Video summary
The video outlines three primary business models for coaches operating in 2026, emphasizing that relying solely on one-on-one sessions without assistant support will inevitably lead to hitting a revenue ceiling due to time constraints. The first model discussed is the traditional pay-per-session approach, which remains popular but is criticized as unsustainable because it requires constant chasing of payments and relies heavily on client attendance for income generation. This method creates significant administrative burdens, such as texting clients weekly to schedule sessions and dealing with forgotten payments or cancellations that directly impact earnings. The speaker argues that this lack of structure prevents a coaching business from functioning like a legitimate enterprise, where financial stability should not depend on the unpredictable availability of every client in every week.
To address these inefficiencies, the second model presented is the monthly subscription program, which offers a cleaner and more professional way to collect revenue by automating payments through platforms like SamCart or Kajabi. While this shift from per-session fees to fixed monthly rates improves cash flow consistency compared to ad-hoc sessions, it still carries inherent risks regarding client commitment; clients may cancel mid-program due to life changes like moving or losing interest in the sport, leaving the coach with gaps in their schedule and income. The speaker notes that many coaches struggle with this model because they feel guilty turning off subscriptions when parents cite valid reasons for quitting, resulting in a mismatch between signed-up numbers and actual bank deposits. This highlights that even with terms in place, monthly subscriptions do not fully eliminate the vulnerability of relying on clients to stay enrolled long enough to generate expected revenue without interruption.
The third and preferred model is an annual upfront payment structure where clients pay for their entire year's program at once during a dedicated sales call or enrollment process. This approach provides maximum financial security because the coach receives full compensation regardless of whether specific sessions are attended, vacations taken, or sports seasons paused midway through the year. By pricing programs annually—often ranging from $4,800 to over $10,000 depending on group size and value—the business attracts highly committed clients who tend to bring in similar high-quality referrals rather than price-sensitive leads. Furthermore, this model allows coaches to build scalable systems where new participants join existing groups without requiring additional hours of personal training time from the coach, effectively decoupling income potential from individual labor limits while still offering premium value and flexibility for holidays or breaks within the contract terms.
Ultimately, the conclusion is that transitioning away from session-based pricing toward annual upfront payments transforms a coaching business into a robust, scalable enterprise capable of generating six-figure incomes without being tethered to hourly availability. The speaker illustrates this with real-world examples where group programs charge substantial lump sums while delivering elite training experiences, proving that high ticket prices do not equate to excessive workloads if the delivery system is properly designed. By educating parents beforehand about the premium nature and year-round commitment of such programs, coaches can avoid sticker shock and secure a client base that understands they are investing in an exclusive opportunity rather than just paying for individual workouts. This strategic shift ensures consistent cash flow, reduces administrative headaches related to collections, and empowers coaches to take time off or scale their operations without sacrificing revenue stability.
Read the full video transcript
All right, what's going on, coach?
Welcome back to the channel. Today, I'm
going to be breaking down the three
models that I see coaches using right
now in 2026 with their coaching
business. I'm going to show you on the
spreadsheet the difference between the
three, and you can determine by the end
of this video what is best for you. And
what I will tell you at the start of
this video, it's going to be very, very
clear. If you purely depend on
one-on-one coaching and one-on-one
training, you will hit a limit with what
you do within your business unless you
have assistant coaches that can fulfill
the sessions. If you don't have that,
you're going to hit a brick wall.
There's only so many hours per week you
can train, and you will hit a limit.
Now, saying that, I'm going to be basing
the pricing on the spreadsheet off of
you earning $100 per hour per client
that you work with. It does not matter
if you do it one-on-one or groups. That
has zero consequence here, and I will
show you examples of coaches on this
video that are charging $100 per hour
for group training. Technically, if you
look at how much they're charging for
the year and how much, you know, that
would actually equate to per hour, even
in a larger group setting. Now, the
first model is the pay-per-session
model. This is the most common in this
industry, and this is you training a
client, you texting them before they
show up. They pay you on Venmo, or they
pay you after the session. 95% of
coaches in this industry, that's how
they run it. I ran my business at the
very beginning that way, and I can tell
you I found out really fast that wasn't
going to work for me because I wanted
this to be a real business, and I did
not want this to be this thing where I
had to remind people to pay. I had to
hunt my clients down for money.
Sometimes they'd forget the money, and
it it became a total mess. Especially if
you think about a lot of clients, if
some people forget the money, it's
really hard to keep track of, and that's
not a legit business, and that's why I
will tell you 95% of coaches in this
industry are not running a legit
business. And if you want to learn how
to start that type of business, watch
other videos on my channel. I explain
that. All right. So, if you're doing the
pay-per-session model, here's what's
happening. You have a client, but you're
reaching out to them and seeing when
they're free. You're reaching out to
them to see if they can train this week.
