If you are here, you are most likely searching for a group coaching contract template.
Are you running a group coaching program and want to make sure you are protected?
This comprehensive service can be more helpful and affordable than 1:1 coaching services.
However, you can encounter many legal issues if you don’t have the proper legal protection.
That’s why you need a group coaching contract template with all your clients to ensure that your coaching relationship remains positive and beneficial.
As a business lawyer and coach myself, I’m going to explain everything you need to know about protecting your coaching business legally and why you need a legal contract for your coaching services.
Then, I’ll show you how easy it can be to create your agreement for your own business.
These tips will work for a coach in ANY niche such as life coaching, business coaching, health coaching, and so on.
Table of Contents
What is a Group Coaching Contract Template?
A group coaching contract or agreement is a legal document that protects you so that you can work safely with clients and get paid on time, whether your coaching program is online or in person.
Attending group coaching calls or sessions and individual and group exercises can provide clients immense value. But a lot can go wrong when you’re working closely with people.
Especially if you provide intangible results like life coaches or coaching on health and wellness as a mental health professional or other areas that affect a client’s life.
A written agreement doesn’t just provide legal protection, it also adds legitimacy to your business.
This document sets both the client’s and coach’s expectations, and you must have one any time you sign a client into your group program, so the legal protection covers you both.
Importance of legal contracts for coaches:
- Ensures both parties are on the same page and understand what they can gain from the coaching relationship.
- Outlines your legal disclaimers and policies and protects you from being sued.
- Clearly state what the client is solely responsible for and your responsibility.
- Ensures you get paid on time and explains your refund policies
It serves your client’s written consent to participate in coaching sessions and the coaching process as a whole.
This contract also legitimizes your business, providing a professional appearance.
Signing a legal contract should be a part of your onboarding or booking process.
You may be tempted to use a free coaching contract template for coaches you can find online, but the free templates available online are often missing key elements they need.
This means that they won’t fully protect you, and you will most likely end up in a legal problem, requiring a lawyer to clean up the mess.
All it takes is ONE legal mistake to turn your life upside down. I know this because I watched my own dad’s business get sued for $90,000!
This is because he failed to use a proper contract with the person he hired.
A crappy contract won’t protect all your hard work and can result in heavy financial investments in legal fees and attorneys.
Related Post: Lawyer’s Guide to Form a Single Member LLC in Florida
Who Needs a Group Coaching Contract?
Anyone who offers coaching services in an individual or group setting needs to use and have this group coaching contract template.
Whether for mental health care, business coaching, or something else, these templates are essential for the best group coaching experience.
And if you’ve been coaching for a while without contracts, you want to use them with each client you have.
Having a contract is important because group coaching often broaches sensitive topics or a client’s physical, mental, and emotional well-being, substance abuse treatment, and mental disorders.
And sometimes, expectations from the client and the coach’s point of view may differ. Even simple issues like misunderstandings about the end of the coaching engagement can become a big problem.
All coaches, whether members or non-members of professional associations such as the International Coach Federation need a legal agreement for their coaching business.
These contracts are necessary whether you’re coaching international clients or people in the United States.
Getting sued can be expensive and cost you many sleepless nights if you don’t legally protect your group coaching program.
A contract doesn’t just provide legal coverage for you; it ensures your clients are also protected.
Whether you are an experienced or brand-new coach, you need to have a legal template that protects you.
How to Create a Group Coaching Contract
You may be freaked out or overwhelmed by the thought of creating your own coaching contract or by the cost of hiring an expensive lawyer to write one for you.
If you want a custom coaching agreement tailored to your business, then you can book that service with me here.
But I’ve got a much simpler and more affordable way to protect your coaching business.
Grab our coaching contract template OR coaching legal bundle
They are legal contract templates that cost a fraction of the other solutions.
Our legal contract templates are customizable to your specific needs and provide peace of mind.
This legal agreement also helps eliminate disputes and misunderstandings so you are both on the same page and can focus on achieving preset goals. The best thing is you can use it over and over again.
Just keep a main template, and each time you sign on a new client, you can create a new contract without spending countless hours trying to create one yourself.
You can also avoid ugly, expensive lawsuits and refunds that waste your time and money if a client gets frustrated over their lack of results (implementing the coach’s suggestions).
Knowing your local laws and requirements or other things related to your specific situation can also be helpful, especially if you live outside the United States.
But our legal templates work globally!
I’ve made sure to cover everything but you are welcome to add or delete any legal clauses as you wish.
