5 Mistakes I Made When I Started My Coaching Business (and how to avoid them!)
Starting a coaching business can be hard, and the absolute hardest part is figuring out how to actually sign clients and make money.
I’ve been there. I consumed all of the information when it came to starting a business online and found myself extremely overwhelmed and making exactly $0. I made some big mistakes the first time around, mistakes that cost me a lot of time and thousands of dollars! After starting, stopping, restarting, and finally pivoting my coaching business I learned the secrets to running a successful coaching business, which is what I’m sharing with you here!
In this blog post, I’m sharing the top 5 mistakes I made and what I learned that allowed me to finally start signing clients and building a successful coaching business that became my full time gig. I’ll be covering:
Three questions that will keep you out of overwhelm and inaction.
What to do instead of copying someone else’s strategy.
How to overcome hiding your coaching business from family and friends.
How creating content might be holding you back from connecting with clients.
How to create a coaching business that works for YOU.
So if you’re tired of struggling to find clients, not making money in your coaching business, and feeling overwhelmed with what to do to fix this, then you are in the right place! All of that is about to change for good!
Mistake 1. I researched and researched and became overwhelmed with all the options.
Thank god the internet is full of information... but also oh god the internet is full of information! I spent months searching the internet for ideas. I spent days creating and changing my brand colors. I thought about logos, and business cards, and bought course after course. I thought I needed the perfect business wrapped with a bow before I could even get started. So I searched and searched and adjusted and adjusted. And the entire time I never told a single person how I could help them.
I had no idea what was important to focus on when you first start a coaching business. Every blog I found or Instagram coach I followed had their own list of what to do first and what to focus on and I tried to do it all at once. Which meant I ended up doing nothing. And DOING NOTHING cost me a LOT.
Instead I learned that doing SOMETHING is better than nothing. By just starting and asking myself 3 questions, everything completely changed for me. Those questions are:
What is working right now?
What is one thing I need to do differently?
What is one way I can better connect with the people I want to help?
When I got really honest and clear with myself on these three questions, not only did I stop lying to myself that “nothing is working,” but more and more things started working for me in my business!
Mistake 2. I kept trying to force myself to use someone else’s strategy and mimic their offer.
Yes. There are a lot of great strategies for growing a coaching business, but I kept forcing myself into strategies created by other people without deciding if they fit my goals. I fell for all the step-by-step coaching business in a box offers. I copied other coaches’ coaching offer formats and sat there dumbfounded when no one wanted to buy from me. Instead of doing the work myself, I blindly copied other people.
I didn’t actually sell anything until I did the upfront work myself! I threw out all the step-by-step guides and focused on the basic fundamentals of business. And guess what, it was so much easier to sell something that was truly mine!
If you’re struggling to decide how you are going to market and sell your offer or you’re using someone else’s strategy but things just feel off, I urge you to get started with the Online Coaching Business Blueprint now while it’s the lowest price it will ever be! It teaches you the fundamentals you need to start making money as a coach. Click here to get started for only $47!
Mistake 3. I hid my business from friends and family.
I was so afraid of what people would think about me when I started my business. I didn’t want them to see anything until I was making money. I was worried they would talk me out of it, that they would put doubts in my mind, think what I was saying was stupid, or talk behind my back.
But hiding from my friends and family only led me to hiding in my business. I censored what I said in my content just in case someone that knew me stumbled upon it. I avoided devoting my head, heart, and soul to my business just in case it didn't work out - then I wouldn't have to tell anyone if it flopped. If I couldn’t tell the people who cared the most for me what I was doing, how was I going to confidently talk to strangers about it?
But it’s social media and people found me. I had to start sharing what I was up to. And yes, some of my fears came true - some people didn't understand it, some people tried to warn me of the scaries of entrepreneurship, and some people questioned my abilities, qualifications, and future financial security.
But something else happened too - some people supported me unconditionally, some people started rooting for me to be successful and started sending me encouragement. I stopped hiding online and put everything I had into growing my business and continually improving my skills as a coach. My confidence grew and so did my business.
Mistake 4. I had no idea how to connect with my ideal clients.
I have an MBA and worked in Sales and Marketing for nearly a decade, but I had no idea how to connect with potential clients online - Apparently you're supposed to "create content"? What was I supposed to write about, what do people even want to hear? Content consumed every single day when I started my business. I wasted hours staring at a blank screen and my content was inconsistent. I spent hours filming and refilming Instagram stories and no one even watched them.
I made it SO complicated. But connecting with other humans can be EASY. It can be SIMPLE. When I finally figured out how to just be myself and connect with people like I would in-person, I was able to minimize time spent creating content and actually spend time working with clients.
Mistake 5. I listened to bad advice from the “gurus”.
I spent tons of time and money buying courses and coaching programs that never seemed to work. All the advice was outdated, only applied if you already had a massive social media following, or it required you to send a gazillion DMs to get a sale.
And I tried it all. And made $0 in sales.
What I learned is that you don't need the trendy guru advice. You don't need to make it complicated. You don't need to follow someone's recommendation just because they have 476K followers and a team of 7 and make millions of dollars each year. In fact, doing these things will only confuse you more and keep you from making money.
Instead you just need to keep it simple and repeat the basic fundamentals consistently. The fundamentals are enough to rocket you into the multi 6-figures.
If you're stuck, if you just want to start making money as a coach but find yourself trapped in the "how do I do this?!" phase, I created a course just for you. Online Coaching Business Blueprint takes the 3 fundamentals you need to start making money in your coaching business and makes them easy to learn. It has everything you need to finally just get started and finally get paid to be a coach! Click here to sign up!
You can learn more about OCBB HERE.
Hi! I’m Maggie.
I’m a Business & Life Coach for sales & marketing professionals and solopreneurs in the online space.
If you’ve ever wanted to:
feel more confident selling
consistently reach or exceed your sales goals or KPIs
feel more satisfied and fulfilled at work
become less stressed about making money, while making more money
get your evenings and weekends back
… then you’re in the right place.
