#281 - Your Coaching Business Needs A Business Class

Fun fact for you. Did you know that the economy section of an airline is pretty much break even? Like they're covering costs, keeping the plane in the air, luckily. But they're not making real profit on those seats. The actual profit that comes from business class and premium economy. The smaller sections, fewer people, but way more profitable. And I think there is a huge lesson here for anyone running a coaching or course business in 2026, because a lot of us are running our businesses like economy only airlines, serving as many people as possible with razor thin margins exhausted. I'm wondering why we're working so hard but barely seeing a profit. So today I want to break down what the airline industry can teach us about building a more profitable business. Let's dive on in. Hey, hey, everybody. It is Kate here from HelloFunnels Co and welcome back to the Doing it online podcast. Now, today we're talking about something that's a little funnel adjacent and that is we're going to talk about the airline industry and exactly what this airline industry and their model and the rise of the more successful airlines can really teach us and can be applied pretty directly into our course businesses and coaching businesses. So here's something that's wild about the airline industry. The overall profit margins are razor thin. We're talking 3 to 4% net profit margin across the industry. That's about half the average profitability of most industries and probably about a tenth of the profitability of our industry. And when you dig into where that profit actually comes from, it gets really interesting because the economy section, which is the bulk of the plane, where they're serving so many more people all at the lowest price, there's very little profit there, if any. In fact, for a lot of airlines, economy class is basically covering the costs of running the plane. That's it. The actual profit that comes from the premium cabins. Business class, premium economy, first class, if they have it, although that's less common these days. So the United Airlines chief Commercial officer even said that their premium plus product, which is their premium economy, is their most profitable cabin. Not first class, not business class, premium economy, the section that takes up way less space, serves way fewer people, but charges significantly more. And when you think about it, it's kind of counterintuitive, right? Like you look at economy, there is hundreds of people back there. They're all paying something. The plane is full, the margins are so tight it's barely moving the needle. Then you look at the premium sections. Smaller space, handful of people, and what those people are getting costs more to deliver. They get better food, better drinks, they get life. Flat seats, priority boarding, more direct attention from the staff and somehow that's where the profit lives. Now here's what I see happening in our industry and why so many people are struggling right now. There are basically two models people are running. Model number one is the economy only airline. This is where most course creators live, serving as many people as possible as cheaply as possible with razor thin profit margins. And the problem with this, you have to have massive volume to make it work. It's very easy for the wheels or maybe wings to literally fall off. One slow month and you're scrambling. One failed launch and you are very stressed because you don't have any cushion, you don't have, you don't have any real profit. You're just covering costs and hoping you can keep filling those seats. Model number two is more like a private jet. So on the other end you've got people who go all premium high ticket masterminds, five figure programs, fully bespoke, one to one done for you. And look, those can work. But here's the problem. You don't have the economy cabin paying for your expenses. You have to charge massive prices just to keep that plane in the air. Which means you need a very specific type of client who can afford that. Your market becomes tiny and you're usually trapped in your calendar doing a lot of one on one work or sales calls. It's not that scalable, it's not that leverage. And honestly, it can be just as exhausting as the economy model, but just in a different way. So here's where I think the magic actually is. You need to have both. You need to have an economy cabin and you need to have a premium cabin. But not a private jet. Not an all first class experience, unless that is what really lights you up. What you need is that middle layer, that premium economy sweet spot. And here's why this is so perfect. The fact that premium economy is the most profitable cabin for airlines. That tells us everything because it's still scalable, it still delivers in a leverage way. But people are happy to pay three to five times more than economy seat because of what they get, the things that they really value. Priority boarding, more legroom, like that's a must for me. The ability to recline, even just a little bit. Better service, better food. It's not first class, it's not life flat seats and champagne, but it's so much better than economy that people will absolutely pay for it. And that's exactly what we're talking about here, adding a premium economy layer to your business. Something that's still scalable and leveraged. Something that doesn't require you to completely redesign your airplane, but something that creates a true profit center without a huge pivot or massive lift. You're not changing everything. You're adding one intentional layer that makes the whole business model work better. Your economy cabin covers