I just got off the phone with a Client who is in the early phases of his online coaching business. He was telling me how he had got all the certifications he needed, he had done many hours of coaching for free, he had set up a Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Twitter and and any other social media account, he had been posting regularly on these platforms for months and YET he barely had enough client’s to make rent.
He was confused, frustrated and doubtful as to whether he could make this coaching thing workout. After getting all the ‘Gurus’ advice and even taking action, he was still stuck in the same place than when he first started. In fact, he was now in a worse position because he wanted to make his coaching succeed, he believed to do that he had to be all in, so he quit his job which put food on the table for him and his family. He regularly kept hearing “keep working on your mindset and soon you will have clients.” Only problem was that he had no idea how he was going to make rent the next month.
I have dealt with hundreds of cases like this and time and time again, Coaches constantly believe that this is what they must do to get clients:
- Get certified
- Set up Social Media channels
- Coach family and friends for free.
- Showcase results all over social media.
- Start charging low prices per hour.
- Eventually after 3-5 years, you can charge high ticket.
And yet despite all this, coaching businesses fail to make ends meet, within a year, they start doubting themselves and even if they do make it to the 3 year mark, it doesn’t mean they will be making 6-figures. Most coaches barely make enough to quit their jobs and go coaching full time. According to the ICF most coaches will be able to charge $300 per hour of coaching after TEN years of coaching in their chosen field.
So how is it that the top 1% of coaches dominate whilst the other 99% fail to even make a profit?
Here are 3 things to guide you on how to set up a successful coaching business:
Different Vs Differentiation
Most coaches believe that because they are ‘different’ or their product is ‘better’ that automatically gives them a competitive edge in the coaching field. The issue is that if it was that easy, wouldn’t every single coach out there be a millionaire? Did Coca Cola beat out 20 different types of Cola in the market because they were ‘different?’ The reality is that even though you may be different, and we all do bring something unique to the table, chances are it doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed success in coaching automatically. Even if you’re extremely talented, the chances of being the next Tony Robbins right out of the gate are slim to none. So what is the solution? Differentiation. Another way of putting it is ‘Niching.’ You see when you niche down and you really find your target audience who know, like and trust you, you will always be able to command higher prices and whatever marketing efforts you do, people will be attracted to you because you will know that Niche’s pains, values, solutions that they want, better than any other coach out there. Picking a Niche is not as simple as just choosing what gender type, what they do and what age. It’s all about using the correct market tools to research those clients core pains and what solutions they want. Take your time to research this, it will save you a lot in the future.
Not treating your ‘Coaching Business’ as a Business
Most coaches just want to coach, They don’t want to deal with ‘sales’ or ‘marketing’ or any other business agendas. They want to focus wholeheartedly on changing people’s lives which makes sense. However, how can you expect to change someone’s life if they don’t know you or know about you? How will you spread your message far and wide and help the thousands of people you want too without having a team in place to help you out? Would Amazon have been successful if Jeff Bezos had been adamant on just selling and shipping products and not have anyone else doing all the behind the scenes tech to keep everything running smoothly? No. Amazon would have failed drastically and Bezos knew this. He knew he had to treat his business as a business and not a hobby. So, are you treating your coaching business as a ‘business?’
Leveraging other people’s resources
The greatest coaches in the world know that they can’t do everything themselves. They realise that to reach their true potential, they must leverage other people’s resources. Most coaches are, what I like to call, ‘Lone Wolfs.’ They want to do everything themselves and if someone tries to help them, they feel some sort of unworthiness or ‘It’s not my work, so why should I take credit?’ This type of thinking lands coaches in trouble in the future. There’s a saying in the famous TV Series, A game of thrones which goes like this:
When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives – Sophie Turner
This couldn’t be more true for coaches. Going in as a lone wolf and trying to figure out how to do everything yourself, is like going out on a soccer pitch and trying to play in every single position.
If you feel you are constantly getting sidelined in your business, check out the Productivity Case Studies.
Coach Kamy.
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