I FORGET where I first heard that quote, but it’s particularly apt now, as furlough ends, many people are finding themselves out of work, and some are reinvesting their redundancy into training for a new career.
Enter the greatest dry land sharks of our time – people promising a world of opportunities, with riches beyond their wildest dreams, to those wanting to retrain as coaches.
Not only will these unscrupulous greedbags train you as a coach, but they’ll sell you a promise of several thousand pounds of income dropping into your bank account like clockwork, within just a few months of completing your training with them.
With one swipe of your credit card, you’re caught in the web – surrounded by wide-eyed sycophants and course leaders who insist their programmes are paved with gold, so long as you do EXACTLY as they say.
They’re like cults, trading on desperation, with hangers on so brainwashed by the BS they can’t see they’re being starved of reality.
They’re like cults, trading on desperation, with hangers on so brainwashed by the BS they can’t see they’re being starved of reality.
Research
At this point, I want to reassure you out that there are some really brilliant training providers out there – do your research and you’ll find them. The second someone starts promising you a guaranteed income through their bolt-on business plan, though, run. Run a mile. Run as fast as your legs can carry you and don’t look back.
If you’re looking to retrain as a coach – or buy into any new business offering – you need to understand that there IS no such thing as certainty, beyond the sun rising again tomorrow and the moon sharing the skies at night.
You know what’s far more power-full than certainty? Curiosity!
Curiosity will get you far further in life than someone else’s broken business blueprint. It’s a similar story with people peddling perfection… there’s no such thing!
The zone of possibility is where your future lies – and it’s an incredible place to be.
What’s more power-full than perfection? Possibility!
The zone of possibility is where your future lies – and it’s an incredible place to be.
Help
You would not believe the amount of freshly-qualified coaches who ask me for help, having had their savings gobbled by the unscrupulous few.
What’s more, when they’ve asked their trainers for help and said the business building process isn’t working, they’re fobbed off and told they’re not following the blueprint properly.
Let me tell you, people… the reason the business plan isn’t working is that it’s a rubbish, ill-conceived, unworkable business plan, so please, please take care.
Leapfrogging
Another big mistake I see new coaches making is leapfrogging from idea to idea.
Poverty mindset and desperation play a big part, and lead to far too many new business owners shooting themselves in the foot.
Scattergun ideas. Collaborations and projects that look great on paper, but will never pay. Free and discounted offers in a kneejerk bid to get the cash flowing in.
They want money NOW, so keep trying new things, instead of fostering their core business.
It is nigh on IMPOSSIBLE to create success, as a coach, until you learn to dump your impatience, hone your message and get laser focused on creating clients.
It is nigh on IMPOSSIBLE to create success, as a coach, until you learn to dump your impatience, hone your message and get laser focused on creating clients.
You can’t just post on LinkedIn, do a bit of networking and expect clients to fall into your lap.
And that’s DEFINITELY not going to happen if you keep changing your message, throwing out new ideas and projects and constantly flit from one topic to the next.
Nobody will have a clue what you do. You will not build traction. You will not build an audience.
Clarity rocks
Choose your area of specialism (even if you have many, just focus on one and go deep to start with) and stick to it.
Get clear about your client base and grow it. Find those people. Talk to them. Nurture relationships. Dominate that space.
And please, when you’re choosing your ideal client segment, make sure you’re targeting people who have the money and mindset to invest in you in the first place.
You will not create bread and butter income by aiming moderate/high cost services at people with holes in their shoes.
You will not create bread and butter income by aiming moderate/high cost services at people with holes in their shoes.
It usually takes a solid three years for any new business to start turning a decent profit.
If you don’t have the staying power, focus and self belief to relentlessly stay in your lane, build your brand and make it profitable, you might as well go back to working for someone else.
The simple steps to follow are:
1. Choose your message. The core message is to keep the core message the core message.
2. Keep talking about it in front of the people you want to take on as clients.
3. Keep identifying those people and getting on their radar for all the right reasons.
4. Keep showing up in all the right places. Stick to that core message and service offering.
5. Create one client at a time. Make a positive difference. Have them leave every session full of inspiration and motivation, in the place of possibility.
6. Build from there. Only when you’ve a good enough following (that’s people who are interested and want to work with you, not the number of followers you have on social; beware vanity metrics!) should you even think about diversifying, creating new products or leaping into new projects that take you off message.
Or… keep scattergunning your way to failure and cry ‘but I tried everything!’ when your business falls over.
Are you focused and determined enough?
#UnleashYourAwesome
Taz
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