And they're basically telling you,
"Yeah, I can do it." Or they're like,
"No, we can't do it this week." And
then, if they say no, you lose $100 that
week. That is happening right now. And
if they say yes, then they have to show
up and actually complete the session for
you to get paid. That model, again, it
can work to a certain extent, but
eventually you want to be able to
graduate away from that into the monthly
subscription. So, this model here is a
lot cleaner, a lot better for you,
um especially long-term, when you think
about the ease of collecting money. So,
with this, instead of getting $100 per
session, let's say you train the client
four times per month. And you have
things outside of that that are included
with your program. And again, if you
watch my videos, I say the word program
a lot. I never use the word lessons or
sessions when you approach this type of
business, if you're trying to make more
money and you're trying to have
committed clients. So, with this monthly
subscription, you would be selling a
program. And ideally, they're paying
$400 per month. And the way that you
collect is you'd have something set up
online. So, I recommend one of these
two. So, you can see
in here
on my recommendations list, like you can
go down inside of the
uh description. This is a public Google
link. You can click on it. You can see
the different stuff that I recommend
here. That is what my clients use,
right? They just use those things that I
recommend. And that is how they collect
the money. So, Sam Cart and Kajabi,
those are two companies I recommend. I
use both of those for my business. Uh
some coaches just use one or the other.
You can go on that document, you can
figure it out. But, that allows you to
send one link to a parent, they pay, you
never talk to them again about money,
unless they're going to end up canceling
your subscription. And if you have that,
if they're going to cancel, you want to
have some sort of terms in place where
they have to give you enough notice and
enough lead time that they're going to
cancel, so you can turn off their
subscription, and that allows you time
to go replace them as a customer versus
them just canceling whenever they want,
and they're telling you that they're
going to pause their payment the day
after the payment goes through. That is
again, this comes down to
professionalism in your business. You
want to have a agreement, you want to
have terms in place that protects you.
And so with the monthly subscription,
that model's way better than pay per
session, but the issues that I see that
coaches have, even if they have terms in
place, is you could be working with a
client, they're paying $400 this month,
they pay $400 next month, they're
supposed to be doing this for like a
6-month commitment, and then in month
three they're like, "Hey, Johnny's not
wanting to play soccer anymore." Or, you
know, we're moving, or, you know,
there's a laundry list of excuses of why
they could try to get out of your
program, and they could literally make
it up, too. Parents could just make up a
story about how they don't want to do
this anymore,
and then as a coach you feel guilty, and
you're like, "Okay, well, I need to turn
off their subscription." A lot of
coaches, what I've seen, and I've seen
this very closely cuz I actually look at
some of the coaches that I work with, I
look at their bank account, I look at
what is coming in your bank, how many
clients do you have, and do these
numbers match perfectly? Because if they
don't, then there's a gap between the
clients that you have and the amount
that you're making, and that's telling
me that the monthly subscription is not
working perfectly the way it should be.
And so I'm seeing that gap with a lot of
coaches where they sign up clients, but
those clients aren't as committed as
they should be, so they end up losing
money with those clients, and they're
not getting paid in full. They're not
getting paid the amount that the client
agreed to, and this is why I personally
like
the third model the best. This is done
where the client just pays for
everything at once. If they do that, an
example, in 3 months from now they
decide their kid wants to quit soccer or
basketball, whatever sport you coach,
you've already been paid. If they decide
they want to go on a vacation in the
middle of the summer and be gone for 3
months, it's not going to affect you at
all because they've already paid. If
anything happens during that year where
they're just like, "Yeah, we're not
going to come this week." You are not
relying on them to show up to make money
because they have already paid you. And
I hope you can see the clear-cut
difference. And the way that you collect
money with this
type of model is it all happens on a
sales call where you're literally
collecting the money on the call. You're
not, you know, explaining your program
and then having them sign up 3 weeks
later. This is set up to where they are
signing up on an actual sales call with
you. They have You have a sales process
in place that allows you to walk the
customer through step-by-step, A through
Z, of what the program is. They do the
evaluation. They get on a enrollment
call with you. And then on the
enrollment call, they choose the
program. You have the link. They sign up
there. You collect everything at once.
And the cool thing about this model is
you can have things set up to where they
just put everything on a credit card or
debit card. They just pay up front. Or
they can split it through Afterpay,
Affirm, or Klarna where they can finance
it and they can split it up however they
want. And if they do that, you get paid
everything up front. So, regardless of
them financing it or not, you get paid
everything up front. The way I look at
this, right? Cuz if you just look at the
number 4,800, that would be the same
thing as if they're in your program for
12 months under the $400 per month
subscription. If you look at that number
and you're like, "All right, I'm
guaranteeing that I'm making $4,800
right now versus getting $100 randomly
when they decide they want to show up or
$400 once per month." They can turn that
subscription off or they can decide they
don't want to do it in the summer or
they can turn off like the $4,800 gives
you peace of mind because they pay,
they're in, you're not asking them for
money again. And the intent with that is
they're on an annual type of payment.
