Is it Worth Becoming a Certified Coaching Professional?
In the world of health and wellness, nutrition and fitness, and personal development there are no guarantees. There is no way to eliminate all of the risks associated with starting a coaching practice. Whether you work as an independent contractor, an employee for you own your own coaching practice, the success of your practice is always up to you, and no one else. Some coaches and trainers judge their success by the frequency of mistakes they have to overcome whereas others, judge themselves only by their clients’ successes. You can increase your chances of success by visualizing success.
A vision is a vivid mental image of your coaching practice and your successes in clear detail. Why is visualization important? It separates coaches who have not taken the time to know what their vision is, and ends up setting themselves up to fail. Don’t let this happen!
The team at the Spencer Institute has created a system that is designed to maximize your success. The first thing you need to do is start asking yourself a few important questions.
- Why do you want to become a certified coaching professional?
- What does this mean to your life? Can you see the “big picture”?
- How will your new profession impact others? How will they benefit from you?
- What do you hope to accomplish? Why is this important?
You must take the time to answer these questions and return to them often. Over the first few months as a Spencer Institute Certified Coach, you will continuously evolve and change your practice.
Your vision should be so clear, you will never have to alter it. Once you have created a vision for yourself, you will have a clear purpose and a reason for doing what you do. This is not something that needs to be shared with others (unless you want to), this vision and a sense of purpose are the things that will keep you motivated while giving you a reason to get out of bed every morning.
It’s your personal vision and purpose which will help you get through the challenging times in your life and your business. When things seem difficult, you will always know what you want and stay committed to getting there. After all, if you don’t know where you are going, how will you know when you are there? Think about it.
Once you have a vision, what’s next?
Create a business plan. It doesn’t have to be elaborate, but it should be a road map outlining where you and your coaching practice/business are going and how you plan to get there. Whether you plan on working in a health club or want to work with people on your own, a successful coaching professional knows what they want and has a plan for getting there. Some questions to consider as you develop your plan are:
- What are your financial goals? How much money do you want and expect to make?
- Do you have any additional tools available to help achieve your financial goals?
- What is your timeline for achieving those financial goals? Is it realistic?
- How many clients do you need to work with each week to get there?
If you plan on working with clients outside of a health club/corporate environment or want to start your own coaching business, how many clients do you need to attract and retain to break even? Have you accounted for no-shows and cancellations? Break-even numbers give us a good place to start, however, very few small businesses can operate for extended periods of time on break-even numbers. Consider that element when you outline your goals.
For example, let’s say you want to make $70,000 your first year as a coaching professional and you start out at $30/session. $70,000 a year equates to about $1350 per week. If you want to make $1000/ week at $20/session, how many clients will you need to work with? That’s 45 sessions a week! And that’s if every one of them shows up!
You will need to work very hard and very smart. If you don’t take the time to both plan and to figure out what you have to do to earn what you need, you may receive a lot less than you want. Make a pact with yourself to plan your work and work your plan. Make a plan, and act on it.
Now that you have a vision, a purpose and a plan, what’s next?
There is no way to eliminate all risks associated with starting your own coaching practice but you can improve your chances for success with a vision, proper planning and good preparation.
Start by evaluating your strengths and weaknesses as a potential coach, employee, or small business owner. Consider the following questions:
Are you self-motivated?
It is up to you to develop your client base, organize your time and follow through on all facets of your coaching practice. This includes:
- Getting new clients
- Creating plans for their success
- Filing all necessary paperwork
- Billing for your time
- Following up with clients between coaching sessions
- Marketing and advertising to attract new clients
- Attending networking mixers where you will meet potential clients
How well do you relate to different personality types?
Coaching professionals need to develop working relationships with many different people. Some people will help you grow your practice, while others may try to undermine your efforts. Ask yourself if you can professionally handle a demanding or flaky client, or a negative and unsupportive manager if the success of your practice or vision depends on those people.
How well do you make decisions? Do you have the endurance and emotional capacity to have your own coaching practice?
As a coaching professional, you must make a variety of decisions all day long. Some are snap decisions while others require more thought.
While a career in the coaching industry can be exciting, it requires a lot of hard work. Can you work 7, 8, 12 or even 15-hour workdays? This includes the time that you spend coaching or training your clients, developing new relationships and filing paperwork.
You cannot expect to “take off” if you have not developed enough speed to get off the ground. The power and effort needed to fly an airplane are minimal once it has lifted off the runway. The power and effort needed to get off the ground is enormous. Building your business is no different. If you have laid the groundwork and worked your tail off, you will get off the ground, and you will be able to succeed with less long-term effort. But first, you must get off the ground.
How well do you plan and execute your ideas?
Poor planning is one of the main reasons why business practices fail. Organizing your time, client records, managing your client base and having a clear direction for getting new clients, will help you overcome many obstacles in your practice. You must take time at the beginning and end of each day to go over your plan. The best coaches and trainers have a plan, know it well, and adjust their plan when necessary. They may change their daily, weekly or monthly plan, but they never work without one.
Are you driven to succeed?
Managing a coaching practice can be physically and emotionally demanding. It’ not uncommon for a coaching professional burn out quickly because they literally feel like “the weight of the world is on their shoulders.” If you are driven to succeed in your coaching practice and you truly want to help your clients achieve their goals, you will overcome those challenging times when you are on the brink of throwing in the towel.
How will your practice affect your personal life?
The first several months of any new career, business or practice can present some challenges in your personal life. It’s important that your friends and family know what you are trying to accomplish so they can support you during this temporary phase in your life. You may need to take a pay cut for the first several months until you develop your coaching philosophy and find yourself having to spend less time on new client development.
It all points back to your vision, purpose, and plan. Until you achieve the success you deserve, you may need to make some adjustments to your spending habits in order to achieve your short-term goals. There is no surer way to sabotage yourself than to spend more than what you have.
Playing to Your Strengths
OK, now what? You’ve identified your strengths and weaknesses. How will that knowledge help you develop and expand your client list?
Playing to your strengths involves developing your “story” or “elevator pitch.” If you were standing next to someone in an elevator and they asked you what you do for a living, you would have the remainder of the elevator ride to tell that person your story. Develop your pitch now. It may change, but you must develop one. Test it out on your friends, family, and other coaches and ask for honest feedback. Were they sold on you?
When you approach potential clients you need to be ready to tell them a quick, yet interesting story about what or why you do what you do. This is your chance to stand out.
You will need to give your “elevator pitch” many “ times before it will feel natural. Like anything, practice makes perfect. The more people you talk to, the more comfortable you’ll be.
Where Can You Learn More?
Spencer Institute and NESTA are here to guide each step of the process. Be sure you take advantage of our course, programs, CEUs, and career training opportunities. Be on the lookout for future articles about more ways to get an endless stream of clients for your coaching business. You will also want to search through the archives of our blog because there are many other articles that go into great depth about dozens of other ways to get clients.
Here are a few for you to checkout now:
- How to Break into Corporate Wellness & Create Impactful Programs
- Strategies for Designing Better Coaching Programs
- 7 Reasons You Might Not be Selling Your Coaching Sessions
Believe in yourself.
We are here to be your partner in custom designing your highly successful coaching career.
NESTA and Spencer Institute coaching programs are open to anyone with a desire to learn and help others. There are no prerequisites.
That’s it for now.
Take action!
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