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Life coaching: 12 ideas for alternative office locations

January 8, 2023

What are alternative office locations for life coaching?

As a life coaching certification trainer, my former students have found offices in the most exciting places. Not all of these locations would other starting life coaches immediately think about. As part of our post-course support, a question I got in from a former student and a new life coach involved what would be some good and inexpensive office locations.

Life coaching: 12 ideas for alternative office locations

1. Home office

This is where I offer most of my coaching services. I am however a minimalist, and with an impressive river view from my kitchen, my clients don’t enter my living room. The location where my client and I sit is personal, yet not really, as I have any personal objects removed from the table, and all that can be seen is my computer and a table full of thank-you cards. Yes, this set-up is intentional. My clients seem to really enjoy the feel of my “office.” Not once did it raise any negative questions, or had someone question my results. I do however have an international reputation and a lot of experience life coaching. Either way, I do believe it is all in how you frame it. You do need a home and home environment suitable to do this and stage the location as much as you can, without interfering with your personal life.

2. Meeting room of a small local business

This is currently the second place I coach from after my home, generally for those coaching topics that I don’t like the energy of in my home. I work regularly with people who have experienced extremely negative things in their past, even trauma, and I prefer not to invite this energy into my home. I discovered in the coffee house around the corner of my house that there was an empty room that was already set up as a meeting space or office by the owner. I merely asked if I could use it for a small compensation. As a small business owner, he was happy to take my payment and have my clients learn about his location and stick around for coffee. This space I use for coaching is similar to a meeting room, and he wasn’t really using it anyway. I always say: “ask for what you want and need,” and if you can build rapport and connect reasonably quickly, the answer may surprise you. People want to collaborate with you, they get excited about the idea.

3. Co-Location

In the past, co-locations were considered a no-go and very impersonal. But these days I would highly recommend checking in to the local WeWork set-up, or places like that near you. Some have incredibly suitable sites to offer life coaching. My IT manager swears by WeWork, I have meetings with him all over the world. For international coaches, having a membership like this where you can use offices anywhere is an opportunity you cannot pass up. Plus, you have good WiFi, the lack of which often bars me from Skype inside hotel rooms.

This has now become one of the most popular alternative office locations for life coaching.

4. Hotel

Students of mine have made deals with small boutique hotels to rent a room for a few days, and then see all clients on those days. The rest of the day they prepared for the coaching sessions. This allows you to have a central office location and could be more cost-effective.

5. Hotel meeting spaces

A life coaching student of mine does all his sessions in a big hotel that has spaces that are technically public, but where no customer visits. My experience is the same; big hotels have areas where you easily could hold coaching sessions, and I have done this on many occasions while traveling. To my great surprise, hotels often have family rooms (I even found a library once), and a hotel near my house has an entire tropical garden in it with seating hardly anyone uses.

6. Office sharing and referring clients

Consider sharing an office with someone who can refer life coaching clients to you, and you can give them clients as well. Most psychologists only work part-time and should have a vacant office much of the week. As they are running their own small business, they may welcome you to split the rent.

7. Coach house

In the Netherlands, you have companies that have houses with each room in the house to be a coaching office. You pay a fee per year, and by the hour. I was a member at the Coach Huis in Amsterdam for years, as it gave me coaching space as well as meeting space. They even have a waiting room area, with complimentary coffee. For those life coaches looking to invest in a property this may be an idea to consider. The concept really took off in the Netherlands, Amsterdam alone has 3 locations.

If you have something similar to this near you, it is one of the best alternative office locations for life coaching. A great place to network with other coaches as well.

8. Boat

A student of mine consistently coaches on his boat, sometimes behind his house, other times the client and he go somewhere for coaching. Life coaching in the middle of a lake, or bobbing on a quiet river. I can think of worse things.

9. In the park, beach, or nature

I sometimes do my sessions in the park, walking and talking can often be powerful life coaching sessions to unfold in my experience. Walking in the same direction as a client can offer much more power than an indoor office.

10. The local gym

Gyms are very used to renting out the fitness areas to personal trainers. However, I know of one person who noticed that in his gym was a space where the staff had meetings. He approached the owner, and how he coaches from this meeting room as well as the gym itself.

11. At the client’s home or office

Do make sure all distractions are removed. This is how I started my coaching career, and it worked well.

12. Community center or other spaces

Pay attention when you walk around the place where you live. I have coached and taught life coaching certification classes in anything from art galleries, community centers, schools after hours, the list goes on.

Conclusion

Personally, as a coach and teacher who works worldwide, having an office in a city makes no sense for me. In each of the locations where I go to teach, if I need to do coaching I always find places. Whether this is at my client’s house, my hotel room, hotel public spaces, or arranging something else locally. I am not shy about asking other business owners for a favor. But even when I am in Amsterdam for months at a time, I love deciding where my meetings should be based on the needs of my clients.