How to Start Chess Coaching? – Complete Guide

Chess coaching can be your full-time income source. Thousands of chess coaches are teaching millions of students all over the globe. After the pandemic, there are millions of people who generated interest in learning chess. Most of them are unable to find a good chess coach. In this article, we will see how to start chess coaching business.

To start chess coaching, the best way is to first create your website and start promoting through social media.

There are also a lot of chess coaching jobs available. Many academics are not taking more students because they don’t have enough coaches.

In this article, we will see how to create a sustainable chess coaching business where you will get a regular flow of students.

5 Things to do to Become a Successful Coach

Become a good chess player

This is the most important factor in chess coach. People always prefer higher-rated chess players with more experience.

To become a full-time chess coach and earn a decent income, your FIDE rating should be a minimum of 1800. After reaching the 1800 level, you will get a decent number of students without any hesitation.

If you haven’t set any goals regarding chess improvement and if you have enough time to spend on chess practice then the best way is to aim to become titled chess player.

There are many benefits of becoming titled chess player including free accounts on different chess websites, and authority in your niche.

Create Study Material for Students

When you decide to become a chess coach then start collecting chess material for beginners and intermediate students.

Many teachers teach vague in each class and it is not beneficial for both. It takes time to create study material but this is a one-time process. Also, you can create material with the help of another chess coach so that you can divide your time and efforts.

If you don’t have any clue then the following books can be referred to according to the student’s level.

Provide the highest value to your students

Don’t hesitate to share your knowledge, experience, and learnings. Share everything which you have.

When you provide value to your students, they rely on you after a certain time. This leads to a high retention rate. Slowly you can also increase your charges. Scheduling a meeting with the student’s parent is also a great way to improve the retention rate.

Give something more than student’s expectations

Who doesn’t want free or extra things? Students become happy when you provide them with any book, chocolates, or extra time. This is also tricky and based on students’ level and age.

If your student is 20-25 years old and above, try to give him time and more attention.

If your student is a kid, try to give them chocolate or any food item. Also, keep regular contact with their parent. The older your student is, the more difficult it is to keep happy with this basic technique.

Get an official FIDE trainer certificate

FIDE aka world chess federation issues titles for chess trainers. you can attend official seminars and get titles. To get these titles, there are a few conditions.

Although this is not mandatory to get these titles to build your authority in chess.

These are the few ways to become a successful coach and get students. Now we will see how you can get students regularly and also eventually create your chess academy.

How do get more students?

Create a website

Creating your chess coaching website is the easiest and most important part. Usually, a basic domain and website builder costs a maximum of $10-15 per month. There are many website builders where you can create a free website.

To create a website, you can use Wix, Squarespace, Weebly, and WordPress. Just watch any 1-2 hours of video and you are good to go. Initially start with a free website and then choose a plan which suits you.

Create social media channel

To promote your coaching services, you will need a social channel. Create an account on any social media including Youtube, Linkedin, Instagram, chess.com, or lichess.

Initially create and focus on only 1-2 social media channels. I would highly suggest youtube+lichess for this.

Register your business

This is the safe and best way to start a business. Register your business with your local government and get all numbers and licenses. You can create a business without any team.

This also gives you more authority in front of students and parents. Keep your business name simple.
Create a google my business listing

After registering your business, go to google and register your business as a google my business listing. This leads to showing your name on the google map database.

Optimizing google my business helps you to get more and more leads through google. Your listing also is visible on google maps in your local area.

Register on various coach directories

There are hundreds of coach listing websites where you can register as a coach. When someone visits your profile there, they can connect with you directly. Some of the sites include lichess and chess.com coach profile. Also, you can search chess coach on google and you will find many websites that list chess coaches in your regional area.

Start creating content on social media

After building everything, start creating content on social media. The best way to create content is to follow a systematic way. Suppose you can spend 4 hours creating and publishing content, don’t try to spoil that routine. Creating content on regular basis is more important than posting bulk content.

I suggest you create 1 youtube video per week and one blog which you can post on lichess and also on chess.com. This will give you some discipline and follow the content routinely.

Whenever you start creating content, don’t watch the number of views you are getting. If your quality is good, people will watch and follow your content. Even 100 views can lead to 7-8 potential students.

Start building your team

Once you get enough students to do chess coaching as a full-time job, start building your team. In your team, you will need chess coaches, a video editor, designers, an accountant, virtual assistants, etc.

Building your team in the early stage of your business saves you a lot of time. Try to get chess coaches on your team at an early stage. You can offer them a fixed per-hour charge and then keep them on a salary basis.

These are a few techniques to get more students and start a sustainable online business that will grow at a rapid pace.