In my first session with a new VIP client, something wonderful happened. Another coach chose their smart niche!
This coach is a highly intelligent person with tons of coaching experience in corporations and coaching firms. Their list of degrees and credentials is impressive and they speak multiple languages!
They are articulate, self-aware and operate with integrity.
I tell you all this because — even with all those assets — the coach started by telling me: “I’ve been stuck wanting to start my coaching business for 2 years but couldn’t figure out my niche!”
Yep. That’s not at all unusual. Coaches are often held back for years because they won’t choose a niche.
The #1 reason? FEAR.
It can stop you in your tracks, if you let it.
Episode 265 is about what you can do to breakthrough. There are shifts in perspective needed. Find the full transcript with more resources for coaches at prosperouscoach.com/265.
3 Classic Reasons Coaches Don’t Choose a Smart Niche
A bit more about that classic scenario with my client …
Even after:
- Listening to several of my episodes about niching.
- Reading my free downloadable guide 5 Secrets to a Highly Profitable Coaching Niche You’ll Love.
- Answering a detailed questionnaire with powerful questions that I provided to draw out niche clues.
- And, brainstorming audience and niche ideas with me in person where I suggested a viable audience and niche concept that fit their knowledge, background and interests …
When asked if they would click on the certainty button and move forward with this niche, my client said:
“What if this is the wrong niche?
Or, what if there’s a better niche that we haven’t thought of yet?
And what if no one buys this?”
I was so touched by those words and the fear behind them … because I’ve heard nearly the same words so many times before. Compassion bloomed in my heart. I know those fears personally!
And then, offering tough love spoken in kindness, I coached around those fears. In just 10 minutes, this coach STOPPED STRUGGLING and put a stake in the ground for one viable audience and a specialty niche that would help them stand out in the crowd.
Let’s break these fears down and turn them on their head, where they look silly instead of scary.
What If I Choose the Wrong Coaching Niche?
Has this question crossed your mind too?
Guess what, coach? There is a limiting belief behind this fear. Do you know what it is? It is a big assumption that there is only one right niche for each coach.
Let me be clear, I and any business mentor worth your while will tell you that it is smart to start your business with ONE narrow target audience and one relevant niche for that audience. So, I’m not implying that you have more than one niche or audience because one is a full-time job.
Having more than one audience or niche multiplies your work and reduces your chances of success in either.
It is true that they are some niches that will fail, where others are more likely to succeed. That has to do with these 2 critical factors:
- Is the audience you choose full of seekers — people who actively search for solutions to big problems and who will invest money and energy to overcome those problems? If not, it’s not a viable audience.
- Have you developed a specialty niche for your audience based on their big enough and acute enough problems associated with a big enough goal? If not, the niche won’t be financially successful.
And, that’s because people will only invest in services that bring outcomes they can do something with.
Listen to Episode 247 for more about this. I talk about finding the sweet spot, but it is not a holy grail. Okay? And, I think searching for the holy grail niche is what keeps a lot of coaches from making a choice and moving forward.
Work that out of your beliefs. There are no holy grail niches.
What If There Is a Better Coaching Niche I Haven’t Though of Yet?
Again, this isn’t an unusual concern for coaches. And, this type of question isn’t limited to a coaching niche.
Is there a better partner for me? Is there a better career for me? Is there a better place to live?
What I love about these questions is that there is a sense of not wanting to settle.
However, the shadow side of those questions belies a lack of trust.
The asker doesn’t trust where life takes them. And they probably have a good reason for that lack of trust. It is a wound to overcome by thinking and acting differently.
So, I put this idea to you … here you are, feeling a calling to coach. You love the coaching toolbox. You want to better the world and help people. All beautiful and noble things.
But if you never begin, it will never happen and you will miss out big time.
And again, I’m not advocating having a starter audience and niche. It takes a lot of time, energy and money to build a long- term thriving business.
So, with my clients, I help them to choose wisely and encourage them to stick with their single viable niche, which I help them choose based on their genius, background and more.
Then it is the coach’s job to stay inspired and make it happen!
If you give yourself the support of an expert in coaching niches, such as myself, and you listen to your intuition … all that’s left to do is DECIDE!
If you want to be a coach and earn enough to stay in business you must make this first critical decision. And you will make many more after this.
What if No One Invests in My Coaching Services?
Ah, now we come to this — the mother of all fears about starting a business.
The answer to this question cannot be known before you build your business.
All business founders take calculated risks. I believe you have what it takes. Check out Episode 258 to see if you do. Risk is 100% required from the outset and all during the time that you have your business.
So, the real question is … are you willing to take the risk?
And a follow on question to that is … will you do what it takes to beat the odds?
The truth is anyone who has dreams and goals, takes lots of risks. You take a risk on a job. You take a risk on a person. You take risks to reach for what you really want.
The risk is failure. And the risk is success.
I will tell you that I am so glad that I took this risk over two decades ago. I risked being an entrepreneur, doing something I love, being my own boss, doing things my way, trying out my ideas!
Have I always succeeded? Have all my ideas borne fruit? No. Any entrepreneur will tell you — just like everything in life the path to success is squiggly. You fail. Learn from it. Rise again. Try new things. Make lots of mistakes. Learn more and more.
It is only by taking risks that you come away from this life respecting yourself and loving life.
If you never put a stake in the ground for something — something where the road before you is not crystal clear, then you will lose out.
So, my dear coach, choose well but don’t wait for something to feel 100% easy — 100% perfect. Go with your intuition, your gut and DECIDE. Then, move forward with courage. (ep 79)
