Being a small business owner is a territory for heroes where you can grow into your full potential. You will positively affect more lives than you know with your coaching.

Still, growing a successful coaching business takes sustained effort. You will work your butt off and be all the better for it!

Recently, I had a walk and talk with one of my past VIP clients, who has thrived in her business for 6 impressive years so far. A shout out of congratulations to you, Shawna!

We were musing … why do some coaches succeed in business and others do not? After working with coaches for two decades, I have a theory about the right stuff to thrive long term in your coaching business.

What is the success factor? Is it learned or innate?

In this episode, I share my theory and 5 powerful questions to test the success factor.

Coaches Need a Stout Heart, Growth Mindset and Entrepreneurial Spirit

Have you guessed the success factor I’m talking about? It’s DRIVE!

Drive is that awesome force that carries you forward on your journey. It buoys you up during challenges. It gives you the energy to climb those learning curves and take risks.

Trying to build a business without drive is like pushing on the gas pedal with the emergency brake on. You can’t do it for long without a lot of damage.

Sometimes, when I meet a coach, I sense their motivation to succeed in business. It’s a huge advantage and I believe they are likely to make it happen for themselves.

That doesn’t mean they know everything from the beginning. They will likely still need expert help to learn how to niche, brand, position and create messages & offers that will attract paying clients.

Some coaches have a strong passion for coaching. It gives them energy and I believe they will be a powerful coach. But will they stay the course and build a financially successful business? That takes an entrepreneurial spirit.

5 Powerful Questions to Test for the Success Factor

How do you know if you have enough drive to make it happen in your coaching business? I have 5 questions to help you test this.

The questions are YES or NO to keep it simple. But you can take each one further by considering what percent of 100 can you commit to ‘yes’ on each question.

#1 — Do you believe that you are responsible for creating your own success?

The world is not a fair place. I’ve met people who have been oppressed and disadvantaged at every turn in life and who have thrived long term in their coaching business. You can too, if you will. And if, for any reason, you are not up for it, there is no shame in that. You can find other ways to coach professionally.

#2 — Will you courageously ask for help when you don’t know what to do?

It’s not easy to ask for help but it is part of all success stories. There is simply no way that you can know everything you need to know to be successful in your coaching business up front. Even the smartest, most business savvy coaches I’ve known were somewhat lost after coach training school. Get help and let your natural talents have a springboard to fly.

#3 — Will you fully step into the role of CEO for your coaching business?

Call it whatever you want if ‘CEO’ doesn’t work for you — when you step into that role, you bloom by empowering yourself in a deeper way. You give yourself agency to be bolder and more decisive. You easily own your mistakes and dust yourself off for another approach over and over without getting hung up.

#4 — Will you do whatever is in your integrity to make your coaching business succeed?

I remember a coach who told me … “I don’t want to do social media, create content, speak or network.” And, I said: “Then you don’t want to start a coaching business.” Bottom line is, to attract clients you must be present in the marketplace and attract your ideal clients. Every coach has to create a customer journey. Learn to do all of those things authentically and have fun with it.

#5 — Will you charge fees that pay you well and help you stay in business?

Too many coaches start with no or low fees and don’t make it past their first year in business. Do the math and calculate what you need to charge to stay in business and support your family, then stick with those fees. And there are many positive reasons why your clients will respond positively when you do.

If you can answer an emphatic YES to all of the above, you’ve got drive. Now it’s just a matter of stay inspired and make things happen.

If for you, some of these questions are a ‘yes’ and some are a ‘no’, it’s worth thinking about whether having your own coaching business is the pathway for you as a coach.

Other Paths to Coaching Professionally Besides Your Own Coaching Business

If you don’t love the idea of being an entrepreneur and all that comes with that, you could coach for one of the growing number of coaching organizations, such as:

These organizations require:

And there are also some organizations that hire wellness and life coaches. Do your own search to find those and what they require.

Some organizations, such as Tony Robbins Results Coaching, require you to invest in their training program before you can coach for them.

The beauty of working as a coach for any organization is that you won’t have to do any of the things you’d need to do to attract and enroll clients.

The tradeoffs to having clients handed to you by these organizations are that:

A few years ago, a Robbins coach had a Discovery Call with me saying she wanted to start her own business because she wanted to earn more and have her choice of clients. When I asked her the 5 questions, she quickly realized she didn’t have that drive to be a business owner. It was a good call for both of us.

So, how deeply do you want to build and maintain your own coaching business with all that comes with it? All answers are the right answer.

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TOPIC: Client Attaction, Podcast, Smart Mindsets & Systems, Your Wealthy Mindset