Building Confidence In Your Coaching Business

When you work in an office or team environment, you have people all around you for support and encouragement.

But when you learn a new skill like coaching, and then you start your own business in a new and unfamiliar field, you may at times feel alone and a bit nervous about your future.

The ‘what ifs’ creep in, just like they did at first for Level 3 graduate, Miranda.

I’ve felt this, too.

In 2007, I moved from running a business amongst friends and colleagues in WA, to a small town in NSW where I knew nobody.

I thought I could learn a new skill (coaching) and just start a new business from scratch and make it successful.

Was I kidding myself?

Pretty quickly, I realised I needed two things: 

1. confidence in my coaching skills, and 
2. confidence running this business on my own.

And then later, I discovered an essential third thing….. support. 

In this blog, we’ll look at how coaching confidence is the essential first step to business success, and how to get confidence and support to grow your business.

The #1 thing you need to be successful in business is confidence in your coaching skills and delivery.

Fiona is delivering an interactive coach mentoring webinar on 15 November – I highly recommend you jump on this if your aim is to work as a professional coach, either in your own business or for someone else. Click here for more info.

Having some coaching confidence puts you in the best position to grow your business with confidence.

When I was 25, in the early stages of my career as a Biologist, I’d had a few science jobs but I felt unfulfilled, uncertain about the future and like I wasn’t making much of a real difference.

I dreamt of something more meaningful. 

Having some confidence in my technical skills paved the way for me to scratch that nagging itch and start a business with another scientist, that made some tangible differences in the world.

These days I run a successful business, as a wellness coach and business mentor.

 But when I started out in Perth, and more recently when I took my successful offline coaching business online, I had to get my head around a whole new skill set:

• developing your brand image
• identifying your niche market
• understanding your ideal client at a deeper level
• developing and packaging services that met our client’s needs 
• developing and maintaining regular work, cashflow and profit 
• writing proposals 
• networking with peers and potential clients
• having (and closing) “sales meetings”
• articulating how you offer better/different value than your competitors
• joint venturing
• meeting the client’s desired outcomes and objectives in every block of coaching
• setting up systems
• working out budgets
• guaranteeing client satisfaction. 

Some of these things were intuitive for me, but some of them involved flying by the seat of my pants!

There are a LOT of things you need to do to create a successful business. But you can get the support you need by doing these three things:

1. Set 1 – 3 small goals EVERY WEEK and simply take imperfect action. 

Perfectionist ideals hold so many people up. Try, try again, make mistakes, and learn from them.

2. Find a trusted mentor to support you through the unfamiliar processes and emotions you’re dealing with as a solo business owner. 

Yes, you’re capable and competent in many areas of life. You think you know what to do. It comes as a shock to find that it’s not quite so easy to run a business. Make it easy on yourself – work with someone you respect, who’s been there before.

3. Take specific training courses to learn how to do things properly. 

Save yourself time or money – either pay someone else to do things for you, or take a short course and learn exactly what to do instead of fumbling through things on your own.

As a coach, you want to be a role model to your clients.

So why are you doubting yourself, falling in a heap, feeling alone and isolated?

Realistically, you are a solo business owner. You have flexibility and freedom, but the pressure of doing everything in your business on your own.

You can fall into a heap and have nobody to bounce ideas off, brainstorm with, or get emotional support from.

Being alone in NSW, I had to create a new support network and especially in my business. Here are 3 things that have worked for me:

1. Join your local Chamber of Commerce, Women in Business or other Business networking group. 

Meeting like-minded people who share the same goals, values and challenges, is comforting. You often find clients in these places, too!

2. Find a role model or role models that you trust and rely on.

After a few months of reading and learning about online marketing and business, I quickly identified 4 people I would follow regularly.

When I feel stuck, confronted or hopeless, I simply tap into one of those four people and read their latest blog, email newsletter, video or FB live. 

3. Find a like-minded group

I have been in a few online business groups for 3 years now. I find great enjoyment and a sense of connection by being in these groups and I’ve learned LOTS of great business tips.

Need an email program? To host an event? To share a promotional post? These people are there with opinions and ideas.

Recently, I ran the first Passion to Profit course with an online group and realised there was a need for WCA’s entrepreneurial coaches to collaborate on business building.

So I created the Coach to Coach FB group for that purpose. Here’s a link if you’re interested.

All in all, solo business is both enjoyable, highly rewarding, and sometimes challenging.

Building confidence in your craft and in building a business is the key to a smooth and successful journey to a successful and profitable business.