Most coaches price wrong.
Not wrong in an obvious way. They look at what competitors charge and match it. Or they guess based on hourly rates. Or they charge what a gym would pay them and call it a day.
But there's a formula. And it's not that complicated. Here's how to price your coaching so you actually build something sustainable.
The components: software + time + opportunity cost + margin
Every coaching business has these four costs per client:
1. Software cost per client.
What are you paying for the CRM, intake system, check-in platform, payment processing?
Let's say you use:
- Coaching software: ₹4,000/month for 40 clients = ₹100 per client.
- Payment processing: 2.9% of your revenue. If a client pays ₹5,000/month, that's ₹145 in fees.
- Intake/forms: maybe ₹500/month = ₹12.50 per client.
Total software: ~₹260 per client per month, minimum.
If your software stack is cheaper (spreadsheets and Stripe), it's lower. If you're more sophisticated (video analysis tools, nutrition software, wearable integrations), it's higher. But this range is real.
2. Time per client per week.
How many hours do you actually spend on each client?
- 1:1 coaching: 1 hour per week (maybe 1.5 if check-ins + programming).
- Hybrid coaching (30-client roster with groups): 15 minutes per client (program updates, check-ins, Q&A).
- Broadcast coaching (200+ clients, mostly self-serve): 2 minutes per client (review submissions, send occasional feedback).
The honest accounting: Include all time. Not just "coaching." Include:
- Programming and plan reviews.
- Check-ins and messages.
- Admin (onboarding, form processing, payment issues).
- Your own professional development (reading, courses, staying current).
A coach we work with tracks this. She has 18 clients. Her "coaching" time is 3 hours per week. Her total client-facing time is 6 hours. Her admin and learning is 3 hours. Total: 12 hours per client per month (9 hours per week across 18 clients = 30 minutes per client per week, but not evenly distributed).
3. Hourly opportunity cost.
What's your time worth? Not "what would a gym pay," but "what could you earn doing your next-best option?"
If you're a talented coach, you could:
- Take a full-time gym job: ₹3,00,000–₹5,00,000/year = ₹144–₹240/hour.
- Run group classes: ₹500–₹1,500 per class, 1–1.5 hours of your time = ₹333–₹1,500/hour.
- Build a program and sell it as a product: higher per-hour once built, lower in the short term.
- Coach 1:1 at ₹1,000/hour: simple math, but you cap out at time.
Pick an honest number. Let's use ₹500/hour as a baseline (includes the value of your expertise, not just your time).
4. Margin target.
You need profit. Not just to survive—to invest back into your business, to save, to not feel resentful.
Sustainable small business: 40% margin. Profitable: 50% margin. High-growth: 60%+ margin.
These are gross margins (revenue minus direct costs; doesn't include taxes or rent for your office). If you're the sole operator, you have fewer overhead costs, so 40% is more achievable.
Three pricing models
Let's work through actual examples. Assume:
- Hourly opportunity cost: ₹500/hour.
- Software cost: ₹260/client/month.
- Target margin: 45%.
Model 1: 1:1 boutique coaching (6 clients)
You work with 6 serious clients. Each gets 1 hour of programming + coaching per week, plus check-ins and async support. Total time: 2 hours per client per week.
Cost per client per month:
- Software: ₹260
- Time (8 hours × 4 weeks × ₹500/hour): ₹16,000
- Total: ₹16,260
Reverse-engineer the price from target margin (45%):
If you want 45% margin: Price = Cost / (1 - 0.45) = ₹16,260 / 0.55 = ₹29,563/month
Rounded: ₹30,000/month per client.
Check: 6 clients × ₹30,000 = ₹1,80,000/month = ₹21,60,000/year.
- Direct costs: ₹97,560/year (software + time).
- Profit: ₹19,44,000/year (about 45%).
- Your monthly take-home: ~₹1,62,000.
Does this pass the sanity check? Yes. You're earning more than a full-time gym job and you're building equity in your own business.
Model 2: Hybrid coaching (30 clients)
You manage 30 clients. Most are doing templated programs with weekly check-ins. You spend 20 minutes per client per week on average (includes everything—programming, check-ins, admin, writing responses to questions).