You can sign up for a consultation call with me to discuss your questions too.
Key Elements of a Group Coaching Contract
Every contract for group coaching should include important terms such as:
- Contact information for both parties
- A group coaching program overview, the general coaching process, and the effective date of the contract and group coaching
- The group coaching services and scope of services provided
- An outline of the coach’s and client’s complete responsibility, the extent of the coaching relationship, and the program length
- Clear expectations and goals of the coach, including clear boundaries
- The payment terms
- A confidentiality clause protecting confidential information
- A cancellation policy and refund policy
- Intellectual property rights and copyrights
- Your independent contractor status
- A liability disclaimer limiting the coach’s entire liability and stating that the coaching is not a substitute for professional legal advice by medical, legal, business, spiritual, financial, or other qualified professionals. The client should seek independent professional guidance for any of these areas.
- A termination clause that lists how either party can terminate the contract based on things like the other party’s material breach. You must also provide notice of the termination in a specific timeframe, like 14 days written notice.
- The signatures of the coach and participant indicate that the client agrees and the coach agrees on the terms of the coaching relationship.
- Depending on the type of coaching program you run, some coaches may need to add a clause about when a client shares or discloses illegal activity. Especially if you are a mental healthcare provider or a drug counselor.
Click to watch this video where I explain all the important legal clauses you must have in your coaching contract.
You must word things correctly, or your contract is less effective if it is at all. That’s why I created the legal template for coaches to make it simpler and more affordable to protect your business.
I took care of all the complicated legal terms for you.
All you need to do is follow the simple directions to customize it for your business or practice, and you’re done! You can use it over and over again.
When you get our agreement for coaches, you’ll get:
- Instant access to a detailed coaching contract
- A comprehensive legal template in Microsoft Word (you can easily turn it into Google Docs for clients) that protects you from various legal problems
- A legal document drafted by an experienced lawyer with over ten years of legal experience and trusted by over 50,000+ bloggers, freelancers, coaches, and course creators.
- Idiot-proof instructions on how to customize the legal templates for your business in 15 minutes or less
- Lifetime access to the agreement with free updates
- Free support in our Facebook group and access to me!
Click here to get the Coaching Legal Template and start protecting your coaching biz now.
The Coaches Legal Bundle (Written by a lawyer)
If you want to save even MORE money and time, then look into our legal bundle for coaches.
With our legal bundle for coaches, you can get ALL the essential legal templates you need.
This includes an Independent Contractor Template (that explains that you are an independent contractor and are neither an employee nor partner), an LLC Operating Agreement, and the Coaching Agreement Template.
But that’s not all, you also get four incredible bonuses worth $650 for FREE:
- Letter of Agreement that explains the terms of working together.
- Non-Compete Agreement that includes a clause that prohibits your client from revealing proprietary information or trade secrets about your business and specifying that they won’t offer competing services. It often includes elements like reimbursing you for any loss or expense incurred from this infringement, such as reasonable attorney fees incurred.
- Mediation Agreement that lays out how disputes will be mediated.
- A Non-Solicitation and Non-Recruit Agreement, which restricts the client from recruiting any of your clients or customers.
Getting a legal template written by a lawyer saves you A LOT of time and money.
If you don’t want the bundle, then you can always grab the single Coaching agreement template here.
FAQs on Group Coaching Contract Template
Below are answers to some common questions I get about a group coaching contract template.
What should be included in a coaching agreement?
We discussed all the important terms above. But here’s a recap.
To legally protect your coaching program, your group coaching agreement should include the following essential clauses and elements:
- Contact information
- The group coaching services negotiated and provided
- An outline of the responsibilities of both parties
- Coaching expectations and goals
- The payment terms
- A confidentiality clause
- A cancellation and refund policy
- Coaching client responsibilities
- Your independent contractor status
- A limited liability disclaimer limiting the coach’s entire liability
- A termination clause
- Signatures of both parties
- and more!
These are all necessary to ensure that both parties are covered legally and that the client can benefit from the coaching services rendered without worrying about lawsuits.
How do I create a coaching agreement?
The most affordable and fastest way to create a coaching contract is to purchase a coaching contract template. It includes all the essential legal terms to protect you as a coach and ensure a positive coach-client relationship.
Our template is easy to customize for your coaching business and will save you money on a pricey law firm and lawyer fees. That attorney-client relationship can get expensive.
When creating a coaching contract, which element is the most important?
One of the most important elements of a coaching contract is the coaching goals and expectations for group coaching sessions and the program as a whole.
