The Business of Coaching:
Strategies and Tips for Starting Your Coaching Business

Starting a coaching business is exciting. You will have the opportunity to utilize your skills and passion for coaching while having the flexibility to set your own hours and the freedom of being your own boss.

But, at least for some, the idea of starting a coaching business can produce feelings of insecurity and uncertainty. Most likely you have spent your career working for someone else and someone else was ultimately responsible for the success of the business or organization. When you start your own business and become your own boss, you will be solely responsible for your success.

To set yourself up for success, you’ll be smart to have both coaching skills and entrepreneurial/business skills. If you are starting your own coaching business, you have completed training to develop your coaching skills. But, have you given the same attention to your business skills? If not, read on for strategies and tips to get the business side of things right.

BEFORE YOU OPEN FOR BUSINESS

There are several things you can do before opening for business that will maximize your chances for success.

Educate yourself in business/marketing

If you are planning to start your own coaching business, you’ve got the coaching skills, but do you have the necessary education and training in business and marketing? Like many new business owners, you might be in the category of you don’t know what you don’t know. A smart first step is to take a few business / marketing classes. You wouldn’t coach without having the skills so why would you start a business without knowing how to run one? There are many options for finding business/marketing classes. Check local colleges, business organizations, online courses, government organizations and more. Two excellent resources are the ICF Business Development Series and the Small Business Administration, offering online courses, local classes and other services in many locales. You will not only learn business skills but many of these give you an opportunity to develop your business owner/entrepreneur network.

Develop your business/marketing plan

A business/marketing plan is a great tool to help you plan the launch of your business and to keep you on track. You don’t have to make this too complicated or time consuming. What is important is that in the process of developing your plan you think through all the potential challenges and opportunities. Creating your plan will help you gain a clear picture of your goals, expected outcomes and the requirements to get there.

Tip: Don’t fall into the trap of thinking ‘my business is too small to need a plan’. Even if you will be a solopreneur working from your home, a business plan will be a valuable tool.

YOUR FIRST YEAR

Your first year is likely to be a whirlwind and a major learning experience. With so much going on it is easy to lose focus and lose sight of your priorities. Stay on track by following these steps;

• Implement your business/marketing plan
• Monitor results quarterly and modify based on what is working and what is not
• Make sure to allow time for marketing
• Hire help if you need it

AVOID COMMON PITFALLS

New business owners of all types run into common pitfalls. Make sure you don’t get tripped up by these common mistakes;

• Vague or unrealistic goals
• Trying to do it all /doing too much at once
• Lack of systems and procedures
• Getting stuck, not able to start or move forward
• Not charging enough
• Lack of a peer to peer support network

Tip: Consider launching your business while you are still employed. It may be challenging to juggle both but doing so can provide a safety net and a chance to learn what you don’t know before taking the plunge.

For more strategies and tips on getting started with your coaching business be sure to join us for our next webinar: The Business of Coaching: Strategies and Tips for Starting Your Coaching Business

Educational Webinars

The Business of Coaching: Strategies and Tips for Starting Your Coaching Business

Education and Training Courses

Build Core Competencies

Coaching Fundamentals Program™
ICF Core Competency Hours: 15

Coaching is catching on. More and more people are turning to coaching because coaching produces results. The performance of individuals, teams and organizations are being transformed when coaching skills are developed, used and become part of the culture. If you are intrigued by what is happening with coaching and want to learn core coaching skills, this fundamentals class is for you.

This is a hands-on class that includes practical techniques for trust building, focused listening, evocative questioning, planning and goal setting. The course includes practice sessions that are reviewed by a professional coach who provides feedback on coaching skills and comprehension of the competencies. You will learn the skills and gain the confidence needed to use them. Click on the course name to learn more and register.

Coaching Fundamentals Program™ - Starts August 8

5/5/5 Coaching Skills Training Program™
ICF Core Competency Hours: 12

If your goals include starting a coaching business or using coaching to lead within an organization, you won't want to miss our 5/5/5 Coaching Skills Training Program™.

During this course participants learn questioning, listening and framing skills. These skills help coaches guide their coachees to new insights, discoveries and breakthroughs that will help them become self-reliant problem solvers and goal achievers. This course provides in-depth learning of core coaching competencies including multiple practice and feedback sessions. Join over 18,000 participants who have gone through this transformational program. Click on the title below to learn more and register.

