It is easy to set up as a life coach. At the moment, you don't legally need any qualifications; all you have to do is find some clients and start coaching them.

However, it is not as simple as it sounds. Although encouraging people to aim for - and reach - the stars may seem straightforward, actually it requires a good deal of skill. If the client hasn't achieved his/her goal already, there is a reason for this, which can be deeply entrenched and sometimes difficult to identify, let alone remove. A life coach is more than just a friendly bystander; he/she is an expert. You wouldn't consider setting up as a football coach without undertaking some training and it is the same with life coaching. Just because you know about life, it doesn't necessarily mean you can coach someone else.

Some training, then, is a sound investment. There are all sorts of different courses available in how to become an effective life coach - intensive or longer term, face to face or distance learning - and you should have no trouble finding one you like.

As well as some training, it is a good idea to get some life coaching for yourself. Your coach will help you to understand exactly what the job involves and to make sure you really want to do it. If you do, the coaching will give you the momentum to carry you over the initial hurdles. Another benefit is that you get to see first-hand how an experienced coach operates, so you have a benchmark for your own work.

Life coaching can be very lucrative. There are few overheads and successful coaches can charge a hefty hourly rate. However, this is a bad reason for wanting to become a life coach! If money is your primary motivation for working, there are many other jobs that would suit you better. Helping other people to live their dreams would soon become a drain on you if you didn't find your clients' success more valuable than the money they paid you.

A further point to bear in mind is that you will be paid only for time spent working directly with or for a client and, when you first start coaching, this may not be enough to live on. If you are employed and thinking of packing it in to become a life coach, perhaps see if you can go part-time for a while, so you have got some regular income while you build up your client base.

Life coaching is still a relatively new concept and hence there is still an expanding market for it. As more and more people's lives are transformed by coaching, more and more others will want it for themselves. On the other hand, increasing numbers of new life coaches are starting up every day and, if you would like to join them, don't leave it too long.

Being a life coach can be very hard work but it can also be immensely rewarding. If you think life coaching might be the job for you, go out and make it happen!