I know how that feels. I earned under £30K for several years and worse, as my revenue dipped so did my confidence, in a continuous scary loop.

In my most disastrous year my revenue fell to below £10,000. That was the final turning point. I knew I had to do things differently – and I did. Twelve months later I had quadrupled that turnover and in two further years I hit the 6-figure mark. That’s where I’ve stayed.

So here’s my advice if you’re starting out. Don’t do what I did. Instead, do what I’ve learnt really works.

Don’t

1. Spend all your time developing your coaching: being a good coach matters but if no one knows about you, you’ll have no clients and no business. From the start, spend half your time on building a network of clients
2. Price your services by the hour and the day: start creating attractive packages as soon as you can
3. Tell a client about your offer before finding out what they need: instead, first listen to the problem. Then make an offer that will solve it

Do

1. Get started: start your business and give it a name before you finish your training. You will feel professional. It will give you focus and momentum. You may not have the perfect name so start with “Your Name Services”, or swap Services for Consulting or Coaching. If you don’t feel ready to establish a limited company, start as a sole trader
2. Stop coaching for free: start charging even when you need more experience. Once you have received enough training to know your coaching produces results, charge for it even if it’s a small amount. People value more what they pay for. It will raise your game too and make you feel professional. If you insist on working for free, limit the time you allow yourself to do this (1-2 months max) and agree at the start that in exchange the client will give you honest feedback and a written testimonial about the coaching. Both of these are useful. The reason I advise a time limit is because charging for your services doesn’t get easier. Worse, it confirms you’re “not a real coach”.
3. Keep a tally of your coaching hours: this is useful for some applications and for accreditation. Plus, it shows you progress
4. Don't bore people: instead of telling details of how you work or what coaching is, share specific results from coaching. Potential clients only care about the results they will get. You can use results from your own practice clients, results you yourself experienced being coached, even results you’ve read about
5. Remember to be rigorous about guarding confidentiality: Ask for testimonials from every client you have coached and add them to your website and social pages. And get accreditation from the ICF, EMCC, AC if you plan to work in corporates
6. Choose pricing wisely: You can start low but raise your price every six months as you gain experience. Be ready to charge enough eventually or you won't be able to stay in business. You need to earn enough to invest in making your new career successful – see next three points.
7. Be willing to invest money and time in building a network of clients
8. Be clear on your goal, your ultimate outcome
9. Invest in developing your skills in line with coaching trends so you keep up with the market for coaching

What counts most of all is having a clear focus, the right mindset and continuous action in the right direction, plus an ability and willingness to invest money and time in building a network of clients and having your own coach. Mindset is as important as strategy and action for your own business. So get an experienced business coach who will believe in you and advise you strategically, share tips so you know what you need to do, coach you to develop your mindset, and inspire you to keep taking action.

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