3 easy ways to start your coaching business and one to avoid!

Let's start with the juicy stuff: what to avoid!

Avoid overthinking! Like. The. Plague. I have seen so many beginning coaches take months to think about what they would offer if they offered anything trying to get everything perfect. They would go from thinking about this niche to the next and every conversation they had pointed them in yet another direction. Don't do it. You simply cannot think yourself into a coaching business -- you need to ACT yourself into a coaching business. You can always change your niche, tweak your offer. But to do that you need to be offering something!

Tip 1

Create a credible offer that is "good enough" and that sounds fun. If you are a finance person and like coaching other finance people, make this your offer. If you are a language teacher, coach people who want to improve their public speaking in another language. If you are a young person look at the challenges you have faced and how you overcame that and make that your niche. It does not have to be perfect. Just something that you enjoy and that is credible coming from you.

Write this offer down and ask people in your network about how this offer might be helpful to people and refine the offer. Ask your network to help you contact your target group and do "problem interviews" or present your offer and ask for feedback. That way your offer becomes better, you present yourself as an expert and you connect with your target group. Once you have your offer, ask the people in your target group if they would like to beta-test it. Beta-test, don't forget to collect testimonials and improve.

This is not difficult and it has you DOING things instead of thinking about doing things which makes you feel like a coach, which gives you stories to tell to potential clients, which makes you more credible... you get the picture.

Tip 2

Create a written map of your network. This overlaps with tip 1. It is a bit of a cat biting its own tail as you need to know what your target group is before you can write down who might be relevant -- but also, if you know a lot of people in one group, you might as well chose this target group.

This again, is something that you can do. Sit down with a piece of paper, an excel sheet, a mindmapping software, a sticky note program and write down who might be able to help.

Tip 3

Create a "pipeline" with differentiated offers

Think of something easy and helpful that you can offer your target group for free (not a 300 page whitepaper). Get informed about data privacy laws and include in this free offer some information about a useful offer that builds on it. This second tier should be low-price high value, so people want to get to know you. You might offer workshops, online courses, videos -- whatever is easy for you to produce. In that offer you can include the next offer for personalized coaching with your booking link.

Now, this is a bit generic, but I don't think you need a degree in marketing to find a way into making money by doing what you love. As I said above: the way to a profitable coaching business is to start DOING. Yes, also reflecting and learning but on the DOING. If this is difficult for you, get a buddy and ask them to hold you accountable or DO stuff together (not talk or think about) :-)

If you want to hang out with us, ask questions about our courses, get some tips from other coaches on how they started their business, why not join us for a free coaching meetup and exchange session?

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