costs and brings people in. Your premium cabin delivers real profit and gives people the support that they actually want. And suddenly the math makes sense. The business is sustainable and you're not exhausted. And this is exactly what I'm seeing in our industry right now. For every outcome, for every transformation you provide, there are always going to be people who want the premium experience. People who value not having to figure it out themselves. People who want more support, more attention, more hand holding, more feedback. People who want to arrive at their destination rested, not stressed and scrambling. And those people are willing to invest more to get that. This is what we can learn from the airline industry. Your low ticket offers, your mid ticket signature courses, that's your economy cabin. And yes, it needs to be there. It's part of your revenue stream. It serves a purpose. But if that's your only revenue stream, things are going to be stressful and not very profitable because you need big numbers to make it work. The margins are tight and there's still quite a lot of work that goes into it. Admin support the dealing with a large number of people. So if you want to instantly add profit to your business, add a premium cabin, add a premium experience, figure out what that looks like for your business and your clients. And I'm seeing this play out in real time with people I've been working with closely over the last few months. Most people, when they realize this and they're able to find the right structure and create something intentionally, are able to add another $200,000 or more to their business in this one move. And for some people, that's more than doubling their revenue by adding one single offer. One offer. That's not more work, that's actually easier and simpler to deliver, but it's just giving yourself layers to your revenue. It's not replacing what you're already doing, it's adding a premium option for the people who want it. And those people exist. They always have. You've probably had people ask you if you offer something more, hands on, more supported more, and if you don't have that option, you're definitely leaving money on the table. But more than that, you're leaving transformation on the table. Because the people who invest more, who get more support, who have more touch points with you, they get better results, it's just a fact. And better results means better testimonials, better referrals, better reputation. It becomes a completely different game. So why does this work so well in 2026? Well, there's a few reasons why. One, the market has matured. People have been burned by too many low ticket mid ticket courses that over promised underdelivered or they just never finished. They've realized that the cheap and cheerful doesn't always equal results. And they're willing to invest more if it means that they actually are going to get the outcome that they want. Two, the economics have shifted. It's getting more expensive to acquire customers ads. Costs are up. Buyers are taking longer to decide. So if your business model requires you to bring in hundreds of new people every quarter just to hit your revenue goals, that's getting harder and more expensive to pull off. And if you can add $200,000 or more to your business by enrolling just 10 to 20 people into a premium offer, the math completely changes. You're not trying to reach everyone, you're just reaching the right people in the right way. And number three, premium doesn't mean more chaos. This is the part people get wrong. They think premium equals more work, more time, more stress. But that's only true if you structure it wrong. When you design a premium offer intentionally, with leverage, with systems, with the right delivery model, it can actually be easy to run than that massive low ticket program because you're working with fewer people who are more committed, more engaged and more likely to get results. The energy is just different, the experience is different, and the profit is definitely different. By the way, I made a short training about this exact shift, how to structure a leveraged premium offer that's designed to be both profitable and scalable. If you haven't watched it yet, this is your last week to catch it before it comes down. I'll drop the link at the end of this episode. Okay, here's what I want you to take away from this. You don't have to choose between serving a lot of people and making a good profit. You just have to structure your business with layers. Economy cabin for the people who want to DIY it. Premium cabin for the people who value that extra support. And when you do that, everything gets easier. You're not trying to force one offer to do everything. You're not burning out trying to serve everyone at different levels. You're giving people options and you're building a business that's actually sustainable and profitable. So if you're sitting there right now feeling like you're working really hard, but the profit margins don't make sense, if you're serving a lot of people but you're exhausted and it feels like you're barely keeping your head above water, this might be the shift you need. It's not a complete overhaul. It's not burning everything to the ground. It's just adding a premium cabin to your existing business. I recorded that training I mentioned earlier. It's called the one change you can make to add $200k to your year. And it walks through exactly how to structure this kind of offer, what to charge, how to sell it, and how to deliver it without burning out is your final week to watch it before it comes down. Link is in the show Notes. Thanks so much for joining me. I'll see you all next week.