This information helps set expectations for the coaching program’s outcomes and the client and coach’s responsibilities.
Having written goals and expectations often achieves better results, especially if they are related to a specific problem your client needs help with.
How long should a coaching contract be?
Coaching contracts are usually longer because of the nature of the coaching relationship.
They must be detailed and cover the essentials, such as coaching fees, goals, responsibilities, etc.
Many coaches are afraid to send longer agreements, but short ones are often too vague or incomplete, so they don’t fully protect you legally.
Most importantly, shorter coaching contracts do not include essential limitations of liability or disclaimers to protect you as a coach.
Additional Resources Related to Group Coaching Contract
Check out these helpful blog posts related to coaching below:
- Coaching contracts and templates you need to protect yourself
- The Ultimate Guide to Starting a Coaching Business (checklist)
- Essential coach templates
- Coaching services with a business lawyer
Final Thoughts on Group Coaching Contract Template
Now, you can see just how important it is to use a contract with your coaching clients.
Each group coaching session you run without an agreement opens you up to liability and other legal issues. It’s not worth the risk to wait and see what happens.
But the good news is you can skip the outrageous legal fees and focus on providing the best services to your clients and foster a positive group coaching relationship.
Our coaching agreement OR the Coaches Legal Bundle will allow you to provide services to clients without worrying about a client suing you (like you could with a shady contract).
This also allows group members to benefit from your coaching and expertise.
Get the Group Coaching Contract or Coaches Legal Bundle (+ 4 INCREDIBLE bonuses worth $650 for free) and start protecting your business in minutes instead of days or weeks.
There are other templates you need as a business owner if you don’t already have them – a privacy policy, disclaimer, and terms and conditions (terms of use) for your website.
Learn about the 3 legal pages for websites here.
These contracts are important for service providers and digital product creators as well as online entrepreneurs who may sell things like an online course or different types of physical products.
Related Posts to Group Coaching Contract Template
Be sure to check out my legal tips page. It has my best legal and business tips that help you protect yourself and your business.
You’ll find many resources and my best blog posts on legal topics.
15 Great Tips to Develop and Execute Business Ideas
37 Millionaire Mindset Quotes to Inspire You
18 Critical Questions to Ask a Lawyer When Starting a Business
23 Legal Tips for Small Business Owners From a Lawyer
SAAS ERP Systems: 6 Key Benefits for Your Business
How Often to Post on Pinterest to Grow Your Blog
25 Tips of Financial Advice for Entrepreneurs as a Guide
Lawyer’s Guide to ADA Website Compliance + WCAG Checklist
VISIT THIS FREEBIES PAGE TO GET 5 AWESOME FREE BUSINESS, BLOGGING AND LEGAL TIPS!
Below are some more helpful blog posts, legal tips, tools, and resources that you should check out next:
- Outrank your competition and enhance your content creation
- Beautiful Pinterest templates to increase traffic to your blog!
- What’s an LLC and when to form one?
- How to Legally Protect Your Book (with Proper Copyright Notice and Disclaimer Examples)
- AI writing tool to write blog posts 10x faster, create social media content, videos, and any kind of content to save time in business
- This SEO tool makes sure your blog posts rank on the first page of Google!
- Manage your accounting effortlessly with this amazing tool.
MORE TOOLS TO GROW YOUR GROUP COACHING BUSINESS
- TubeBuddy to grow your YouTube channel, and this is another great tool for YouTube SEO.
- Free SEO Masterclass to learn how to optimize your blog posts for SEO to rank on Google. You can also buy this awesome bundle of ebooks instead if you prefer ebooks over video training.
- Best accounting software to manage profit and loss and more!
- Best payroll service(super affordable, too)
- A great all-in-one business platform for hosting your course, email communications, sales pages, and more!
- This paraphrasing tool to create original work for the client
- A professional theme for your website
- Millionaire blogger’s secrets here and tons of valuable resources.
- How to start your blogging business and make money online
- How to make money from affiliate marketing
- The Best Freelance Writing Contract Template (for writers and clients)
- Guest Blogger Agreement to publish guest posts on your website legally and avoid any copyright infringement, Media release agreement to be able to use other people’s photos, videos, audio, and any other content legally, Privacy policy on your website to ensure your blog’s legal compliance, Disclaimer to limit your legal liability, Terms and Conditions to set your blog rules and regulations! Get all of these templates at a discounted rate in one of my best-selling VIP legal bundle here.
