounds obvious or is detailed on your website, you need to be so extremely explicit about your service offering in your contract so that there is no room for confusion or misunderstanding.
Ambiguous language can lead to misaligned expectations and unhappy clients.
For example, if you don’t outline the scope of your coaching sessions, including the frequency, length, location, mode of delivery, etc. then a client might expect unlimited access to you via email or additional sessions outside the agreed-upon terms.
Without clarity, you could find yourself overcommitted and underpaid – two things that NO coach wants to feel.
💡The solution? Simply use precise language to describe your services and include every single detail that you can think of, such as the number of sessions, their duration, how they’ll be conducted (in person, online, or over the phone), and any additional support you’re offering.
2. Overlooking Payment Terms and Refund Policies
Again, I don’t care if your payment details and refund policies are on your website… they need to be EVERYWHERE – including your client contracts!
Similar to your service offerings, payment problems can escalate when you don’t clearly spell out and define what is expected of your client.
And no, this doesn’t just mean telling them how much they owe you. It means telling them how much, when payments are due, how they can pay, forms of payment you take, whether you can send them to collections for non-payment, etc.
Additionally, this involves being crystal clear about your refund policy (even if you don’t offer refunds – more on that here!) and late payment penalties.
💡The solution? Include detailed payment terms and a clear refund policy in your 1:1 coaching agreement. Being completely transparent about all of these things up front can minimize misunderstandings and set expectations from the start.
3. Neglecting to Address Cancellation and Rescheduling Policies
When it comes to 1:1 coaching, you have to remember – you are dealing with HUMANS! And as a human yourself, you know that life happens.
Kids get sick, schedules get busy, work runs late, and sooo much more, which means that sometimes people will need to cancel or reschedule their coaching sessions. As a coach, it’s important that you understand and anticipate this AND plan for it.
Without a clear policy in place, you might find yourself scrambling to accommodate last-minute changes or losing income due to frequent cancellations.
💡The solution? Define your cancellation and rescheduling policy upfront and specify how much notice clients must provide to reschedule and whether missed sessions can be made up.
For example, you might state that cancellations require 24-hour notice and missed sessions without notice will be forfeited. Having these terms in writing protects your time and ensures fairness for all parties involved.
4. Failing to Protect Intellectual Property
If you’re not a lawyer by trade (and if you’re reading this I’m assuming you’re NOT!), then it can be really easy to overlook things like intellectual property (IP) in your client contracts.
Your mind is most often consumed with the logistics of your coaching – what your client receives, how much it costs, etc.
And while we’ve already determined that outlining the logistics in your contract IS important, there’s a few other legal things that need your attention too!
As a coach, you’ve likely developed valuable tools, frameworks, and resources to support your clients and without proper protections in your agreement, clients may misuse or share your intellectual property without your permission.
For instance, if you provide workbooks, slide decks, or other proprietary materials, you’ll want to ensure that clients understand these are for their personal use *only* and cannot be redistributed or repurposed.
💡The solution? Include an intellectual property clause in your agreement that clarifies that you retain ownership of all materials provided and outline how clients are permitted to use them.
5. Omitting a Limitation of Liability Clause and Disclaimer
Similar to an IP clause, two other important clauses that go hand in hand to include in your 1:1 coaching contract are a limitation of liability clause and a disclaimer.
Because here’s the thing: coaching involves guiding clients, but you can’t guarantee specific results.
Without these two clauses in your contract, clients might try to hold you accountable for outcomes that are beyond your control.
For example, if you’re a business coach and a client is working with you to improve their marketing because they want to make $50,000 this month, you can guide them on different things to do to achieve that, but you can’t guarantee that they will receive that result.
Without a limitation of liability clause, if your client doesn’t achieve their desired results despite following your guidance, they could attempt to take legal action against you… and the scary part is that they could potentially win IF you don’t have a clause in place to protect YOU!
Similarly, a disclaimer clarifies that your coaching services are for informational and educational purposes only, and not a substitute for professional advice in areas such as finance, health, or legal matters. This ensures that clients understand the scope and limitations of your services!
💡The solution? Your agreement should state that results are not guaranteed and that you’re not liable for decisions that your clients make based on your coaching. This clause provides a safeguard against unrealistic expectations and potential disputes.
Why a Professionally Drafted Template Is a Better Choice
Overall, if you follow the 5 tips I listed above, you’d be on a better track of creating your own 1:1 coaching agreement, but can I be honest? Your time is much more valuable and could be spent elsewhere if you opted for a professional drafted template that includes everythinggggg mentioned above PLUS a whole lot more.
At The Boutique Lawyer, I’ve made it my literal job to create legally sound contracts for business owners and service providers to use so that they can spend more time on the things they love most.
Because when you became a business owner, you also became a 34567876 other things – but becoming a lawyer to fully protect your business doesn't have to be one of them.
With our 1:1 Coaching Terms and Conditions template, you can have a lawyer drafted and peer reviewed contract that’s fully customizable and includes sections for:
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An outline of the services you're providing
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When & where you'll meet
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Coach and Client responsibilities
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A coaching code of ethics
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Protection for your intellectual property (handouts, guides, etc.)
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Protection for non-payment and chargebacks
PLUS includes over 20 essential clauses that you probably haven’t even thought about!
Overall, investing in a professionally designed coaching terms and conditions template like this saves you time, protects your business, and fosters trust with your clients.
It’s a small price to pay for peace of mind and professionalism! 👏🏼