This page provides the company finances of USEFULCOACH LTD, personal finances of director Tom Herbert, and commentary on past, and ongoing business development.
Purpose
USEFULCOACH LTD is a UK private limited company, incorporated on 22 August 2019. Therefore, the company accounts are public. However, in effort to champion integrity and transparency in business, and to contrast normalised “manipulative” marketing and sales practices, I wanted to disclose my company finances, personal renumeration, provide the rational for my service pricing, and other notable business data.
The world is becoming more obfuscated with sensationalised “clickbait” marketing, exaggerated claims, irrational pricing, and AI generated content. Individuals have made fortunes selling ineffective supplements, disinformation, and fear-mongering. I want to show the reality of running a coaching service, the challenges of holding integrity in an attention market, the cost of not “playing the game”, and navigating the landscape of providing education and guidance, when both are now expected to be free.
I have faced a number of challenges over the years; quitting my secure salaried role (GNU/Linux System Administrator) in August 2019 unknowingly going into the 2020 pandemic, the loss of my younger sister (having already lost my father and brother), mounting debt, loneliness and depression, and honestly questioning whether to continue coaching altogether: Do I have financial security? Should someone seemingly “failing in life” coach others?
However throughout the years, I have continued to provide increasingly excellent person-centered coaching as my methods, experience, and skill-set has expanded. I have held my pricing relatively stable, affordable, and have never gone back on my promise to provide unlimited video calls. I continue to gain the respect of my coaching peers, and the community as a whole, my opinion is trusted, and my approach to running a business and social media is admired for it’s honesty… albeit possibly not for it’s profitability… so far.
The “content economy” is in the most part about being paid for views (advertising revenue), and so information and education is “sensationalised” and given away for free to build an audience. The quality or truthfulness of the content matters little, but rather the quality of the presentation. Building financial security from providing information and support is not easy, and since I do not sell programs or courses, scaling upwards is a curious endevour. My business is conversation, there is only one of me, and only so many hours available.
In later commentary, I will highlight where and why I think the business side of my coaching has been limited, and explore new directions to enable me to continue supporting people going forward. I started and continue to coach because I love helping people. It has never been a business, but rather finances are one of the side benefits. Because of this attitude, I have been particularly vocal about not heavily marketing my services in the usual way.
You can read my An apology for more marketing which was originally an Instagram post.
What effect will not publishing discounts and offers, but publishing the finances of the business have on sales? Who knows?! But I am excited to see how useful. will be an example for the new wave of doing business transparently.
If you would like to understand what I offer, see Climbing Nutrition Coaching.
And as always, you can contact me contact@useful.coach, and if you want, sponsor me a coffee and croissant.
Reports
Personal finances
For context, here are the median annual earnings for the UK, and London:
- United Kingdom: £37,430
- London: £47,455
- National Living Wage: £23,809 (£12.21/hour)
- Real Living Wage: £28,808 (£13.85/hour), independently-calculated on what people need to live in London
- Glassdoor salary listing for Linux System administrator (previous role) is £46,000 – £60,000
Gross earnings
Calendar years
Total gross earnings (before tax) per calendar year.
| 01 Jan – 31 Dec | Salary | Dividend | Gross earnings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | £0 | £0 | £0 |
| 2020 | £8,589 | £8,000 | £16,589 |
| 2021 | £8,824 | £22,000 | £30,824 |
| 2022 | £9,033 | £19,000 | £28,033 |
| 2023 | £11,706 | £13,000 | £24,706 |
| 2024 | £12,576 | £9,000 | £21,576 |
| 2025 | £3,144 | £5,000 | £8,144 |
Financial years
Here is the same data, but inline with my company financial year which runs from 01 September – 31 August.
| 01 Sep – 31 August | Salary | Dividend | Gross earnings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019–2020 | £5,661 | £2,000 | £7,661 |
| 2020–2021 | £8,804 | £23,000 | £31,804 |
| 2021–2022 | £8,949 | £21,000 | £29,949 |
| 2022–2023 | £10,546 | £13,000 | £23,546 |
| 2023–2024 | £12,576 | £5,000 | £17,576 |
| 2024–2025 | £7,336 | £12,000 | £19,336 |
Equity / Liabilities
- Equity portfolio: £15,300
- Personal liabilities: £22,400
Business finances
Financial years
My company financial year runs from 01 September – 31 August.
| 01 Sep – 31 Aug | Gross profit | Admin expenses | Staff costs | Operating profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019–2020 | £16,928 | £3,889 | £5,871 | £7,168 |
| 2020–2021 | £41,827 | £4,644 | £9,685 | £27,498 |
| 2021–2022 | £39,127 | £6,489 | £9,913 | £22,725 |
| 2022–2023 | £37,695 | £6,101 | £12,577 | £19,017 |
| 2023–2024 | £27,625 | £5,183 | £15,819 | £6,623 |
| 2024–2025 | £25,137 | £3,420 | £8,240 | £13,477 |
Calendar years
Here is the same data, but as calendar years.
| 01 Jan – 31 Dec | Gross profit | Admin expenses | Staff costs | Operating profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | £2,121 | £744 | £0 | £1,377 |
| 2020 | £25,228 | £5,339 | £8,999 | £10,890 |
| 2021 | £41,728 | £4,597 | £9,624 | £27,507 |
| 2022 | £41,417 | £7,244 | £10,449 | £23,724 |
| 2023 | £36,217 | £5,844 | £15,977 | £14,396 |
| 2024 | £31,076 | £5,083 | £13,053 | £12,940 |
| 2025 | £10,552 | £1,249 | £4,003 | £5,300 |
Liabilities
- Business liabilities: £1,500
Commentary
Coming soon.