Meaning, if they love the program that
year, you don't need to resell your
program. They are already in. They
already love it. And I want you to
imagine, too, the parents that sign up
for something like that, the referrals
that they bring you are going to be
like-minded. Wealthy parents hang out
with other wealthy parents. That's just
how this works.
Right? Committed parents hang out with
other committed parents. They're not
going to bring you a bad referral if
you're running your business that way.
They can't because like they're not
going to tell someone about your program
that can't afford it, right? That just
doesn't make sense. Why would they do
that? Why would they try to tell someone
who can't afford it, like, "Hey, you
should go check out this program." Like,
if they know they can't pay the $4,800,
for example, they're not going to bring
you a bad lead. And that's why I love
this model because regardless of how
they pay, they are doing it up front.
And when you think about just the cash
flow in your business, if you look at
$4,800, and if you literally just close
one client per week on that model, like
that's more than $16,000 per month. And
that's just with four clients, right?
Four new clients that are coming into
your business. In my mind, and again, I
can say this with with like without a
shred of doubt, that is not difficult to
do if you have your marketing in place
and you have your sales motion, you have
your sales process dialed in. You don't
even need to have a ton of leads at that
point because the people that are
getting to you, they know it's a premium
thing. They know this is a 12-month
thing. And that's what you should be
doing in your marketing. You should be
educating parents before they even get
to you that this is a year-round
program. This is an elite thing. This is
a premium thing. When people know that
before they get to you, they're not
shocked with the sticker price of
$4,800. That's not a lot of money when
you compare it to a lot of what these
kids are already doing outside of just
training. And now, this method's going
to work for you, for sure, with
one-on-one, small groups, and large
groups. I'm going to show you an example
here for large groups, all right? So,
you can actually see this. So, this
coach here, let me make myself smaller.
This is a coach that has been in our
program. So he said, "My biggest upfront
tuition from one family, $7,200
today."
Right? And he sells a $4,800 program.
You can see this on the screen. So it
says $4,800,
and the sister got a 50% discount. So
putting those together is $7,200. And
this is for a group program. This is not
for a one-on-one program. And I'm
showing you this to really open up your
mind about what's possible because at
the end of the day, if you run a group
type of offer, when someone like this
signs up for your program, you're not
having to add more hours of training.
They're coming into a system. They're
not on a new time slot for your calendar
next week where now you're having to
work 52 new hours of coaching over the
next year. Because if you have a year
program and it's just one-on-one, every
client you get is literally 52 hours of
work minimum. That's not even including
the time of preparing the session,
communicating with the parents, running
the session. I mean, that's a hundreds
of hours just for one client. So this is
why I really look to push this model
here with with the coaches that I
personally work with is because all we
need to do is we need to be able to dial
in the pricing, the marketing, how we
actually sell this to parents, and be
able to create a system when someone
joins, they come into this group that
already exists, and that doesn't revolve
around more of your time. They're coming
into a system at that point. And if you
look at what I have here, rearrange this
a little bit, but when you look at what
I have here on the spreadsheet, if you
have a bunch of clients that are paying
per session, guess what? It's a
part-time job for you right now to
collect the money every week. It's time
on text, time on call, time waiting to
get paid. There's zero consistency. You
cannot rely on your clients. Let's Let's
say, you know, for example, you want to
take a week off. Well, if you wanted to
take a week off, you're not going to get
paid that week. But, if clients pay for
the year and you have it in your clause
that you're going to take a week off for
Thanksgiving, a week off for Christmas,
a week off for July 4th, that can all be
done in there to give you more freedom
in this business to not feel like you
have to train kids all the time. And
that is very possible when you have your
stuff detailed and it's dialed in.
Again, when you're charging for the
year, when the parent makes the payment,
they're way more invested into you and
your program at that point and you never
have to think about, "Okay, they owe me
money and I need to collect it." No,
it's like they've already paid. They're
already in. That's why I think that
model is the superior model right now in
2026. And if you want to build that type
of business where you're charging 3,000
to upwards to $10,000 per customer. I
mean, I've worked with some coaches at
this point that have charged up to
$40,000 for one-on-one coaching. And I
know that sounds ridiculous, but I mean,
they have a great business. They have a
great program. They're helping people
get value that's way more worth than 40
grand. And I have interviews and stuff
like that on my channel. You you guys
can go look at it. So, yeah, if you're
looking at this and you want to you
know, you want to change your model,
you're open-minded, you're willing to
work hard, go below, hit the link. I'd
love to chat with you. Just go book a
call in the first link in the
description on YouTube and that's it.
Have a blessed day. See you later.