As a Business Coach, Career Coach and Life Coach of some years, I have come across many things I had not really considered before I started my business in coaching. Here I’d like to share some of them and explore how you might approach them in your own coaching business.
Your own emotional health and well being
Dealing with other people’s difficulties in life will make you reflect on your own. Your previous experiences can be a huge resource to fall back upon when helping your clients but equally can influence you less positively if you let them. It is up to you to make sure you are guiding from the head and not the heart. Clients’ problems can cause you emotional upset too, especially with a long-standing client with whom you have formed a bond. Building resilience into yourself will help guard against this. However, even the toughest need assistance too. So why not work with a fellow Coach to share the burden? Take care of your own emotional health, as without it you cannot continue to help others.
Building a business in coaching
As a coach you have to build a business, so you go through similar steps to some of your clients. Steps such as building a website, promoting yourself, and seeking out clients need to be taken. You also have to learn about the new modern skills of digital marketing and sales funnels. You may be starting your own business from scratch, and working for yourself can be a lonely place. Therefore, I would suggest that you consider employing your own Business Coach to help guide you and make sure your business runs smoothly, leaving you free to actually work with clients.
Prioritisation
Working out how you should tackle work priorities can cause you stress. Which client requires greater guidance between sessions? Which client comes first when diaries conflict? Everyone battles with prioritisation and that is why some people employ Coaches. You need to know that, as a Coach, you will also have the same battles. If you are prepared to stick by your decisions and yet remain flexible if the choice proves to be wrong, then prioritisation becomes easier.
Time
This is a big one; time to build your own coaching business and the time you give to your clients. Time for yourself to recover and recuperate. Making time for your family and other personal commitments. Know that as a coach you will learn to use time to your advantage, to let things work through to conclusion. I find that planning timescales into all my projects, personal and business, helps to keep perspective of everything that I am working on. Extend that planning into the detail of your client work. This means that realistic expectations can be created and maintained for both you and your clients.
These are some of the considerations that I feel will help you to gain greater clarity and insight before embarking on your own coaching business. If you have any to add, please let me know.