5/5/5 Coaching Skills Training Program™ - Starts September 25

Advance Your Skills

Advanced Coaching Skills Practicum
ICF Core Competency Hours: 12

Are you looking to enhance your coaching skills? Take your coaching to the next level? Or maybe you are looking for tools to help you with your biggest coaching challenges. If any of these apply, check out our Advanced Coaching Skills Practicum.

Participants of this program will refine their coaching skills by coaching others and hearing others coach in a virtual classroom overseen and critiqued by an ICF certified professional coach. The environment fosters real-time learning for those doing the coaching and for those observing. Participants in this course;

• Gain confidence in their ability to coach
• Hear a variety of styles and methods by hearing others coach
• Get immediate feedback on their coaching and use of the core coaching skills by an ICF Certified Coach
• Are challenged to coach at a whole new and higher level in a fun and supportive way
• Receive coaching tips, techniques and demonstrations from an ICF Certified Coach

Click on the course name to learn more and register.

Advanced Coaching Skills Practicum - starts August 22

Personal Groundwork for Coaching Program™
ICF Core Competency Hours: 20

Are you looking to enhance your coaching skills or take your coaching to the next level? Or maybe you need to obtain CCE credits to renew your ICF credential or add to your coach specific training hours. If any of these apply, check out our Personal Groundwork for Coaching Program™.

In this course you will learn advanced coaching skills to help highlight and explore areas that are often at the source of where a coachee becomes stuck, self-defeating or demotivated. You will also learn how to use the accompanying Personal Groundwork for Coaching™ Workbook, a widely-used tool to help coaches move their clients' past daily symptoms and into the deeper source of what is getting in their way and preventing them from reaching their goals.

This is a hands-on class. Each week you will work (outside of the classroom) with a different learning partner to coach one another around the concepts covered in the class. Click on the course name to learn more and register.

Personal Groundwork for Coaching Program™ - starts September 10

Take the Fast Track to Your ICF Credential

Fast Track to ICF Credential
Fulfils the educational requirements for obtaining the ICF ACC credential

Develop the skills and set yourself apart by jumping on the Fast Track. Coaching is becoming more and more competitive and yet many coaches have no credential and minimal training. One of the best ways to set yourself apart is to complete the training and earn a coaching credential.

But pursuing your ICF Credential is a big step and commitment. That is why we created the Fast Track to ICF Credential - to streamline the process and make it as convenient as possible.

Benefits of the Fast Track to ICF Credential include;

● FAST TRACK: Takes only 6 months to complete (other programs may take as long as 18 months).

● ROBUST, DISTANCE-BASED LEARNING: We use cutting-edge technology to create an in-person, interactive classroom experience while you participate remotely.

● TOP-NOTCH EDUCATION AND TRAINING: You get world-class instruction from expert coaches with experience in both coaching and teaching.

● FLEXIBLE SCHEDULE: We offer day and evening classes for your convenience, and new classes start throughout the year.

● AFFORDABLE: This program is priced to fit into your budget. Save $495 US / $595 CDN when you register for the package option. Don’t need the package option? You also have the choice of taking separate modules a la carte. We even have a payment plan.

Our next program (day classes) starts September 25. Click here to view the schedule

Ace the ICF Credential exam

ICF Coach Knowledge Assessment (CKA) Prep Class
ICF Core Competency Hours: 9

This course is designed to prepare coaches for the ICF Coach Knowledge Assessment exam which must be successfully completed prior to receiving the International Coach Federation (ICF) ACC Credential. The course covers ICF Core Competencies and Ethics and Standards plus test taking strategies. This prep class will present several questions each week that mimic the multiple-choice questions you will be asked to answer in the CKA exam. Click the course link below to learn more and register.

ICF CKA Prep Class – Starts September 17

Coaching Resources

We offer many resources on a wide variety of topics to support coaches at all levels. On our website, you can find blog articles, educational videos, webinar recordings and more under Coaching Resources. We are continually updating this section so check back often.

Our coaching guides continue to be very popular and we will be adding to these in 2018. If you haven’t taken advantage of these free resources, you can find them here.

The Business of Coaching

Building a thriving coaching business takes more than just great coaching skills. You also must know how to build a business. For many, this is the hardest part of going out on your own. If you are starting your own coaching business, check out our guide – Making it as a Coach or view our recent webinar Making it as a Coach: Strategies for Success.

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