Can You Really Make Six Figures as an Enneagram Facilitator? Let’s Do the Math.

Can you make six figures as an Enneagram facilitator? 

Yes.

But there’s an important distinction we need to make first:

Building a business that generates six figures and personally making six figures are two very different things.

If you want to build a business around facilitating Enneagram workshops, I don’t share that to discourage you. Quite the opposite.

Understanding the numbers can help you stop wishing for a six-figure business and start building a plan for one.

So, let’s do the math.

And an important disclaimer before we do: I am an Enneagram facilitator, not an accountant. The numbers below are simplified examples for planning purposes, not tax or financial advice. Your taxes, expenses, deductions and business structure will be different.

First: What Does a $100,000 Enneagram Business Actually Mean?

Let’s imagine you build an Enneagram facilitation business that generates:

$100,000 in gross annual revenue.

Congratulations! You officially have a six-figure business.

But you don’t have $100,000 to put in your personal bank account.

First, we need to account for the cost of running the business.

As an Enneagram facilitator, those expenses might include assessments, certifications and continuing education, website hosting, email software, insurance, marketing, accounting and bookkeeping, workshop materials, printing, professional memberships, payment processing fees, subcontractors and unreimbursed travel.

For our example, let’s assume those expenses total:

$25,000

Now our math looks like this:

$100,000 revenue
– $25,000 business expenses
= $75,000 business profit

Better.

But we’re still not done.

Then There Are Taxes

Depending on where you live, your business structure, and your individual tax situation, you may need to account for federal income tax, self-employment tax, state income tax and possibly local taxes.

For the example I used on the Bringing the Enneagram to Groups podcast, I estimated approximately $20,000 in taxes on that $75,000 profit.

Again, this is intentionally simplified. Talk to a qualified tax professional about your own numbers.

But for illustration:

$100,000 gross revenue
– $25,000 business expenses
– ~$20,000 taxes
= ~$55,000 available to you

And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with making $55,000 doing work you enjoy.

Depending on your financial goals, family, other sources of household income, and how much you want to work, that might be exactly the business you want.

The important thing is simply understanding that:

$100,000 in business revenue ≠ $100,000 in personal income.

Okay, So What If You Want to Personally Make $100,000?

Now let’s reverse the math.

Instead of saying:

“I want a six-figure business.”

Let’s say:

“I want approximately $100,000 of spendable personal income from my business.”

Now we have to work backward.

For a very simplified planning example, we might estimate:

$100,000 desired personal income
+ ~$35,000–$45,000 for taxes
+ ~$25,000–$35,000 for business expenses

That puts the business somewhere around:

$160,000–$180,000 in annual gross revenue.

Let’s use $170,000 as our hypothetical target.

Now things get interesting.

Because $170,000 sounds like a big number.

But as a facilitator, it’s more useful to ask:

How many workshops does $170,000 actually represent?

How Many Enneagram Workshops Would You Need to Sell?

This is where knowing your average engagement value becomes incredibly helpful.

To generate approximately $170,000 in annual revenue:

Now, we have something we can work with.

At an average engagement of $8,000, for example, you’re looking at roughly 22 client engagements per year, or just under two per month.

Possible?

Absolutely.

Automatic?

Definitely not.

Because there’s another piece of the equation we need to talk about.

Selling 22 Workshops Means More Than Facilitating 22 Workshops

This was something I didn't fully appreciate when I first started building my own business.

I wish running an Enneagram facilitation company meant I spent all of my time facilitating Enneagram workshops.

It doesn't.

Those 22 workshops require you to:

Generate leads. Have sales conversations. Write proposals. Follow up. Send contracts. Invoice clients. Prepare and customize your material. Coordinate logistics. Book travel. Travel. Facilitate the actual workshop. Follow up afterward. Market the business. Maintain relationships. And eventually replace the clients who don't immediately rebook.

That's the work behind the workshop.

And it brings me to what I think is one of the most important distinctions for anyone considering this career.

Knowing the Enneagram, Facilitating the Enneagram and Building a Business Are Three Different Skills

You can be incredibly knowledgeable about the Enneagram and not yet know how to facilitate a room.

You can be an incredible facilitator and not know how to consistently generate clients.

And you can be great at business development without having enough Enneagram knowledge to deliver a meaningful experience.

Building a sustainable Enneagram facilitation business requires developing all three:

1. Knowing the Enneagram: understanding the model deeply enough to teach it accurately, answer questions and work with nuance.

2. Facilitating the Enneagram: translating that knowledge into an engaging experience for a group using adult learning, discussion, activities, and practical application.

3. Building the business: positioning, marketing, lead generation, sales, pricing, operations, client relationships and everything else required to consistently get those workshops on your calendar.

A good Enneagram certification can help tremendously with the first, and depending on the program, parts of the second.

But certification alone doesn't automatically give you the third.

And that's okay.

It simply means you know what else you need to build.

So, Can You Make Six Figures as an Enneagram Facilitator?

Yes. I absolutely believe you can.

But I also think we do aspiring facilitators a disservice when we make the outcome sound easier than the work required to create it.

Six figures isn't automatic because you got certified.

It isn't automatic because you built a beautiful website.

And it isn't automatic because you're passionate about the Enneagram.

But can you make six figures because you developed a valuable skill, learned how to facilitate it well, created offers organizations are willing to pay for and built a real business around delivering that work?

Yes.

So don't let the math discourage you.

Let the math help you build a better plan.

Maybe your goal isn't $100,000 of personal income.

Maybe it's $60,000.

Maybe it's $80,000.

Maybe you're building this alongside another career and $30,000 in additional annual income would be fantastic.

Or maybe your goal is much bigger than anything we've calculated here.

The number isn't the point.

Knowing your number (and what it actually takes to reach it) is.

You Still Have to Build the Business. But You Don’t Have to Build the Workshop From Scratch.

One of those three skill sets, facilitation, is something I spent years developing through workshops with real workplace teams.

And one of the most time-consuming pieces was creating the actual workshop materials.

The slides. Talking points. Activities. Participant resources. Pre-work. Follow-up. Agenda. And figuring out how all of it fits together into a professional experience.

That's why I created the Enneagram MBA DIY Workshop Kit Commercial License.

It gives Enneagram coaches and facilitators a customizable workplace workshop including: the slide deck, facilitator talking points, activities, field guide, sample agenda, pre- and post-workshop survey questions, additional resources and a video example of me facilitating the workshop.

It won't build your business for you.

But it can save you a lot of time building the workshop.

→ Explore the Enneagram MBA Commercial License Kit