I didn’t want to be cheap with my coaching business when I first started, so I generously spent money on experts of all sorts and hired a full time VA to do all the little things I couldn’t be bothered with.
I do believe my time is highly valuable—good mindset there—but, I only wanted to coach and that was short sighted.
I delegated too much, which cost me 3 precious things:
- PROFIT because my expenses were unnecessarily high
- TIME because I constantly had to review my VA’s work and chase them to correct mistakes
- KNOWLEDGE about how to run my business on my own, which was a HUGE liability.
I gave my VA lots of chances before I let them go and when I did, I was lost because I didn’t know anything about how to use the various apps.
I want to help you make strategic decisions about delegating and avoid my mistakes.
Coaches Need to Learn the Business of Coaching
First, before I share the 12 powerful questions to help you know whether to DIY or delegate tasks in your business, here is a critical point…
There is much more to learn about the business side of coaching than there is to learn about the skills of coaching.
But most coaches don’t get that education in a way that’s tolerable, fun and integrate-able.
When they finish coach training they just start coaching and hope everything will fall into place.
They blindly follow what other coaches do without knowing if those approaches are successful. I did all that too.
I’ve noticed when coaches hire me who have already been in business for 2 – 10 years it’s often because they stepped over that business education too. It’s left them spread too thin and not earning well.
What’s missing is:
- A viable niche where they can stand out in the crowd
- Intel about their target audience that helps them create compelling content and messaging
- A simple enough business model with only a few easy-to-sell offers
- High enough pricing that they can earn well working a 20-30 hour week
- A smart customer journey—the clear pathway for prospects to follow then hire the coach
Missing these things results in chronic anxiety and a low income that won’t sustain you.
I just finished working with a coach who gave me and my VIP Mentoring program high praise. Thank you! One thing she said that sums up this critical point:
“I didn’t know what I didn’t know and you taught me everything I need to know.”
I love that because my 5-month VIP Mentoring program is comprehensive training for coaches on the business side of coaching—the things that are very hard to learn without expert support.
It’s private business mentoring where you and I workshop everything for your business in the most strategic way so you have structure, systems, templates, a client-winning website, offers and content that are all designed in a congruent, thoughtful way instead of strung together like a bunch of satelites.
Sure, you can learn all these things by trial and error making many mistakes. It is a time-honored tradition and what I did because no one was offering the private handholding I really needed then. It was a long, steep learning curve with massive frustration.
And, it’s one of the reasons why I created Prosperous Coach so coaches don’t have to learn the business skills alone or in groups, which are hard to apply what you learn.
If you learn how to think and act strategically for your business you’ll get where you want to go so much faster and have the skills to keep growing in your business.
I’d love to work with you if you’re ready for that type of support instead of online group training and self study programs. Fill out the application on prosperouscoach.com/VIP and we’ll talk to make sure we’re a great fit.
If later, you want to hire a VA to delegate some aspects of your business you’ll know exactly what it takes to run your business and won’t ever be wholly dependent on an expensive VA.
Now, let’s get to those 12 powerful questions I promised so you can know when to delegate and when to do things yourself.
12 Power Questions to Help You Decide What to DIY and What to Delegate
1. What are your long-term goals and vision for your business?
It’s worth taking time to thing this through.
Interestingly, 25 years into my business I delegate far less than I used to because my goal is to:
- work no more than a 20-30-hour week
- earn high profits
- deliver high value
- work with fewer clients because that means less time enrolling
- keep my business model ultra simple
- market in a way that’s pinpointed, authentic and showcases my genius
2. How many hours would you like to work each week?
3. Do you want a simple or complex business?
4. Do you want to have a team or work solo?
Those are all serious questions to answer.
You might be surprised to learn that those rare coaching businesses that bring in high 6 or 7 figure revenues have low profit margins and the founders do very little actual coaching.
They have complex businesses with several employees. Most of their time is spent in planning meetings, managing a team and successive campaigns for selling multiple programs while building relationships with joint venture partners.
No, thank you.
What’s Your Workstyle and Business Model, Coach?
5. What energizes you?
6. What exactly will you offer or are you offering? This is your business model, which includes what paid programs you offer.
7. Do you love coaching one-on-one? That’s the simplest business model for coaches and I recommend having a high-ticket signature program instead of selling coaching session packages.
8. Or would you prefer to do group coaching? That’s more complex and you’ll need access to large leads list or to build your own over time.
Keep in mind, it’s very different to have a business where you enroll people into a group program that starts a few times per year as opposed to twice per month. The first is probably high ticket and the enrollment campaign is a big effort but done less often. There’s a large technical aspect to that and you’ll need savvy VAs.
Do you want to distance yourself from your prospects and clients having a VA or assistant coach interface with clients except for exclusive coaching moments? I’ve invested in and dropped out of expensive programs like that feeling that I got little personalized support even though I was paying a high price.
What should be on your website? How you will market? That also depends on your business model.
Attracting and enrolling clients is the most time-consuming thing in a coach’s business. For that reason, I only work 1:1 with 20 clients each year in my VIP program and I enroll clients as I have openings. It’s a super simple business model with high profit and low labor. That’s what I teach other coaches.
9. What drains your energy?
These may be things you know you’re not good at. However, watch your mindset about these things!
It’s normal when you’re new to something that it feels a bit draining, which partially comes from believing you’re not good at a whole category of tasks, such as:
- Working with apps
- Writing
- Social media
- Developing content
- Sales
But here’s the thing—you’re going to need all those skills to run a successful business.
I thought I wasn’t good at all of these things until, with practice, I became a master at them. And that’s true for my clients too. Many abjectly fear and put up resistance about dong all these things and soon realize:
“Oh, it was just a limiting belief holding them back.”
It may seem counter intuitive, but I recommend that you keep tasks that are uncomfortable to learn how to do them well. When you apply focus and ask for help when needed, things that seem insurmountable become totally doable.
10. What are you willing to learn even if it feels difficult for you now? Sit down and think about this.
I recommend coaches learn how to do all the repetitive tasks to start. I also recommend they learn how to write well because writing is a gateway skill to so many good things. Your messaging should be congruent and authentic that’s why I teach my clients high response copywriting techniques.
Of course, with AI you may think you can almost skip learning how to do many things but that’s a slippery slope. If you don’t take the time to learn what lands with your ideal clients and learn how to write yourself, how will you know if what AI feeds you will actually help you enroll clients?
Is it impactful or just fluff?
In my business, it’s important to me to USE MY VOICE—to use my heart and mind and craft messaging that’s authentic and high integrity.
Last two questions…
11. Where will having paid support count most for you?
Most coaches I meet say they’ve already spent so much money on their business and wish they had been more strategic in their choices. Yes, I was guilty of that too.
Resist acting out of desperation and making rash choices. Instead, slow down, think it through.
12. What exactly will be the greatest support to you right now—learning how to fish or having someone fish for you?