Cost per client per month:
- Software: ₹260 (scales slightly worse at 30 clients; assume ₹5,000/month software bill).
- Time (1.3 hours × 4 weeks × ₹500/hour): ₹2,600
- Total: ₹2,860
Price: ₹2,860 / 0.55 = ₹5,200/month per client
Check: 30 clients × ₹5,200 = ₹1,56,000/month = ₹18,72,000/year.
- Direct costs: ₹1,02,600/year.
- Profit: ₹15,69,600/year.
- Your monthly take-home: ~₹1,31,000.
Slightly lower take-home than 1:1, but you've hit a sustainable hybrid model. You're working 6–8 hours per week on clients, plus admin.
Model 3: Group/broadcast coaching (100+ clients)
You sell a group program or a self-serve app with limited direct feedback. Your time per client is maybe 5 minutes per week (reviews, comments, occasional video responses).
Cost per client per month:
- Software: ₹300 (at scale, per-client cost may increase with payment processing at higher volume, but flat software costs divide smaller).
- Time (20 minutes × 4 weeks = 1.3 hours × ₹500): ₹650
- Total: ₹950
Price: ₹950 / 0.55 = ₹1,727/month per client
Check: 100 clients × ₹1,727 = ₹1,72,700/month = ₹20,72,400/year.
- Direct costs: ₹114,000/year.
- Profit: ₹18,58,400/year.
- Your monthly take-home: ~₹1,55,000.
At this scale, you're working maybe 8–10 hours per week on clients. But you need product/content (programs, videos, check-in templates) built upfront. This model is harder to launch but easier to scale.
The pricing checklist
Before you set your price:
[ ] What's your actual time per client per week? Track it for 4 weeks. Include programming, check-ins, admin, response messages. Don't lie to yourself.
[ ] What's your opportunity cost? What could you earn doing something else with your time? Use that as your floor.
[ ] What's your software cost? Add up every subscription you use. Divide by your client count.
[ ] What's a realistic margin target? If you're just starting: 30-40%. Sustainable: 45%. Profitable: 50%+.
[ ] What are your peers charging? This is a sanity check, not a formula. If every other coach in your niche charges ₹3,000 and your formula says ₹10,000, something is wrong (either your time estimate or your margins).
[ ] Can you deliver at that price? Pricing is a promise. If you price as if you'll spend 2 hours per week with each client but you're actually spending 4, you'll burn out and resent your clients. Price for what you'll actually deliver.
Common pricing mistakes
Mistake 1: Including overhead as marginal cost.
Your rent, your laptop, your continuing education—these aren't per-client costs. They're sunk costs. Don't divide them by your client count and add them to price. They come out of your margin.
Mistake 2: Using "industry standard" as a price.
There is no standard. A coach with 5 clients needs to charge 2x what a coach with 50 clients does, because the time allocation is different.
Mistake 3: Leaving room for discounts without changing the price.
If you intend to give people a 20% discount, price accordingly. Don't set your price at ₹5,000 expecting to charge ₹4,000. Either price at ₹4,000 or don't discount.
Mistake 4: Not raising prices as you get better.
Your first year: ₹3,000/month. Your third year: still ₹3,000/month. You're paying the software cost of improvement (better programs, faster responses) but not capturing any value from it. Raise prices when your model improves.
What we see in the real world
Coaches using Punch Monk typically fall into one of these three models. The ones who struggle with pricing are the ones trying to do hybrid work at 1:1 prices, or group work at hybrid prices.
The ones who thrive are the ones who:
- Know exactly how much time they spend per client.
- Price to match that time + their opportunity cost.
- Adjust as they optimize their systems (better templates, faster check-ins, more automation).
Your pricing isn't fixed. It should change as you get more efficient. If you build a killer program library and your per-client time drops from 30 minutes to 15 minutes, you can afford to lower price or raise margin.
Next: run the numbers
Use this formula:
Price = (Software Cost + Time Cost) / (1 - Target Margin %)
Plug in your actual numbers. If the price feels too high, there are two levers: reduce time per client (better systems, templates, automation) or reduce target margin (not recommended). If it feels too low, you're undervaluing something. Figure out what.
Don't guess. Calculate. Your future business depends on it.