Business Sense: Taking the Leap
How will you know when you are ready to step off the cliff, leave your regular job and take the leap of faith that it takes to run your own coaching business full time? Coaching can be an uncertain business. Leaving that regular paycheck in favor of becoming a coach-entrepreneur can be scary and daunting.
As someone who has been there, I invite you to consider some questions that you must honestly answer before you will know that you are ready to jump. As an entrepreneur myself, running my own consulting and coaching practice for the last 30 years, I still often take the time to go back and revisit these soul-searching questions.
How willing are you to live on accounts receivable?
Read “uncertain,” “irregular” and “unpredictable” into that question. You can mitigate this uncertainty by establishing monthly fees payable in advance, clients on retainer, comprehensive programs and other streams of income, such as products, webinars, etc. When you first become an entrepreneur, I highly recommend that you have a healthy savings account or line of credit on which to fall back. I also suggest that you carefully determine how many clients you would need and at what fee in order to meet your monthly financial obligations. Know what your risk level is as well as your budget!
What are all your possibilities and options for taking the financial leap?
Is your day job compatible with the coaching services you can offer your clients? Do you have the option of working part time? I took the leap from employee to consultant many years ago. When I became a coach, I planned to transition from consulting to coaching right away but found the demand for consulting was too steady and predictable to give up completely. Gradually, coaching became the larger part of my business but consulting is still part of what I offer my clients. What are you doing now that you can add coaching to that would enable you to serve your clients’ needs?
What is your marketing plan?
One of the challenges that any entrepreneur faces is where the customers are going to come from. To whom will your marketing be directed? The reality of coaching is that some clients will drop off. How are you going to cope with that? What’s the plan to mitigate attrition and keep your practice growing? I hate losing clients, but sometimes that’s just going to happen. As an entrepreneur, it is vital that you be prepared to lose a client or two and that you have a plan to build your practice back up.
How prepared are you to work alone?
Being a full-time coach can be very isolating. No matter how delightful your home office is, coaching clients from it day after day can wear on you. Minimize the effects by grooming and dressing before you “go to work,” booking face–to-face appointments through your week, and engaging in outside learning, conference and classroom activities that enhance your coaching skills.
Becoming a coach-entrepreneur has so many rewards and benefits. The work is extremely fulfilling, and you can take pride in being your own boss and managing your own affairs. You can decide how many hours per day you want to work. Sometimes just working in slippers is enough reward! It takes hard work, risk and determination, but the payoff is immense. If you leap too soon, it won’t be fun. Be sure that you have considered all aspects of your financial needs, as well as a strategy for dealing some of the unexpected challenges. I can tell you from experience that once you have made that big step, you won’t look back!
Kristin Nickells, PCC
Kristin Nickells, PCC is a Certified Executive Coach who took the leap to entrepreneurship more than 30 years ago and now runs a successful coaching practice helping dentists to become better bosses and entrepreneurs themselves. She maintains a home office in the lovely seaside town of Parksville on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.
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This article is spot on and truly captures the challenges of starting a coaching practice. It is refreshing to read it and see that it is all part of the journey. Lovely piece!