But something is missing…
Misconceptions
Let’s begin with misconceptions. That is, you have observed others who you look up to for their expertise and reputation. There might be an aura that you have created around this person. In actuality, some of these are myths or at best, wrong assumptions you have created in your mind.
- Massive following e.g “Friends”
- Build it and they will come e.g. build a website and clients will organically fall in your practice
- Chrisma e.g. amazing presence with an accent (never hurts)
Now let’s get down to business and discuss the absolute essentials that are required to launch a successful coaching practice.
Essentials to launch a successful coaching practice
- A compelling “Why?”
- A plan to generate clients
- A prospect list
- A budget
- A relentless work ethic
- Credibility
- Integrity
This list might not be exhaustive but it is a good start. The next tier are really important intangibles that are not necessarily essential but very, very helpful to launch a successful coaching practice.
- Coach Certification is important in some obvious ways but not so obvious in others. If you use a specific instrument that requires certification to use their instrument, then you must have the credential. However, a generic certification may or may not be important for you, for example, International Coach Certification may not be necessary to coach in your particular niche coaching area.
- Track record in an area of expertise. However, if you don’t have this then you need to make up for this in other ways. For example, when I was 33 years of age I graduated with a Doctorate in Ministry from Fuller THeological Seminary. This opened doors that may not have opened at that time in my ministry.
- A message that communicates the problem you are addressing, a solution, and your role. The messaging must be simple, compelling and concise.
Non-essentials to launch a successful coaching practice
This last category was saved for the very end because these are sometimes viewed as essentials rather than non-essentials. The challenge is that most aspiring professional coaches sometimes believe they must have these things before they get their business going. In fact, these are not necessary in the early stages of your coaching practice.
- Website
- Blog
- Business cards
- Brochures
- Books
- Gear with your logo
- Did I mention a high-performance website?
The advice I offer is to start with the absolute minimum investment in these areas to meet the current or expected demand in your first 12-18 months.
For instance, a website can supplement your marketing efforts but should not be viewed as a magnet for prospective clients. In reality, about 99.9% of your business will come through three types of people:
- People who you have had a direct impact on and trust you
- Referral partners who know you and trust that you can deliver excellent coaching to a colleague or friend
- Once removed relationships, a friend who has told a friend about you
Bottom line: Beware to dump big budget dollars into a high-performance website because it might have a low return on investment.
Questions to help move your coaching practice vision to reality
- What is my “Why” for launching a coaching practice?
- How much do I need and want to earn?
- How hard to I want to work at this stage of my life?
- Who can I talk to for their input on launching a coaching practice?
- What is my unique niche(s) in coaching?
- Who are “my people” that I can uniquely coach?
- What are the next steps for me to launch a successful coaching practice?
Goals & Objectives Skill Builder – Explore the process involved in setting overall strategy or targets to be achieved and then focus on the specific steps needed to set meaningful objectives and work towards your goals.
Goal Setting Storyboard – Storyboards provide a visual “line of sight” through the goal setting process.
Goal Setting Effectiveness Profile – Profiles seek to measure goal setting effectiveness in seven separate categories.
Cover Photo by BOOM 💥
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio